Saturday 11th April Sydney to Hong Kong, Easter Sunday 12th Hong Kong

UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 12 April 2009 | Views [104] | Comments [1]

We left Sydney on time on our Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600(for the plane spotters) and 9 hours and 4,009 miles later arrived in Hong Kong for our first ever visit to Asia. We were met at the very modern airport by our courier service and transported to our hotel, The Grand Stanford Intercontinental in the heart of Kowloon, where we have a magnificent room with white fluffy dressing gowns and free slippers!!

After a good sleep we were up early and had breakfast at a nearby cafe before walking around our immediate neighbourhood to get our bearings. We had already booked a Morning Harbour and Noon Day Gun Firing Cruise which left at 10.15am from the harbour. We sailed along the waterfront of Central Wanchai, Causeway Bay and North Point before viewing the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon shelter home of the fishing families and their deep sea fishing junks. We were also shown a series of stunning skyline views of the harbour and surrounding districts and the site of the old airport. At 12.00 midday we witnessed the firing of the legendary Jardine Noon Day Gun, which is a tradition dating back to the early days of Hong Kong. On the trip we met a father and daughter American couple Ed (from San Diego) and Lori(from Boston)and we enjoyed their company. After docking it was a quick trip to the Visitor Centre to get an idea of what we should do for the rest of the day

We decided to visit The Peak which meant a Star Ferry across to Hong King Island where we walked on one of the longest escalators in the world. We then walked past the house where The Governor of Hong Kong used to live and on towards the Tram Terminal to take us to The Peak. On the way we got chatting to an Australian family who gave us directions and took us to the terminal. Being Easter Sunday the queue was very long but kept moving steadily and soon our turn came round to board the Tram for its dramatic ascent up to The Peak where we had stunning views back over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. We came down by the Tram and then hopped on the local bus to the harbour. We are amazed how cheap local transport is here. The ferry crossing over, on the top deck, cost us HKD$2.50 (25p), but on the return journey we travelled on the lower deck for HKD$2.00 (20p).

We like, very much, what we have seen of this area so far. We have never seen so many taxis in one city before, they are everwhere and, we understand, are very cheap to use.

We have just spotted a McDonalds nearby - ice cream here we come!!  

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