Brian and Ruth on holiday: Farewell UK and hello Hong Kong

We were up bright and early ready for a quick get away so we could get to Blaenavon and the Big Pit in time for the first tour. We'd been told the tours don't start until 10.30 but we wanted to make sure we got out by 12.00noon.

When we got there we could see 2 buses disgorging their loads and thought we'd be lucky to get on a tour. So I went up to the ticket desk while Brian was putting the Pay & Display ticket in the car. I was amazed when they said first that we could go straight on in and then again when they said there was no charge. They were superbly organised, taking groups of approx 10 on a guided tour of the pit. We put on helmets and headlamps, carried a battery and gas mask and went down 400ft. A collier (we'd call him a miner) was our guide and was very informative and entertaining. This was definitely a highlight of our trip and we'd recommend it if you find yourself in Abergavenny and haven't already done it.

Another highlight of the day was getting to Trevethin, where my Gran's family lived before going to Scotland. I'd actually given up on it when we didn't get there on Monday and the lady at the Information Centre in Abergavenny said it wasn't signposted. The men at the Mountain Information Centre at Brecon had been equally dismissive, saying it was just a suburb of Pontypool and if I didn't know what I wanted to see there it seemed pointless to look for it. Anyway, just on the outskirts of Pontypool, I spotted a signpost pointing to Trevethin. I had a wicked time convincing Brian to turn back and go there as by this time he was hellbent on getting to Heathrow! We'd left Blaenavon by 11.30 and our deadline was 12.30 so we had heaps of time. We were there in 5 mins as it's only 1 mile off the main road.There wasn't a lot to see but I took a photo (very rushed as the driver was very impatient by now) of the only sign we saw there, pointing to a walkway. We did drive on a little further but it was raining and all we saw were houses, a group of workmen with weedeaters and lawnmowers going flat tack to tidy the verges and a couple of men in their front yard. I leapt from the car and asked one of them (not the ones with weedeaters) if this was Trevethin. He asked me if I was looking for a particular street or address and when I said no, I was just looking for Trevethin because my family had lived there long ago, he pointed at the ground near his feet and said "This is Trevethin".I think Brian thought I was completely mad when I got back in the car and said "This has made my day!"

The rest of the drive to Heathrow was uneventful except for a quick toilet/lunch stop on the M4, and a bit of a run around finding our way to the drop off for rental cars. After leaving time for motorway traffic, road works, etc, we arrived at the airport 3 hours before our final check in time.

We were very lucky to be booked on an almost empty plane (maybe it had something to do with the Osama bin Laden affair or the fact that a Cathay Pacific plane blew up an engine just a day or so ago!). Anyway, we were able to each stretch out over 4 seats and have a good sleep. We arrived in Hong Kong at about 3.30pm and were at the apartment an hour later.

On Thursday, we put in a load of washing at the local laundry and met Kat in Central for lunch at Crystal Jade, a dumpling restaurant. Afterwards, we rode the trams in the opposite direction to Kennedy Town - the end of the line in the opposite direction to where we went last time. We got ourselves back to the ferry pier in time to catch the Park Island ferry and get home to be with the kids after school.

Today, Lee and Jasmine had a day off school and took us to TST to the Hong Kong History Museum and the Science Museum, right next door to each other. We spent several hours at the latter as it was full of interactive exhibits as well as a special exhibit on the life of Albert Einstein.Iit took the whole day and we had a great time, finishing off with Ben and Jerry's ice cream for the kids and beer for us at the ferry pier on the way home.