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Published: June 25th 2008
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Hong Kong
18-06-08 Wednesday. We rose early at 4:00 am (2 am HK time) to check into the airport at 5 am for a 7:40 am departure. Unfortunately, due to a late connecting flight, we did not leave until 8:15 am for the 9 hour flight over Darwin to Hong Kong. Over central Australia we had 140 km/h head winds.
The Hong Kong airport was unusual in that we had a short underground(?) train ride to get from the terminal building to the customs and baggage building where we were ushered into a waiting area for the hotel bus.
Our Kowloon Hotel room is perhaps the smallest room we have ever had. Nicely appointed though.
19-06-08 Thursday. We bought some computer parts at Star Centre (near the ferries) where there seems to be a whole floor of computer shops. The prices were much the same as in Australia. A 1915 clock tower nearby is all that remains of the European railway terminus.
Then we took the ferry to Hong Kong Island. The ferries all seem to be very old with lots of paint over rust. They are double ended with a rudder and propeller
at each end. The large 6 cylinder diesel engine runs at about 300 rpm and has a clutch a each end to drive the appropriate propeller. The old harbour cruise ferry that we took was made in 1964. It would have been better if we could have understood the commentary.
There is land reclamation work in progress. This time they seem to be building it up higher than before - perhaps because of the predicted rise in sea level which threatens much of Hong Kong.
We have tended to eat at a Starbucks that is under the Kowloon Hotel. The food is nice but it is only snack size, so I thought that I would try McDonalds. Some mince meat, some melted cheese and a thin layer of something else in a tiny soggy bun was not appetising so Beth probably did better at Starbucks. Tomorrow we will try the Spaghetti House.
We walked to the “Avenue of Stars” to watch the lights show where buildings across the harbour had their extensive illuminations turned on. Some had extensive bars of changing colour but perhaps the most interesting was the Bank of China, a tall building with a triangular
structure, that had the triangles illuminated in white outlines, but with a wide variety of patterns.
20-06-08 Friday. We took the train to the Hong Kong Admiralty Station and walked through Hong Kong Park to the Peak Tram terminus. The small part of Hong Kong Park that we walked through was very pleasant with large fountains and a large fish pond surrounded by trees.
Peak Tram is a cable car, counterbalanced by another cable car, that climbs about 1,000 feet to The Peak, one of the mountains overlooking Hong Kong city. The view was excellent from the top of the building. We could just see a small part of our hotel. In the harbour there were many dredges. Perhaps they were gathering the sand that was being used, together with crushed rock, in land reclamation.
After lunch there we returned to the bus interchange and took a double decker bus to Stanley. This may be the poor side of Hong Kong Island but we did not see a house listed for less than about $A3 million. The Stanley Market was jam packed with stalls but we avoided it. These bus drivers deserve a medal for driving
on such steep, narrow, winding, congested roads filled with buses, trucks, vans, Mercedes, Porches, Audis, Jaguars etc.
Then to the ferry and a walk back to the hotel. Two things that we particularly appreciated was the escalators instead of stairs in most places where there was a steep climb and cool air conditioning in the buildings.
We had a good feed at the Spaghetti House. Pleasant, clean surroundings and good service with a varied menu that was not all pasta.
22-06-08 Saturday. This was a walking day. We started with the pleasant Kowloon Park. It was well signposted with quite a lot crammed into a fairly small space. Perhaps the most significant displays were the sculptures and the flamingos.
Lunch and a visit to the Space Museum. There were many activities including a demonstration of propeller vs rocket propulsion as the air was pumped out of a bell jar, moon gravity (spring taking 9/10ths of the person’s weight) and an air propelled rocket. There was extensive illustration of stars and stellar evolution.
Close to the Space Museum was Signal Tower so we went there. It was a steep climb up to the maritime signal
tower where balls were raised or lowered to give times to the sailors. Only the 3rd floor was closed to visitors, although there was nothing on the other floors.
There was just nice time to walk to the Science Museum where the worlds largest “Energy Machine” that raised 2.3 kg balls and rolled them down through about 5 different tracks (total length 1.6 km) and actions like playing large drums or tubular bells. Again there were many activities involving, for example, hang gliding simulator, optical illusions, magnetism and electricity. There was a real DC3 aircraft hanging from the ceiling.
Back to Starbucks to collapse, cool down and have a snack before waiting for the 8:30 pm bus to the airport. Luckily we did not wait for the promised “roll call” in the foyer, but went out towards the bus. The driver shook his head at us, but the Sikh doorman that I had had a conversation with checked out travel document and had a word with the driver who then loaded our cases onto the bus. This was all most annoying because the Vigor bus representative woke us up at about 11 pm the night before to check that
we knew the departure time of the bus and advised us on what to do. Then we waited until our 11:50 departure time. Our part of the plane (down the back in cattle class) seemed full, but there must have been spaces elsewhere because the man and boy in front of us found somewhere else to sleep. I reckon that long haul jet flight in the cattle class is torture.
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