Looking for somewhere to spend Christmas and New Year, we chose Hong Kong—David had wanted to show it to Carolyn for quite some time.

Along with revisiting some of David’s favourite memories, we explored Lantau Island, climbing the long staircase to see the (at the time) world’s largest seated Buddha, visiting a Buddhist temple, admiring the stone sculptures, and heading out to Tai O, the fishing village built on stilts over the water.

We also explored Aberdeen Harbour, including the floating village, by “water taxi”—and by that we mean an elderly lady paddling us around in what was essentially a canoe. From there it was on to Stanley Market, where we bought some art, including a framed piece that somehow survived the trip back to New Zealand without the glass breaking.

We caught the tram up to Victoria Peak, had a meal at Bubba Gump’s of all places, and Carolyn drank martinis (we were terribly jet-lagged). We rode the MTR and the Star Ferry, wandered the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and David went shopping for a camera lens. Then the shop assistant pulled out an original iPhone to call the warehouse and check stock levels—and Carolyn instantly knew David “would have to have one.” Camera lens forgotten, David bought a jailbroken iPhone on Christmas Day, which made him extremely popular back in New Zealand (where they didn’t arrive officially until months later).

To top it all off, we experienced the crush of thousands along the waterfront near the Peninsula Hotel, watching the fireworks over Victoria Harbour as the New Year arrived.

Closing thought: Hong Kong remains a great option for a stopover—and we’ll happily do it again.

We took the hydrofoil to Macau for a day trip—around an hour each way. We loved wandering through the old Portuguese quarters, then headed up the Macau Tower for a late lunch. Mid-meal, we both almost jumped out of our seats when a body suddenly plunged past the window… only then did we realise people bungee jump from higher up.

Afterwards, we caught a pedicab taxi from the base of the tower back to the ferry terminal. Not the most terrifying taxi ride we’ve ever had, but pedalling along what felt like a motorway—while cars and trucks tore past on both sides at speeds far higher than ours—definitely kept the adrenaline pumping.

We took the hydrofoil to Macau, around an hour each way, for a day trip. We enjoyed wandering the old Portuguese areas and had late lunch up the Macau Tower where we both almost jumped out of our seats when a body plunged past the window – we were unaware that they bungee jumped from higher up.

We caught a pedicab taxi from the base of the Macau Tower back to the ferry terminal. Not the most frightening taxi ride we’ve ever had but being on what we consider a motorway being pedalled with cars and trucks passing on both sides of us at significantly faster speeds than we were travelling certainly kept the adrenaline up.