Tortola - Thursday 17 November 2016

Another day of conference.

After work, we had drinks with KPMG at the Cab, a nice rustic bar close by. Then dinner at Maria's.

There are one or cruise ships in each day which swells the daytime population.



The Moorings...

Tortola - Tuesday 15 November 2016

Woke early and went for a walk in the other direction. No footpaths and I don't enjoy walking on the road. Drivers are a bit crazy ! Weirdly, they drive on the left hand side of the road, but the cars are left hand drive !!

Day 2 of conference.

Afterwards went to a bar called the Cab. Very rustic and a good atmosphere. Tried another Painkiller and switched to beer.

Met Mirza for dinner at a sushi place - Pearl of the Orient which was good. Walked back past the Cab and my colleagues were still there, so joined them for a bit longer.

Back to hotel about 9.30pm and crashed.

Tortola, British Virgin Islands - Monday 14 November 2016

Breakfast in hotel with colleagues and then Day 1 of work conference.

The office is very close to the hotel. Tortola main town is very small !

Lunch in the office then dinner at an Italian Restaurant - Capriccios. Very average food. Wouldn't go back.

Sunrise...yes I was up early...

Island tourist bus...

Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands - Sunday 13 November 2016

Slept okay. Woke early and went for a walk.

Breakfast in the hotel with colleagues and then were taken on an island tour which was great.

Then had lunch at my boss' house, overlooking Cane Garden Bay. Lovely house, amazing views.

Back to hotel and crashed.

Found coffee...

Mr room at Maria's...huge...

My 'city' view...

Breakfast at Maria's...

Rum distillery at Cane Garden Bay...

Lunch at Paul's place...

View from his deck...

Hong Kong to Tortola - Friday 11 November to Saturday 12 November 2016

Caught the Airport Express from work just after lunch. Upgraded to Business Class at the gate for my first leg to New York.

Long flight - nearly 15 hours, so nice to be in Business. Had a nice dinner and watched Tarzan. Then slept a lot.

Arrived in JFK and spent about an hour in the immigration queue. It's weird that the US doesn't have the concept of being in transit. Collected my bag, cleared customs and then re-dropped the bag. Made my way from Terminal 7 to Terminal 5 and got my boarding pass for the second leg to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Had dinner and then flew another 4 hours to San Juan.

Couple more hours and 45 minute flight to Beef Island in a Cessna. Landed about 8.15am Saturday morning.

San Juan, Puerto Rico to Beef Island, Tortola...sitting behind the pilot...

Landing..

I was met at the airport and driven to my hotel - Maria's By The Sea. It's nice and one of the best in Road Town.

View from Maria's...

The office is very close to the hotel...

Couldn't get into my room straight away, so got changed and went for a walk. Found a nice coffee place that had lots of expats in it. Came back to hotel and had a swim while I waited for my room to be ready.

Met my friend Mirza for lunch at Pussers, a well known restaurant. Everything is a very close walk to where I am staying. Pussers allegedly invented the Painkiller...



Had a nap after lunch. Still trying to catch up on the time difference.

In the evening I met some colleagues for a drink in the hotel bar, and then we caught a taxi to Quitos on Cane Garden Bay. Lovely restaurant right on a very nice beach on the other side of the island.

Had conch which is a local dish, and roti with chicken. It was okay.

The national drink is a Painkiller...this one went down well...



There was a band playing and it felt very Caribbean. Taxi back to hotel about 10pm. Pretty tired now.

Hong Kong - November 2016

Very happy to see Alex arrive on Saturday night. Her plane had been delayed (Qantas) so she was very tired when she got in. We had dumplings in Wellington Street. Not Wang Fu, but not bad.

Sunday we had breakfast at Peel Street Espresso...

and then walked up to The Peak...

We then had lunch at a great local restaurant under the escalator at the bottom. We both had dumplings.

Then we caught a bus to Repulse Bay and a taxi to South Bay and had a swim. Great weather for November.

Then continued on to Stanley and had a walk around the markets. But Alex got tired so we headed back.

Sunday night we went for dinner at Kuma Ramen in Sheung Wan.

Monday went to the zoo to see our friends the orangutans. 

Dinner was at the Thai place on the escalator.

Alex is addicted to dumplings and she went back to the place I had taken her on Sunday.

Found vegemite...that's about A$20...

Bar in Peel Street...

The locals love queuing for a new place...a week later, there is no one there...

View from my office...

Trying street food...it was good...

View from the board room...

View from my office...

New coffee place in Jervois Street...

From pedestrian overpass...

Symphony of Lights...