Came ashore without too much trouble after bidding fond farewells to our waiters and steward. Most of the people we'd become friendly with are getting off at Hong Kong and staying at the Grand Stanford Hotel so we will see them around for the next 36 hours or so.
Luggage came with us ok and the foyer of the Hotel looks pretty good. Down-side of registration was that rooms are not ready for 3 hours! However managed to reorganise the hand luggage so we could check most of it in with the concierge and just carry jewellery etc with us. Quite cool here after the heat of the last couple of weeks and Ian had packed all his warm things so we set off for the Star Ferry with Ian in Carol's fleece!
Lovely walk along the new Esplanade-The Avenue Of Stars- to the Star Ferry. Discovered there that very, very old people like ourselves can ride at any time free of charge so our Merseyside Travel passes work in Hong Kong!!!
Walked for miles through Malls which did not exist last time we were here. Things have changed enormously with lots of reclaimed land and much higher sky scrapers. there were lots of designer shops and as in Singapore, they had no customers.
Entered the Cathedral which is a lovely old building but completely dwarfed by the skyscrapers all around. Enjoyed our tram ride up the Peak. The track really is at an impossible angle-probably 30 per cent incline. Since our last visit about 16 years ago they have developed the top into more shopping malls!! Sadly the visibility was really bad so we did not see the full view but did manage to glimpse Oriana through the mist. We wondered how many of those due to board today will be delayed by the snow and if or when they will catch up with her.
Had a bit of lunch at the Peak then made our way back to the hotel where we booked in and managed to extend our check out tomorrow from noon to 8pm. Quick bath and out to Nathan Road and the night market. Saw the Hotel where Ian and I stayed about 16 years ago and even the Macdonalds where we went to 'use the facilities!' Had a meal in a Chinese restaurant called La Maine where we had genuine local food and were the only Europeans.
Slept quite well and met up for a magnificent buffet breakfast. Spent most of the morning dashing round H K trying to book our seats on the plane tonight. Eventually did it on the iPod standing in a shopping mall using free wifi!
Caught the tram towards Causeway Bay which was huge fun and travelling on the top gave a new view point to this fabulous city. Got off at Wan Chai. This is old shabby H K, a world away from the glamorous tower blocks of Central. It is noisy, crowded and pretty much tourist free. We found a local market full of live fish of every description, wonderful vegetables and fruit that we had never seen before as well as clothes etc After buying a few bits we headed for the Wan Chai to Kowloon Ferry and found a coffee house for a snack. We were the only Europeans on the Ferry.
As we walked back towards the hotel Carol and I dived into yet another jewellers as she spotted omega chains in the window which we had been looking for all cruise managed to negotiate excellent price for two only to find he only had one! This resulted in numerous phone calls by the owner and staff and John lost the will to live. Eventually he found a slightly different one which necessitated another bout of bargaining. Eventually we got the right result with a necklace each for a very good price.
Had a good few hours in the hotel room where we were all able to have showers, change, and sort ourselves. Ian and John went to the local Subway and bought rolls. We were picked up promptly and taken to the airport with the minimum of delay.
Good flights home but very tiring and we arrived with zero temperature. Feels so cold after a fortnight in the high 20's to 30 degrees! Arrived in Manchester 20 mins early but then sat on the plane when the sky walkway didn't work and they had to find some steps to get us out of the plane!

Had a wonderful and memorable holiday full of amazing sights and sounds and new experiences. Personally I will never forget the magic of gliding along in the Indian Ocean, through hundreds of tiny fishing boats under a sky lit by thousands of stars. As the song says ' memories are made of this'