24 Hours in Hong Kong

On our return from Wellington we stopped off at New Zealand’s immigration centre to pick up our passports just in time for our Friday departure to Hong Kong. At work, we began our first Lean Six Sigma training with three full days and twenty students going for their Green Belt certification. It was my first experience on the teaching side of the room and it was both fun and exhausting – even though I was only responsible for a couple of sessions.

Practicing a bit of Just In Time – Claire and I made our 11 hour flight Friday night and spent Saturday with Claire’s close friend from university, Charlotte, and her fiancé, Laurent. Good company and a vibrant city are more than enough to overcome a bit of jet lag.

Charlotte and Laurent took us out to lunch in the city walking through Hong Kong’s markets (pictured) and then on ferry through the haze to a neighboring island – Lamma – where we spent the afternoon hiking through old villages (temple on the island pictured) and beautifully green hilly countryside.

The last village we came to caters for visitors from Hong Kong with several restaurants offer fresh seafood – and I mean fresh – pulled from the fish tanks (pictured with Charlotte, Claire and Laurent) after ordering. It really was a perfect evening spent dining on the waterfront (pictured) and drinking Tsing Tao beers.

We caught the evening ferry back to Hong Kong, enjoyed the city light show through the haze, and had one last drink in Soho (pictured), where 20+ bars, each on a different level, line steep streets where outdoor escalators allow pedestrians an easy ascent.

Wellington

When I looked out over Auckland’s harbour Wednesday morning I could see the mammoth Queen Mary II (pictured). Normally a cruise ship would be hidden from view by the city, but the Queen Mary II, once the longest, widest, and tallest cruise liner in the world when it was completed in 2003, must have been too big for the normal spot, so it was berthed at the shipping port.

At 8 p.m., when I was finishing up after a long day, I could see the Queen Mary setting out to its next destination. Claire drove to pick me up with the camera and we raced down to the shore to watch it go – an idea shared by thousands of Aucklanders. Navigating the traffic and hunting for parking we just managed to watch it turn North in front of Rangitoto Island. We also had some great views of Auckland's skyline (pictured).

On Friday we raced to the airport and made our flight by 2 minutes to meet Bonnie and Phil in Wellington. Taking tips from Johannah and Scott (my flatmate in Oxford who spent 8 weeks in Welly) we trekked to the top of the Botanical Gardens, enjoyed an afternoon drink overlooking Wellington (pictured) and sampled several of Wellington’s restaurants perched on Cuba street. Saturday was particularly a tour of notable communists as we had brunch at Fidel’s (pictured) and dinner at Ernesto’s.

Saturday night we went to see a Nina Simone tribute show – a feature of Wellingtons Art Festival (sign pictured at Wellington Harbour) – with Grammy award winning singers who really brought the house down. Wellington really is a center of culture and arts with several galleries and show venues (pictured art galley square) and we couldn’t leave without checking out one of them: On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the national museum, Te Papa, learning much about New Zealand’s history and ecology.