May 7 & 8 Hong Kong to Wellington

	At last! A half decent night's sleep. I'm still tired but no longer feeling dizzy. A bright and sunny morning, which seemed even brighter when I emerged onto the street. Pacific Coffee Co beckoned again for a sandwich, a jasmine tea and more free internet.
Lovely sunny morning	Pacific Coffee Company

After returning from the Computer Centre last night, I did some calculations and worked out that the price at which I was being offered the lens was much better than it had appeared because of the changes in the currency values since I left New Zealand more than a month ago.

I decided to visit Fortress as soon as it opened - about 10 am I hoped - on the off chance that there had been a major shipment to Hong Kong and that they would offer me an even better price than the place in the Computer Centre. If not, I could return there & offer them notes.

Morning vegetable delivery	Recycling removal

Some of Lockhart Road had received its morning food delivery and the recycling was being taken away. These were not sights regularly seen on the streets of London or Wellington, where this type of activity goes on under wraps.

I had noticed the "old" building on Johnston Road when I arrived but now stopped to take a photo. No 60-66 was built some time between 1880 and 1920 and was a traditional shop house, originally containing a pawn shop. It has been restored and now contains, amongst other things, a very exclusive restaurant.
Pawn - 60-66 Johnston Road

	The Hung Shing Temple
At long last, a post box!	The Hung Shing Temple

Whilst taking the photo of the front elevation, I almost tripped over a post box. What a shame I didn’t see it yesterday. The Hung Shing Temple was originally built on the waterfront in (or before) 1847. The information I can retrieve on the WWW varies. More recent land reclamation has resulted in it now being almost a mile inland. Being rather dark and the sun being rather bright, it presented a major problem for a mediocre photographer such as myself.

As I anticipated, the shop at the Centre hadn't opened either so I took the MTR to Time Square, looked at the flower beds, had a hot lemon tea in the basement and waited until the main electrical shops on the eighth floor opened at 11 am.

After visiting both Fortress and Broadway, the two main electrical chains, and another, smaller, retailer with no success, I gave up and decided that I would have to return to the shop I visited yesterday but didn't like.

Water lily at Time Square	Posh kitchen shop

Walking to the World Trade Centre was easy. It took less than ten minutes & even took me past a kitchen shop - although it was very westernized and didn't appear to contain anything that I couldn't find in Kirkcaldie & Staines.

Finding the entrance to the underground car park which housed the subway through which one passed under the very busy Gloucester Road to the Noon Gun, was very difficult. I went round and round in circles before finally spotting a small sign and descending some steps into a subterranean corridor full of very large pipes.

A corridor full of pipes	and a beautiful scene at the other end

I emerged on the other side to a beautiful scene. Boats on the harbour against a backdrop of the Kowloon skyline, all illuminated by a brilliant sun. Having arrived early so as not to miss the events which, according to legend, Sir Noel did when he fired the gun (it went off at 12.03 on that occasion) I had plenty of time to watch the boats and enjoy the view.

Standing in a small fenced enclosure is a newish gun (a 1961 Hotchkiss three pounder) several old cannons and a brass bell.

At about 11.55 a very small but very smart Chinese man in a dark uniform (Jardine Matheson's I assume) appeared and loaded a shiny brass shell into the breech.

A group of us - I had now been joined by lots of others - pointed our cameras through the railings at him and waited for something to happen. At noon, by his watch, he rang the bell twice and then pulled on the lanyard. I eagerly started to press the shutter when the ground shook, there were clouds of smoke, there was a stupendous bang and I nearly had a heart attack.

My careful press became an involuntary heave and the resulting image which I won't be able to repeat for a year may have been ruined!

Given that this gun was given to the company by the Marine Police because the six pounder they had used from the end of WWII until 1961 was deemed too noisy by the local residents, I dread to think what the old one sounded like. He then rang the bell twice more, unlocked the gates so that we could inspect everything from close to, and marched off smartly whence he had come. Left: Clouds of smoke and the earth moved

	Witnessing such a splendid piece of British pageantry in the middle of China, I have to admit to feeling rather emotional and almost shedding a tear. Without doubt, this was the highlight of the trip. In Hongkong They strike a gong And fire off a noonday gun To reprimand each inmate Who's in late. (Noel Coward 1931)

Once the gate was open, we all walked in and lots of people had their photos taken ringing the bell. I took another one of the gun and went on my way. Mission accomplished.

I beat a hasty retreat by foot and bus, found the camera shop and was quoted a price of $1950 - ie $50 more than yesterday. The bloke obviously knew he had me over a barrel although I doubt he knew how little time there was before I had to head to the airport! I rushed off to the bank to collect the cash, having to join in the lunchtime queue at the ATM. I finally made it and returned to the shop with the cash, handed it over and carried my booty back to the hotel.

	Activities completed, I showered, changed, checked out, left my bag with the porter and crossed the road for a cold beer at the Devil's Advocate & a play with my new lens. Sitting  just inside the open window, reading the paper, watching the world walk by was a nice way to end a Hong Kong holiday.
Final beer of the holiday	An excellent people watching spot

I caught a shuttle considerably earlier than I had intended, which was just as well as the horrific traffic ensured that the short trip to Hong Kong station took 45 minutes. Without the bag, I could probably have walked there in the time. Once there, I used the check-in facility and a pretty lady organised my upgrade, took my bag and must have fancied me as she asked for my phone number.

I took lots of photos through the train windows using the new lens. Most of them have cables or gantries in the way - a fact of life when taking photos from a fast moving train.

Gantries all over the place	Huge cemetery on the mainland
Mainland housing	Singapore Noodles

There were no problems or delays going through the formalities so I was able to concentrate on eating a plate of Singapore Noodles, although I think the ones at China China in London are better. I was also able to use the free wi fi to send emails around the world.

The plane pushed back 10 minutes early, we had a few bumps en route but not as bad as we had been warned to expect, and tied up at Auckland about 45 minutes early. For the first time on this trip, the plane was less than full.

It was obviously damp outside but no rain was actually falling as I set off to walk between the international and domestic terminals. About a third of the way, there was a huge  flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder. About two thirds of the way, there was more thunder and lightning followed by torrential rain. I and another bloke took shelter under the awning of a car park payment machine, where we waited for about ten minutes. We then continued on our way and I only had a few minutes walk until I reached a covered way which led into the terminal.

Sheltering from the storm

Presumably because of the weather, the flights to Wellington were delayed so I ended up having about three hours to wait so I had a coffee and read my book. When we did take off, half an hour late, the flight was a bit bumpy but the landing was ok so we reached Wellington safely. A shuttle took me home, driving through torrential rain for much of the journey. What an ending to a holiday!