Day #6 - Sightseeing at Stanley and The Peak.

Today was really our first day of sightseeing around this extraordinary Island of Hong Kong.

The boys woke up early with anticipation of seeing more markets (how do I know this, because at breakfast I received 22 questions asking the dame thing; 'Are we going to the Markets???"). with that the boys seem to have an liking to spend money on 'rubbish' (useful items that will last a few days) at the local markets and all couldn't wait to get out to Stanley to see what was on offer. 

We jumped on the Big Bus Tour (an On/Off style bus) which took us around the city area first of Hong Kong. We stopped at a number of the local attractions including a 'Buddhist' temple which was quite interesting to see, and for the boys certainly a very unexpected cultural experience. 

Next stop was the Star Ferry Terminal, where we change buses onto the Aberdeen/Stanley bus route and set off through the enormous tunnel that goings from onside to the other which took us over to the other side of the island which is quite lush, mountainous and beautiful. With lovely beaches including Big Wave Bay and Repulse Bay (both I took pic of on Flickr) , and then around to the next bay of the Stanley township. 

Stanley certainly has changed since I was last here seven years ago. There is now Stanley Plaza which is actually quite nice. As you follow escalators down to the water's edge, passing many novelty and souvenir stores, it brings you down to a lovely 'Italian style' Piazza which then goes leads onto a long stretch of beachfront with restaurants and bars. From this busy area, the entrance to the famous Stanley markets appears. The boys could not wait to get to this and then as soon as we saw the entrance they just bolted in and went spending all them valuable money. 

We gave them around two hours there to do some shopping and looking at all the items and then had some lunch on the beach with the boys we have this Paisono's Pizza for lunch and they were 24 inches wide (the biggest pizzas I've ever bought in my life). We bought four pizzas, and that fed quite easily 25 people. A huge meal. We ended giving away to locals walking by because of the huge slices. 

After lunch the boys got another 30 to 40 minutes to do some extra market shopping before we climbed the hill and got ready to go back on the bus around the island back to Central, and onto The Peak tramway. 

Upon arriving at the peak tram, the queue there was absolutely enormous. One person walking past said the queue would take around 3 1/2 hours to get just on the tram to head up to the mountain. Luckily though, becuase we were with the Big Bus Tour, we were able to shortcut that to about 30 minutes wait before we hopped on the famous tram up to the Hong Kong Peak. 

THe tram ride is fantastic. As you clmb the hill, at a very acute angle, you are able to see the city landscape below through the large Tram windows. A wonderful experience for the boys and coaches.

Once up there (and as we joing the many others there for the same thing), we gave the boys an hour or so to look around and look at the site take some photos and absorb what they could see and where they been in Hong Kong. 

Come dinner time, we enjoyed a Team Dinner at the World Famous 'Bubba Gumps' restaurant. A lovely meal was had by all, and as it was our last real opportunity to sit together (as tomorrow dinner will be either at the Rugby or a quick bit on the way home). 

With so many people around at the peak there was another long queue back onto the tram heading down to one stand it was a brisk 30 minute walk back to the hotel to wear off the large meal that we had and then straight to bed at around 10:30 PM

Speaking of tomorrow, we head early to the Stadium to ensure good seats, and ready ourselves to hopefully see the Australian Sevens team play well again. I'm hoping for the boys this will be one of those exciting days  they will never forget, for our last day here in Hong Kong.