a full day
Before I re-joined the Ayres Tribe, I did some training – walking around the block at a (for me) crisp pace, up and down the hilly circuit where I live. Just a half hour’s brisk walk, but I am so glad I did it, because today tested these old legs.
Yesterday we moved out to this ‘couch-surfing’ home – about 25 mins by rail from downtown Kowloon, Today we had to return to Kowloon and catch the ferry across to Hong Kong island to visit the Russian embassy, to lodge our visa applications. The embassy is open on Mondays(when applications are accepted) from 9-12,00. Plenty of time you might think. But by the time we had had breakfast and wrestled with a reluctant washing machine, time was fast running out. We walked to the rail station (about 1km) and caught the train ok, but by the time we reached Kowloon it was almost eleven twenty. We still had to walk almost 2km to the ferry terminal, catch the ferry, get across to HK island and then walk to the embassy building. So speed was of the essence, and speed we did! Rob was striding purposefully; the the rest of us were either walking rapidly or semi-jogging. We were quite a sight as we sped through the crowded streets. But we made it with 15 mins to spare, and fortunately the Russians were friendly and co-operative. The lift up to the 21st floor was enjoyed by all – almost no sense of motion and the 21st floor reached in a matter of seconds. Quite fabulous.
After the business was successfully concluded, we then sat in a sort-of park-like walkway and munched on our lunch – fortifying ourselves for a walking tour of some of the interesting bits of Hong Kong. We more or less followed one of the Lonely Planets recommended walks and hiked through Old China town sort of shopping areas, ascended the hill on the longest escalator in the world – it took us 800m up the side of the Hill in a series of stages. Once at the top of course we had to walk back down again and then walk back to the ferry terminal, catch the ferry, walk back to the railway station, catch the train and finally walk to the market to have some dinner, before walking home. I am not sure how much walking we did, but we were on our feet from 9.30 am until about 7,0 pm and believe me, we were all quite weary! I repeat, I was glad I had done that training back in titirangi!
The children did marvelously: even the littlies who would normally have had a sleep or rest in the afternoon, performed very well. These kids can walk your socks off, no trouble at all!
A few pictures of today’s sights:
the team making dumplings/dim sums for tonight’s dinner
who was having a steamed pow?
High rise buildings press in on every side
Fresh fish anyone? Never mind the unusual shop counter..
a murky Hong KOng skyline – iy looked better at night:
kiwijoe