Day 89 Hong Kong Weds 21 September

We start our day with a trip on the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island.  I say "start "- but by the time we have breakfast, unpack and sort out and generally adjust to  our surroundings it is way past lunchtime so more an afternoon trip out! The views from Kowloon are breathtakingly mad! The high rise is well and truly king here and there are building designs of every shape, design and proportion, each vying to outdo their neighbour. 

  

The juxtaposition of old and new is also amazing - a reproduction junk offering "tourist" cruises, nestled alongside the historic star ferry, a variety of other craft on the water set against the skyscraper skyline.

 

We buy our tickets which cost 20p each and climb on board and make our way across. The girls are delighted to see the staff wearing sailor suits!

 We reach Hong Kong Island - a journey that now only takes 5 minutes we take the bus to the Victoria Peak Tram station. We have read that within 20 years, at the current rate of reclamation of land from the sea Hong Kong Island and Kowloon will be joined up - the pace of change is HUGE and construction and reconstruction is taking place everywhere.

  

Victoria Peak prides itself on being the most popular tourist attraction in Hong Kong.

Perching on The Peak at 396 metres above sea level, The Peak Tower boasts the highest 360° viewing platform - The Sky Terrace 428. Standing at 428 metres above sea level, the Sky Terrace 428 offers spectacular panoramic views of the vibrant city – from the stunning cityscape to the tranquility of greenery landscape. 

The views certainly are breathtaking - although we can see a thick layer of smog hanging over the city as we look back and down on the rattly tram as it makes its way up and down.

 

 The girls enjoy a bit of tourist "kitsch" and write "I love you" messages to hang on the enormous "I love the Peak because..." hearts at the top of the viewing platform.

 We  have arrived just as the evening is closing in and watch the slow progression of lights coming on back on Kowloon. It is almost unimaginable to consider the amount of electricty being used and the number of people associated with each twinkly bulb!

   

    

We head back down the hillside and end our day arriving back to Kowloon in time for the free "Symphony of Lights" show-a synchronised building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display, featuring 44 buildings on both sides of the Victoria Harbour accompanied by music, now named the 'World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show' by Guinness World Records.

day 85 Sep 17 Sat Newcastle to Sydney

Sadly and ironically our gas bottle runs out mid kettle boil and with no bbq for our last eggs and bacon breakfast we drive towards Sydney and the Formule 1 at the Olympic Park where we will stay for the next 3 nights. Our room overlooks the Olympic Stadium and the Athletics Stadium and is on the 5th floor. 

We all leap into the shower and allow ourselves a different outfit from within the rucksack which has been stored safely away unopened for the last month. Our other clothes are relegated to the laundry pile to be tackled later and we take our last van drive to the Jucy depot to say goodbye to the van. We then catch the bus and train to the Circular Quay and catch our first glimpse of the wonderful Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. 

The girls are overjoyed to see such an icon in the flesh and happily listen to yet another one of "Mother's interesting information sessions"! This time all about the Opera House! 

• The building covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land and is 183 metres (605 ft) long and 120 metres (388 ft) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level.
• Conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally being opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. This was a long time after starting with his competition-winning design in 1957 - the delay largely due to the fact that the design was beyond the engineering capabilities of the time.  
• The roof evocative of a ship at full sail was actually inspired by the segments of an orange and if deconstructed would fit together into a sphere. 
• The house is host to over 2500 events every year and as more than 5 performances spaces.
•  1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-coloured Swedish-made tiles although they look white from a distance.
• The Concert Hall, with 2,679 seats, is the home of the Sydney Symphony and contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world, with over 10,000 pipes.
• Sydney Opera House was formally recognised as one of the most outstanding places on Earth with its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List on June 28 2007.
• IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND WE LOVE IT!

We contemplate trying to get tickets for a performance just to "tick that box" - we have a choice of Bryan Adams at $140.40 each or the opera Lakme at $75, sadly La Boheme is not being performed tonight and we err on the sensible side and vow to come back to Sydney again to enjoy its' delights.

 

We walk through to The Rocks district and wander through the Sunday markets, lunching on sushi roll, a Japanese omelette and a hot corn on the cob on a stick. We enjoy just being within the hustle and bustle of the city and within such an iconic location. The views of the cbd (that is central business district to you and me and our new favourite abbreviation),

 

the bridge and the opera house are amazing whichever direction you walk in and the afternoon draws to a close and the sun sets on the city and we spend time just strolling, standing and gazing and taking in our surroundings. We catch a train back to Central, another to Lidcombe and out to Olympic Park before enjoying supper at an Italian restaurant in the park complex.

 

Tues 9 August day 46 Goodbye South Island - Hello North Isalnd

Today we leave the South Island and head to Picton to catch the Interislander Ferry across the Cook Strait to North Island. The journey from Kaikoura takes a little over an hour and we pass through the heart of NZ wine country and the Marlborough region. There are fields and fields of vineyards and wineries along the way offering free tastings and wine tours. Sadly we dont have the time to stop and explore further, or room to store any purchases!

We arrive at the ferry terminal to find boarding closed and the place deserted. David has a minor panic about ferry times before we realise that  we are over 2 hours early and have a long wait ahead. The barrier lifts after half an hour or so and we are checked in and allowed to drive around to the holding area. This is a roadway in the ferry terminal where we must sit and wait it out - not the best of locations as there are no loos, not much to look at and the vending machine is not working - atleast the sun is shining and we are the first car to eventually drive on to the boat though. The girls spend the time completing the free children's activity booklet which we were given at check in and we have a little time to start the usual phoning around for a place to stay.

 

Wierdly we have to sail south to get to North Island and the 3 hour crossing takes about 3 and a half hours. Our ferry is an ex cross channel ferry and all the signage on board is in English and French! There is a restaurant, cafe, gift shop and information centre as well as a family room with kids and adults TV and a cinema. We arrive in Wellingtonand hit the rush hour - although our drive is not very far. It feels strangely odd but a little refreshing to be in a big city again and the hustle and bustle of traffic and people rushing about their business.

We find our backpackers -Base - a chain hostel squarely aimed at the younger market, but also one of the cheapest and newest in town. It is ideally located in the "restaurant" partof the city and also for the museums and some of the sights we plan to visit. It is HUGE though- our room is on the 6th floor (of 7) and the kitchen on the 1st floor is equally enormous. There are several industrial size fridges, all full of blue, padlocked "cool bags" from "Countdown" - our supermarket of choice. Evidently in such a large and "young" backpackers there is a risk that ones supplies may disappear into the stomach of another guest - a reminder that we are once again in annoymous surroundings where not everyone is as honest as we have been used to. Fortunately we have padlocks and a blue bag!
We decide to treat the girls and head out for only our second meal out in NZ - we head for Cuba Street and a delicious, if pricey, pizza. Worryingly on our return there is a toga party in full swing in the bar below the accomodation floors!

Monday 1st August -Te Anau to Milford Sound and back again!

 

August already! An early start again as we wend our way up and down to Milford Sound. The weather does not look great as we drive through the countryside. We pass stunning scenery, lakes, waterfalls, rivers. Up into the mountains and then dipping down to sea level. We drive through several avalanche zones - (no stopping allowed!) and a  variety of weather! We pass through the Homer Tunnel which is the only road access through the mountains and arrive at the terminal building to find there is a problem with the Jucy boat which we had hoped to catch and that we had been transferred to Southern Discoveries Nature Cruise. 

Milford Sound is a deep, icy blue waterway running 15km inland from the Tasman Sea and is part of the majestic Fiordland National Park. Carved over time by glaciers, the deepest part of the fiord is 400m, surrounded by sheer rock faces rising 1,200m or more on either side. Milford Sound is the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world, with a mean annual rainfall of close to 7m, feeding the many waterfalls that thunder down cliff faces.Milford Sound (also known by its Maori name Piopiotahi) is a fiord of spectacular beauty and natural grandeur, named after Milford Haven in Wales.

 

  It was initially overlooked by European explorers, because its narrow entry gave no clue to its large interior bays. Captain James Cook bypassed Milford Sound for just this reason, because he was afraid of getting too close to the steep mountainsides and not having enough wind to escape.We are lucky enough to also spot a couple of penguins in a little bay and also some bachelor NZ fur seals just hanging out on a rock - appropriately named Seal Point. The scenery is breathtaking and our photos dont really do it justice

  

  

  We head home, the girls falling asleep on the way - only to find that Nicole has lost her beloved hat!

Thursday 14th July - Levuka to Suva

Another day, another ferry another ridiculously early start. time to leave Levuka and Ovalau- the bus to the ferry port on the other side of the island picks us up at 4.30a.m as we head back by ferry to Natovi Landing and then board the bus again for the journey to Suva.

Suva is Fiji's political and administrative capital and home to almost half of the country's population. It is the largest urban area in the South Pacific outside of Australia and New Zealand and we discover is twinned with Brighton!

Unlike our last visit the sun is shining as we reach the bus station and we walk uphill fully loaded to our new residence "Tropic Towers".

It was not, in reality, anything as nice as it sounds - but we had huge trouble trying to find somewhere to stay in Suva. A combination of city prices and lack of availabilty means that we stayed in probably the best of a bad bunch. The area was great, location wise, in that it was close to the bus station and close enough to the centre of the city. Not so great after dark - in fact the security man on the gate would not let David walk the short distance down the hill to the internet cafe but insisted he went there and back by taxi! Fortunately we were only there for one night.

We were able to pick up the Lonely Planet New Zealand guide from the University of the South Pacific campus bookshop and took in some culture at the Suva National Museum located in the capital city's botanical gardens, Thurston Gardens.
The museum houses an extensive archaeological collection dating back 3,700 years and relics of Fiji's indigenous cultural history. Also on display is the rudder of the HMS Bounty of mutiny fame.

The biggest exhibit is the enormous bilibili or bamboo rafts used until circa 1900 to transport produce between islands or for fishing trips.

We  see lots of "cannibal" exhibits - they were still eating people in Fiji 150 years ago! These are huge house posts - one for each side of the house. Often live human sacrifices were thrown into the hole before the posts - this was thought to strengthen the foundations and offer protection to the residents!


                                                                David tries out the head chopping stone!

By 1867 cannibalism was dying out but ironically the last act of cannibalism in Fiji claimed the lives of an English missionary, the Reverend Thomas Baker of East Sussex, and his accompanying party of Methodist Fijians. On the Fijian islands eating one's enemies was a time-honoured tradition. Sufficient for the act was a declaration of war, often made in symbolic form, such as by insulting the chief of another tribe.
Fiji in 1867 was still an untamed paradise and when Reverend Baker and his group of eight Fijian helpers made the arduous trek to the isolated village of Nabutautau, it was with the intention of bringing the blessings of Christianity and Western Civilisation to the natives.
Initially the party was made welcome but an inadvertant act changed this rather quickly! Accounts differ as to whether it was a hat or a comb that the Reverend Baker tried to retrieve, but the fact remains that he touched the chief's head, a totally forbidden act. Punishment was swift . The missionary and his war party were dispatched with clubs, and their remains consumed. By the time the cooking fires had been dampened, there was nothing left of the Reverend Baker but his boots. The remnants of which are retained for display, along with the fork and bowl used to consume him.

We also see a fascinating photo and artefact gallery chronicling the introduction of indentured Indian workers to Fiji by the Europeans from the mid 1870s. Indo Fijians are mostly descended from indentured labourers , girmitiyas or girmit, brought to the islands by Fiji's British colonial rulers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations. These were complemented by the later arrival of Gujarati and Punjabi immigrants who arrived as free settlers in comparison to their counterparts who were brought under the indentured labour system. They have adapted to the new environment with changes to their dress, language and culinary habits, although they have maintained their distinct culture. The Fiji Indians have fought for equal rights, although with only limited success.

We visit the Government Buildings on our way back to find an internet cafe to catch up on emails and then head back to the hotel for a swim and supper.

We are really trying hard to expose the girls to a bit of the social and political history  of Fiji as we go, as well as the animal and plant life.  However tempers frayed a bit today and words were had! We are all in need of some down time now and the chance to step back, take a breath and reflect on our time here.

Monday 11th July - Levuka Town tour and Gun Rock

Today is Levuka tour day as we decide to follow the walking tour from the Lonely Planet guidebook which has become our bible and always with us.
Levuka is overflowing with history - the last cannibal king, Ratu Sera Cakobau, cemented his power base here and the islands were the centre of early British Colonial action. Levuka was Fiji's earliest European settlement and the country's first capital. Early European trade was in sandalwood, sea cucumber and whaling and settlements grew up in the 1830s.  The local Lovoni people burned these down on a regular basis until they gained protection from the Chief of Levuka - until he was killed in 1846.  By the 1850s Levuka had a reputation for drunkness, violence and immorality and attracted 3000 Europeans with 52 hotels for them to drink in.  Many men took several wives (they told locals that was the custom back at home) and disputes were settled with a musket! Cakobau tried to form a government in 1871 but failed and in 1874 acted on an earlier British offer and Fiji was ceded to the Crown. It became a British colony and Levuka proclaimed its' capital.

Cession Site 1874 and 1970

It remained under British rule until 1970 when it regained independence - Prince Charles made the now tatty Provinicial Bure his headquarters during this process.

Levuka is a town of "oldests" and "firsts"  -
The site of the first pigeon post providing a
postal link between here and Suva.







The original 1868 Morris Hedstrom (MH) is just down the street - a bit like Fijian Sainsburys!





We see the ruins of the South Pacific;s first Masonic Lodge- sadly burned down in the 2000 coup by locals and the Levuka Public School - Fiji's first public school and the oldest hotel in Fiji The Royal Hotel which as we discovered last night is tatty, run down and in need of some serious investment. Unfortunately it continues to trade on its' status as the original Fiji place to stay.

David has developed an aversion to shaving but under pressure from the rest of us braved the local barbar for a cut throat razor wet shave - he splashed out and spent $2 FD (60p)!

In the late afternoon we walked out of town towards Gun Rock so named after a US exploration expedition on 1849 pounded it with canon fire from their ship in an attempt to impress the chief of Levuka. This happened again in 1874 and you can still see the scars left by this.

We had to find and ask the village of Vakaviti's chief for  permission to climb up to the top which he duly granted.

Fortunately two boys from the village accompanied us with their machete and acted as navigators, path clearers and historians. The climb was particularly tricky due to the fact that we were all wearing flip flops (doh!) but the views were well worth it.

                                   

 
 

View of Levuka from Gun Rock

David, Junior and his machete!