10th Jan day 87 Hong Kong here I come

I managed to get the hotel shuttle service to the hotel which was a blessing so I arrived there at 4.15am. I wasn't the brightest bunny on the block because of being sleep deprived and not having eaten anything for 15 hours - so unlike me. I got rid of my case and headed for breakfast, thankfully my luggage was booked right through to Hong Kong even though I was changing airlines in Melbourne. Can't tell you how pleased I was to be able to relax in the airport loung with this healthy eating breakfast.

The flight to Melbourne was OK as it was just 4.25 hrs long. I watched the documentary 'He called me Malala' about the young Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban, it was both inspiring and upsetting. She is an exceptionally brave teenager. I am reading Bear Gryll's book about climbing Everest so enjoyed reading that and the flight passed easily. 

I tried to change my seat for Hong Kong as I prefer an aisle one in order to stretch my legs on a long flight, this journey was 9.5 hours. I am so glad there weren't any available. Thankfully because it was an Airbus there are only 2 seats not 3 by the windows, they have 2 aisles and 5 seats between them in the middle. This meant I was only disturbing 1 person when I needed to stretch my legs.

The views crossing Australia were sensational as it was a bright clear day by then, I had a birds eye view - well much better than that actually flying at 31,000'. As you can see we are already into their summer and there is very little greenery.

I imagine the white area is salt is, do any of you know please?

The man next to me wasn't chatty other than the pleasantries and I never want to intrude. It is ghastly if you want to be quiet and someone talks at you for that length of time, I have experienced that on a couple of much longer flights. I watched the Tom Hanks movie 'Bridge of Spies' about a lawyer called Donovan. It's a brilliant film based on a true story, definitely worth a watch. The food on the plane was good with a lovely chicken and bean salad, plus toffee and choc mousse, then a mango ice cream about 5 hours in, finishing just before landing with a veggie wrap and strawberry yoghurt. 

This is the view as we flew over Cairns in Northern Australia before hours of ocean. And these are the views of the islands as we approached Hong Kong.

By the time I arrived I was hanging and everything was an effort. I was searched for explosives would you believe. The first time it came up positive so they redid me and my baggage twice more, thankfully both were negative, I was let me go! I met a very helpful girl at the Hong Kong Tourist Board stand in the airport, she gave me a city map and marked some things I needed on it. She then gave me directions for a cab and I joined a long line of passengers who were waiting for one. It was cold, dark and raining.

The taxi driver had no English - but then I have no Chinese so mustn't complain. But he was on his phone the whole time he was driving. The girl had said the journey was 20 mins but it took 45 mins because he couldn't find the hotel, we kept going up and down the shakiest of streets. Consequently it cost a lot more, but I couldn't argue due to my lack of language. The hotel is in a shabby street and everything about it was difficult. The heavy glass doors open outwards so I couldn't get my 23kg case up the steep step. After a few mins someone in the foyer must have heard me puffing and came to the rescue. I had to pay £20 for my door key, hopefully I will get it back on checkout. My room is tiny, none too clean and very shabby (it looks better in the picture than reality) and initially I thought it didn't have a shower. It's so small I couldn't close my door without putting my case on the bed!

Honestly I could have cried, instead I sent a couple of messages to Simon and Cheryl to let them know I had arrived. They both came back to me immediately, which was lovely so I didn't feel quite as alone. Cheryl suggested I find a nice hotel but I was way beyond that having only had 1 hours sleep in 48 hrs. There is a really helpful check if you are making decisions it's HALT

H - hungry?

A - angry?

L - lonely?

T - tired? 

If you are any of these, and I was all of them, don't make a decision, you will only regret it. I just had a wash and crashed into bed. In fairness leaving NZ was always going to be tough wasn't it?