New Year in Hong Kong

To break up a monotonously long journey Taras and I decided to have a couple of days in Hong Kong and explore the sights. I never imagined I would experience anywhere nearly as busy as London but this place beats it hands down! Walking along some of the streets proved impossible due to the volume of people so we merely shuffled along and hoped we could exit the crowds when we reached our 'stop'!
Our hotel room was on the 17th floor and on looking out of the window my eyes nearly popped out of the sockets when I noticed the scaffolding on the building next door was made entirely out of bamboo canes held together with cable ties. Are you people mad? - this is the 17th floor and the scaffold just kept on going. Health & Safety in the UK would have a fit if they saw it.
Unfortunately none of the pictures we took could pick up the bamboo clearly, you just had to see it to believe it.
Above is Hong Kong island taken from Kowloon, where we were staying.







Here are some of the buildings lit up for New Years Eve.


























A picture of me in a quieter street in Kowloon
Me on the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong





We both had a great time and another visit is sure to be on the cards on the many visits to and from the UK.

Christmas in Torquay

After living in London for nearly three years, and having being granted my visa to live in Australia, I decided it would be nice to spend time with my parents in Torquay before emigrating.
Whilst I gained a lot of experience in London and had great work colleagues at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster it was with a sigh of relief that I left London and its stresses behind.

I spent almost two weeks with my parents before moving to Australia and they were two very enjoyable ones. My brother and his family and my sister and her family came down to spend a few days just after Christmas Day to have a small family gathering to say farewell. It was great seeing them all but the family wasn't complete as my other sister couldn't make it as she already had guests for Christmas.


Above is a picture of the Pavilions in Torquay. In its heyday, during the late Victorian era, this place was 'the' place to be and old photo's of the place show just how popular it was. It's a beautiful old building and I pay it a vist each time I'm in town.

Mad dogs and Englishmen


Every Boxing Day the Paignton Lions Club organise a sponsored 'swim' into the sea for charity and takes place by Paignton Pier. This year the weather was unusually mild but the sea was bitterly cold and it was more a case of a quick run into the sea up to the knees and straight back out again for most people. Many swimmers dress up in all manner of costumes to give the event more of a party atmosphere. This year even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II took the plunge. Maybe one year I may just join in myself..................but then again, maybe not. Brrrr!

An apology!

For those that still follow this blog I apologise for not updating it for the last 16 months. I could use the excuse that I haven't done anything blog-worthy but that's far from the truth. At any point in time I've used the excuse of being either too busy, too tired or just plain lazy.
Now that I've finally moved to Australia I hope to update this blog regularly so that family and friends in the UK can see what I'm up to, where I live etc.