Paragliding and glow worms

A late start to the day, the motor home looked like a bomb had hit it. We spent some time finally storing everything away and off we went in to Queenstown to head up the gondola. The views were fab on the way up and Rebecca was all excited saying wow all the time.

Tony talked me in to taking the plunge and go up in a paraglider (something unplanned but what the heck) eek! The good news was I weighed in less than I thought I was. The bad news was there was no wind in the usual spot they take off from and made me trek up a very steep mountain path to get to the top. Boy was I shattered by the time I got up there, which shortly followed by the guy Dean telling me to run off the edge! Hmmmm now why didn’t that appeal to me. Anyway went for it and the views were spectacular and the the experience was fab. Until Dean decided to do a few tricks which made my stomach turn which by then I think it was time to head down.

This was followed by 2.5 hours drive to Te Anau and we checked in to our camping grounds and took off for an evening trip to see some glow worms. A 25 minute boat ride took us across the lake (largest freshwater lake in Australasia). Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any photos but we did go into the glow worm caves and saw them all over the place. A short walk along a suspended platform (over a raging river) in the cave was followed by a peaceful boat trip in the caves in the dark. Expensive but worth doing.

Li

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Arriving in Queenstown

Yet another plane to take us from Auckland to Queenstown. Bit of a nightmare after the flight as I left my wallet on the plane but all good in the end. 3 flights down and Rebecca still was a perfect travelling child. It can’t continue!

Picked up out campervan. It’s big! 6 berth and like driving a bus but made it into Queenstown without issue. A really cool place; feels like a ski resort. Loads of outdoor shops, cold, blue skies and everyone seems cheerful. Had a really good pub dinner with a beer then off to our site and thankfully we got the last emergency place. Shattered but NZ looks stunning

Tony

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Relaxing in Kowloon

Started the day nice and chilled in Tsim Sha Tsui. We went back to an old dim sum place we know and then for a wander up Nathan Road which stretches from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mong Kok.  Found a nice outdoor shop which makes clothing in London but does not sell it anywhere else except Hong Kong.  Great ski jackets too though makes me look like the marshmellow man.

Rebecca got a lot of attention and I look like the paid help as she looks so English, had one guy in Broadway (Electronics shop) asking if he can take a photo of her as she is so lovely…I’m also sure a girl was filming her yesterday bopping to some music.

Weather was a little bit cooler after the torrential rainfall yesterday but still very muggy and sticky.  We popped in to my cousin’s amplifier store and Rebecca jigged against to some music…think we have a dancer in the making.

Finally made it back down to the harbour and Rebecca decided to throw a wobbly and refuse to have her photo taken but managed to tempt her with some marshmellows and ‘pose’.

Li

Ocean Park

Ended up getting up a bit late but still wanted to make the most of the day at Ocean Park. First stop to cash the cheque Li has been given, and then straight to Ocean Park. Saw the panda’s and they have a new main aquarium which is good. The highlight is the new south/north pole area though with sea lions, penguins, Artic fox and all kept in a massive fridge at around 8 degress. Happy to be inside as it has been raining with thunder all day.

Finished the day of nicely with a great Japanese meal with Shirley and Wai, amazing food and Rebecca eat her body weight in beans. It poured with rain outside; never seen rain like it in HK and then the lightning show was quite impressive

Sunday in Mong Kok

Very odd start to the day being served by Wai’s maid for breakfast. Not sure if we’d get used to that. Collected Li’s money from the post office $6000 for free; very handy!

Forgot just how crowded and hot it is here although some good food

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Spent the rest of the day having lunch and dinner with family although we did manage a quick trip to my favourite camera shop. Camera porn!

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Arriving in Hong Kong

Left Heathrow, picking up some new speakers and Bose headphones on the way. Flight was great and Rebecca was excellent the entire way. 5 mins of tears and that was it; rest of the time she slept or sat around colouring.

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I sat at up drinking their free wine with a random lady and then moved on to the port!

Arrived at Shirley and Wai’s place. Nice apartment on the 12th floor. 3 beds plus a cupboard for the maid to sleep in! Had a nice meal out then a few beers out in Soho with Wai. Now need some sleep

Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty

Both with little sleep, we got up early to head out to the Empire State building which opened at 8am and went up the observatory deck. It was very cold and windy on the deck but got some good photographs.

We went back to the hotel to pack up all our bags and kept them stored them with the bell boys. As usual, for very little work they expect a tip for practically doing nothing. We then headed down to Staten Island Ferry, which is a free ferry service from NYC to Staten Island. The main reason for taking this ferry was to see the Statue of Liberty and the round trip was about an hour long. It got cold and started to rain on the way back.

We walked up to Wall Street and saw the Stock Exchange Building with a huge American flag on the front of it. As we wondered to Broadway for some more photos, the clock was ticking fast for us to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage to the airport. 

We got back late and found the black car the bell boy ordered for us was in fact a limousine. 

We got to the airport on time and amazingly check in was very smooth. We were delayed on the plane for an hour before taking off and having a kid behind us was not exactly peaceful.

Shopping and Sightseeing Bus

Both woke up late but Li was a little worse for wear. We both managed to get out and jump on to the NY tour bus for some sight seeing. Went up near Central Park and did some shopping in Tiffany’s. They had a separate lift dedicated to the sterling silver department (3rd Floor), it looks like where all the tourist go.

From there we saw SAKS on 5th Avenue and lots of other expensive fancy stores. We made our way to B&H, which is a large store dedicated to photography equipment. Tony was in heaven for hours. Later, we took the night tour bus around downtown New York and across to Brooklyn which took 2.5 hours, followed by a visit to the Rockefeller Center where we saw New York City at night.

It was midnight by the time we got out and went on the hunt for food which we just made last orders at Hard Rock Café.