Hong Kong

I started 2019 doing what I love – traveling to a new place.

Without getting into whether Hong Kong is a unique country, China says it isn’t, I tried to see as much of it as I could over a few days. Using “the book” as my guide, these are the sights I enjoyed.

Victoria Harbour

I hung around the harbor one night for the famed 8 pm light show, but I wasn’t very impressed. And it wasn’t easy to photograph, so mostly this is just another night picture of the harbor.

Victoria Peak

I wouldn’t recommend waiting in a three-hour line to take the tram – there are other ways to get to the peak when it is busy, but everyone should see HK from here.

Chi Lin nunnery garden

My favorite place in HK. I already did a separate post on this fantastic garden, but here are more pictures.

Hong Kong museum of history

This is a nice museum that walks you through the history of HK.

The museum also included an exhibit on carved wood that is then covered with gold foil. I can’t imagine learning such a craft.

The Ladies market and Temple street night market were not worth seeing. I can buy the same junk in Shanghai. The Temple street market also had lots of street food options, but we had already eaten so we didn’t try any.

I treated myself to an afternoon tea at a beautiful hotel.

The NYE fireworks were great. So many people!!

Chi Lin nunnery garden

This beautiful garden was a highlight of my trip to Hong Kong. I only wish I had gone earlier in the day, because of the early morning light and also because it would have been quieter.

I will find time to spend here every time I am lucky enough to visit HK.

I like a nice koi pond. These guys seem well fed, but I wasn’t allowed to feed them.

Chi Lin nunnery is a large Buddhist temple complex with beautiful places for worship. I didn’t take photos of the those places out of respect, and because it is forbidden.

Koalas and kangaroos

My first experience with koalas and my second with kangaroos.

They both seem so exotic to me. I would love to have my own pet koala!

Sydney Opera House and Harbor

The opera house is an impressive building, and it really is a focal point of the city. It rained most of the time we were there, but I got a few decent pictures.

We also treated ourselves to seeing a play in one of its many theatres. I recommend getting inside and taking in one of the many possible cultural experiences offered in this amazing building.

This was a special trip. I never really expected to ever get to Australia. I need to start dreaming big again. Where should I go next?

The Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains are part of a national park about 90 minutes from Sydney. We did a day trip, but I recommend spending two days in the area.

Three Sisters:

The glass bottom cable car is a short ride, but a great way to see more of the beauty.

A very steep railway ride was another way to see the area.

It was a good day trip from Sydney, and is featured in the book. I think you will want to visit the area when the weather is good, and the sky is clear.

Terra Cotta Warriors

A farmer was digging a well for water in 1974. It was a very dry year. He unearthed one of the greatest discoveries of my lifetime.

You really need to see pit 1 of the Terra Cotta Warrior Museum. Here are my pictures, but they don’t fully capture how amazing this active archaeological site is.

The building is over 250 yards long – more than 2 football fields.

Site of the well the farmer was digging

New section they recently started digging out more warriors

I wonder if the people who created the warriors and buried them could have imagined our interest in them now.

Warrior hospital

The chariots didn’t survive- the empty space behind the horses

Terra cotta warriors- a very, very difficult puzzle!

Great Barrier Reef

I completed my open water scuba diving requirements 17 years ago on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Since then I had completed 13 dives. (Puts me way behind the curve from most divers.)

As a Minnesotan, diving is an expensive hobby because it requires me to travel somewhere else to dive. I dove once in Lake Huron, for practice. It was cold.

I have spent way more time visiting Europe than going places where I could dive, but I did put the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) on my bucket list once I realized how much I love to dive.

But…realistically, I didn’t actually believe, at the time, that I would ever scuba dive the GBR.

I just returned from a fantastic trip to Australia, and it started in Cairns.

Cairns is a small town where many people go to access the GBR. I know an Australian woman who described it as an airport location more than a town. I didn’t spend much time in Cairns, but there is more there than an airport.

GBR is far enough from shore that most people do a day trip via a boat/ferry. I knew I wanted to spend a couple of days diving, and didn’t want to spend a couple of hours every day in a boat going back and forth from Cairns, so I opted to stay on a “live aboard.” It is like a very small cruise ship, that doesn’t cruise very far; but it does move at least once per day to other dive sites.

I was very happy with Reef Encounter’s live aboard. I purchased a 3-night package that included diving, meals and a remarkably spacious cabin. My cabin on the reef wasn’t much smaller than some cruise ship cabins.

I completed 9 dives in 2 1/2 days. (Remember, before this I had completed 13 dives in 17 years.) It was a dream come true!

I also opted to purchase a guide for my first dive. It seemed like a great idea, and was, since I had never been to GBR before. My dive guide is named Ian, and is from Florida. He was great. I would have adopted him as a son, if I could, and he did go on every dive with me.

I was especially happy to have Ian with me on my first night dive.

I had never done a night dive before, because as much as I love to dive, I am a bit claustrophobic. It only bothers me when I am in small spaces, like underwater caves, or narrow reef areas. I just assumed it would bother me at night also, but I was fine.

Two major benefits of having a dive guide:

1. He is really good at finding fish, etc
2. He knows where to go, and I don’t need to keep track of where the boat is

We saw lots of beautiful fish, a turtle. Here are some pictures. I swam with sharks!!

We also saw evidence of coral bleaching. I don’t want to make this a political piece, but the behavior of humans is damaging our planet, especially this beautiful reef. Please do what you can to protect our natural resources.

Giant Pandas of Chengdu, China

China generously shares their pandas, on a short-term basis, with the US and other places, so I have seen pandas in the US. And typically US zoos will have a pair of pandas.

I spent yesterday morning at the panda breeding and research in Chengdu, China. Enough said, here are my videos and pictures

A day of firsts

Friday, 28 September 2018 was a day of firsts for me.

First time in the Southern Hemisphere

First time in Australia

First time, in a very long time, on a new continent

More blog posts are coming about my fantastic trip to Australia!

 

Tokyo

Minnesota to Shanghai

I traveled to Japan for the first time in July 2005. It was one of our best family vacations, and such a favorite that we always planned to return.

Hiroshima 2005

We planned our next trip for March 2011. The kids were in college then, and we were all very excited. And then the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami happened – a terrible day for Japan. Our vacation was to begin Match 14th. We went to Nice, France instead.

I just returned from 5 days in Tokyo. It was as hot and humid there as it has been in Shanghai, China.

Tokyo is a vibrant city with amazing food and lots of lovely gardens.

After only a few weeks of livng in Shanghai, I couldn’t help but make comparisons between the two cities.

Even though Shanghai has the larger population, Tokyo’s sidewalks are more crowded with people, but they…

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