Right - using a little bit of artistic licence with the date seeing as I've already been in Australia for 3 weeks now. But I promise to try and keep this up to date from now on.

Left good old England behind in the middle of the heat wave (it lasted at least a week didn't it?) and touched down in a very humid but not especially hot Hong Kong. Found our way to the hostel OK despite the rather useless security guard on the door. We tried all week but never managed to get a smile out of him - maybe he's the Chinese version of the British Beefeaters? There was just about enough room for two beds but you pretty much had to stand on the loo to have a shower. Space really is at a premium here!

Dan and I packed quite a lot into the week really. I know I was ready for a rest by the time it was over! Saw all the sights: the Peak, Government House, Star Ferry, light show, Big Buddha (Ngong Ping), Aberdeen Harbour, JUMBO floating restaurant, HK museum, coastal defence museum, various markets in Kowloon, heritage trail and wetlands park in the New Territories as well as taking a few pics of Dad's old haunts. It's definitely a place for seeing things rather than doing a great amount but that didn't make it any less interesting. It's certainly quite a weird feeling to see the huge wealth that is concentrated in all the high rise buildings and the relative poverty of many of the people around them. And I just couldn't believe how busy it is all the time. Stepping out of the hostel at 10pm and being swamped by the crowds still trawling the streets was something I wasn't expecting.

Food was pretty hit and miss but we did find a nice little locals' eatery just around the corner from the hostel which served up some tasty grub. I even persevered with chopsticks all week which was hard work but I was getting the hang of it by the end of the week! Highlights of the week for me were the Peek (great views all round) and Lantau Island (the one place where you can escape the crowds; very peaceful). All in all an excelent way to start my trip but a very different environment from the one I was about to head for.