Friday 23rd March

As we were being driven to Sydney Airport, we took the opportunity to take a couple of photos that show the contrast between old and new in this city.

After a malfunction in the fuel filling system which kept the aeroplane on the ground at Sydney until an hour after normal departure time, we had a good flight to Hong Kong. We were picked up at the airport and had a tour of Kowloon as different passengers were dropped off at their hotels.

Saturday 24th March
The view from our hotel window is of Kowloon Harbour and is constantly changing with the different passing boats.

This morning we set off to the quayside to pick up the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island.

On the other side we walked up to the longest escalator in the world and rode it to the top. We lost count of the sets but we think about 20 to the top.

Unfortunately we had to climb down stairs to get back and counted over 500 steps and we were only half way down when we went to the Man Mo Temple which was built in 1847. The cone shapes are incense coils which burn very slowly.

Nearby is Cat Street known for its unusual shops which sell just about anything you might want in the way of jewellery to antiques, with quite a bit of junk thrown in.

A number of buildings are being refurbished in this part of the city and we were amazed to find that the scaffolding is made from bamboo attached together by what appears to be black sticky tape.

Not far away is St. John's Cathedral which is set in a quiet corner away from the very busy streets.

Every evening at 8pm, hundreds of people gather near the harbour in Kowloon to see a light, laser and sound show which is projected from the tall buildings on Hong Kong Island.