Helen and Tony's Travels: Hong Kong

Friday, 17^th February 2012

We docked at the container port, as the Diamond is too big for the Cruise Ship Terminal. A shuttle bus took us to the a shopping area of town. We got ourselves an Octopus Card, a card that can be used to board public transport, to buy things from some stores, eg McDonalds & 7 11’s. We took the Star ferry to Hong Kong Island and joined a Big Red Bus Tour. For $Au44 each we could hop on and off the bus for the day, Ferry tickets, Sampan ride and Peak Tram ride were all included. We started by going to the Peak. The lines were long to board the tram. It goes up a very steep incline, taking the passengers to a vantage point to view Hong Kong. As the day was overcast the view was good but I imagine it to be a lot better on a clear day. After a lunch of hotdogs we went back down the hill to re-board the Bus and headed for Stanley Markets.

It was a long winding trip with lots to see along the way. We sat on the top deck in the open, it got a little chilly but the views made up for that. We passed a building that has a large section missing, much like a window. (see pic) The dragon would not allow the building to be built as it would then be unable to get to the water from its home in the mountains. The builders came up with this solution a hole in the building for it to pass through. I think it is a wonderful story, especially as it is about a dragon.

We roamed the Stanley markets, I bought a handbag, Purple of course.

It was 5.30pm by the time we got back to Central station with a ½ hr wait til the night tour left we had a coffee with Ash and Dianne. The Night tour took us around the city streets for over an hour, it was very busy. It then dropped us at the shore line so we could watch the Light Show. A 15 min walk along the foreshore got us back to the shuttle bus.

We stayed up to watch us sail under the bridge before retiring after our long fun day.

We will be back in Hong Kong later in the trip.