Our First Stop

Flight to Hong Kong was fine once we actually took off and the transfer to our hotel was easy enough. Our free upgrade to a suite has given us an enormous room which comprises of a huge living room with T.V. which is larger than our living room at home. A passage-way with fridge, kettle etc, a dressing room, a bathroom and a gigantic bedroom which has two double beds, a coffee table, 2 chairs, two dressing tables and a desk area with a T.V. Totally amazing - shame we need to go out an explore the city, we'd be quite comfortable here !

First day of exploring has seen us see the harbour by day and night, plus a general walking of the streets of Kowloon.

Today (Monday), we have done a longer walking tour, which involved tea and biscuits at B.P. International (Baden Powell), which was great and a tour of the Scouting display as well as a trip to the scouting shop on the 11th floor. Then a set lunch at Hard Rock Cafe (3 courses for $68 each) plus the all important free internet so I can update this quickly. This afternoon took a quick trip on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island to visit the cathedral and walk around getting our bearings...before taking the ferry back again. After a rest at the hotel, we have dinner in the food hall of the shopping centre opposite the hotel which is a bargain and also superb food - 2 more than you can eat meals for about a fiver. Tuesday was an early start as we are off to Macau today. Our guide walks us up the road to the China Ferry Terminal and we get through immigration and on to the boat - these trips are going to give us plenty of stamps in the passport - 2 in to Hong Kong and one out plus one in to Macau and one out ! The ferry ride is pretty quick and we meet our guide and some other tour people on the other side. Our first stop is the Kun Lam statue  and also the Typhoon Bridge which allows people to drive across it in a tunnel hanging under the bridge it's self in a typhoon - can't say I'd fancy it but if it's the only way home then maybe ! Next we stop at Tin Hau Temple and after being gassed out by all the incense we visit a local bakery for some Portuguese egg custard tarts which are served warm and are totally addictive. The tour moves on to the ruins of St Paul's church and we walk down into the town down narrow streets, it is all very european and we momentarily forget we are in China ! The bus drives us to a hotel for a nice buffet style lunch and then back into town for some free time. Byron and I head straight for Jackie Chan's casino (there are 25 casino's here now and this will shortly be the Las Vegas of Asia). The casino has 72 bars of gold bullion in the floor of the foyer area and a huge Christmas tree along with a painting of the Queen and some mock guards outside in red coats, bearskins and plastic guns...they even do a changing of the guard which caused us a good giggle. Then into the slot machine lounge where we managed to break even, though we were only gambling with pence. Back on the bus and to the ferry terminal for the trip back to Hong Kong - a good day out. Wednesday sees us having breakfast at the Pacific Cofee Company because I've discovered it has free internet access so we can check our mail and reply to a few. Today's plan is the museums as they are free entrance today and it is raining so don't fancy doing too much. We walk to the science museum and then nip across the plaza to the history museum. Both are very interesting and although the science museum is filled with school children we do get to play with a lot of the exhibits. The history museum is very interesting for a general grasp of Hong Kong history and the development of the city. feeling museumed out we play cards in the hotel the rest of the day. Thursday sees us on another trip - this time to Lantau island. We take our tour bus and then change to a limo (no idea why a limo but it was gorgoeus) which takes us under the harbour to Hong Kong Island and the ferry terminal. We meet our guide, Casey who takes us onto the ferry for the 30 min ride to Lantau where we meet another little tour bus. The weather is awful...raining and misty so we don't stop long at the beach which is the usual first stop. From there we drive to Tai O village which is a fishing village on stilts and thankfully it stops raining long enough for an hour long guided tour of the village including the local stalls selling weird and wonderful fish products as well as the local Taoist Temple. Casey is very interesting and as there are only 6 of us on the tour is able to tell us lots more than had we been a big group, we all interact well with questions. From here we travel to the Po Lin Monastery to visit the Tian Tan Buddha but he has disappeared into the cloud. We do a quick tour of the museum inside and get blown away trying to descend the steps from the top of him. Hastily back on the bus we descend down to the monastery for a fantastic vegetarian meal with jasmine tea. We stagger outside full to bursting to see the mist has vanished and the Buddha has reappeared. We take some photos quickly as the mist swirls around again. We visit the local purpose built village of Ngong Ping and take the cable car back down. The ride is 25 minutes and at one point we vanish into dense fog, not able to see the cable or anything, it is an eerie experience travelling in complete white out, but the views of the airport as we drop out of the mist are wonderful.

After dinner in the food hall, we visit the Temple Street Night Market as it has finally stopped raining, we buy nothing but enjoy the walk. Friday is our long day trip - 15 hours - to mainland China. We start by being collected at 7am from the hotel and are driven around in a big circle to arrive 30 minutes later just 5 minutes from our hotel at the China Ferry Terminal - I curse loudly since I'm not a morning person and quickly work out the additional time in bed I could of had ! We take the 7:45am ferry to Shenzhen which takes just an hour. We are on a group visa so no stamp in the passport - I'm gutted, still on to our first stop which is a kindergarten where a class of 4 year olds dance traditional dances for us before grabbing us and making us dance with them - no-one mentioned this in the advertising. Byron of course is in his element with the little kids - me I smile and race away rapidly, cute though they are. The bus takes us to the Shekou Exhibition Hall where we see 4 Terracotta soldiers and some artwork...to be honest it's a bit naff and then they herd us into a shop where we each get a 'personal shopper'....I'm not best pleased but 'Andy' our shopper understands and opts for trailing us and telling us bits of information from time to time before giving us some lychee tea which is bizarrely pleasant. We've not yet had breakfast and it is noon but our guide tells us lunch will be at 2pm....I manage a look of death and once back on the bus we each get a sweet bread roll and a chocolate biscuit - Byron and I are first to be offered the spares so my look must of worked :-) Next stop the zoo for a visit to see a Panda - very cute - doing Panda like things and I suppose it is nice to see on in China where it should be instead of loaned out to a zoo somewhere. Back on the bus for a snooze as we drive the two hours to Guangzhou through banana plantations growing next to the main road and power plants - remind me not to eat a banana here. Arriving in Guangzhou, our first stop is the restaurant for lunch which to be fair is a fantastic spread of soup and numerous dishes with rice and then fruit for dessert, along with cups of jasmine tea. Around 4pm, we head to the local produce market which is an eye opening experience, there is fruit, fresh meat, live chickens, ducks, rabbits, fish of alsorts as well as turtles, toads, snakes, and anything else they might fancy eating. It is not as gruesome as I expected but rather fascinating. From here is a short walk past groups of beggars to the Six Banyan Tree Temple which is a beautifully serene place with wonderful buildings and amazing statues. Back on the bus we drive to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and take a quick peep inside and a photo shoot outside - a chinese version of the Royal Albert Hall !  We head to the train station where the train is running late....we finally board a very nice and comfortable train back to Kowloon and take a transfer bus back to the hotel arriving at 9:30pm. We dump our stuff and treat ourselves to a Hard Rock dinner with a few cold beers. A great day, tiring but interesting and something we are glad we have done. Up late and into Pacific Coffee for a check of the mail before taking the bus to Stanley. We enjoy the hour's ride from Kowloon to the opposite end of Hong Kong Island past Aberdeen and many of the more out of the way beaches. We do a fair bit of shopping and enjoy lunch on Stanley front in a bar / restaurant. The rest of the day is more restful with journal catching and reading. Sunday - another breakfast at Pacific Coffee before taking the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island for a trip up the Peak Tram. The view is the clearest it has been our entire stay and we are incredibly fortunate to get some great photos. We take the peak walk which takes us on a complete circuit around the peak in about an hour. We even see some wildlife - a couple of black kites and many dragonflies and butterflies. A leisurely day back at the hotel before a late checkout at 6pm. We leave our bags with the concierge and go for a last meal at the shopping centre food hall, then we sit and await our airport transfer. We arrive fianlly at the airport at 9:30pm and there is no queue to checkin - a novelty now ! Straight through immigration and security and on to the food hall for ice-cream (Byron has a craving since we had some up the Peak this morning). We  board more or less on time and depart on time for a pleasant flight to Perth.