Going home today after a brilliant time. (We have packed our suitcases and booked the room all day so we can leave the cases and have a shower before we leave for the airport this evening) we are going to see the whole of Hong Kong from a high up viewing platform and then to go to the Chinese gardens again at Nan Lian our plane leaves at 23.55 and we arrive in London Heathrow at 04.50 am Thursday. Hopefully the taxi will be there and we should be home about lunch time. Will phone when we arrive home and it will be good to hear your voices xxxx love you all

Tuesday in Hong Kong… We got on the underground and travelled to Central. Outside the art exhibition was a huge microphone. You shout in it and then it starts with karaoke music and words to sing on a screen. I had a go! We went in the cultural centre and there was a photographic exhibition of outstanding photos from China and HongKong. Very interesting to us. When we got onto the waterfront there was a junk boat and it put up its sails and sailed by us very slowly. How lucky was that to be able to see it. Again the weather was murky and foggy and cold. We got on the bus and went to Stanley market and Stanley beach. Not much to say about either! Got back on the bus and went to the shopping centre in Central. we enjoyed the best food we’ve eaten in Hong Kong in a chinese cafe. Expensive though but it is our last full day on holiday! We got back on the underground in rush hour. I couldn’t believe the seething mass of humanity we encountered. We couldn’t squeeze into the first train that came along but just about managed to on the 2nd! We were relieved to get back to the hotel as the streets were full of people too. Photos later

Well today we had loads planned and did only half of it as what we saw was so beautiful we stayed much longer than we expected at both places!

We travelled by underground train all day, it is so easy and cheap travelling too. We arrived at the wrong station for the first stop though. These station names are so similar but on different lines. Anyway we were not too far from the correct station Whoops!

We found the path to take up the hill to the monastery and prepared ourselves for the many steps up the hill. I did it all, very proud of myself and so pleased I did it.

All the way up either side of the path, there are golden Buddhas. Each one has a different face and different pose.

At the first level we found the beautiful shrines and painted buildings. You are not allowed to take photos of the temples and Buddhas  here which was a shame as they are magnificent. Wild monkeys roam around and jump in the trees.

From this level you walk down many steps to the monastery, we gave this a miss as we wanted to carry on further up.

We then took the steps higher up into the hillside. here we found women buddhas and more temples and shrines. At the very top of this valley was a pool of large koi carp and then the water flows down to another pool containing large fish and turtles. They are “life enabling” pools.

We had vegetarian food at their café and Chinese tea. It was  delicious meal. Now we were all set for the descent!

We got down quicker than we did going up. BUT both of us were suffering, me with my knees and Vince with his ankle which is all swollen up now.

We got back on the tube and headed for Diamond Hill station. Here there is a classical Chinese garden to tour “serenity in the midst of hustle and bustle” is how it is described and it was. The gardens are set out with bonsai trees, Buddhist pines a banyan grove and beautiful boulders. A lotus pond with Zi-Wu bridges  containing huge Koi carp and a tea house and terraces. It is connected to a nunnery. We got lovely photos of this garden, hope you like them.

We have to finish our sight seeing tomorrow. As we fly out Wednesday night we will have Wednesday to visit some places.

We arrive in London on Thursday morning, not Wednesday as we thought!!!

Right we knew where we wanted to go, so today we had to use the HongKong underground. Once we found the nearest station, and worked out how to buy the tickets we were on our way! The weather sadly was the same as yesterday….. Foggy.

We reached Lantau Island and then joined a long queue for the cable car tickets. As we ascended the mountain we could see a bit of the land beneath and the airport and the sea. We had a crystal cabin ie it had a glass bottom but as the cloud closed in we could barely see anything. The cable car was a 25 minute 5.7km ride.

At the top is Ngong Ping village. The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastry.In spite of constant rain we had a lovely time. Our journey of enlightment ha ha! I really hope the pictures explain what we saw.

Vince walked up all the steps to the top to visit the Big Buddha, which from the bottom was just a vague outline in the cloud and rain. It is 34 m high made of bronze and weighs 250 tons.

The Zen Buddhist temple, Po Lin Monastery was so beautiful. There were areas for burning incense sticks. The colours were amazing on the Monastery walls and designs on the roof.

The inside was all mostly gold and took your breath away. There were sacred cows roaming through the area and a tea garden. People were offering prayers and lighting incense and hanging cards on trees. A real cultural experience and a first for me.

By the time we got back to our hotel we were soaking wet and needed a rest. But I still can’t get used to so many people everywhere you go.

For Louis Otis and Lilyana. Greedy granddad eating popcorn and drinking loads of chinese tea. ha ha xxx

We managed breakfast at the hotel, it was 1 choice from 7. I chose option 5: pancakes and syrup,hard boiled egg, 2 small beef sausages,tiny portion of baked beans, fruit salad and a mug of milk, orange juice and coffee. Not too bad? Vince chose option 3: cornflakes,milk,fruit salad, yoghurt, toast and jam. Thought you’d be interested lol!

We bit the bullet and ventured out via taxi to the harbour. We bought a 48 hour ticket that allows us to do and visit lots of things.

So today turned out to be a success! The weather wasn’t good though. It is cold and foggy with poor visibility 14c, but felt colder. Gone are the summer days of 25c😟.

First we went on an open bus tour so we had to catch the ferry over the harbour from the cultural centre to Hong Kong island. The tour was 2 hours and we got off once to go on a sampan boat to see the traditional boat houses in that area of the harbour.

We were freezing when we got back to the place we started. There was a huge shopping mall on 3 stories with designer shops and nice cafes. Soooooo many people though I don’t like it but I feel safe here. We ate a small salad and warmed up with a hot drink.

Next we went to the marine museum. It was very interesting and lots of exhibitions. There was an interactive simulation of steering a large ship into Hong Kong harbour. It was great fun. The sea could be calm or stormy and the weather could change. It was so true to life and I felt sea sick! I turned the ship right round and went fast and slow through the waves. Every age would enjoy this from Otis and Louis Lily Anona and Grandma!

Next we went on the ferry on a harbour tour. The harbour skyline was impressive although gloomy weather. There was a guided explanation of all the buildings around this deep natural harbour . One of the 3 only in the world. Phew it was phenomenal!

So now we had to get back to our hotel. We got back on the ferry to Kowloon, then called at the tourist info to find out where the taxi rank was. What a day shared with thousands of people! Hope the weather is better tomorrow as we are going to see a huge Buddha on top of a mountain

We arrived at 6am in international terminal. It is a huge airport with moving pavements to help you reach immigration. So many people! We had a coffee to wake us up and got in a taxi to go to hotel.

We arrived there 8am and were able to take our room from then. After a shower change of clothes and a sleep, we ventured out. We are in a brand new hotel in an old area of Mongcok.

It was 11.30am and we were hungry! We headed up 3 floors in a lift to “the London restaurant” . It was packed with people being seated at any table with spare chairs.It was so noisy, they were going to seat us on a table of 4 people there already, but thought better of it, so we were taken further into this huge restaurant to a small table.

We were the only Europeans in there . No one seemed to speak English but they helped us when we ordered too much rice by mistake. The food arrived in no real order and at different times brought by different ladies. So we ate it one dish by one dish as it arrived. It was tasty and our starter soup arrived at the end. It was flavoured water with a  floating meatball dumpling which had been in there for a while and all wrinkly and pale looking. Yuk we couldn’t fancy eating it. I broke the dumpling open and there was a mixture of meats definitely a bit of chicken and the rest looked suspicious.

The streets are dirty and smelly with masses of people, lights traffic and noise. What a shock to the system in comparison with 9 weeks of hardly seeing many people on the streets and beaches in NZ.

In the evening we wandered through the heaving busy ladies market. Quite enjoyed this experience. we are definitely in a chinese area so few European faces around, quite a novelty for me to be in the minority. We were still hungry so found a pitza hut restaurant after going up 4 escalators in a shopping centre. I had lasagne and preferred this place as it was calmer and food I was used to!

We have jet lag as HongKong is 5 hours difference to NZ. We are going on a hop on off bus tour tomorrow if all goes to plan! 

Love to you all from tired weary J and V xxx

Wednesday …This is our last holiday day in NZ as we travel to Auckland to fly out to HongKong tomorrow evening. 

We split the day up into seaside and volcano/lakes,calling back at “kiwi 360” for a kiwi cheese cake and coffee. 

We followed the Pacific highway to Whakatane. It was a good drive through hilly farmland and kiwi orchards. The town was busy and had a strong Maori culture to it. There was a statue in honour of the Maori leader’s daughter out to sea. We saw many sea birds and a pair of swallows on the sea shore. There was a harbour and further out a sandbank and surfers riding the surf. On the road into town was a huge Maori house which was open to the public.

 In the afternoon we travelled inland to the lakes. We passed 5 of several large lakes near to Rotorua on the thermal highway. They looked calm and blue and inviting. 

Oh and the cheesecake was yummy!

I will add photos later as not enough wifi mbs left to do this!

Just leaving motel now to travel up to Auckland, still very hot but weather is set to change tomorrow! Weren’t we lucky xxxx

Sent from my iPad

This morning we walked all around Mount Maunganui, it dominates Tauranga and sticks right out into the harbour. There are various walks to take. Up to the top, a 3 hour return and very steep walk with 360* views or a longer walk all around the base of this volcano. Needless to say we walked around the base!

The sea was blue and so was the sky with fluffy clouds 27c today. The rocks all around are interesting shapes and forms. All solidified larva. Along the edge of the path which weaves up and down, old trees cling to the rocks and their huge roots are exposed.

There were broken shells everywhere on the paths and grassy hillsides and when we looked further they were all from a strata in the rock. They must have been under the sea at one time and the sea bed has been forced up.

This afternoon we travelled north to Waihi Beach. This area is full of fruit trees. Advocadoes, kiwi fruit,fig,oranges and lemons. This is the first area in the world where kiwi fruit was grown commercially.

Waihi Beach had golden sparkling sands and was full of shells of many types. There were only 5 of us on the huge beach, we walked along and I paddled in the South Pacific Ocean..lovely.

The route to Rotorua and then on to Tauranga was very interesting. It was called the thermal pools highway.

At various points we could see steam rising from springs in fields and from privately owned spas.

We are finding nothing is free in this area and requires a bus journey or a boat trip to view the wonders. There are geysers and salt pools, gushing waterfalls and warm thermal pools. We stopped at some mud pools. They were so funny the noise the mud made as it exploded was a “flub” sound rather than a “glug” sound!

I took some videos of the steaming mud explosions. There was a smell of sulphur but not too bad.

We passed a large area of fruit and hop growing and a kiwi fruit area. We had a salad there with kiwi fruit in it very nice. The kiwis grow like vines and hang down like grapes.

Our motel is very nice and has its own thermal pool at 33c must try it out tonight

We are right on the Bay of Plenty east coast 100 miles south of Auckland