Margi took us to the airport in plenty of time to have a coffee. There is a super kiddies play area in the food court so Logan kept himself busy until he discovered the escalators. Then it was up and down numerous times, with an adult in tow till it was really time to leave. After we had gone through the luggage exray area, Linsley was pulled aside, and asked to take off his jacket, and was frisked down! I didn't think he looked like a crook, but someone must have thought so. While one guy was searching him, his partner was talking to me and asking why we had been in NZ etc. Fortunately the plane was not full, so Linsley and I had the 4 middle seats between the 2 of us, so we took turns in stretching out.
We had taken off at 3pm, and after an 11 hour flight we landed in Hong Kong at 9pm. We caught the bus in to Hong Kong Island, as I wanted to see the city lights, and was sure I wouldn't be able to do that on the fast train, as it mostly travels underground. The bus took 45 minutes to get to where we needed to get off. Fred and Jo had given us very good directions, and we caught a taxi from the set place, and got to their apartment just after 11pm. Pretty late to arrive at someone's home when you have never even met them before, but they were waiting to greet us with a much needed cup of tea. They have a super spacious apartment, with stunning views over the shipping lanes to Hong Kong harbour. When the weather was clear we could see Lantau Island - which is where the airport is - and at any given point in time there were at least 40 vessels of varying sizes in view.
On Wednesday we caught the local 'light' bus in to Central HK, then walked to the ferry terminal, and caught the ferry over to Kowloon on the mainland. We walked around there till we got directions to the underground MTR (mass transit railway) and it certainly caters for the masses. There are just simply thousands of people in sight at any time. We took the MTR for only 3 stops (about 6 minutes) to get to where the cheap markets are. Linsley took one look at the mass of humanity there and wanted to turn around and go home again! However, we managed to walk a few blocks, then stopped at a little hole in the wall eatery, where we had a very tasty fried noodle and prawns meal. We bought a couple of things, then decided we had had enough of the crush. We walked back to Nathan Road - the main thoroughfare on this side - and caught a double decker bus back to the ferry terminal. As we had front seats at the top we had super views of Nathan Road and the shops and the crowds. We went to the space museum and walked around a bit. They were closing off a few areas and getting ready for the Chinese New Year celebrations which were to take place on the 23rd. We went back to HK Island on the ferry, then walked to the main bus terminal to catch a different bus back to Pok Fu Lam where the Clatworthy's live. As the buses take different routes we saw many different areas.
On Thursday we left early with Jo and dropped the children off at their school. It is really a playschool, but kids of 3 can read already. Jo and her children, almost 3 and 5, are learning to speak and read Mandarin and Sam, who will only be 3 next week, can read quite a few characters already!! Then we went with Jo to fetch a friend of hers at Happy Valley, and we all went to Stanley, which is at the far end of Hong Kong Island, so this was a super opportunity to see outlying areas. There is another huge market at Stanley, and Jo wanted to get costumes for her children for their new year party at school the next day. On the way we passed some apartment blocks which have huge gaps in them. This is so that the dragon spirits which live up in the mountains behind can get down to the sea below, and won't get trapped by the buildings. These gaps must represent millions of dollars worth of real estate, but evidently, unless they are there, the developers would not be able to sell any of the apartments in the buildings, as it would be bad feng shui. And as tall and beautifull as all these buildings are, they are built using only bamboo scaffolding!
We had a nap in the afternoon, and then took Fred and Jo out to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Kennedy Town that had been recommended to them. It was really nice, and we had a super meal. Fortunately they dont drink alcohol, as that is seriously expensive. At every restaurant you are immediately served either water or else green tea, and glasses are constantly refilled.
On Friday morning we caught yet another bus into Kennedy Town, which is an old area, but the closest shopping area to their apartment. We walked through a meat, fish, fruit and vegetable market which is 3 stories high. The fish are mostly still alive in small tanks. We watched one guy choose a fish, then the fishmonger bonked it on the head with a hammer, and started scaling it before it had even stopped moving! The fruit and veggies looked really bright and fresh, with many things I have never seen before.
After lunch we finished our packing, and Jo dropped us off at the A10 air-bus stop. We waited for 20 minutes or so for a bus, and saw the sights on the way back to the airport in daylight. There are just so many tall buildings it is difficult to know which to look at, and the bridges across the sea are beautiful. The container area of the harbour goes on for miles! We had plenty of time to kill at the airport, so after a meal we were sitting and reading when we saw a girl who was obviously a Rotary Exchange student, who looked a bit distressed. She had come from Perth, and due to a bad storm her flight was delayed, so she had missed her connection to Tokyo, where she was headed. Her cellphone wasn't working, so she was very thankful to use Father's phone to send a message to her hosts in Tokyo to say she would be many hours late.
The plane to JHB was completely packed, so no room to move. We got to JHB at 6:30 am, then caught the Gautrain to Marlborough, which is where Dale fetched us. It took only 9 minutes to get there, and cost us each R130. We spent the day with Dale and Derick, and basically just chilled out, and had a nice braai for dinner. Dale took us in to the main station at midday on Sunday, and the 20 hour train trip from there to PE cost us each R230! OK, it does not go quite as fast as the Gautrain, and we paid an extra R40 for bedding, but you get the picture. The stations can not possibly be described as good or clean or fresh, but the train was fine. The train manager was a very switched on lady, and she moved us to a compartment from the coupe they give you automatically when you are only 2 people, so we were very pleased about that. There are 6 or 8 police officers on board the train, and they are very visible, so we never felt unsafe or had any problems. The early morning coffee is delivered right on time at 6am too. As there was a huge thunderstorm about an hour out of JHB, the train had to stop as the lightning evidently disrupts the signals, so we were an hour late arriving in PE.
Jacco fetched us from the airport, and all was fine at home. After a quick bath we set off to go to the airport to say goodbye to Jannie, but as Linsley had switched off my car after the AA had jumpstarted it, we had to leave it parked in the road. We then set off in Linsley's car, which started fine, and took us along happily to the corner of Target Kloof and 6th Avenue, where it just gave up the ghost. It is very scary being in the middle of a busy intersection with an almost dead car. Linsley put it into 4 wheel drive mode, and we limped up the hill and turned off at Lloyd Road. We walked back home, and ran my car down the hill, when it started and after driving around a bit mine was fine. We got the AA man round again, and he said we should tow Linsley's one to a garage, but after a while we drove it there slowly, but the garage guy couldn't find anything wrong with it. He test drove it a couple of times, so we fetched it this morning and it took Linsley to work safely today.
So all in all we had a stunning holiday! It was so good to skype Margi this morning, and to see Logan's face when he saw us 'inside' his mommy's computer. After a while he had a huge grin, and called for Poppa. Margi said he has been going into our room there to look for us, so at least now he could see we were somewhere around.
OK, that's it as far as this blog is concerned. I have enjoyed blogging, and hope you have enjoyed keeping up with our doings and travels.
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