London SO many photos to take !!
We are nearing the end of our London leg and have had the best time.The town is starting to buzz 24/7 with the pending Jubilee about to commence.The \Bunting on display is incredible to see.Everyone (and I suspect around the British Isles) is getting ready to celebrate (an additional public holiday has been given to workers to celebrate the event) I never tire of putting pics on this blog and make no apology if I have doubled up !! It is very time consuming sorting the 100s of photos taken ( would have been a impossibility only a few years with my Kodak and the expense incurred.IF only digital had been around when I was a lad,the memories I could invoke would be fantastic !!)
London (a bit more)
The Capital is steeped in history with all the majestic castles/bridges/differently dress members of the armed force. Lots of the museums are free and survive on donations.During the day the crowds “everywhere” are incredibly huge,even in the small wee hours there is plenty of people around.The London tube is abuzz with people and we used it extensively and is a brilliant form of transportation.Trains on most lines are around 4 mins apart BUT always crowded !! Buses run bumper to bumper and I am informed around 11000 buses of all kinds are in use daily.The visitor will never get bored here with so much to see and do.Annie did her castle visiting (always a must on her English trips,but very tiring on my poor legs and feet !!) This next weekend sees the celebration of the Quens 60 th throne anniversary and I’m glad we are out of the way,although it will be a very exciting time,crowds are not for us any more .There are too many photos to be added to this blog,more in the next part
LONDON home of the Queens Jubilee Year (60)
We have arrived in London and here are afew facts London has more international visitors than any other city in the world: 15.3 million per year – the next highest are: Hong Kong (We have been fortunate enough to do BOTH in one hit !) More languages are spoken in London than in any other city in the world (270).Big Ben, as everyone should hopefully know – is the bell, not the clock There are almost 21,000 licensed taxis in London. Greater London had an official population of 7,825,200,(area around ONE square mile!)making it the most populous municipality in the European Union,and accounting for 12.5% of the UK population The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world The next couple of Blogs will include Londons sights and scenes
WE went to see the musical We will Rock You (my 4th time) featuring the music of QUEEN and a must to see if in London
Farewell to a brilliant Hong Kong
We have come to an end in this wonderful people packed place that altho now part of China ,still enjoys much of the westernised freedoms We visited the heights of HK utilizing the Peak Tram that climbs almost vertically to the top .The Peak Tramway (Chinese: 山頂纜車) is a funicular railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island. Running from Central district to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.|Ive added the Chinese written section to show the difficult way of writing the Chinese handle so well !! The Peak Tram is owned and operated by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Group We were going to take great pics travelling DOWN the rail BUT the system broke down and we had to Taxi back to base
Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, is a large bronze statue of a Buddha Amoghasiddhi, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is located near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. It is a major centre of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a popular tourist attraction
To reach the top we travelled in a 5 km long,very high chairlift up the mountain with fantastic views That ends our Hong Kong adventure all too quickly Next up the flight to Heathrow and London
Hong Kong part 2 Disneyland and my Hero Buzz Lightyear
This day was like Xmas when I was a Believer !! for a short while I was in there fighting alongside Buzz ! We entered the cave in out own space ship that is fitted with laser beams for getting rid of the baddies My co pilot Annie was the official photographer and we had the best time (sorry kids I was having a great time and could have stayed in this area all day !) Disneyland Hong Kong is a credit to those who designed it.It is full on with lots of free rides and a 4 D show that was great,it was a delight to see lotsa school kids getting over excited because they hadn’t experienced 3D (times like these a vid cam would be welcome,sadly in theatre rules have a NO photo policy) getting to Disneyland by train is very easy and well worth a visit..Tomorrow our last full day we venture onto Hong Kong Island and should prove to be a great adventure
Hong Kong Disneyland part 1
This is IT !! A train modelled on disney characters took us to our destination at Disneyland,the carriage windows are in the shape of Mickey Mouses head as are the standing hand grips inside the carriages most of all this is a haven for big kids (ME!) Spectacular is my description,we spent HOURS here just wandering around and now my feet and legs are paying the price (but well worth it)We arrived just before opening time and queued alongside hundreds more.One kid was selected from the crowd,given a huge golden key and unlocked the gates at precisely 10 am.his face was a picture to see.First trip was on the river jungle cruise.The animals on show were SO realistic!!The jungle native scenes were fabulous and the volcanic waterfall was awesome.All the rides and shows within the Disney confines were free and included in the ticket price Throughout the extensive grounds there are numerous eateries/drink stations and toilets.The weather can only be described as “sticky” But didn’t matter because of my childhood excitement I was experiencing !! Next blog will feature MY hero Buzz Lightyear !!
Kowloon Hong Kong
This place is amazing !! we visited Mong Kok markets and is a hive of activities.During the evening stalls spring up from nowhere and at the end of trading each day they are dismantled (a major feat in itself) Bargaining with vendors start at half their price and haggled from that starting point ! 60 % we averaged paying from the advertised rate and most times successful !! because the markets are open to the weather a drop of rain will open hundreds of umbrellas !! I spent most of the time sheilding my eyes a s a horse does wearing blinkers ! Needless to say we bought brollys and were able to keep jaywalkers at bay ! We ventured into a Maccas for a coffee and pondered at the long slim plastic bags offered upon entering the premises .Clever these Chines the bags are for putting brollys in to protect the floors from becoming slippery ! Beggars were aplenty and the air was full of music provided by various buskers Altho the hotel provides drop of buses we opted for a taxi back costing around $A5.00 (very cheap)The streets are bustling and make s a busy London look like a village outing !! We will visit this place once more before departing Tomorrow we head for Hong Kong Disney land via train using our OCTOPUS card.We visited the Chinese art museum BUT they are not for me.We also visited the Space museum and that was well worth a look with some interesting activities that the public were getting involved with Our hotel The Metropark is highly recommended and if here again will use it again
FABULOUS HONG KONG an appetizer
We are in Hong Kong for a week and it is a very vibrant,exciting city.Picked up at the airport we were taken to out Kowloon Hotel The facilities in the hotel are top class and Annie had NO trouble finding the in house cake shop ! I have taken literally 100,s of photo,s but just for a starter will put some ,teasers, in During the next week we will be exploring the magnificent transport systems here and already my feet are aching at the very thought of all the walking we are about to do ! There is a courtesy bus that drops off at various points and our return trips to the hotel are via Taxi,and the rates are more than reasonable.The flight into Hong Kong was from Brisbane via QANTAS giving us a fairly decent flight,altho I wasn’t too impressed by the in house entertainment (Emirates? you really have spoilt me on previous trips !)
Incredible
Fantastic Place
Hong Kong
Farewell Australia
Farewell Hervey Bay for a while
we had an evening strolling the pier and was very fortunate photo a Kestrel feeding on its catch of fish! Among the pictures are the carcasses of filleted fish that had amassed in on place,bit eerie really like an open grave yard !his part of the world is fantastic and we love this place BUT this blog will take on a new perspective for 3 months as we visit Asia and Europe. Thanks to the sister in law for house sitting.Hopefully we will have a smorgasbord of pictures. To pass the time away (and training for the long walking we intend to do !) I have included a portrait of Anns garden that is coming along nicely (All her work with absolutely NO help from me ,apart from keeping out of the way!) We leave on Tuesday,heading firstly for Kowloon in Hong Kong for a week then onto London and will catch up with one of my sons,The itinary will further unfold as we complete each part of our trip .It will take a few days to gather pics of our trip BUT will hopefully be an interesting Blog Thats it for now till Hong Kong etc
Hervey bay Cars Part 2
There were so many cars on view and would be a shame just to place a few on here SO for petrol heads and admireres of cars (and Im not) here is just a small selection of the many on view
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 