Hong Kong

Tuesday 29^th April 2014

Left home at 6:00am and arrived at Melbourne airport at 7:00am to check in for our flight to Hong Kong, We boarded the flight at 9:00am for a 9:35am departure however, due to a backlog of flights we did not take off until 10:00am.

The flight was good and we touched down at Hong Kong at 5:30pm local time.

We got through customs and immigration quickly and then caught a cab to the Eaton Hotel which is to be home for the next 2 nights. After checking in, we had dinner in the Hotel’s Chinese restaurant, crispy skin chicken with lime and sesame sauce followed by pan fried scallops with duck (scallops were stuffed with shredded shrimp).

After dinner we went for a walk through Temple street night markets. Lots of genuine looking fake items such as handbags, watches etc.

Tsing Ma Suspension Bridge

Wednesday 30^th April 204

Up at 6:30am. Weather was a warm 24°, but very overcast with grey sky. It stayed that way all day.

Buffet breakfast of fresh fruit and freshly cooked omelet before boarding our bus for a tour of Lantau. There were about 15 people on the tour including a couple from Glasgow and a couple from Barcelona.

We saw and then drove over the Tsing Ma Bridge, which is the longest road & rail suspension bridge in the world.

Tai O Fishing Village

Visited the Tai O Village, which is a traditional fishing village famous for its wooden stilt houses built over the water. The village also has some tiny shops a local market and very old shrines.

Next stop was the Po Lin Monastery which has the world's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha statue and museum. The spectacular scenery would have been great except for the constant fog which has been hanging over Hong Kong the entire time we have been here, and is apparently a weather condition common at this time of year.  

We enjoyed a lovely Chinese vegetarian banquet lunch at the monastery before finishing our tour with a ride on the Ngong Ping cable car, which has beautiful views of Lantau and the South China sea. Unfortunately the fog was very thick for most of the 5.7kilometre ride so we did not get to see much.

Bronze Buddha Po Lin Monastery

Po Lin Monastery

On the Ngong Ping Cable Car

With only 3 days until we fly out the lawns have been done and most of the house cleaning is done. 

Packing has started and it is hard to imagine that the piles of clothes and anciliary items we are planning to take are all going to fit into a suitcase and carry on bag each. 

It will be an early start on Tuesday morning as we need to be at the airport about 6:30AM. The flight leaves at 9:35AM and arrives in Hong Kong at 5:10PM local time. The time difference is 2 hours behind Melbourne & Sydney.

Preparing for the next adventure in UK

It is now only 18 days till we board the big silver bird and depart yet again for the UK.
First stop is Hong Kong for 2 nights. Then 7  nights in London, maybe seeing  a castle or two before we make the train trip to South Hampton to board Emerald Princess for a 14 night cruise round the Mediterranean.