Hey Family and Friends,

Well we are back in NZ now but we did not get a chance to update you all on Rome and Hong Kong.

In our last week that we were to be in the UK, we managed to get a great online deal to Rome for 4 days. We stayed in the flashest hotel in the city centre - about 30mins walk to the Colosseum which is in the hussle and busstle of the city - so we were very fortunate to have such a luxury 4 day break.

Rome was very cool - although it was a great ordeal to get there! We had to take two flights to Rome - passing through Zurich in Switzerland. Well we had such a short connection time that we ended missing our connecting flight! Yes I know! not much luck with the old travel by flying thing thats for sure! lol. So luckily a very nice lady managed to get us a flight for later that night which meant that we did not get into Rome until about midnight and we had to fork out and extra 100 pounds becasue apparently it was our fault! lol - But arrived none the less and hopefully insurance will be on our side lol.

So we arrive in Rome collected our bags and proceeded to find a taxi to take to our hotel. We had planned on taking the train but now that we were in Rome in the middle of the night we did not fancy roaming the streets and being totally obvious that we were tourists etc in the dark so we opted for a shuttle instead. So we found a shuttle service desk that offered a good price for dropping us off at our hotel. We were instructed to wait out front of terminal and our driver would be out soon. So we headed outside and saw the shuttle bus that we though would definitly be our ride. Eventually our driver came out after us having to go back inside and retreive him as we were waiting a while - only to find that they were all stading around having a good old yarn and chuckle with each other lol! ITALIANS! Anyway - we were ready to go with our driver and headed for the shuttle van only to find that that was NOT our ride at all! Our "SHUTTLE" was a brand new Mercedes Benz sedan! WOA! Dave and I looked at each other with an excited look on our faces. Sure beats the average shuttle back home! lol. Well! the rided to the hotel was even more exciting - or should I say scarey! they drive very crazy over there - there are no road markings and would would usually fit about 2-3 lanes of one way traffic - we found lots and lots of cars forcing themselves into about 4-5 lanes! Man it was scarey becasue they drive insaely fast for the amount of traffic on the roads. lol. Lets just say we were very glad to arrive alive at the hotel - there were a few close calls! lol.

We did all the famous sights such as the Colosseum, Vatican City and Sistine Chapel. The Sistine chapel was very cool but kinda disapointing at the same time. They have removed all the original churchy stuff like the alter and all the pews and ornaments etc - so it just looked like a hall which completely strips the whole feel of the place. They have done this so they can pump the crouds through. There were hundreds of people all cramed in the chapel and when we walked in we were like WOW! It was uncomfortably crowded and so much so that we did not want to stay in there so we walked through and straigh out the other side. Apparently they had just installed a boosted air-con system becasue the last could not cope with the crowds! Before we entered the chapel there was a sign that said no photos and no talking. WELL! Do you think a room of about 500 people could keep quiet!? Good luck with that! The guards were so frantic with trying to quiten everybody down that they did not care that people were taking photos! SO! Away we went and happily snapped the camera away taking pics of all the famous paintings and then shot out lol. We did have the decency to not use the flash lol. But we got plenty of photos of the famous paintings - and we enjoyed them later away from the horrible, claustrophobic crowds in our hotel room on our giant flat screen tv! :D

On our last day of touring around time before heading back to London the next day - we purchased a hop on - hop off city buss tour ticket. Was definitly the best way to see the city if you do not have much time. We ended up doing the rounds a couple of times and enjoyed the running commentry through headphones as we passed through the city in our open top bus - getting off at the points of interest as we went round.

The weather in Rome was very hot! Between 35 - 38 degrees everyday - beautiful but very hot. We ended up purchaseing an Asian style bamboo silk shade umbrella off an Indian in the middle of Italy lol. Interesting combo lol - but the umbrellas prooved very popular with the tourists to escape the intense heat of the Italian sun.

We ate out at a different little Italian restaurant every night which was fabulous - and had some of the most beautiful and tasty pasta we have ever had.

We arrived back in London to prepare for our farewell to Sarah and Rob. Sarah dropped us off at the airport and hung out with us until we had to leave. A very emotional goodbye as we had a such a fantastic time with them - we were dissapointed we could not stay longer as it would have been nice. So off to Hong Kong we went!

Arrived in Hong Kong early morning, and the first thing that hit us was the heat and humidity. It averaged 29 - 32 degrees every day with the humidity ranging from high 80's to 90's percent. We arrived at our hotel which thankfully had air-con and cranked it up and planned the days events. Again - our hotel was pretty flash and when we arrive we found out that we had been given a free upgrade! So we were on the Club Room Floor which was for all the first class businessy people etc - so we felt very special indeed! The first thing we needed was some food. But having arrived in a country that has some interesting cuisine and a written language that you had not chance of even trying to figure out what the menu was saying - we headed straight for MacDonalds which thakfully was about 100metres down the road lol. We did spend a good part of the day searching for cheap nearby local places to eat that had english on their menu as well as their own language as we refused to be in Hong Kong and live off MacDonalds - we were very keen and determined to experience some local food. We found the cutest little restaurant that was always packed with locals - so we figured that it must be good so we gave it a go that night for dinner after exploring some of the city that day. it was only a small place but they did the most yummy chinese food. The workers were very cute - a couple who were little old ladies lol. They wwere fastinated with Dave and his hight and were desparately trying to get accross to us that they were fastinated lol - if that makes any sence. They did not get many tourists at all - we decided from that point that that little gold mine was going to be our place to eat during our stay - and it helped that it was right next door to the hotel :P.

We went to the Disneyland - well not impressed at all - we had tropical downpours - unlike anything we have ever seen - so spent most of our time there escaping the the rain in the cafes etc. But overall anyway, Disneyland Hong Kong, was not good at all and would not recommend it at all - totall waste of money - if you are thinking of going - DON"T!

The next day however turned out to be a pretty nice day with blue sky and some sun! so we took the underground (which is amazing by the way! way better than the London underground! AMAZING!) to the cable car. The cable car is 5.7km long and is a beautiful ride up into the hills of Lantau Island and takes you right in to the tops where a giant budda sits at the top of about 200 steps. He was very inpressive and there was also a monestry next to it which you can walk around which was cool to see. But overall a really nice trip to do - we really enjoyed it.

We explored the markets - Well just the Ladies Market and the famous Temple Street Night Bazaar. They were both exactly the same except the Temple Street sell all the label knock offs etc. The markets were not that great - but still worth seeing. Mon managed to pick herself up a few handbag and sunnies and asian embroidered robes. We roamed the streets at night as that is the best time - that is Hong Kong. Its amazing! All the locals come out and eat, and shop and enjoy the night life - amazing atmosphere. They have the light show every night for 12 mins or so with lazers and lights and flickering sky scrapers etc.again - not totally amazing but worth seeing.

And of course as we left Hong Kong (sitting in the plane - taxi-ing to the take off point) the pilot announced that we would be attempting to fly around a tropical storm! lol. But we arrive safe and sound in auckland after having a fairly turbulent ride. Flying into wellington was amazingly calm - there was next to no wind which was a great relief lol - It felt good to touch back down on home ground again.

We are both back at work now after having the weekend and yesterday (monday) to settle back in. Still a little tired - not totally sleeping right yet - hopefully it will kick in soon.

Thanks to everyone for all their messages they left on the board - we had a wonderful time and are already thinking about where we are going next :D

Dave and Mon