Our final day in Hong Kong dawned as has every other during this last week; already above 30°C at 06:00 and 75% relative humidity.
With these conditions and our departure to consider, we had a lazy start and after breakfast caught the sub-way to the suburb of Kowloon Tong to visit Bobbie’s school; “The Australian International School, Hong Kong”, a school of 1125 students from kindergarten to year 12 based upon NSW curricula, plus I.B.
With it being school holidays at present, the school was practically empty except for painters and security staff.
Bobbie showed us her shared office space and some of her teaching areas which for classes of twenty-five seemed pretty cramped although this was compensated for by having very small desks.
Australian International School, Hong Kong
Soccer pitch, Australian International School, Hong Kong
View from Australian International School, Hong Kong
There is a garden and a swimming pool on the upper (ninth) floor but the only other external recreation space is an enclosed half size soccer pitch with a synthetic surface. It made us realise how fortunate our Australian students are with most schools having extensive facilities, although often not fully appreciated by our students.
Robyn at her desk, Australian International School, Hong Kong
Maths classroom, Australian International School, Hong Kong
We then had a pleasant lunch break in a nearby Vietnamese restaurant where amongst the specialties we sampled were delicacies wrapped in rice-paper.
We then returned to Bobbie’s unit, showered did a final pack and prepared to head for the airport for our 20:40 flight this evening.
With the traffic flow in Hong Kong being unpredictable we were advised to allow about an hour to get from Kowloon to Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport on distant Lantau Island.
After an emotional farewell with Bobbie, at 16.30 we caught a taxi from the reception area of her apartment and headed west on the expressway that seemed remarkably free flowing considering the time of the day. The expressway passes Kwai Chung which is one of the largest shipping container terminals in the world. The complex extends over kilometres of port and there must have been hundreds of container loading cranes operating.
To get over to Lantau Island we crossed the Tsing Ma Bridge sometimes referred to as Hong Kong’s “Golden Gate”.
Tsing Ma Bridge is the world's ninth-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. It has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic making it the largest suspension bridge of this ‘twin-deck’ type in the world. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 m and a height of 206 m.
The 41 m wide bridge deck carries six lanes of traffic, with three lanes in each direction. The lower level contains two rail tracks and two sheltered carriageways, used for maintenance access and traffic lanes when particularly severe typhoons strike Hong Kong and the bridge deck is closed to traffic.
Our trip to the airport took less that half an hour and we were through security and immigration in next to no time; quite remarkable considering our expectations of long queues and delays at large airports.
We boarded our Qantas A320 plane at around 20:00 Wednesday evening and it took just over nine hours to reach Melbourne. We had comfortable seats with just adequate legroom but the food and beverages on the flight were of a mediocre standard.
After going through the formalities of customs in Melbourne where the queue was extensive, we asked Jetstar if we could possibly change to an earlier flight to Hobart, a request that was initially declined. However, when they realised that we’d just arrived from HK on a Qantas flight they then made the swap and we were soon on our way to Hobart, thus avoiding a potential six hours of waiting in Melbourne for a flight that we later heard was delayed in its departure.
We were met by Bryce at Hobart and soon home to find everything in good order although a trifle chilly compared to the stifling heat we’d experienced over the last month.
Jacquie had very kindly arranged for provisions to be on hand and after a yummy meal of steak and vegies plus apple pie, we headed for bed and had a delightfully restful eleven hours of slumber.
This represents the end of our remarkable journey into some of the more isolated parts of China where we’ve encountered spectacular rivers, pendulous mountains, incredible gorges and many other remarkable sights in a country with a documented history that extends over four thousand years.
Our lasting memories are of a country on the move with a vast population of hard working people desperately keen to make advancements towards a lifestyle that is fashioned on western consumerism and certainly not the socialist state that existed when we first visited thirty years ago.
Issues like democratic elections, unrestricted access to the internet and the freedom of ethnic groups such as those in Tibet are ones that were best avoided.
However, the fascination that this country holds is undeniable and we look forward to a return visit in the years ahead to continue our exploration of this remarkable country and its people.
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