It is all but over.

Today was our last full day in Hong Kong and therefore of our 2013 holiday.

We left the hubbub of the city and took the bus to Stanley which is on the southern peninsular of the island and opens out to The South China Sea.

After the annexation of Hong Kong in 1842 the British made Stanley the temporary administrative centre before moving it to the present day Central on the north shore of Hong Kong Island.

Stanley Fort was where British and Canadian troops mounted a last stand during the Battle of Hong Kong. The survivors surrendered to Japanese forces in December 1941.

The fort, which was the former British Army barracks in Stanley, is now occupied by the People's Liberation Army following the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.

It has a very different feel to it when compared to the main area - it is less populated, though there are many tourists (like us) visiting the Stanley Markets, and being on the coast there is a relieving sea breeze.














During our travels we have come across numerous wedding parties out in scenic spots having their photographs taken and today was no exception


As we think back we must have seen between 15 & 20 wedding parties and a few different wedding traditions as well e.g. carrying the bride through the heart at Dom-Romer in Frankfurt.

Tomorrow late afternoon we board NZ80 for the 11 hour flight back to NZ which brings the end to our trip.

To say we have enjoyed it would be an understatement, it has been superb.

When combined with our 2011 European holiday we have now seen nearly all of the major European cities and many towns and villages in between.

If we had favourite countries on this trip they would be Austria, Croatia & Switzerland and favourite cities would be Vienna, Saltzburg & Dubrovnik however that doesn't indicate that others we visited did not also have immense charm.

As at the time of our final post the blog has been accessed 2097 times in total from numerous countries around the world & we hope we have inspired those who have read our adventures to plan to undertake a similar trip or if your circumstances are such that that is not possible then you have enjoyed coming on our journey with us!

We are planning another European jaunt in 2015 so you can follow our travels at the blog here 

A love hate relationship!

We have been in some populated cities on this trip but the difference between them and Hong Kong is while the others are also chaotic their chaos is orderly where as Hong Kong's is anything but.

Walking around the streets you are liable to get knocked over by someone pushing a delivery cart or you could trip over various items of produce drying off in the sun.

What the produce actually is can only be guessed at but we suspect such things are fungi and/or fish and then there are the Chinese medicine shops.











As can be imagined there are numerous street odours as a result.

We took the Metro to Causeway Bay (a crowded metro) as when we were last here


that was where we stayed but very little was recognisable though I did see an example of bamboo scaffolding!


We then again got the Metro and went off the island to the mainland side (Tsim Sha Shui) and walked along the promenade.

It was good to get away from the streets and get a little fresh air but also to get a view of the high rises on the island and the activity on the harbour














This place is one you will either love or hate and in our view Singapore is a far better Asian city to have as a stop over and it would be doubtful that we would ever return to Hong Kong, but in saying that it is not a place that we hate.

P.S. As I laid in bed last night, a bed that was about 6 inches too short for me, it struck me that the 6163 kms we drove around Europe in 2 months is more than the distance we have driven in our Lexus in the 20 months that we have had it!

Europe is behind us

On Monday morning European time we left Unterseen and drove to Bern.

This was a distance of around 60kms and was for quite a distance alongside the Thun, one of the lakes on the outskirts of Interlaken (between two lakes) - the lake was a glorious sight but alas the camera was packed in the suitcase in preparation for the flight later in the day.

We spent a few hours in Bern walking around the old town area which boasts both an astronomical clock and also a covered promenade shopping strip of approx. 4 kms.

At the end of the promenade there is an enclosure which houses at least three bears (the mother bear, the father bear and the baby bear - just joking) and two of them were lazing in the shade quite close to a viewing area.

After lunch we set off for Zurich, another 150kms up or was it down the motorway and we arrived there around 4.30 so parked the car and had a walk around.

In arriving in Zurich we completed a full circle!

It was 7 weeks ago that we were there and the place had changed - the Zurich fest was obviously well over and the streets in the area where it had been held were free of people, marquees and rubbish and presented far more pleasantly than when the fest was on.

Also in Bahnhofstrasse they were undertaking footpath improvements on both sides and there were barriers etc. all along it which changed the character of the street considerably.

Our last drive was from the city to the airport where we met Paulo, the Peugeot lease representative, and signed the car back into their loving care.

While we had it we had driven 6,163 kms (I had budgeted for 6,300), we had used 338.65 litres of diesel at 5.49l/100kms and at an average cost of €1.44 per litre and had paid €157.08 in tolls and vignettes - oh and €10 to that crooked cop in Bosnia!

During our driving we recorded vehicle registration plates from 38 different countries - if you would like a list of the countries include your email address as comment to this post below.

A very efficient self check-in gave us around 4 hours wait at the airport before we flew out to Hong Kong.

11.5 hours after leaving Zurich we landed in Hong Kong and taxi'd to our accommodation on Hong Kong Island.

The place is just as I remember from the previous time we were here - chaotic and with different smells on each corner.

Tomorrow we will have a walk around and see what it has to offer.

Jungfraujoch

As the logo says "Top of Europe"

Left the hotel early to catch the first of four trains needed to get to the top.

There are two routes up the mountain and we choose to go up via


A train change there took us to Kleine Scheidegg and another change and we went for the summit.

On that leg, stops were made for viewing at Eigergletscher, but that was clouded in as was Eigerwand and it was not until we reached


that a view of the mountainous terrain was before us








After a 5 minute stop the train continued on to the final stop at 11333ft and we were extremely lucky that in the couple of hours that we were there the clouds and mist lifted periodically to allow a lovely view of the Swiss Massive.













There was an ice palace that you could walk through which was colder than being out in the open





On the way down at Kleine Scheidegg we took the train to Grindelwald and the views of the villages below us and as we passed through then were quite superb











Grindelwald itself was a very attractive village and we spent around an hour walking through it before getting on the train to return to Interlaken West








The above photo is from Grindelwald looking back up the lower reaches of the terrain and gives an indication of how steep the train track is.

The trip to the Jungfrau is truly a bucket list item.

Tomorrow we drive back to Zurich via Bern before taking a late night flight to Hong Kong arriving there around 9pm NZT Tuesday so our next post will be sometime after then.

We have been in Europe for 52 days as I write and have had rain only on 2 days so we consider ourselves very fortunate that the weather gods shone on us (again)!

We aren't where we thought we would be!

The plan was to drive from Triesen to Interlaken today but we ended up in Unterseen!

It was not until we were speaking to our waitress at dinner tonight that we found that out.

However all is not as bad as it would seem as Interlaken is about 100m across the river from Unterseen and as it happened we had walked to Interlaken this afternoon in rather poor weather.

Both cities sit beneath the Jungfraujoch, said to be "The Top of Europe" and tomorrow morning we are going up to "the top" (11,388ft) - we hope that the


weather improves somewhat but it will be what it will be. (We known it will be minus some degrees!)

Unterseen/Interlaken is a very attractive area with buildings presenting in the style that we had read about many years ago when in geography classes











The weather curtailed our movements this afternoon but nevertheless we appreciated the time we were able to spend walking around.

Up early in the morning to get the first of 3 trains we need to get up there so off to bed it is.

Liechtenstein

When one travels it is good to learn something about the places visited and when all else fails Wikipedia is a good resort

Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe,bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east and north. Its area is just over 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz.

The biggest town is Schaan. Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted by purchasing power parity,and has the world's lowest external debt. Liechtenstein also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world at 1.5%.

Liechtenstein is the smallest yet the richest German-speaking country and the only country to lie entirely within the Alps. It is known as a principality as it is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince.

Liechtenstein is divided into 11 municipalities. Much of its terrain is mountainous, making it a winter sports destination. Many cultivated fields and small farms characterize its landscape both in the south (Oberland, upper land) and in the north (Unterland, lower land). The country has a strong financial sector located in the capital, Vaduz, and has been identified as a tax haven.


Our hotel is in Triesen about 2.2 kms from Vaduz so we walked back to Vaduz just after lunch having arrived around midday.

The town is dominated by the castle in which the Prince and family lives and the









climb to it gives a good view out over the valley floor








Coming down from the castle we walked through a residential area and enjoyed









the pleasant views.

Some of the buildings in the "old town" were very modern!


Also was interested to see that the reach of the Kiwi has extended to this part of


the world but hope that he/she had nothing to do with the design of this


monstrosity.

All in all a very pleasant country and one where the wealth that was outlined in Wikipedia was apparent.

Switzerland and the Alps are our next stop tomorrow.