Even though I will no longer be adding any new posts here, Edward continues to travel, so you can follow the further adventures of Edward the Travelling Bear HERE.

Thank you for your interest.

My final postcard 90/90, is once again going to the children at Wincheap Foundation Primary School in Kent, England.  You may remember that Edward and I  sent  a postcard together with some maps and leaflets to the children whilst we were in New Zealand.   When we arrived back home, we were delighted to have a package waiting for us from them, containing lots of  “thank you” letters!  How absolutely lovely….thank YOU so much for such a wonderful surprise.  Here´s a photo of Edward reading some of the letters in the sunshine.

Can I just say how much I have enjoyed writing this blog…..although at times it has been challenging, with the lack of internet access!  Anyway, thanks to everyone who has left a comment.  Edward and I have already discussed another trip to Australia and/or New Zealand next winter…..so maybe, just maybe, this wont be THE END after all!

Postcard 88/90 was sleepily written during the flight back!  Hope you can read my handwriting!

Here is Edward visiting the Forever Blooming Bauhinia sculpture and the Reunification Monument in Golden Bauhinia Square, on the waterfront at Wan Chai.  They mark the return of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China from the British on July 1st 1997.

Most passengers start the ride from the Tung Chung terminus. The 25 minute ride begins with the short hop across a sea channel to the first angle station on Chek Lap Kok (the airport island). The ride changes direction here and slowly climbs steeply over Tung Chung Bay as the hills of Lantau North Country Park loom ahead. Below are green forested slopes and valleys, whilst behind are stunning panoramic views over the airport and across the South China Sea to the New Territories. We had almost completed the slow ascent of Nei Lak Shan, where the ride reaches it’s highest point some 560 metres above sea level, when all of a sudden, through the mist, the Giant Buddah came into view! What a majestic sight sitting there serenely surveying all around him.

On arrival, we climbed the 300 or so steps to the base of Giant Buddah and later visited the nearby Po Lin Monastery. The mountainside is frequently covered in swirling mist, and today was no exception. As we took the cable car back down to Tung Chung, for the first two thirds of the journey we could see absolutely nothing! Anyway, I hope Postcard 86/90 finds it’s way through the mist to Marielaem, all the way back in the UK’s Welsh Wales!

A crossing of Victoria Harbour on a Star Ferry has been named by the National Geographic magazine as “one of the fifty places of a lifetime” to visit, as well as being rated first in the “Top 10 Most Exciting Ferry Rides”, polled by the Society of American Travel Writers.   Certainly the view of the famous Harbour and Hong Kong skyline is breathtaking and, curiously familiar to us all, due to the number of times we see it on TV!

The Star Ferry’s  principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.  It was founded in 1888 as the Kowloon Ferry Company, adopting its present name in 1898.

The fleet of twelve ferries operates four routes across the harbour, carrying over 70,000 passengers a day, or 26 million a year. Even though there are now other ways to cross the harbour, the Star Ferry continues to provide an efficient, popular and inexpensive mode of crossing the harbour. The company’s main route runs between Central Pier on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui,  Kowloon (pictured above, where we jumped aboard), which is what most people mean by “the Star Ferry” in common parlance.

The view by night isn’t bad, either!!

Another renouned tourist attraction is the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Hong Kong’s Aberdeen Harbour,  in operation for more than 30 years and claiming to be the largest floating restaurant in the world.  Although Hong Kong certainly has more authentic and more affordable restaurants, if you’ve always wanted to eat in a floating restaurant, just take the bus to Aberdeen and then board one of the Jumbo Kingdom’s own free shuttle boats, with departures every few minutes from the waterfront on Aberdeen Promenade.

Although the exterior of the restaurant is as ornate and, perhaps to some eyes, as gaudy as you could hope for, the interior has undergone a complete overhaul since my last visit (about 13 years ago),  ridding it of it’s opulent golds and reds and transforming it into a much more contemporary venue.  Anyway, the food was as good as I remembered….though a meal here can only be described as a “dining experience”!

Postcard 85/90 is finally travelling to Uni-ty in Germany …you’ve had a long wait for your choice of destination, haven’t you?

Our final evening in Melbourne was spent at the Sidney Myer’s Music Bowl, in King’s Domain Park.  We  enjoyed a free concert presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, performing highlights from Mendelssohn’s music for Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.  Edward absolutely loved it!  What a splendid finale to our visit to this wonderful city!

Postcards 83 and 84/90 are my final two from Melbourne, as we leave Australia on Thursday, bound for Hong Kong.

Later we made our way down to St Kilda to renew our acquaintance with the beach closest to the city, before visiting Acland Street, where they have the most amazing cakes!

Our next visit was to the Shrine of Remembrance, Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial and one of Melbourne’s most recognised landmarks.  It is a permanent and lasting memorial to the ANZAC spirit which is confirmed by the number of visitors to the Shrine throughout the year and the many people who attend the more than 120 ceremonies held there, annually.  The Shrine is located on Melbourne’s most recognised boulevard, St Kilda Road, just south of the Melbourne central business district.

My photograph below shows the Shrine of Remembrance viewed through the Eternal flame burning outside since 1954, when it was lit by Queen Elizabeth II.

http://www.shrine.org.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1

The final outing of the day was to Her Majesty’s Theatre on Exhibition Street to see Mamma Mia…the musical.

We returned to Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar on Lygon Street for an excellent Barbeque lunch and then it was time to jump on the City Circle Tram which took us down to the Arts Centre and the National Gallery of Victoria.   We spent a very pleasant afternoon looking at masterpieces  by Monet, Turner, Rembrandt, Manet and, to my great delight….Rodin’s “The Thinker”.  It certainly does make me think I’d like to live in Melbourne!!  Anyway, Postcard 82/90 is in the post to my wonderful  Aunt Lillian, in the north-west of England