So, a bit about where we live,

Moondance, our boat has been a fantastic find.

By Hong Kong standards, what we live in is huge! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living areas, galley, balcony off the living room and a roof top entertaining area ( with running water and a fridge). By marina standards it is small.

It’s over three levels and the bedrooms are on the bottom. Our bed basically sits on the water level, and has smaller portholes than upstairs. It makes the lower level incredibly quiet and private, and I am hoping in summer, just that bit cooler. I have been having the best sleeps ever.

The V deck, which is sort of a mid level between the upstairs living area and the bedrooms is where a TV room has been set up, again, very private and perfect for two people.

The kitchen is compact, and there is certainly no room for appliances ( which I left in NZ anyway), but it has a half size dishwasher ( which is a major rare plus) a large fridge ( for the wine) an oven ( also something not usually found) and an induction hob.

The living area is large, with a large dining table, couch and coffee table. I am still playing with space, it’s all very workable.

We set out to get something that was comfortable for the both of us as well as allowed us to entertain and accomodate guests comfortably without having to trip up over each other.

The boat is on pier E, which is about a six minute walk from the Marina club itself.

We are connected to water mains and electricity from the pier as well as fibre optic internet, toilet waste goes into tanks which is pumped out every morning.

The exterior of the boat is cleaned once a fortnight by what’s called a “boat boy” ( supplied as part of the tenancy) it takes him about 3 hours to clean the boat which gets dirty very easily with the crap that is in the atmosphere here.

The Marina club has a large swimming pool, a small but fully equipped gym, a reading room, restaurant, bar, two tennis courts and reception. Only club members can come through and all guests must be signed in. It is a very secure operation.

All up there are approximately 250 live aboard vessels in the Marina, making it the largest live aboard Marina in the world.

It’s very international, our neighbours are French, Australian, Kiwi, American, Canadian, as well as English, Irish, Italian amongst others. The proximity to the airport means that we have a lot of pilots living in the Marina, mainly pilots who work for Cathay pacific. (Already three of the neighbours we have met work as pilots for Cathay). I can see why, it’s quiet and secure and close to work!

There are a lot of families in the Marina and so far i am not aware of any other Chinese families living in the Marina. The only Asian faces appear to be the army of helpers, nannies, maintenance people, reception and services staff who make sure things are run smoothly.

So far, things are working out well and I am sure as time goes by and we meet more people we will enjoy it even more.

The downside is that you can quite easily forget that you are living in Hong Kong or even anywhere near China. Both of us are aware of this and are keen to ensure that we don’t forget it..

But for the next year at least, our life will be on a boat called Moondance.