ali south

I have just handed my notice in, feeling very excited and scared now. We are aiming to move to Brisbane late October, must validate by 5th November. So now I am booking flights.

Don't know whether to book return for 200 quid more each or to be brave and just do one way. Can't decide so I thought I would put my efforts into the stop over!

Been to Singapore and Malaysia, so Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong looks good.

Please would you share your stop over stories if you have been to Hong Kong,

where did you stay,
what would you recommend we do,
how long do we need to stay to see enough,

Thanks, we are a family of 4, kids are 14 and 16.
Cheers
Tara

boom_meringue

Tara,

HK rocks, it's a great place. It's pretty small so you can do it in a couple of days and see most of the good stuff. Personally my must do's in HK are:

Stanley Street market - take the bus from causeway bay, it's HK at it's most touristy and it's most bussling, you cannot fail to come away with a bargain or a dodgy watch. On the way you see the hotel with the hole in the middle, it's at Repulse bay I think, the hotel was built with a hole so the wind dragon could get to the sea undisturbed.

Kowloon - this is much more fun in the evening as the street markets are packed selling everything you could ever imagine, very good fun

The Star Ferry - this is a MUST! take the ferry from the island to Kowloon, it offers the most amazing sight of the island and again is best in the evening to see the expanse of neon. It only costs a few pounds and is much more fun than taking a bus through the tunnel.

The view from the top of the mountain - it's stunning and you look down at 50 story blocks of flats that look minute.

If you want to stop longer than a couple of days then you can get a visa to visit china proper - it's supposed to be very nice and much easier these days than it used to be.

Hotels - I stayed in the Hilton and the Excelsior when I was there on business, both of which were pretty good. I've heard that the Rosedale on the Park, again in Causeway Bay, is pretty good and more reasonably priced. Check out asiarooms.com, personally I would stay in causeway bay which is pretty close to most of the things you'll want to see.

ali south

you are a star, thank you so much, just looked at the price for two rooms for four nights, blimey! £800!!!!!!!!
Tara

ali south

just looked at the price for the Rosedale
2 nights - 2 rooms through asiarooms = £212
2 nights - 2 rooms through expedia = £450
thanks for telling me about asiarooms
Tara

boom_meringue

you're welcome, HK really is good fun and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

The funniest memory I have is walking along the road with the girlie bars on it and having an old lady of 70+ sat on a stool outside one of them trying to tempt punters into the bar.

ali south

sounds like Bangkok

Theresa, Ian & Tim

We had a stop over in HK on our way to Perth. Brilliant complete culture difference the smells, the noise totally different to anywhere we have been before. The night lights were fascinating to see did the harbour crossing cost very very cheap, two classes upper class on top deck, lower class on bottom deck. The shops were very good open til really late at night. I would recommend it. Also it was really good to have a break from flying.

We are moving to Perth in a month or two we are only buying one way tickets my advice go for it.
Theresa

wongstonn

The official tourist board website will be useful to plan your trip:

www.discoverhongkong.com

3-4 days in Hong Kong will be enough to do the sight-seeing, shopping and eating... and to get over the jetlag before another flight down to Oz.

Areas to stay:

Hong Kong Island - Causeway Bay, Wanchai
Kowloon - Tsimshatsui, Jordan, Yaumatei

You will love Hong Kong.

Pat
(I lived in Hong Kong - Taipei - London - hopefully Melbourne will be called home at last?)

ali south

thank you, good luck in Perth
Tara

ali south

Thanks Pat, the other option is economy plus with Eva air, then a stop over in Taipei, which would you say is the better choice, is Economy plus worth an extra £250 each when there is 4 of you??? Hong kong or Taipei for a stop over????
Tara

boom_meringue

HK every time. I worked in Taipei for 6 months and my HK visits were weekend visa renewals every month. To be honest I hated Taipei, it's not the most tourist friendly of cities and I found it claustrophobic.

I flew premium economy with Virgin and it was worth the extra for the better legroom. If you don't have long legs then I would consider saving the £1000 and ensuring you check in early or get preallocated seats and try to get an exit isle with more space

CK2B

Tara,

I'd go for Hong Kong, it's a fantastic place and a must see! Like already said Stanley Market and the star ferry are musts but even just walking thru HK park watching all the weddings taking place is something else. Take the tram up to the Peak and get a view over the whole of the city, fantastic. HK Disney is also opening this year, September I think, you're never too old for Disney
If you can manage it visit HK Yacht club and watch the sun go down over the harbour.
I've stayed at the Mandarin Oriental and the Peninsula but don't really think they're suitable for families and they're very expensive (I wasn't paying, it was business!).

Best of luck with all the planning,

CK

ali south

thanks, I am now absolutely convinced that I must go to HK, the
Mandarin Oriental is £277 for 2 rooms for 2 nights, every one needs a bit of luxury sometime!
Tara

JackTheLad

Surprised no-one has mentioned Ocean Park yet. (No we are not on a commission from them ), great place for adults and teenagers.

I'd forget about Disneyland, it sounds like its booked out for a few months from its opening date on Sept 12th.

JTL

CK2B

The Mandarin is pure luxury and also views to die for from the massive hotel windows - I'm so jealous, would love to go there again. You can walk straight from the hotel lobby into a fantastic shopping complex that also has multiscreen cinema so you can get rid of the kids for a while

Enjoy!