Just call me "Donkey"

I am sure that is the best way to describe the poor soul that gets to carry everyone's stuff up and down hills all day long!   Ocean Park has a ridiculous number of hills.  Some have outside escalators to transport you - the boys estimated it was 4 - 5 stories per escalator, and there were four of them in a row so it was a pretty steep hill.  The rest you have to do by foot.  I learnt that 11 year olds have a dreadful sense of direction which meant we criss-crossed across the park numerous times :-)

The boys learnt that they have an even crazier Aunty than they thought.  After getting home I sent the to have a SECOND shower for the day (something to do with the sweaty wet patches on the back of their shirts!).  They have traded - we've agreed they do not need another one when they wake up in the morning.

We headed out at about 9.30 this morning.  Ocean Park is close by to our apartment so a quick taxi trip had us arriving in plenty of times to get our tickets and be queuing at the entrance five minutes  before it opened at 10.00.  First stop was the shop to buy yet more batteries for Braden's camera.  I am sending the battery bill home with him... we have now been through 14 in his camera alone!  Something to do with the constant clicking of shots and then the review of them afterwards to see how they look :-).  We had decided to them head straight up on the gondola to the second section of the park where most of the rides are as we had read online that they were less busy first thing.  The ride up to the second section is spectacular with great views over the South China Sea

Second section up to the Summit section
of the park

First Section of the Gondola

And the South China Sea off to the left

Eager to start the day

Cute smile :-)

Ocean Park was a blast.  The rides were far better than the HK Disneyland ones, and our planning worked and we stood in very few queues.

There had been a lot of discussion about roller coasters.  There are two at Ocean Park.   One called the Mine Train that has no loops, and a second bigger ride called The Dragon that came complete with a full upside down circle.  The consensus was that we should try the Mine Train first, and if that was not scary enough we would try the Dragon.  All very brave we boarded the train, had our insides turned just about inside out and decided that the Dragon was definitely not a necessary ride!  Braden was brave enough to try to the Mind Train on his own again later in the day - Jordan and I had more sense!

Ready to Ride
(Yep I really was right  behind them...)

And here is where we were headed!

The wet rides were a big hit - The Raging River was visited four times and the Rapids got a couple of tries.  They were targeted at just the right age group - exciting without being ridiculously scary.

Down down down

Splash!!!

Lots of other traditional rides - funny how the oldies are still goodies!

Arghhhhhhh....

Here we go again!

Grilled Korean Squid snacks anyone?

Like Disney, Ocean Park has some shows throughout the day.  We caught the acrobatic one, and then the lights show complete with a light up fountain, a lake that could have fire burning on top of it, fireworks, and a very cool projection of 3-D dragons onto the 'screen' created by the fountain.  Well worth the wait until 7pm to see.

In front of the fountain waiting for the finale

There are also many wildlife exhibitions.  The smallest monkey in the world, the jellyfish and the giant pandas were all hits.

Now that is relaxed!

Lei Lei the Panda

Andrew was home from India by the time we got back and had sorted pizza for dinner.   A quick nibble and then off to bed - all our feet are tired.  A couple of times today the realisation that the end of the holiday is getting close hit the boys.  They will be pleased to get home to see everyone (expect them to talk non-stop when they get back!) but will miss the excitement that has been Hong Kong.  I have been quick to tell them our lives are not normally non-stop entertainment!

Sonia

Oh - and "General Trash" got salutes and much respect all day!