WBWW - Hong Kong

As my first Way Back When Wednesday post looked at my trip to Hobbiton I've decided to try, for a few weeks at least, to keep some continuity.  Therefore I am going to tell you about the first leg of my Australia/New Zealand trip back in 2007.

It was the 1st October 2007 and Stuart and I had both, finally, finished studying. The kind people I worked for at the time were happy to let me have two months off and we decided to head to Australasia for a bit of a jolly. To break up the flight to Sydney we decided to stopover in Hong Kong for a few days, and I'm glad we did.

First things first though, at the age of 22 this was going to be my first ever time on a plane. Growing up we never had trips abroad; I lived on the Isle of Wight so summer holidays were spent at the beach, and when I hit Uni, all my money was spend on studying or drinking. Stuart and I had one break over in Paris, but for that we used the Eurostar. So there we were, waiting for my first ever flight, and an 8 hour one at that - to be followed by around 5 other flights in the following 8 weeks. I'm glad to say that I quite enjoying flying - well the take off and the landing, the bit in the middle is a bit boring, and (sorry carbon footprint) since 2007 I have managed to get a few more flight and holidays in. The one overriding memory I have from this first flight is that the guy who sat in the aisle seat next to Stuart and I did not move from his seat once - not even to pee! Bladder of steel. I however keep getting up and down, half for the novelty and a change of scene and half from paranoia about DVT! All in all it was an interesting first flight and there were some lovely views from the window - I loved flying over mountains and islands.

The first thing that hit me when we got off the plane was the heat and humidity. For some strange reason I had decided to wear jeans. As soon as we got to our hostel I had to change into something more suitable! We spent the two days we were there just walking around, visiting the peak and generally taking in the atmosphere. I am sure there is lots to see and do in Hong Kong but for such a short time I really enjoyed just doing our own thing. I'd love to go back. These photos don't do the place justice (they were taken on a very old digital camera I'd had for years - how quickly technology has moved on recently!) but they are a great reminder for me of the time we spent there.