Hong Kong at night

After I put on the latest entry on the site I knew that I had to see the famous Hong Kong lights at night. Most of the highrise buildings are situated on Hong Kong Island and so from Kowloon, which faces the island over the famous Victoria Harbour the view was immense. So many buildings and vivid lights with a few junk boats rocking in the waves between giving the place a distinct Asian feel.





I actually met a young guy from Hong Kong at the viewing platform as he kindly insisted upon me using his tripod to take a picture. He looked pretty trustworthy, the camera could be replaced and there were no photos in the film yet, so I gladly used his tripod!! Got some good pictures and exchanged email addresses. It was interesting hearing what he said about Hong Kong, he said it is smaller now than before, and I know that a few companies left when China took over from Britain. It still looks pretty big though!!



Will now go across the harbour on a junk this morning and then go up to the Victoria Peak to look over both Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Had a lovely email from my auntie Bridget to wrap up before I get back, how cold is it!?!...

Hi there Ady.

Just to let you know that snow is predicted at the weekend so make sure you have something warm to grab when getting off the plane. Bye for now and see you sunday.

Love from Bridget and co...

I guess my sarong and flip flops are out of the question then!!!! Better put on my whole rucksack!!!

That me done for now, will speak to you when I return.

Hong Kong

Arrived in a foggy Hong Kong and headed straight for Kowloon to my hotel near Nathan Road. A little expensive but a nice finale to my trip, and it is only for one night so better make the most of it. There is an Irish bar opposite the hotel and a viewing platform from the roof of the hotel, both of which I will hope to check out later.



Got a busy day planned for tomorrow, hoping to go across the famous Victoria Harbour on a junk boat to Hong Kong Island and check it out. Also going to go up Victoria Peak as you can get a tram up there, so sounds like a plan!!!



The flight from Perth was good, nice to break up the long journey home and we flew over Bali which looks much like Fiji from the air with gorgeous islands and what looks like extinct volcanos.

I have a 13 hour flight from here to Heathrow tomorrow night and will hope to get as much sleep as possible so it will mean rejecting free food and drinks!! A difficult choice but actually, come to think of it, why give up the free drinks (silly me!), it is almost Christmas and at least I'll sleep well!!! Another good plan...

Looking forward to seeing my family, can't wait and some more of you this week, it has been too long!!!

Perth, Sunset Coast

Hey all,

Tonight is my final night in Australia, looking forward to getting home but feels like an end of an era!! I have had a great time here with my Auntie and family in Surfers Paradise, swam with dolphins in Noosa, saw Sydney, Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. The final tour from Adelaide to Alice Springs was a brilliant finale for my tours and perhaps my best tour too. The swag and sleeping under the stars is simply unforgetable!!!

When I flew from Alice Springs to Perth I had some great luck indeed, seeing both Uluru and the Olgas for free (kind of!) at the same time from the air!! Something I had wanted to do whilst I was there but couldn't afford, so looks like the Qantas lady who put me in a window seat on the left-hand side of the plane is top of my Christmas list!!

Forgot to say that it rained in Alice Springs shortly after I made my way to the Telegraph Station, strange as it also rained when I was in Las Vegas!!! My Granddad also said it rained when he was in Alice Springs too, hows that for a coincidence!!

Had some great weather in Perth, blue skies everyday and 33 degrees!! Been to Scarborough beach a few times, Freemantle today, and went to another beach today which was really nice and my final visit to a beach on this trip too. I caught sunset at Scarborough beach yesterday and today I was in a park in Perth for my final Aussie sunset. It was a good un.

I have had a great trip so far and thanks for all your emails and for checking out the website (if anyone still is!?!). I will try and send another entry from Hong Kong and perhaps put some more photos on when I get back etc.

Looks like the cold English weather is going to take some getting used to, I mean anything under 30 degrees is just not on!!!

See ya soon, looking forward to getting my feet back on the ground in England, even if it is a bit icy!!

A week to go in Alice Springs

Well, I feel very fortunate to be where I am now, only a week to go and I have had a great week coming right up to Alice Springs. There is so much to see in the area but the tour covered it quite well and of course we saw Flinders Ranges on the way up from Adelaide.

Adelaide was quite quiet when I was there so it didn't make much difference in the isolated outback!!! Our two nights up around Flinders Ranges was great and we saw many kangeroos along the way. We have stayed in some of the most isolated places in the world, and it certainly felt like it at times especially in Parachilna.



We had to come back south after the Flinders Ranges to get on the road up to the red centre and in turn, we left our last traffic lights at the most northern part of the southern coastline at Port Augusta. From there the roads were amazingly straight, there were more trees and bushes than I thought along the way too. This is perhaps due to the rain but it wasn't as barren as I thought it would be.

So along the famous highway we stopped in Coober Pedy, a famous opal town which was interesting - most of the residents live underground!!! And it is cooler, well at 24 degrees it is!!! It was certainly hot there and strange to come out of an air conditioned minibus straight into fierce heat, getting used to English weather may prove a shock!!!



Also everyday we have woken up at 4am or 5am to either get on the road early or catch some epic sunrises, which there were, especially in Coober Pedy. So we had a long drive from the opal town to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and we arrived mid afternoon. That night we had champayne whilst watching the sun come down over the rock. It was really good.



The following morning we got up at the mighty early hour of 4am again and saw sunrise before hiking around Uluru and then also that morning we went to the Olgas and did a hike there before having another Aussie BBQ. Had a few of those on the trip and the tour guide cooked pretty much everything leaving us to enjoy our free time, so that was good.



On the final two night in Uluru and Kings Canyon I swagged it outside which was simply brilliant, was lovely to wake up through the night and see the vivid night sky. The moon is much like a bedside lamp except you can't turn it off which is the most unfortunate thing!!

Will hope to take up more swagging adventures maybe in England where at least you don't have to worry about company in the night from a scorpion or something!!!

We hiked in Kings Canyon yesterday morning and I think that was my final hike on my trip!!! It was a really nice walk so a good send off.

Alice Springs is really nice, we clocked our first camel just outside the town and today I have been to the reptile centre and the Royal Flying Doctors museum. Going to check out the telegraph station now hopefully.

The Great Ocean Road, Melbourne to Adelaide

Leaving from Melbourne in the early hours of the morning we went first to Torquay - the home of Rip Curl and Quiksilver for breakfast then afterwards we went to the nearby famous Bells Beach. This is home to one of the best surfing beaches in the world

In fact, I have surfed at Bells Beach a few times and even sometimes at night in the dark... well my PS2 game console doesn't count does it!! But seriously it was great to be there to see the beach and the waves for real.

And there was no way I was leaving that place without going for at least a swim and so I headed down to the beach!! No one else from the tour group was going in, they probably all thought I was mad!! It was pretty cold, but at the very least it was epic!!

I didn't swim too far, but my tour guide said I would be straight in and out so I made sure I was in there for a good 10 minutes. I kept close to the shore but enough to see the waves up close, they didn't crash down like most waves but slowly broke, so perfect to surf on and I was glad I swam there.

We hit the Great Ocean Road shortly after and saw some Koalas up close in some trees and then some parrots too. The journey was really nice and it reminded me of the Big Sur coastline in California, but just a lot more dramatic.





We saw the famous 12 Apostles for sunset, these are individual rocks that have been left, much like Needles in the Isle of Wright. Though, it should be now called the 11 Apostles as one has collapsed recently. It was actually quite cold with a biting, sharp wind being driven straight from Antarctica and huge waves stretched out many miles, pounding the rocks with immense force.



We waited until after sunset for the small penguins to come in for the night, I couldn't believe that Australia had penguins but they certainly do!!



The second day we did a hike up in the Grampians and saw MacKenzie Falls later in the evening. We also saw many kangeroos or "roos" along the way and yesterday we did another hike before coming to Adelaide, via the amazing "pink lake"!



Tomorrow I will continue my trip up to Alice Springs over the next 6 days. Then I will fly to Perth on the 21st of November for a few nights before flying to Hong Kong on my way home!!

Melbourne to Alice Springs road trip

Will be beginning my tour tomorrow morning at 6.45am, we are going to Torquay first I think, the Australian version - with famous surfing beaches such as Bells and so will hope to carry on my recent surfing progress. Will go for the small waves!!

Went to Ramsey Street today after missing out on meeting the cast, I was lucky enough to get a lift with a distant relative which saved me at least $60!! It was interesting and got some good pictures, thouigh don't think they use the street anymore as it looks a bit unkept but same, familiar houses remain.



Will let you know how the tour goes.

Sydney to Melbourne

The last few days in Sydney were spent checking out Palm Beach which is the location of Home & Away, this was great and a nice beach which was surprisingly very quiet and no shops!!

I also checked out the Botanical gardens in the heart of the city which was quite amazing. It was strange walking around next to the harbour surrounded by plants and trees as well as "flying foxes" overhead (otherwise bats) with Sydney's skyscrapers as the backdrop. Very cool.

I also went to the Olympic Park and did a tour of the infamous stadium and relished in taking a picture of the side of the pitch where Johnny Wilkinson won the Rugby World Cup for England. Epic!!



On my final day I went to Bondi Beach with the intention of going to Manly Beach in the afternoon but enjoyed Bondi so much that I hired out a surfboard to do some surfing instead. It is a nice beach which is quite English in some ways with one part of it reminding me of Ramsgate, and this part is funnily called Ramsgate Avenue anyway!! It also seems a bit like St. Ives too with art galleries etc.



My surfing seems to have improved somewhat, I can stand up without any problem but just getting used to catching bigger waves. The waves were perfect in Bondi so I had a great time!! Caught some big waves too, did fall off once though and banged my elbow on the board, ouch!! It is a different game to bodyboarding for sure!!

Went out a couple of times in Sydney too and on the final night had only 3 hours sleep before dragging myself to the airport to go to Melbourne. Melbourne is really nice and I stayed with some distant relatives for one night. Their house is right on the beach so we had a game of cricket - with me announcing that I was going to teach them how to play!! How I love the Ashes victory (I lost though!)!!

I am staying at St. Kilda just outside the city. Will check out Ramsey Street the home of Neighbours but not sure about going to the pub to meet some of the cast as this costs $35 just to get in and to be honest would rather spend the money on hiring out a surfboard a few more times!!!

Will let you know more about Melbourne in the next few days.

Sydney

Settled in well at the Base Backpackers hostel in Sydney, it is a pretty nice hostel and clean as well as being in a great location near the centre.

Went to the Opera House late yesterday afternoon for a nice walk around, really like the Opera House, fantastic building. Today I walked over the Harbour Bridge, not the climb but the free, cheap way on the pavement!!! The only way I know!! Got some good pictures of both the bridge and opera house from the other side.

I also went up the Skytower which offered great views over the whole city and nice to put the place into perspective and see right across the Sydney harbour. In the next few days will hope to check out both Manly and Bondi Beaches as well as "Summer Bay" otherwise known as Palm Beach where the home of "Home & Away" is.

Will also hope to check out the Olympic Stadium where us poms saw the victorious win of the England Rugby team over the hosts, ouch!!