Day 5 the time had then come to say a sad goodbye to everyone. Sharon and David from ijourney put together a fantastic trip for us all, and we thank them for a wonderful holiday, great company and a whole new set of friends!
Paula and Laurie. xxx
19/09/08
Day 4 we visited the 2nd largest Buddha in the World on the beautiful Lantau Island. It was quite a spiritual visit! We had a delicious vegetarian lunch and climbed the 260 steps to the foot of the Buddha (well, some of us did!) Earlier in the day we were almost drowned in torrential rain in ‘Oriental Venice’, a little fishing village built on the water. The day finished with a breathtaking cable car ride from the mountain top to the ground. I don’t know who was more scared Florice, Janine or me! But we soon settled in and enjoyed the ride immensely! That night we cruised out to Lama Island for a Seafood feast! We were treated to an amazing exhibition of sea life too, with the opportunity to touch/hold a ‘puffer fish’ starfish, sea anemone, feed the sting rays and fish without hooks! Fishing rods with fish attached to a piece of string! Imagine whopping great big fish being pulled half way out of the water on your piece of string! We nearly got them!
Cruising home that night on the boat after dinner we were treated to a ‘sound and light show’ that apparently Hong Kong has put on every night this year in honour of the Olympics being held in China. There were lasers leaping out from the tops of sky scrapers, and buildings changing colours over and over before our eyes! It was amazing! (Geelong should put on such a show, there’s an idea for City Hall to explore!) Then we tried to have one farewell drink together in the exclusive ‘Peninsula Hotel’ the original 5 star Hotel of China, and I’m proud to say they threw us out! Apparently stubbie shorts and thongs don’t cut it for their dress code!
Paula and Laurie. xxx
18/09/08
Day 3 was Paula’s shopping tour of Shenzen! We were mobbed when we arrived in China! We must have had ‘tourist’ tattooed on our foreheads! We were surrounded by Chinese stall holders calling out “Missy” “Boss” Urging us to come into their shop for bargains! We thought we’d never shake them, but fortunately the higher we traveled up the escalators, the more our tormentors dropped off ! We did laugh about it later. It is true about bargain shopping in China, but you have to be prepared to haggle, you also have to hang on to your bargains and not donate them straight back to the store like Paris and I did! Bought 4 gorgeous tops in one store, got sidetracked in another, put the bag down and left it there! We didn’t realize our stupidity till we were half way back to Hong Kong!
Paula and Laurie. xxx
17/09/08
Day 2 of Laurie and Paula’s trip to Hong Kong, thanks to ijourney! We went to Hong Kong Disneyland! It was a hot and humid 33 degrees, so we went into all the shows that provided air conditioning! We also went on all the rides! The lines weren’t long at all which was fantastic! Laurie was trying to get out of going on the roller-coaster called ‘Space Mountain’ but I forced him onto it with me, and you can imagine what was coming out of his mouth if you look at the picture!
You can see all the listeners in the shot out the front of Disneyland, so a big ‘Hello’ to Clarel, Florice, Janine, Meryl (Mum), Leigh, Annette (Second Mum), Dawn, Sandra, Courtney, Tracey, Steve, Elaine, Rod, Joan, Roger, Melissa, Tony, Donna and Cassandra, and our wonderful ‘tour guides’ from ijourney, Sharon, David and Alex and Neesha. (I hope I haven’t left anyone out! Or gotten any names wrong! You know I’m terrible at names!)
Paula and Laurie. xxx
16/09/08
Hi Geelong!
Today we went on the Peak Tram to the top of Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island. It travels vertically up the mountain to the most amazing views over Hong Kong. Laurie was scared of course, but I held his hand and he got through it! I asked lozza "what do we do when we get to the top?" and he replied "we take a look around and then we throw you off!".
After I survived the fall, we went on out onto Victoria Harbour on a small traditional boat (I forget what they're called) to view Hong Kong from the water and see the last of the families that live on their boats, which will apparently be all gone within the next two years.
We travelled by bus to the Stanley Market where Paris and I got lost and were late back to the bus, much to the disgust of the waiting listeners! After many apologies, I have been welcomed back into the group, with promises of many rounds of drinks!
We visited a jewellery factory where everyone seemed to get something except me (insert sad face!) then it was back to the Kimberley Hotel and a stroll along Nathan Road to dodge the multiple requests to 'come buy a suit' Laurie heaven!
Talk to you tommorrow, hope you like the pictures.
