Hong Kong

I am soooooooo excited, we depart for Hong Kong tomorrow (14th October, 2013). The part of we consists of myself, Greg, Loretta and Chris.

We are flying Qantas and depart at 10.00am, so will be leaving home at 8.00am.

Day 1
Arrived about 5.00pm HK time. Caught a courtesy bus to the hotel, checked in then went for a walk to get our bearings. Walked for about 2 hours then had to go to Hotel and have a sleep....we all slept very, very well.

Day 2
Went on a 5 hour tour of HK city. Steven was our guide, he was very informative. We

         Rode on the small cable car, lovely sights from our dome
         Went on a sampan (old style Chinese boat)
         Visited Hong Kong harbour
         Went to the Stanley Street Market and
         Visited a behind the scenes jewellery factory

Got back about 3.30pm then caught the train to Disneyland. It is not nearly as big as the LA Disneyland and the rides are mainly rollercoasters. We all went on Space Mountain, unfortunately Chris and myself got motion sickness, not pleasant at all. After having something to eat and Greg and Loretta going on a few more rides, we headed home at about 9.30pm.

Day 3
Caught the famous Star Ferry across the harbour to HK island. Got a bit lost finding the correct bus to catch to the Ocean Park, so hang the expense....we caught a taxi.

Ocean Park is at the bottom of a very tall hill. Saw lots of marine animals. We rode on the park's underground train to the top of the hill where the Panda's are located. They are sooooooo cute and look very placid. They appear to lay around eating most of the day. It was just lovely to see them.

There is also a mockup of old HK city. It is very well done and provides an insight of days gone by.

Hobart

Tracie had 4 days off work and wanted to visit Tassie so off to Hobart we went (October 2013).

We were very fortunate with the weather, a bit chilly at times but no rain. We had a good look around the city and did lots and lots of shopping.

Hired a car for 24 hours and drove to Port Arthur. We did the ghost tour and had dinner at the restaurant afterwards then the long drive back to the hotel.

Hawaii - Last Day

The time has come to say goodbye, what a wonderful relaxing time we have had.

Spent our last day at the zoo, then came back to the hotel pool and had a sun bake while reading my very good John Grisham book. I didn't realise the pool had service, a lovely girl comes around and takes food and drink orders, oh yes this is the good life.

We decided to treat ourselves for our last dinner and went to the Japanese restaurant in the hotel here. Well what a fantastic experience. The waitress was great, nothing was too much trouble.  Even offered to have food cooked that wasn't on the menu.  The food was to die for..... I had a delicious salmon dish and Tracie had her favourite crab legs in some sort of spicy sauce.  Oh and nearly forgot, as an entree we shared a scallop dish. Biggest scallops I have ever seen, topped with a nice sauce and caviar. . . Yummiest yum yum.

Had to walk it off after dinner, somehow Tracie still was able to fit in an ice cream cup we bought from the shop..

Airport transfers have been booked and have ordered a wake up call (just in case).

See you soon Greg and Popgirl and Rosie Red.

Over and out.

Hawaii - day 6

What a fabulous day it was today....why you may ask??  I went in the water with a dolphin. We hugged, patted and kissed. What a beautiful animal.

It is amazing how big they are when you are up close and personal compared to seeing them from a distance.  The dolphin was about 8 feet long and weighed 500 lbs.!

When you touch them the skin is kinda of slimy but very  cushiony. Their fin is so strong and firm and guess what ? He has blue eyes!

Tracie spent another day on the beach sunbaking and people watching. We were both a bit hungry when I returned at about 5.30 so went and had a shower and went to our favourite spot, California Pizza.

We both ate too much and had trouble walking home.  Another early night. I think we are the only two people in Waikiki who don't go out at night, we are just too tired.

Hawaii - Day 5

Today we went to the flea market at Aloha Stadium.  It is huge, goes around the outside of the stadium, we arrives at about 8.30am and departed at 12.00pm and only got about a quarter of the way around.

Picked up some very good bargains.  Got 4 hoodies for $50 and a few souvenirs. The prices are between 30% and 50% cheaper than in the shops.

Tracie went to the beach when we came back and I had a walk around and got a snack. There definitely are some very interesting "sights" in Waikiki.

Hawaii - Day 4

Caught a bus to the AlMona Shopping Centre. Tracie wanted to go to Walmart. A nice  trip, only took about 20 mins.

The shopping centre is HUGE.  Finally found Walmart, picked up a few cheap items of clothing and a couple of souvenirs.

Came back to the hotel about 2.00pm and had a lovely banana smoothie for lunch then off to the beach.  We decided to have an early dinner because we will be going to the flea market tomorrow and want an early start.  Went to La Coocaracha Mexican restaurant, it was very tasty. Had to go for a walk along the beach after wards to help the food digest.

Taking lots of nice photos and generally relaxing.

Photos of Hawaii

Adam , aka the best salesman in the world, giving Cheryl a sample of his face cream.

Below are photos of  Waikiki.
Some have been taken from our hotel room
Others have been taken on the each.