Hello from Dee Well we are now almost halfway through our adventure and I thought that I would pen a few memories whilst we are on the Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton Paul has done an amazing job detailing our diary and I hope it has given everybody an idea of how full and interesting our days have been I still can't quite get my head around the fact that the UK does everything 13 hours after us at the moment ! The flights were as expected and the feet were like balloons by the time we got to Sydney as they never really went down during our time in Hong Kong . Hong Kong was quite a culture shock . I had no idea just how built up it is . I am not a city person at the best of times but Hong Kong is on a different scale from anything I have ever seen before . The buildings are enveloping and go back layer after layer and all high rise . Our hotel was called The Harbour View ( It was very good for sightseeing ) but with all the land they're reclaiming and the footings they were putting in , there will be no harbour view soon ! Paul was surprised just how the waterfront had moved since he was there 40 years ago. I really enjoyed the hop on hop off bus tour as it had an English commentary and some of the information given was mind boggling ! 200,000 people use the central trams daily ( loved them by the way as they were so colourful ) Hong Kong currently has between 7 and 8 million people and are heading towards 600,000 people per sq km !!!! They were panicking whilst we were there because tourism has declined since the UK lease ran out and it seems the Chinese are not interested in visiting it ! Until you see it you can not believe it ! It is bustling , crowded and very noisy ! I would not rush to go back as there we so many things that I felt uncomfortable with The cardboard box ladies made me want to cry It seems that they are domestic / live in workers that by law have to have one day off a week but have nowhere to go .There are hundreds of them huddled together everywhere there is room sitting on and in cardboard boxes , most under large umbrellas . They are all sleeping , chatting, on their phones , eating or playing like a piggy in the middle story telling game . Being the always Pollyanna that I am , they seemed to be enjoying being together sharing their life stories and know nothing different . It was also evident that very old people were still working in every type of job and I found it all very depressing . During our stay though we were made very welcome and I am so pleased that we went . Our few days at John and Lis's in The Blue Mountains were wonderful ! We spent 2 leisure days chatting about old times and relaxing . How can it possibly be 3 years since we left Sydney ? We also had the great timing to be there for Lola and Tate's baptisms which gave us time to see the family before we grouped up ready for New Zealand I can only say that I LOVE New Zealand ! The scenery , the space and the ever changing weather make it feel so much like GB ! It can be pouring with rain one side and full sunshine the other. The terrain is so different probably due to it being under the sea for so long ! All the hills are close together and rounded off with fantastic trees . The mountains even have smooth edges . Most of the North Island is very green and the combination of plants is amazing. Agapanthus , huge pampas grasses , fern trees , honeysuckle, massive magnolia and various varieties of plants that we usually have as house/ garden plants just growing wild along the roadside. Our few days in Auckland with our friends of over 35 years Ranee and Billy I will remember always ❤️ The people in NZ love us, which makes travelling easy as when in doubt you can just ask and they fall over themselves to help. The Baches that we have hired have been fantastic. Due to the ever threat of earthquakes almost all properties on the North Island are one storey and each part we have visited has had it's own unique charm. Sadly the weather was not kind enough for us to do our snorkelling and Dolphins/ whale watching day but Rotorua was incredible and Napier was like a fairytale . Last night we moved into the modern world of serviced apartments in Wellington ready to catch the early ferry I think they should be renamed 'pods' . 6 of us in an alcoved room with a tiny kitchen and a hospital wetroom ! No windows , key fobs for different floors and 3 floors up !!! Spent most of the night waiting for the earth to move in any event we would not have had a clue which way to go ! People who work in the city live in these places Mon-Fri ...never again for me one bitten and all that !