Halfway there - Hong Kong

Our first post proper so bear with us. Been here in HK since Saturday, one more day since we fly on to Melbourne the long way round via Auckland courtesy of our travel agent who obviously thought we'd enjoy extra time in the air...anyway, here we are in the city that never sleeps (or is that just me with the jet-lag, which is proving harder to shift than I'd hoped...)

Sian has been here before of course, living in HK for nearly three years from 1986. No surprise a lot has changed in that time - the shanty towns which used to sprawl from the shores of settlements such as Aberdeen now largely gone, replaced by more and more of the high-rise blocks which dominate the horizon every which way. More surprising maybe is what hasn't changed, in particular since HK returned to Chinese ownership a decade or more back. The place still has a distinctly colonial, in places ex-pat feel, and many of the HK Chinese seem western in their dress and outlook. If China is imposing itself, it's being done in a very subtle way.

So what can we tell you? It's hot - humid hot - pretty much all the time and days are generally cloudy and muggy from the go. Today was the first sight of blue sky so we took the tram all the way up to the Peak which sits offers fantastic views (in clear weather) across the whole city. It was also a good way to get away from the heat and, once we were clear of the tram station, the crowds - something we managed the day before by taking a ferry to Lamma, one of the off-shore islands. Speaking of ferries, the day we arrived more than a hundred people travelling from Macau on the mainland were injured when their ferry collided with an unknown object in HK harbour. Such accidents are apparently unfortunately far from rare.

Now, Sian has just pointed out that my naturally sardonic turn of phrase means that it sounds like we haven't been enjoying our stay. Far from it - actually HK is a very exciting place to spend a few days, easy to get around on the excellent metro system (or, if you have more time, the lovely old trams that still cross-cross the city) and a practically unlimited choice of good, cheap places to eat. Chinese food is obviously on offer pretty much everywhere, but, as befits a city that looks and feels truly multicultural, just about everything else you might want can be found as well.

We will now attempt to post some photos, fingers crossed...