Australia 2007

November 30, 2007

Conclusion of our Australian Adventure.

We are home now and have so many experiences to reflect over in the coming years and over 2000 pictures to help remind us as the years start robbing our memories. As often happens when you think about and plan an adventure like this for 15 years, the actual time in travel seems to go so fast.

Ina and I would like to thank you all for taking an interest in our travels and would like to say a special thank-you to Jason Stratford of The Travel Group, South Pacific Division for all his expert help in planning the main portions of the trip. Also, we want to thank Kenny Lee of Jet Pacific Holidays Inc. for lining up the hotels and tours in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Bon Voyage

Bob and Ina

ps this is what we came home to!!!

Friday, November 30 – San Francisco to Vancouver

The sun was shining but it was quite cool out when we woke up this morning at 6:00 in San Francisco. After we got cleaned up we walked down to the lobby for our breakfast. They served a selection of cereals with milk or yogurt, toast or bagels with cream cheese, waffles, juice, coffee and muffins. It was wonderful and a good start to the day.
After breakfast we went back to the room to throw our few things in a bag, then down to check out. The shuttle bus came at 8:00 and we loaded up. The driver was originally from Fiji but has family in Surrey and knows the area well. He really wanted to talk about our area and where we had been. We had to stop at three other motels in the area to pick up other passengers and then headed to the airport. We arrived and picked up our checked in baggage, then headed to terminal 3 for the domestic departures. It was interesting that Vancouver was considered domestic. We were actually flying on United Airways flight UA1116, as a carrier for Air Canada. When we started to check-in, there was a huge lineup as their computers were up and down sporadically. Once we got checked in, we went directly through security and into our gate area. We took turns staying with our backpacks and wandering around. There was a tax free store where we bought some liqueurs. It was interesting, because when we left Hong Kong we had intended on buying duty free alcohol there. However, they told us you couldn’t buy alcohol and take it on the plane, due to the security with liquids. The check-in counter staff told us they would be going through our carry on at the gate, and no liquids other than the 100ml in the see through bag would be allowed on. Anyway, we bought our liqueurs and waited for the flight. As on every trip we take, I did meet someone at the gate that I used to work with at BC Hydro, who was on his way home from a month in Thailand.

We boarded the flight and had a smooth trip on the 737 all the way to Vancouver. When we got to Vancouver, we walked the length of the airport to get to customs, but, although the lineup was quite long, with several international flights coming in around that time, we got through in about 30 minutes. My sister, Andrea was waiting there to give us a lift home and it was good to see her. She laughed at us because we weren’t wearing coats and it was quite cold out. Ina also decided that she might consider taking a flying trip next year, because the flight home was so smooth.

So this was the end of our wonderful adventure.

Thursday, November 29 – Hong Kong to San Francisco

Today we had planned on sleeping in and getting a later start, as this is going to be a long one. Checkout time at the hotel is noon, and our flight doesn’t leave until 22:35.

We had our breakfast and then went up to the rooftop fitness room and outdoor pool to check out the view of the harbor and take some pictures.

"Harbor Plaza rooftop pool overlooking Victoria Harbor"

"Bob sitting at rooftop terrace on our hotel roof - Harbor Plaza Hong Kong"

Afterward we went back to the room to pack and organize for the flight. I also had the internet until 11:00 so got caught up on the blog from yesterday. It was around noon when we headed downstairs and checked out, and left our luggage at the Concierge desk until the airport shuttle picks us up at 18:15. We took the hotel shuttle to downtown Kowloon, just behind the Peninsula Hotel at Salisbury Road and Nathan Road. Once we were let off, we walked up Hankow Road to Kowloon Park and then back over to Nathan. Nathan Road is very long with retail shops all the way up both sides. The shops at the south end of the street are very high end like Gucci, Dior, etc., but as you get further north, they become almost like markets. We walked all the way to the Ladies Market which is several miles up the road. Ina had seen a couple things she wanted to buy on our first trip to the market, but wasn’t sure of prices until she had looked around a bit. Once we hit the market, we walked up and down the narrow street and found the shops Ina was looking for. We bought a number of “bargain” items and then took a cab back to the Peninsula and the hotel shuttle stop. The shuttle took us back to the Harbor Plaza where we decided to walk around and take a few pictures and have a late lunch.

"Harbor Plaza lobby fountain and staircase"

It was around 16:00 and we weren’t sure when we would be fed on the flight. The route we took to find some lunch was behind a row of large high-rise apartments where we had seen lots of clothes hanging off windows to dry. Ina had been calling this the “Chinese laundry”, and she wanted a picture of one.

"chinese laundry hanging from windows on large hi-rise apartment building"

After getting her pictures we walked to the Outback restaurant, but they didn’t open until 17:00 so walked across the street to Pizza Hut. The menu was different from what we are used to at home, but managed to order a Hawaiian Pizza, which was very good, with nice thick crust. After we ate, we walked back to the hotel and hung around the lobby until around 18:00. They brought our luggage up and we used the washroom to freshen up and change our shirts before the shuttle arrived.

By the time we got on the shuttle, it was dark outside and we drove to the airport through all the Hong Kong night lights. Last night I went on line to do a check-in and get our seats selected for tonight’s flight, so check-in was quite easy. We ended up getting to the airport before the gates opened for our flight, so we wandered around the shops and Ina bought a book to read. Once the gates opened, we walked through in about 10 minutes. After we checked in, we walked down to our gate, which seemed like the farthest gate in the airport. When we got to the gate we hunkered down to wait. The flight was finally boarded and wasn’t full at all. There were lots of empty seats, but Ina and I had picked seats in row 63 where they only had 2 seats on either side of the centre row of 4 seats. We did this because we knew that it was an eleven hour flight and this way we wouldn’t be disturbing anyone else if we got up to walk around or use the restrooms. Because of the lateness of the flight, most people slept between meals anyway. Ina slept a lot of the way and I slept and watched several movies. The selection had already changed to the December lineup, so we had different movies to watch than what was available on our other flights. I watched all three of the Bourne movies.

We finally arrived at San Francisco 11 hours later and right on time. The flight had been bumpy quite a bit during the flight and Ina was not happy about that. She said that she doesn’t want to take a flying vacation for a few years, and suggested she might take the bus home from San Francisco, to which I replied “OK, I’ll see you in about a week!!”. It seemed to take forever to get through customs, although there were only two international flights arriving at that time. Most of the people on our flight had to provide finger prints and have their photos taken, which really slowed things down. When it came our turn, they checked our passports and waved us through. In Hong Kong we had packed only what we needed for the night in SF into a small bag so we could check our main luggage at the airport for the night. With only our backpacks and small bag, we got out to the hotel shuttle area and waited for the hotel shuttle. It was cooler than what we have experience for the past 11 weeks, and we had to rug up a bit. The shuttle came and it took only a few minutes to get to the Comfort Suites Airport, and we got there around 19:00 local time on the 29th, about 3 hours before we left Hong Kong….ha! ha! Ha!

When we checked in, we found that they provided free Wi-Fi access and a free continental breakfast in the morning. After getting settled in, I walked about 3 blocks to a gas station store to get some water, Gatorade, and snacks. I then checked for email messages and watched sports news until turning in around 21:30, ending a long 28 hour day.

Wednesday, November 28th – Hong Kong – day 2

This morning was a bit lazy. We didn’t get up and get going until we went down for breakfast around 9am. After breakfast, I got on the internet and got caught up on our blogs and downloaded pictures etc. I finally got finished around 1pm and we headed out to see some of Hong Kong. We walked over and jumped on the Star Ferry that goes from Hung Hom in Kowloon to Central on Hong Kong Island. This cost us $10.60HK for the 2 of us. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the ferry. While we were waiting I took a few pictures from the ferry terminal. One of them was our hotel from the terminal.

"Our hotel - Harbor Plaza Hong Kong - from Star Ferry terminal"

The ferry was a large closed in vessel that held 426 passengers just on our deck and more on top. As soon as we got to Central, we jumped on another Star Ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui at Kowloon, but right downtown. The second Ferry cost us $4HK for the 2 of us. It should have been $3.4, but we didn’t have the right change, so put in $4. This one was much smaller and was open air, and held 211 passengers on the main deck. Neither ferry was very crowded and I managed to get a good picture of the convention centre, the cruise ships at the terminal at Harbor City, and the Hong Kong Clock Tower.

"Hong Kong Convention Centre from Star Ferry"

"Clock Tower near Harbor City in Kowloon"

When we arrived at Tsim Sha Tsui, we walked over to the Harbor City Shopping Mall. This was a very high end mall and we think it was because this is also the Star Cruise Line terminal, where their cruise ships were getting ready to disembark from. After walking through the mall for about 30 minutes, we wandered out onto Canton Road and walked a few blocks to the Hard Rock Café. We both bought t-shirts there and then walked a bit more on Canton Road. We decided then to walk across to Nathan Road. As we crossed over on Haiphong Road, we came to a small market and went in and bought a few gifts and things for Ina. When we came out, we went across the street to Kowloon Park to see what it was like. It is a very large park that covers many blocks square. We walked through to the north end of the park and stopped and took a few pictures on the way. One was of the flamingos and swans swimming in the pools, and the other was of the official countdown clock for the 2008, Beijing and Hong Kong Olympics.

"Flamingos at Kowloon Park"

"2008 Beijing Olympics Countdown clock in Kowloon Park"

After leaving the park, we walked up Temple Street to the market there. We walked about 5 blocks north where they were just setting up their wares as, although the market is supposed to start at 4 pm, it is called a night market and goes till after 10pm. When we reached the north end of the market, we turned around and walked back to a stall that Ina had seen a nice purse in. While she looked at the purses, I bought a leather fanny pack, as my cheap nylon one fell apart on this trip. We ended up getting a good deal by buying both items. They were originally asking $290HK but we got them both for $250HK.

When we left Temple Road, we walked over to Nathan Road and headed toward the harbor. There were people trying to sell you something every few feet we walked; mostly custom made suites and clothing, but also knock off watches and many other things. Our feet were starting to get a little tired after we had been walking for 4 hours, so we stopped at a MacDonald’s for a burger and drink. Once we finished, we started walking down Nathan Road again until we reached Salsbury Road at the harbor. They are doing construction around this intersection, so we had to go through the subway to get across Salsbury Road so we could get to the Avenue of Stars. This is a walkway along the Quay in front of the Inter Continental Hotel. It was dark out by now and all the buildings along the waterfront on Hong Kong Island were all lit up, and people were taking pictures. It was hard to get a good picture on a handheld digital camera, but there were all kinds of vendors who would take your picture with tripods and good cameras, starting at $10HK. We decided to get our picture taken and paid $50HK for a 5x7 photo.

"Night lights on Hong Kong Island waterfront just before Symphony of Light show"

After getting the photo, we sat and watched people for awhile, and then wandered down to the viewing platform for the Symphony of Lights show. It is the same show we saw last night, but they changed the music and the light show. The viewing platform has speakers built in and has the best view of the show, other than on the water itself. It was fantastic and apparently is in the Guiness Book of records as the largest permanent laser light show. We talked to a young couple, him from Ireland and her from Germany, who had just arrived in Hong Kong yesterday, but have been traveling around the world for the past year, and are heading into China later this week, for another 10 months of travel, before heading home to Europe.

After the show, we walked back to Salsbury Road and the Peninsula Hotel to catch a cab back to our hotel. We got back around 9:00 and just relaxed for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, November 27th – Hong Kong – day 1

Our wakeup call came at 7:00 and we were down for breakfast by 8:00. It was a beautiful day, and the first we had seen Hong Kong in the light. Our hotel is right on the waterfront of Kowloon, facing Hong Kong Island. As with most cities on harbors, there was lots of boat traffic. We had a huge buffet breakfast overlooking the harbor. The selection was unbelievable, with all the usual items, but also many Chinese selections as well, like Dim Sum. You could get eggs any way you like them, a large selection of sliced fruit, as well as fruit salad. There was rice, noodles, dim sum, and a number of items I didn’t know. They also had waffles, pancakes, pasteries with several flavors of jams, and sweets, like donuts. I could tell we wouldn’t be wanting a lunch today.

Our pickup and guide, Nick, arrived at 9:40 and we got on the bus. There were a few more people to pick up at the Eaton Hotel on Nathan St. When they boarded, we found out that a group of 4 was from Calgary, and the other younger couple were from Stutgart, Germany. The bus headed out for Victoria Peak. Because it was such a lovely day, we could see a long way. We drove through a large tunnel which connects Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Nick gave us the name of the tunnel, but told us the locals call it the “no excuse” tunnel. He said before the tunnel was built, the only way to get from Kowloon, and the New Territories, where most people live, to Hong Kong Island, where many work, was by boat or helicopter. During the typhoon season, everything would close down – schools, ferries, airports, buses – everything. Many times, people got stuck on Hong Kong Island and had to stay the night, because they couldn’t get home. While there, there was nothing to do at night but go to the pubs. Once the tunnel was built, they had no more excuses for staying away from home during typhoons – hence “no excuse” tunnel. When we got to the top of Victoria Peak, we parked and walked to the viewpoint, which was built as a local Lion’s International club project. It was still quite early and their was a bit of haze hanging over the water, which didn’t allow for pictures being too clear, but I am attaching one here.

"Hong Kong harbor from Victoria Peak"

"Kowloon from Victoria Peak"

After looking around a bit, we walked back to the main building, which housed a number of restaurants and souvenir shops. We were quite surprised to find a Hard Rock Café, so went in and bought a t-shirt for Bob. There is another “City” Hard Rock Café in Kowloon, which we will look for later, as Ina didn’t find a shirt she particularly liked. After leaving Victoria Peak we drove down the mountain and headed for Repulse Bay. This is a popular beach and housing area with lots of expensive housing. Jackie Chan has a big house at Repulse Bay. While on the way, Nick gave us more information about the Hong Kong area. There are about 7 million people in Hong Kong, living in 1100 square kilometers of land. He said that real estate starts at $15K - $20K per square foot. Even though this is in Hong Kong dollars, it is still pretty expensive. He said most of the homes in the Victoria Peak and Repulse Bay areas would sell for several hundred million Hong Kong dollars. Because of the expense, most residents live in small 300 – 400 square foot apartments. We got out at Repulse Bay and walked along parallel to the beach to a small temple where we took a couple pictures.

"temple at Repulse Bay"

"Beach at Repulse Bay"

We also took pictures of the beach and a building with a big hole in the middle of it. Not sure if I had a good angle on the building to show the large hole. Nick said the hole was built because local Chinese legend says that a dragon comes down the valley and into the water at night, so they didn’t want to block the dragon’s access to the water.

"building with Dragon's hole in it"

One of the group asked Nick a question about Hong Kong currency. He wanted to know why there are different sizes and colors of notes of the same denominations. Nick explained that in most countries, the government issues the local currencies. In Hong Kong, there are 3 major banks that issue the currency for the government. That is why the difference. They do their own designs and they change the notes every few years to discourage counterfitting. We all found that quite interesting. Before long we had arrived at Aberdeen, which is a fishing village on the other side of Hong Kong Island. We stopped at a park along the waters edge and watched the Sampan boats scurrying over the water among the large fishing and pleasure boats in the area. Nick asked if we wanted to take a Sampan ride, and we all agreed to the additional charge to get a ride. The Sampan took us under a bridge and into the harbor, past the largest floating Seafood Restaurant in the world. It was massive.

"World's largest floating restaurant at Aberdeen Harbor"

"closer shot of Jumbo Seafood Restaurant"

We also went past many huge pleasure boats, that we could only dream about owning. He went past many fishing boats, where the older fishermen, some with families, actually lived on their boats in the harbor. The entire trip took about 30 minutes and cost us $60 HK dollars per person, or around $8 Cdn. It was fun to see how many of the fishermen live. There were also lots of huge apartment buildings along the waters edge.

"Aberdeen Harbour with its array of boats and modern apartments on the shoreline"

After leaving Aberdeen, we wound our way through the streets to a jewelry factory tour. This was the commercial bit of the trip. We were led into a small area where people made the settings for the gems that were imported from other parts of the world. Nick had told us that Hong Kong does not and never has been a place where you find precious stones or ores. Everything for making jewelry is brought in. The benefit of the factory is being able to buy very good quality jewelry at reasonable prices. He was right about the jewelry, it is very good quality, and is probably a very good price, but it is also high end stuff. We didn’t see much of anything, less than $2000 HK dollars (+/- $300 cdn) and most was in the $5000 HK plus range. We didn’t buy anything but certainly looked around and saw lots we liked.

The jewelry factory was our last stop and on the way back to Kowloon, one of the ladies asked about the “Ladies Market”. Nick said that it is a typical Chinese market that covers several blocks of a narrow street, but actually caters to everyone. He asked if we would like to be dropped there, rather than our hotels. The people from Nathan Road would be able to walk to their hotel from there, but we would have to take a bus or cab. We all agreed anyway, and got dropped off at the market. Everyone kind of went their separate ways, and Ina and I walked down one side of the street and back the other, for about half the market. We made a couple small purchases and then caught a cab back to the hotel, where we went up and had a geezer.

"Ina at Ladies Market in Kowloon"

We got up and got dressed for dinner and went downstairs to the Harbor Grill. The restaurant looks out over the harbor and we could see all the boats going by, and a couple of cruise ships all lit up n the harbor. Many of the boats were decorated with lights and it was hard to believe in this environment, they were Christmas lights. We had a great dinner- Ina had lamb and I had chicken. The dinners came with rolls and a potato of choice, but nothing else, so we ordered a dish of green asparagus to share. When the dinner came, it looked very small, and the asparagus side dish had 2 stocks on it. By the time we finished, we were actually pretty full. I said to Ina that this is the most expensive dinner we have had and probably ever will at $1029 (Hong Kong). After dinner, we went for a walk outside to see what was around the hotel. We got outside at 8:00pm just in time to watch the laser light show that is put on every evening at 8:00pm from about 47 buildings on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The show lasts for about 15 minutes and is made up of building lights that change in color and pattern, as well as laser beams coming off the tops of several buildings. We didn’t have our camera with us, but will try to catch some pictures tomorrow night, when we are hoping to do some night walking in the Kowloon shopping district.

After the light show, we walked to Wampao Market just a few blocks away. It is in the shape of a huge ship and, when we arrived last night, and drove past it, we thought it was a real ship on the water. It has about 4 floors in it and many shops and restaurants. They even have a “$10 always” section, which would be the equivalent of our $1 stores. Ina actually found a couple items in there. After our shopping we headed back to the room and I worked on the blog material and watched TV until 11:00 when we turned out the lights.