It was then time to do a little bit of exploring, so map in hand (just like a typical tourist), I was pleasantly surprised to discover the hotel was only 1 block away from Victoria Harbour. I was only out of the hotel for two minutes when I was approached by the first of many Indian gentlemen with the following "Good morning my sister - you have a very lucky face"... Needless to say I just ignored them.
It was quite foggy/smoggy which made it quite difficult to see the buildings on the Hong Kong Island side, but I was still blown away by the skyscrapers that dominated the skyline. I took my very first trip on the world famous "Star Ferry".
After the ferry ride, I wandered back to the hotel along the "Avenue of Stars" (basically the Hong Kong version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame"). I surprised myself when I actually knew 2 of the people that had a star. Can you guess who they were??? The answer will be at the end of this post.
I got back to the hotel and I flicked on the tv and on the Australian network was showing the dawn service from the battlefields of France. Afterwards, they started showing the Collingwood v Essendon match from the MCG, but I didn't watch it all as I had to do my tour.
The tour was a good introduction to Hong Kong. We went over to the island via the cross harbour tunnel. We then went past "Happy Valley" - the home of the Hong Kong turf club. We were going up to the top of "The Peak", but due to the limited visability, we didn't go all the way up instead we stopped at the mid level, so we had to use our imaginations.
From here we headed out to Aberdeen Harbour for a ride in a traditional Sampan. We got to see the famous "Jumbos Floating Restaurant", and while from the front it was all bright and colourful, the back of the restaurant made me kind of thankful I wouldn't be eating there. We continued and saw some of the floating houses and fishing vessels anchored in the harbour.
We were then "lucky enough" to be taken to local jewelery factory. Prices seemed quite expensive, even with our "special" discount. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything...
After the factory, we headed past Ocean World and Repulse Bay on our way to visit the "Stanley Markets". We only had about 45 minutes to explore, so not really enough time for any serious shopping, not that it bothered me too much.
After the tour finished, we were dropped off at the hotel and I wandered back down to the harbour and the Avenue of Stars to grab a bit to eat before getting a good position for the "Symphony of Lights" shows which occurs every night at 8pm. It's a sound and light show which uses buildings on both the Hong Kong and Kowloon sides which goes or about 15 minutes. There was a little bit of light rain around, but I had my umbrella so all was good.
To see the rest of my photo's click here.
Bruce Lee
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