Warm and sunny. Jet lag was biting last night - awake from 0130 to 0530. It must be Christmas. The hotel now has a Christmas tree and decorations have gone up in the malls below. I walked out through the mall complex and out onto the street, then along the harbour (fenced in by construction) to the Star Ferry. I crossed to Tsim Sha Tsui on what must be one of the more spectacular ferry crossings in the world. Got off the ferry and walked east along the waterfront taking photos across the harbour. I walked up into Kowloon proper and had a coffee, but decided against going further into the city for the moment. Instead, I decided to go further out. I crossed the busy streets to Hung Gom Station and took the Kowloon - ... read more

Woke up at about 0700 UK time - 1500 Chinese time. I could see cloud below with peaks sticking out - probably ove western Tibet or similar. Strangely, there's no snow ont he tops - even in November. The cloud cleared after a while, but it was too hazy to see any land details. Finally we flew over Macau and through hazy sunset islands into Hong Kong. Immigration and customs passed by quickly, then took the Airport Express into the Cebtral area and then the bus to the hotel. It's built on top of a shopping mall, which could be anywhere in the UK, with most of the same brands - I went for a walk down below to loosen myself up. You can keep walking through connected malls for ages, and it was obvious that ... read more

Just managed to finish all the work before I head off (by about 5.30). Time to pack (very quickly - worryingly quickly given that this is a 4 month trip). and head down to the pub to see some friends I haven't seen for a very long time, who just happened to be passing through on my last night in Britain. Next entry will, I hope, be from a very long way away indeed.... read more

Oxford City Race Before I leave, I take part in the last orienteering event for some while (since the New Zealanders don't put on any events in their summer holidays, Hong Kong events managed to lose Brits in the jungle last time I heard, and I can't imagine there's anything in Polynesia). The City Race starts in the University Parks, and goes around the northern side of the city, through a few colleges that have had their arms twisted to let us through, and back into the parks again. Still very slow (although improving) and delighted to have a control at the northern end of the dinosaur footprints in front of the Natural History Museum. Said goodbye to lots of people that I know in the sport and headed back home to do some more work. ... read more