Hong Kong day 2

The plan today is to walk and walk and get a clear understanding of Hong Kong Island. From Causeway Bay our intention was to broadly follow the line of the tram to Central and in particular Central Pier to collect information on ferries and bus tours.
The first place we looked in was the Sogo department store; we could have been in any upmarket store in any city in the world - we left. Soaking up all the sights and sounds as we went along the busy streets in Wan Chai was fascinating; one building would be all shiny and new while the next looked as though it should be condemned with the washing hanging from numerous lines. Wan Chai district was a mass of local shops whilst Central was clearly a more international business area with luxury goods shopping centres in almost every major building. We saw Marks and Spencer's too and even a supermarket in one selling Waitrose goods and celebrating 16 years of doing so.
Having got to Central Pier we established the information we required for the ferries and decided not to do the Big Bus Tour as we appeared to have walked most of one route already! It was the time for sustenance before our next port of call - escalators going up the side of the hill away from the business district. Leaving from Queens Road Central we just climbed and climbed to Conduit Road via the crazy feat of engineering, steep escalators inserted between buildings. The area they pass through is known as the mid levels. The quality of the apartments became more exclusive as we climbed and the views more impressive from the island towards Kowloon beyond.
Having reached the top the only way to go was down again and our route took us through the Zoological and Botanical gardens. The gardens were interesting, but not as good as we have seen elsewhere but the Orang-utangs and various types of monkeys were amusing and the park was surprisingly busy.
Exiting the gardens we looked at the former Governors residence, now occupied by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. We had permission from the police guard at the entrance to take a photo, but it was very heavily guarded. Then we strolled into Hong Kong Park and by chance discovered a memorial to seven medical people, doctors and nurses, the youngest only twenty, who died while working on a cure for SARS in the outbreak in 2002/3. It was sponsored by Rotary International and a very moving tribute. Next to it, which we were looking for the entrance to when we found the memorial, was a huge aviary that we could walk through. It is similar in concept to the one in Regents Park. It is mostly on the side of a steep slope and you enter at the top and walk down through it on an elevated walkway through the trees so you are at "bird" level. Some beautifully coloured birds were sitting at eye level and occasionally obligingly seated next to you.
It was by now nearly 18.00 and we had been walking, except for brief refuelling stops, since 11.00 so time to head back to the hotel. We caught the "Ding Ding", the tram system as the locals call it, this comes from the ding ding of the trams bell to signal departure. It was a fun journey and made us realise just how far we had walked. Back at the hotel a brief rest and refresh before finding some supper in a small local restaurant. After a very busy and tiring but very enjoyable day time to plan tomorrow's excursion and sleep.