Leg 1 – Getting out of Rome!
We began the day with showers then packed and toddled off to breakfast. Wonderful Italian buffet. Then did a wee tiki tour of the camp on our way back to finish the packing and various bits. Then it was form the baggage train and off over gently cobbled paths to wait for the 10.30 shuttle. There were five of us piled on and soon on our way, but it seemed to be getting closer to the city rather than from it. Our driver suddenly pulled into this piazza hopped out and walked off (leaving the engine running) without a word. It kind of left us all feeling a bit gob-smacked and wondering whether we should’ve caught the 6.45 shuttle after all. Then we saw him crossing the piazza with a little guy in green doorman’s get up who picked up some bags and then they arrived with two other passengers tagging along. Next problem – getting out of the city. Our guy seemed to know what he was doing but the minutes to check in were getting eaten up. As we idled past a motor accident the guy next to me (one of the two) murmured that we were right now and it was only another 20 mins.
As soon as we arrived we flew into action trying to find the Cathay Pacific flight and arrived to find the ticketers were just closing off the flight. She gave us very helpful directions and we charged around the corner to find – not a queue, but a pile-up! Everyone was trying to get through 2 or 3 machines. I watched a guy ahead of us successfully get through and motioned to the rather tall blonde airport security lady that we were in the same boat. Through the xray check & I had asked about taking my laptop out but they waved it through only to have the second line of defence swing into action and want to check my bag! In the end he waved me through and we were off onto the connection shuttle to find we still had a bit of time left to shop for an iPod - Yes! – and some chocolates –Not!! I was still nauseous after the careering ride through Rome and had looked where I’d been told and found a queue of about 20 people and just had to get out of the shop. Denise found me in quite a distressed state which even her “pull-yourself-together-party” tricks didn’t help assuage! We climbed on board and she hit me with one of her ginger travellers pills which helped considerably.
Leg 2 – The flight
What can I say - movies, food, sleep. The Butterfly Effect is one weird movie! We landed safely at Hong Kong, got a bit to eat then set about our day of adventure.
Leg 3 – Hong Kong.
Smooth landing and no panic needed, even though we were behind schedule. We had a bit of a clean up then went through passport control and really started to take in the Hong Kong terminal. We had been directed to a day tour run by Vigor Tours (http://www.orientaltravel.com/tours/Hong_Kong/transit-tour.htm) so we found the desk and booked the Tour. Then it was breakfast and store our main cabin bag. and check out the shops for purchases later. Our plan – to be back by about 5 pm.
We joined the group, eight of us 2 French girls, 2 Indian, 1 South African, 1 Englishman and us, with this little old Chinese guy called Bob, and off we went. He showed us where we would get off our Airport Express Train, then we walked to our Tour Shuttle and off we went. Bob was a mine of information. “This is the biggest, the tallest, the longest… in the world.”
Three stops - The Lantau Link Viewing Platform, the Central District waterfront including the Avenue of Stars, getting on the Star Ferry, and after getting back on the bus we went up to the Hollywood Road & Man Mo Temple.
The Lantau Link was interesting, not so much for the view of the longest suspension bridge in the world but for the noise of the Hong Kong insect life. Think of the loudest hillside of cicadas and times it by 10 and you’re at the approximate noise level. Also, seeing the butterflies from Thames Butterfly House flying about in real life.
The Avenue of Stars was on the waterfront and had statues of Bruce Lee that everyone posed before, and hand prints of all the Chinese movie stars which everyone wanted to put their hands onto, right through to statues of the latest Anime ( a cartoon form) characters.
Finally, the Man Lo temple – a Taoist temple was fascinating. We asked Bob if we could take photos and he replied “Of course.” I was still a bit hesitant, being respectful and all that, until I got up to the main part of the sanctuary which would usually be the most sacred part, to be met by a sign “Souvenirs, Buy Here→” The goldwork was sublime and the incense was thick, with what we dubbed the Largest insect coils in the world, in honour of Bob. Outside was a furnace going full bore with a guy raking the ashes over and adding more stuff. This was the burning of money, paper cars, paper this, paper that, as an offering of what you had to the gods.
Then it was back down the hill to the Station. Bob left us there and we all went our separate ways. I had seen on one of the tour guides the Kowloon Walled City Garden, and so having asked Bob about it we left the Station to return to the other side by the Ferry. Mistake No.1 - we picked the wrong ferry and ended up at the other end of Kowloon City. It was a pleasant setting with people fishing and a restaurant, so we stopped and had a meal - Denise did Dim Sums and I did a noodle soup. We then asked how we might get from there to the gardens and got told to look out for a No. 6 minibus, but there didn’t seem to be one and got directed to a No 7 double-decker bus. The driver said he went there, so off we went. We made it up the hill to Boundary Road - the old boundary between Hong Kong/Kowloon and China – but a long way from where we wanted to go, then the bus turned back down the hill and finally came to a stop where he told us to walk to the end of the street and turn right and the gardens were there. We got off and did as directed and sure enough there they were. We began to explore and also realised we were cutting into our time schedule more than intended so our stroll was a little more forced. The gardens were quite stunning, even so.
Mistake No 2 - we didn’t check with Bob whether our map was current. It kind of was, except that most of the English names were no longer on the sings – all were Chinese names in Roman Script. We got to where we thought we were and from the map we thought we were only two or three blocks from the Star Ferry terminal. I think Denise agreed with me there, and on the direction we thought we should head. The further we went the more we realised that was wrong too, except we had gone down hill and there was no way we were going to go back up. So we started asking for help. As at Kowloon wharf, when we asked about taxis we got told again “No, no taxi, too expensive. Take a No. 5 bus. All No.5 go to Star Ferry.” We got to the bus stop just as a No 5 departed, and saw the stand for 5C. We/I asked whether a 5C went to Star Ferry and Yes it did. So after a couple of more buses along came not a 5 but a 5C, so we climbed aboard and sure enough the terminus for it was the Star Ferry terminal. We think now that the No 5 is the direct route and the 5C is the one that goes through the main streets of the city on the way. It was fascinating once we realised that was what was happening and took in the sights of the streets, and the sounds and looks of our fellow passengers. Finally we got to the wharf relieved and more than a little bit tired, and bought(!) our ferry tickets.
Earlier in the morning Denise and I had not been charged for our crossing but had passed through the free passage, with our tour guide, Bob, being with our grey and white hair, clearly senior citizens. I was conscious most of the day of getting very respectable, polite stares. I think the combination of such a young!! face and such white hair made for some puzzlement.
We got on the right ferry and back over the other side were able to safely negotiate our way to the Airport Express Train and were whisked back to the airport in 24 minutes.
The humidity and heat of the day, and probably a bit of jet lag, meant we were not overly hungry, but knew we needed to eat something. Contrary to my stated policy, the only thing that looked or felt palatable was a BK fish burger meal, for both of us.
Then we picked up the bag, repacked stuff and went back through passport control, handing back the 90 day visitor permits we were granted 12 hours earlier. We explored the duty free shopping precinct with sagging jaws at the amount one could spend. Having window shopped enough, we headed off to our Gate to be met with – you guessed it – flight delayed because the plane had not yet arrived. While sitting around I noticed I had what looked like an allergic reaction on my ankle, except it was on both legs. Took some Claratyne and rubbed Bepanthen in but they didn’t seem to have any effect and realised if they stayed or got worse would need to get them checked. We eventually boarded and off we flew.
Leg 3 - The flight #2
I read The Times and did their Sudokus then it was sleep time. I must have slept reasonably soundly but suddenly I felt wide awake. Checking the time on the screen I found it was just before 8 am NZ time and just another four hours to go. With the whole plane in darkness it was easy for the hostesses to spot those who were awake and found that they very helpfully provided snacks, peanuts, pretzels, sandwiches and icecreams, and drinks for those who were awake. Then we were in descent mode and landed at 12.50, only an hour late.
Clearance through customs was a breeze. The sniffer beagle responded to Denise’s bag but when she said it was medication that was fine, the handler said that he wasn’t after that sort of stuff. Through the Biosecurity X-Ray machine and out into the concourse to be met by Adrienne. We were back!
Leg 4 - The drive home.
After soup at Adrienne's and a quick chat we were on our way home, but only got as far as Mercer before I needed a wee sleep so we pulled over and I did just that. It was enough and the rest of the trip was a breeze, even though I was wearing my Italian racing driver cap!
Good to be home. Now it’s time to bore Kieran night after night with tales of travel and catch up with his goings on.
PS. All the photos are there, I had been trying to open those I’d deleted!
PPS. Checked the legs out with the doctor and he’s happy with them with the usual warning - If they swell come back immediately.
PPPS. Got the teeth repaired as well, so 'm back to full fighting fitness!
Now how to get photos from the computer sorted and named and into the blog or Flickr or both. That’ll keep me busy at work for months!
All in all a wonderful trip, a marvellous experience, and very happy to be back home!
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