Sunday 15th February – DAY OUTING WITH PP ALEX LEUNG

Today we have been in Hong Kong for a week – the time has flown. It is a day off from Rotary meetings and PP Alex Leung is taking us for a tour of sight-seeing spots. We all met at Booth Lodge where a 20-seater bus had been arranged. This trip is specially significant because Alex is the designated team leader for the GSE Team which will be visiting our district in South Africa in April and May this year.

Alex is a delightful man. He is a pretty young ex-policeman who looks just like the Chinese movie star Jackie Chan. It wasn’t surprising to learn that while he was in the Police force he was the personal bodyguard to the Governor of Hong Kong. He is a Blackbelt 2nd Dan Kung Fu exponent. So we decided to behave ourselves. The first port of call was the Peak in Hong Kong. Apparently the view from up there is fantastic. I say apparently because the whole peak was completely fogged in and we couldn’t see a thing. The boat-shaped Peak building is spectacular however and we enjoyed looking through all the tourist shops while Alex filled us in on a lot of info about Hong Kong.

We were also met by a really lovely young lady named Lesley who is one of the young people selected by the local GSE committee to be on the GSE tour to our district with Alex. It was great to meet her knowing that we will be seeing her in SA in April. We really get a chance to prepare them for their arrival.

Alex pointing out Hong Kong spots to Siyanda, Lesley and Nivashni (observe the fog)

The fogged-in team with Lesley and Alex

Going down the mountain we stopped at another viewsite called Stubbs Road Lookout where we could see much more of Hong Kong through the fog. Then it was off to Repulse Bay and the world-famous Stanley Market on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. A beautiful drive through some really mountainous terrain opened up into the beautiful Repulse Bay area.

Repulse Bay beachfront

It reminded me a lot of coming over Kloofnek in Cape Town and looking down at Camps Bay and Clifton. The beaches are lovely, the water is icy and there isn’t a wave in sight. Hong Kong is definitely not a surfing spot guys – but you can water-ski in the sea, it’s so flat.

Clifton in Hong Kong - cold water? Check the wetsuit!

A view of Repulse Bay Beach and Stanley Market from Cafe du Paris

We then had a fantastic lunch at a French Restaurant called Café du Paris. The food was spectacular and as much as we have grown to enjoy the unbelievably meticulous Chinese cuisine, it was nice to have a more Western-style meal.

After leaving the beautiful Stanley area, Alex took us on a long coach ride across the Cheng Ma bridge (which is apparently longer than Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco).

Hong Kong GSE team member Lesley with Jonathan at Cheng Ma Bridge

It was built to link Hong Kong to the island on which Hong Kong airport is now situated. Because of building bridge spans on the tiny Wan Ma island, the original fishing village had to be moved by the Hong Kong Government and all the people living in the bridge line where compensated and settled elsewhere on the island in spectacular (that’s a word you use a lot in Hong Kong) highrise apartments. Just one snag. When typhoon season comes, people can’t go to work in Hong Kong for days at a time because the bridge is closed due to high winds and the ferries can’t put to sea. So it’s real enclave. No motor vehicles are allowed on Wan Ma – you can only get there by bus over the bridge or by ferry.

Now here’s the really interesting part – on Wan Ma island, a Chinese Christian consortium has built a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark. It is unbelievable.

Check the Ark - it's the correct size according to the Biblical measurements

Surrounding gardens are filled with life-size animals off the Ark. It is only officially opening on 1st April this year so we were very privileged to be almost the first people to actually see it. This is something not to be missed when you go to Hong Kong. Even people in Hong Kong have not heard about it, let alone been there and seen it. What a fantastic tourist attraction it is. Here's a link to a news item about it: http://www.icr.org/article/noahs-ark-remains-news/

Animals in the gardens around the Ark

The Boy’s Brigade was having a 150th anniversary celebration in an adventure activity park next to the Ark and another girl who is coming to SA on GSE this year, is part of that whole Boy’s Brigade scene. Her name is Man. Sound Irish? Good, I thought so too.

Highrise apartment block on Wan Ma Island

That ended a really great day – Past President Alex Leung is a great guy and I am looking forward to repaying some of his hospitality and generosity when the Hong Kong GSE team arrive on our shores.

We went home tired but thrilled. I had supper with my hosts Ram and Sandra washed down by a little too much cognac!