Day 53 to 57 - Hong Kong

Zaoshang hao,

We spent our last four days in Hong Kong, staying with our friends Erwin and Vera.

Hong Kong is very different. We arrived in the late afternoon and Erwin met us at the airport. We could not get over the thick fog, or as we found out, it was smog caused by pollution.

The train from the airport took us to a huge shopping centre that included an ice skating rink. Best of all, it had a sushi restaurant, with a sushi train. We did not have sushi the whole time we were in Europe, and this was very good sushi.

Everywhere we went, the buildings in Hong Kong are so tall. At night, when you are driving around, it feels like you are in the futuristic movie Bladerunner. It is not the height of the buildings, it is the sheer number of sky scrappers that is hard to digest.

On our first day in Hong Kong Erwin and Vera's driver, Roger, drove us to the peak of Mount Victoria. From here you get an amazing view of the city over the top of all the sky scrappers.

We have just spent two months touring Europe, marvelling at

cathedrals and temples that were designed and built using hand held tools and manpower. And every time you see one of these wonders you think to yourself, "how on earth did they build that?". When you look around Hong Kong, even with the technology and machines that are available today, you still think to yourself, "how on earth did they build that?".

There is some serious money in Hong Kong, and this was evidenced by the cars we saw. There were lots of high end expensive cars driving around, such as this black McLaren. Electric Tesla's were everywhere. Mercedes cars seem to be as common as Toyotas are in new Zealand.

Erwin and Vera have a dog named Khan. He is a very old Chinese breed, called a Chow Chow. Chow Chows are big strong dogs, bred to hunt and bred to look like a lion. They have purple tongues and a funny, tightly curled tail.

Khan's favourite pastime is to go walking through the bush near the house, looking for wild pigs. One night, as we were getting home from dinner, Khan shot out of the car like a bullet, with Erwin and his son Conrad in hot pursuit. It turns out Khan had caught the scent of a wild pig as we were approaching the house. When the car door opened Khan saw his chance.

Before we left New Zealand, we were worried about Typhoon Mangkhut. It had caused Hong Kong airport to close the day before we left New Zealand. Thankfully the typhoon had passed and the airport was working again by the time we left Auckland.

The typhoon had done a lot of damage on its way through Hong Kong, and we saw some of this while we were there. Some tall

buildings were having panes of glass replaced that had been shattered by the high windows of the typhoon. Then there was this large cabin cruiser that the Typhoon had washed up onto the shore. Two months later and it was still sitting there. We suppose the owner is trying to figure out how to get it moved without sinking and where to take it to get repaired. And how to pay for all of the work that needs to be done!

We enjoyed our time in Hong Kong. Staying with Erwin and Vera was very relaxing. They were very gracious hosts and kept us thoroughly entertained.

Now, we are sitting in our seats, on our way back to New Zealand. We are on an Air New Zealand flight home to Auckland.

When we left Auckland, it was with Cathay Pacific. Our flights into and out of Germany were Lufthansa. These flights were perfectly fine, the seats had plenty of room, the service was excellent, the food was good and there were plenty of movies to keep us entertained. There was absolutely nothing wrong with either airline and we could not fault them.

Air New Zealand, however, is in a class of its own. The seats are even more spacious and comfortable. The food is outstanding, as is the service from the cabin crew.

With Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa, we found that the cabin crew were very professional, and consequently they were also very formal in their manor, somewhat aloof. There is nothing wrong with that, and we find this all the time when we travel.

What we noticed as soon as we boarded the Air New Zealand plane was that the cabin crew were as professional as the crew on the other airlines, but at the same time their manner was less formal, a kind of "smart casual". It's a trait we often see in New Zealand, service that is very professional but without being stiff and formal. We can enjoy a chat about the weather or a natter about places we have been.

It's a style that seems to be uniquely New Zealand, and we see it all the time at Waikato Office Products Depot. People like Carmel or Hannah or Manawa or Diana who are very professional at their jobs, but at the same time warm, welcoming and relaxed when dealing with people.

Anyway, it resolved us to try harder to ensure we always fly with Air New Zealand if we can.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our Second Great Adventure. Now we are looking forward to getting home and sleeping in our own bed.

We're almost there.

See you all very soon.

Love from Grandma and Koro and Buzzy Bee. XXX OOO.