Last post from Hong Kong

So despite not such a great weather night, we did make it to the London Eye. Hen and I battled our collective height phobias and enjoyed an amazing view over London at night. We also wondered what went wrong with our very own Melbourne 'eye'...? The London one is so much bigger and appears to work seamlessly...hmmm


Anyway, we caught our plane on time and arrived in Hong Kong VERY tired. Have at last learnt two lessons - don't fly Lufthansa and sort out seat allocations online about a week ahead. We had to sit in-groups of two about 10 rows apart for a very long 11 hour flight...not nice. Just look at my sleeping beauties in the taxi from Hong Kong airport...


We decide there are three 'must do' things on our list for our short stay in HK. First, visit Tim Ho Wan - the only Michelan starred restaurant where no dish costs more than $10! Sounded like a great idea until we saw the crowds waiting outside to get a seat in the tiny 26 seat cafe at 10.00am!


We persevered, waited about 1.5 hours and then had the best Asian meal we'd ever had - baked bbq pork buns the big winner on the menu. Total price of a 12 course lunch for 4 people....$26...crazy!


Item 2 - visit the Giant Buddha at the top of mountains surrounding HK. Only catch, we have to go up via a 5km cable car ride, about 1 KM above the ocean and steep mountains. Did I mention mine and Henry's height phobia on the London Eye? This little trip made the Eye look like child's play...


It's kind of hard to see just how 'giant' the Buddha really is from this pic but it is absolutely enormous - about xxxx metres. I don't know how they got it there in the first place...





And so you might well ask, what was the third thing? See photos below for the vital clue....


Yes, in a fitting end to our crazy family holiday, Earl went to see the All Blacks play Australia live in an amazing stadium just 10 minutes walk from our hotel. While it is sad to say we've become used to being beaten by the Kiwis, check out the scoreboard at the end...


A brilliant end to a brilliant 2 months - be seeing you all soon. Catching qantas flight direct to Melbourne first thing this morning. Touching down in sunny Melb late Sun night - talk/see you all soon!
Over and out...!
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Stefani sees London tourist landmarks at last!

Yes, it is a running joke amongst my close friends and family that when I lived in London for 12 months in the early 90's, I didn't see one single significant tourist sight! We were all too busy working, drinking and socializing to bother with old buildings but this visit, I made up for it...here we go - London Bridge first...


Buckingham Palace...


Trafalgar Square with no pigeons...not quite the same...


And of course, Big Ben..


You've got to love the open top buses - I think after 8 weeks I am becoming a real tourist! It's definitely the easiest way to get a family of four around a new city (without ending up in the divorce courts!). Look how happy we are...!


Below some other nice moments during our London tourist day - giant pans of Paella cooking up a storm in Covent Garden..


A cool painting in a posh art shop window snapped by me as we were stopped at traffic lights - nice.


Us freezing and tired waiting for Earl to 'take the picture now!'...


And finally, the mandatory fish and chips in an English pub - very tasty and loved the faux newspaper wrapping BUT didn't taste as good as our Melbourne flake....think we're starting to get a bit homesick at last.


London Eye tonight (if we can drag ourselves out of our hotel) and Hong Kong tomorrow.
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Secret beach in Arklow

We arrive safely back at Arklow and Katie takes the kids, Earl and Ella for a walk to her 'secret beach'. Earl's new camera keeps producing these beautiful photos - more proof of the unseasonably wonderful weather we had over here.


A hardy Irish starfish....


More lovely beach with kids and Katy this time..


And then it was time for an Indian feast of Butter Chicken courtesy of the brilliant cook Ronnie - omg this was so good! Henry has become a curry convert on this trip - result!


And finally, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful Irish hosts - Katy, Ronnie and Ella.


The kids were very sad to have to part with the beautifully behaved Ella - but we were all inspired by what a lovely dog she was. Really looking forward to getting our family dog when we get back to Oz. Off to England now!
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Done Foolin in Doolin

The last day in Doolin there was a little bit of sunshine so we made the most of it. Firstly, say hi to the six feral cats that have been camping out on our cottage back doorstep, ever hopeful of a snack from the kids.


Secondly, go for a horse ride through the gorgeous County Clare countryside. It somehow came down to me being the 'adult' going on the ride with the kids. Brought back lots of memories of when I was 12 and obsessed with horses! This is Tori on her massive horse 'Bob'!


Our very Irish horse riding host was called Willy Daly who also happens to be a third generation matchmaker - really! Even more funny, he casually mentions that he recently met two guys from Melbourne from a tv show - their names were Hamish and Andy!!!! Friends in Melbourne will know how funny this is! Apparently he matched them up with some nice Irish girls even though they both had girlfriends - just did it for the film crew. The weather held out long enough for us to have a good ride - fun!


Below is a pic of Doolin village in the early morning - such a pretty place.


And then we had to leave the very next morning - nice and early to get back to Arklow in time to say hi to Ronnie and Ella (the kid's fave dog in Europe!) before heading to London. Last two photos of the cottage - one just as we get up (obviously too bloody early!) and the other with the sunrise..sigh...








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Last tourists in Ireland

Everywhere we've been going this week, locals have been saying we must be the 'last tourists' as they're planning to shut down for the Winter. The weather has been so good this week though, it is hard to imagine Winter is coming (except for how cold it is, even though the sun is shining!).

Perfect day today meant the Aran Islands were on at last. We caught the Doolin ferry across to the smallest of the three islands, Inisheer.


On arrival at the island, we were greeted by the island's equivalent of a taxi service - the good old horse and cart.


Of course we couldn't resist and had an hour's tour of the island's major sights including a giant rusted shipwreck, ancient shipwreck and even a holy well!





Tori looks hard for an eel in the well. Apparently, if you spot an eel in the Holy Well of St Enda, 'you are indeed blessed'. No, we didn't spot one !


We had a brilliant lunch of Potato and Chive soup and some freshly cooked mackerel - perfect on a crispy cold day. The island landscape is very beautiful (like the rest of Ireland!) - all grey rocks, green grass, blue sky and dark green ocean. Very dramatic.





Henry made a new friend on the way back to the ferry. Lucky we're all off horse riding tomorrow!



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Cliffs of Moher by land and water

We woke up to a sunny but windy day which ruled out the Aran Islands. The Cliffs of Moher are just up the road so decided to visit them instead. There was hardly anyone there which meant we could get some great photos of spectacular views from the top of these huge cliffs.


It might be sunny but it is also SO cold! Thank god for Katy and Ronnie's extra jackets and thermals.


This photo below is for Kingsville Primary School - where in the world are you reading. This is Tor reading Tennessee Williams' 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' on the top of the Cliffs of Moher.


The next day was perfect sun and no wind so boat cruises were on. One of the things we did was a cruise around the bottom of the cliffs. It was very cold and you get a sense of how HUGE the cliffs are - xxxxm in some places.





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Beef and Guinness pie in Galway

It was time to resolve my technology issues - I needed an Irish micro-sim card for my iPad and for that, we had to get to Galway. Only about an hour's drive North in our very rubbish hire car (dagga blue Ghia with about 100 dents and scratches in it - I am missing my C5!), we braved the rain and grey skies that have moved in on us to arrive in this very lovely mini city.
We sorted my micro-chip out in about 5 minutes (omg the French should send their Orange staff to Ireland for a training weekend!!!!!) and then it was time for an Irish pub lunch.





The pubs are so warm, cozy and family friendly - we could do with more pubs like this in Australia. We ordered the day's special - beef and Guinness pie with veggies for 7 euro - what a bargain!


Loved this Guinness poster below - unfortunately, the flash on my camera wasn't working so you'll have to squint to read the little poem - worth the effort if you can!











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