Hong Kong and Home

I have been home a couple of days now. On my last day in London I went out to Kew gardens but found entry was 13 Pounds 50 (over 20 Australian dollars) and as I only had a few hours and the clouds were threatening I decided it was not worthwhile. It did begin to rain as I was  in the train back. I went to the British Museum for a while and as the sun came out again I went to  Regents Park (photo 1) and did have to run to avoid the next shower, so much for London weather.  I collected my luggage about 4pm and headed for Heathrow.

Two days were spent in the heat and humidity of Hong Kong. I had some rides on double decker trams and crossed the harbour on the Star ferry (Photo 2). When I was last there in 1976,  the Star ferry was the main way to cross the harbour and they ran continuously. As the gang plank to one was shut the next one opened on the other side of the wharf.  Now things are much quieter with several metro lines crossing under the harbour and the ferry runs about every 20 minutes.  I also caught the Peak tram up for a view over the city(Photo 3) then bought some new shoes. The final morning was spent in the comparative tranquility of the Nan Lian Gardens (Photo 4) and Chi Lin Nunnery (photo 5). These are both representative of the Tang Dynasty.

However I was quite happy to leave the heat and crowds. Fortunately the flight to Auckland had low numbers and I had 3 seats to myself.  But I still had to wait 5 hours in Auckland for a direct flight to Dunedin which was an anticlimax to the trip.  Air New Zealand was still flying despite the ash cloud. The plane just flew at a lower than usual altitude. Glad I never fly Qantas.

Regents Park, London

On Star Ferry, Hong Kong

Hong Kong from the Peak

Nan Lian Gardens

Chi Lin Nunnery

The temperatures in Dunedin were very different to Hong Kong but I was glad to be home again