Ever since we booked our flights to Australia last Saturday, I have had an overwhelming feeling of wellbeing. After months of the miserable winter blues, I finally feel more alive and energetic. I don't know if it is that summer is around the corner, or that it is because we have something really good to look forward too.
I have been out and bought a good Aussie guide book, Sparks will also buy a different one so that we have lots of information. It is months away but I am really excited about it. I sometimes think that I will go all that way and not like it, but I know that is just daft. I will love it I'm sure.
I will have to dig out my old Hong Kong maps and guides too. HK was a place where I just intended a stopover on my first trip to NZ. I didn't expect to like the Far East, I'm not a city person and much prefer countryside. HK was somewhere to lay my head and catch up on sleep before doing the final long haul to Auckland.
Much to my surprise........I fell in love with HK. I can't really say why, there's just something about the place, a certain quality which I've never seen anywhere else. I just can't put my finger on it. It is vibrant, fast paced, clean and efficient, easy to get around, surrounded by beautiful islands which you don't expect to see near such a heavily populated city. It is polite and friendly, it has a very modern and a very ancient culture. It feels very foreign and yet very familiar at the same time. The things I remember most were the smells. Roasting Duck, the wet markets where unidentifiable things that used to live in the South China Sea hang from hooks on market stalls, Dim Sum and China Tea, the smell of cakes......yes, CAKES!!!!! Chinese herbs on the markets and expensive perfumes in the department stores. The peace of the beautiful parks, good luck and long life charms. Tai Chi on street corners first thing in the morning, the Star Ferry, Stanley Market and Beach, people living on boats in Aberdeen. I am so looking forward to visiting HK again. We should be able to do far more in 6 days than I could in the 3 days that I had the last time. I can't wait to go back but..............must buy new walking shoes
I have been out and bought a good Aussie guide book, Sparks will also buy a different one so that we have lots of information. It is months away but I am really excited about it. I sometimes think that I will go all that way and not like it, but I know that is just daft. I will love it I'm sure.
I will have to dig out my old Hong Kong maps and guides too. HK was a place where I just intended a stopover on my first trip to NZ. I didn't expect to like the Far East, I'm not a city person and much prefer countryside. HK was somewhere to lay my head and catch up on sleep before doing the final long haul to Auckland.
Much to my surprise........I fell in love with HK. I can't really say why, there's just something about the place, a certain quality which I've never seen anywhere else. I just can't put my finger on it. It is vibrant, fast paced, clean and efficient, easy to get around, surrounded by beautiful islands which you don't expect to see near such a heavily populated city. It is polite and friendly, it has a very modern and a very ancient culture. It feels very foreign and yet very familiar at the same time. The things I remember most were the smells. Roasting Duck, the wet markets where unidentifiable things that used to live in the South China Sea hang from hooks on market stalls, Dim Sum and China Tea, the smell of cakes......yes, CAKES!!!!! Chinese herbs on the markets and expensive perfumes in the department stores. The peace of the beautiful parks, good luck and long life charms. Tai Chi on street corners first thing in the morning, the Star Ferry, Stanley Market and Beach, people living on boats in Aberdeen. I am so looking forward to visiting HK again. We should be able to do far more in 6 days than I could in the 3 days that I had the last time. I can't wait to go back but..............must buy new walking shoes
