travel blog

The weather in Bath seems to have calmed down a little. It is still extremely cold but it has almost stopped snowing/raining which makes walking outside a little more bearable. Nevertheless we decided the walking tour would be a bit tortuous and so we went to check out the warm Abbey instead. The Abbey is very nice but it could do with a little more information brochures on its obviously long and varied history. Inside was extremely impressive but perhaps the most intriguing aspect was the numerous commemorative plaques on the walls and floor marking the passing of people dating back 300 years.

Today was another really cold day in Bath. There was no snow but lots of icy rain. We were a little slow out of the blocks but eventually got to the Jane Austen Centre before lunch. I have only read one of her books and partially watched a few of her movies but still found the exhibition very interesting. Most importantly for once the service was very friendly. Afterwards we went looking for lunch which is an expensive exercise in the UK. Most places sell sandwiches/bagels for around 6 (NZ$16) and we even found one place selling a flashy scrambled egg dish for 15 (NZ$40) making it the most expensive half dozen eggs on the planet. In a strange irony we ended up at Starbucks as it sells some of the cheapest food food in the country. For 12 we had 2 coffees, two paninis and a chocolate filled pastry. 

Yesterday was our first real day in Bath. First thing on the agenda was laundry. We had not done any since leaving Wellington so we were both down to our last items of clothes. We trekked around Bath during snow flurries with our laundry in tow and eventually found a laundromat only minutes before frostbite would have set in. The strangest thing however was the number of locals walking around in very little clothing, there was a girl out running in shorts and a t-shirt and a very staunch guy strutting around in a tank top. I am not sure what they put in the water round here but it must be something close to anti-freeze.

With a few days before our flat would be available and Emma had no work on the cards we decided to head across to Bath to see the Roman Baths and Stonehenge. We booked a nice bed and breakfast that worked out to be cheaper than the budget hotel in London. We took a very nice train from Paddington to Bath. The weather was not too great with snow showers but it was nice to get out of the city and into some country side. The B&B is a three story house near the railway station. It is run by a Polish lady and her husband and we seem to be the only non-Polish guests here. It means there is very little conversation but there is so much to do in Bath we do not plan on being around the house too long.

Before leaving Wellington I had done some extensive searching on the London flat finder websites. As we only want to stay in London for just over three months finding a place willing to take people in for this long was really tough. Fortunately I stumbled across a flat that suited our needs nicely. The four bedroom flat is in Camberwell which is ten minutes south of London by train. The girl in the flat called Emma is traveling to India for three months and her travel dates correspond almost exactly to ours. I had talked to her from New Zealand and had arranged to contact her when we arrived in London to view the room before agreeing to stay.

We flew out of Hong Kong on Saturday night at 11:45 p.m. Fortunately our hotel had a late checkout of 6:00pm so we were not burdened with the problem of where to put our packs during the day. On our last day in Hong Kong we cruised the flea markets and shops in Kowloon. Although Emma was not too keen on the local food the packed streets soon drove us into a relatively quiet Chinese eatery where we had a nice lunch of noodles, rice and steamed buns.

After returning to the hotel and packing we took the train to the airport. The great thing about Hong Kong is that airline checkin can be completed at the railway station. This meant we did not have to worry about our luggage after boarding the high-speed train as it would travel unsupervised from Kowloon Station to Heathrows Terminal One. After arriving and passing through customs we had four hours to fill in and HK$500 to spend. We browsed the expensive designer shops and then had a nice dinner complete with lobster soup and cocktails at a european style restaurant. Our seats overlooked the departure lounge and airport tarmac so there was always something or somebody interesting to look at. It was a great way to round off our visit to Hong Kong and some european food after days of noodles and rice was very welcome.

On Friday we did some touring of Hong Kong island. The weather was not great but it did mean we did not feel bad cruising through vast shopping malls fulled with Prada and Clarins stores. After some searching we found the lobby for the International Financial Centre I, a really impressive 100 story tower. There is a public library on the 55th floor but no public observation deck. After getting some visitor id tags we took the express lift up there. The lift had CNNs financial news showing which was quite funny and the 55 level trip took less than a minute.The view was amazing and the quality of the IFC tower both inside and out is second to none. Whilst not a true observation deck the library had more tourists than researchers trying to snap photographs of the amazing view. It was far more impressive than the view offered by the Sky Tower and whats is more it was completely free.

On Thursday we went on a Southern China day tour. We did not know too much about this tour, it was a two line entry in a travel brochure and the follow-up information from the tour company had been weak. We had nothing to worry about however as the tour was very well run. We were picked up from our hotel at 6:45am by our head tour guide Alex, a very funny guy from Hong Kong with 17 years experience with taking people around China. Alex knew everyone where we went and he made getting in and out of China a breeze (he is the only person I have seen make a Chinese Customs Officer laugh). He kept us informed of everything important along the way but made it very clear we were getting a sanitized and very safe China experience. An English guy on the tour was a little disappointed at this but I was very happy. I had been to Beijing twice before and had some scary experiences in the local environment. For a couple of New Zealanders going to China is almost like taking a trip to Mars, absolutely everything is different and if you get in trouble there isnt anyone to help you and a heap of people ready to take you to the cleaners.

On the Monday before we left Emma organised a farewell dinner at Hede, a Japanese restaurant on Cuba Street. The food and company were great and it was a good way to conclude the planning and packing phase. Emma thought it would be a good idea to put this photo online as she isn't too fond of the earlier photo as she thought people would think we always dressed in weird summer outfits.

I am writing this in the Majestic Hotel in our first morning in Hong Kong on a wireless network service that puts everything in Wellington to shame (NZ$2 per hour unlimited use). We arrived in HK at midnight after a very nice Qantas flight from Sydney. The food was surprisingly good and the Total Entertainment system is really fantastic. I have been to Fosters Hong Kong Terminal a few times now and its definitely the coolest airport terminal in the world. We got to our hotel around 2am local time after the train ride into town and an interesting discussion with a taxi driver that spoke no English at all.