KJV79
Keith Viner Joined: October 17th 2007
Logged in: March 5th 2009
Logged in: March 5th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Hong Kong
It was so lovely to meet up with friends Sophia and John from my home town in Kent who have been visiting family in Hong Kong for the last three weeks. They arrived at my hotel and we took the short Star Ferry across from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. There is a fantastic light show in Victoria Harbour called "A Symphony of Lights" that takes place every evening at 8pm An amazing multimedia show which has been named the "World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show" by Guiness Book of Records combining lights and music and narration involving 43 key buildings on both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon It certainly was incredible to watch and hear and a great aperitif before our wonderful Chinese Meal at the Hutong Restaurant on the 28th Floor over looking ... read more
Hong Kong
I must say the 8.5 hour flight from Sydney to Hong Kong went very quickly enjoying a nice meal on the plane, plenty of film and tv choices and managing a nap too! My chauffeur was waiting at the airport to take me the 35minute journey to The Mandarin Oriental Hotel right in ther city centre and to my beautiful roon on the 19th floor The Hotel has recently had a multi million dollar make over and there is every gadget imagineable in my room! From remote control lighting, computer and message centre in the TV to a wet room and surround sound centre! I feel quite at home lol! There is a 3 hour difference in time from Sydney so now 8 hours ahead of UK but feeling quite tired so after a quick strole ... read more
Blue Mountains
My last full day in Sydney took me on a trip to the Blue Mountains an area west of the city about an hour and a half by car I was in a group of 15 people plus our guide John Sadly the day was wet which was a pity because the mountains are beautiful and I was hoping to get some spectacular views Arriving in the mist we did find some kangaroos feeding on the grass while we enoyed a cuppa Then because the weather was not very favourable we were able to watch a very interesting documentary about the area at a cinema called Woilderness Experience at The Edge cinema which had a screen even bigger than mine!! There are some areas in The Blue Mountains that, even today have seen very little human ... read more
Manly
Having met up with Adrian, a guy from Zurich, who did the Backstage tour of the Opera House we decided to take a trip over to Manly about a 35 minute ferry trip from Circular Quay at Sydney Harbour The weather was a bit wet but we thought it might clear and you get some great views of the harbour from the ferry Once at Manly we had a lovley walk along the beach and up over the cliff just as the sun was trying to shine through Then returning to Circular Quay we got our shots of the Opera House and Bridge from the Harbour Later in the day I met up with my old flat mate from London, Jason who is Australian and lives in Sydney. It was so good to see him again ... read more
Back Stage Opera House
Well I have been very excited about this backstage tour of the Opera House for my whole trip Not only had I been fortunate enough to have enjoyed the tour from the inside, with Annette, but now I was actually going to get to see behind the scenes too! The early morning started off a bit eventfully as I could not actually get into the building where I was expecting to gain entry! It was nearing the 7am meeting time and it was important to be on time, fortunately a secruity guard took pity on me and pointed me to the Stage Door where the other five visitors were waiting We were each given a security badge to wear for our trip and Adam our guide introduced himself It was not possible to take pictures in ... read more
Sydney
Well leaving Hayman Island and arriving in Sydney was a bit of a shock to my system as the weather was a lot colder than I had been used to! I had only worn short trousers since I arrived in Australia so I was grateful that my taxi driver turned up the air con in the limo on the way to The Shangri La Hotel in the Rocks area of Sydney about 20 minutes from the airport to warm me up!! From my room on the 27th Floor I had my first iconic views of the absolutely stunning Opera House and Harbour and Bridge I cant believe I am in a place I had always wanted to visit......... Annette had arrived in the city the day before so it was lovely to see a friendly face ... read more
Sydney Opera House
Annette and I arrived at the Opera House at 4.45pm to be greeted by our guide Peter to give us an idividual tour around parts of the Opera House We were lucky enough to be just the two of us so it was an amazing opportunity to see this incredible building in a very personal way He explained how the building had been full of controversy right from the early days of its conception Not only in the design of the building but the amount of money and time it was going to take to build. When it was finally opened on 20th October 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II it had cost $102million the original estimate in 1957 had been $7million The Danish Architect Jorn Utzon was chosen after a competition and he was miles ahead ... read more
A Day in Sydney
A day to myself in Sydney sadly the weather was really wet so decided not do the Bridge Climb but rather spent the day walking around and discovering the city I seem to walk for miles but a great way to see everything The main Street is George Street which runs north to south and is the main shopping area I discovered the Museum of Sydney and Museum of Contempary Art The Royal Theatre in King Street and Town Hall Then past St Andrew's Cathedral and into China Town Next to the East and to the Darlinghurst area before returning to Sydney Tower in Pitt Street to get an amazing ariel view of the city Its the second tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere I also saw the monorail which travels around the cental area of ... read more
Sunday on Hayman
Sunday morning and another beautiful day here on the island After a lovely leisurely breakfast I headed up to the Stella Maris Chapel a wonderful setting for this interdenominational church Today Reverend Terry Ayling was conducting the non denominational service He was a lovely Australian guy, about my age, (yes young then!) who has the reasponsibility for conducting services here and on Hamilton and Day Dream Islands There were 10 of us at the service today including a couple who had been married at Hayman three years ago in the very Chapel We sang to a DVD and watched a video presentation about other people seeing Jesus in us.....food for thought. It was very informal and we had a chance to chat together afterwards and take in the wonderful views It was rather appropriate that we ... read more
Hayman Island
Well I mentioned that today was going to be a bit special and it certainly has been. I woke early with the sun streaming into my room looking out over the still Lagoon at Hayman Island Resort. A delicious buffet type breakfast overlooking the Lagoon in the Azure Restaurant was a perfect setting to begin another exciting day At 8am I met my other two guests for the day, Craig and Melissa (another honeymoon couple from Derby) as we headed over to the Helipad (I am getting rather used to this type of travel!!) for our initial flight to Fantaseas Reefworld on the Great Barrier Reef. Jacko was our pilot and guide for the day and made us very relaxed for the 30minute flight. Such a clear and calm sea as we headed over the Whitsunday ... read more
