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Published: June 23rd 2006
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Leaving Cooktown
Here we are about to get onto the Skytrans planes We finally made it!
After traveling by Skytrans on Wednesday afternoon (there was a bit of bumpy bumpy on the landing) we got to our initial destination. The room was ready and we were really close to the room as we requested. We took a taxi up to the Esplanade which was a simple trip, grabbed some MacDonalds and decided to walk back to the hotel. Elizabeth was terribly unimpressed but we got there. That was the easy part! There was a young group of people staying at the hotel and they decided to party outside in the pool until 3.30am. Unfortunately the room was overlooking the pool. So they yahooed all night and we finally got up at 4am with very little rest. Gee thanks a lot guys!!!!
So at 4am we got up (since we were already awake it really wasn’t a feat at all!) and were at the airport by 5am. We got really good seats for our Virgin Blue flight because it was fairly empty. We took off early and arrived in Sydney by 9.15am - quick and efficient all the way and no messing around.
Arriving in Sydney, we collected our bags and
Kowloon Harbour
A barge with crane making its way down the harbour with the highrises on the Hong Kong Island background. Oh and the Avenue of Stars in the foreground took the rail-link over to the International Airport. We got to the bbb—iii—ggg board which told us where we needed to go to Check-In but as luck would have it we had to wait until about 11.15 am to book in the luggage so we headed over to the Starbucks Café almost next the check in point. We then wandered around the shops in the terminal until 11am and by then the line was ready for us to pop into the line, but before we could check our bags we had to get them into the Safety Bags we bought for the trip. And for all of those who had a smile at them - yes they did work really well. Okay they looked a little different but that was a small price to pay for something that worked really well. Mark commented on the fact that in the whole Hong Kong Airport and Sydney he did not see anyone else using them!
The Virgin Atlantic flight was really good, although a little cramped but that seems to be the norm. The flight was about an hour late because we were sitting on the Tarmac for the whole hour because there were issues with loading the freight - but it could have been worse. United Airlines were having trouble loading their plane. For about half an hour one of the most amusing calls that was regularly aired was “Calling passenger X. The flight is about to depart. Please go to the Service Gate and make yourself known immediately to the Flight Staff.” And it was always the same passengers.
Anyway the flight was good, they fed us lunch at about 3.30pm and then a ‘light dinner’ about 10pm (our time) the timing was a little sad but anyway. The lunch was a chicken in a red sauce (could have been wine) lightly boiled potatoes and pumpkin, light salad, banana cake, wine, coffee and a chocolate (yummy!) and of course the seat back Entertainment systems were also good. We had a choice of television, movies and games. Yes there was also the facilities for making phonecalls etc (not that we did!)
We arrived in Hong Kong about 11.15 Hong Kong time (or 1.15am home time) and got through the terminal by monorail (wow! What a humungous airport!) arrived at the Temperature Check area and then made our way to Customs, which was really quick! And collected our bags. (In their very different Safety Bags) but the amazing thing is how organized they are. There is a billboard you check to see which carousel your items are on. You collect your baggage and then go through to the arrivals meeting area. We were met by Steve who was getting us to the Hotel on a coach, had about 6 groups to collect but really nice. And was so great, told us where we were going and kept a running commentary until arrival at our hotel.
The hotel is a very grand affair, two porters came running very quickly to us to collect our bags and it is an amazing array of wood and glass, highly polished and such a calm atmosphere. Our room is the same, beautifully appointed (maybe just a titch compact) wooden features and glass tops. The bathroom is almost luxurious but extremely comfortable all around, but by 12.30 am (Hong Kong time) all we wanted to do was sleep. We finally made it into bed and slept really hard until 8.30 am (I will now revert totally to Hong Kong time but an easy point to remember is that we are 2 hours behind Home time).
Today we wandered out to look around the Kowloon area, walked along Avenue of Stars, which has some terrific items to look at, the handprints and names of the biggest Hong Kong stars, found the Star Ferry terminal and the Hong Kong Tourist Bureau offices wandered up Nathan Road and saw the Chungking Mansions, and then back down Canarvon and then down Pratt Avenue and Chatham Road South back to the Hotel. A funny aspect was that we were so hungry by the time we got going this morning that we had to find something to eat, but it had to be easy to digest so we ended up with MacDonalds. Can you believe it? Halfway across the globe and Maccas for breakfast! What a lark! And watching Mark order was funny, we ended up with 3 fries, 3 drinks, 3 Chicken Sandwiches and 2 Big Macs. Mark swears they don’t have a clue what he was on about when he got the to Quarter Pounder Value Meal!!!
Anyway tonight we are about to wander out again (now that we have our Octopus cards) to the Night Markets. We are loading a couple of pics for you all.
Until tomorrow!
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mum & dad
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holiday
Sounds like you are having a good time. Good photo too! We have had quite a bit of rain which is great. Gran G is back in hospital from what I can make out fluid on lungs etc. Will tell you more when we know. Keep up the photos and commentary please. Love mum