The day was beautiful (Saturday, January 16), so we decided to take a trip to visit the Noah Ark theme park on Park Island. It was just opened last year. We had heard about it and intrigued us. We caught Bus 11 to the Central Hong Kong Pier, walked to Pier 2, and caught the boat to Park Island. It took about 20 minutes. The Island is underneath the Bridge that connects Kowloon and Lantau islands. Besides the theme park and beaches, the island has several large apartment complexes. No cars, but a few vans and buses. The boat had very comfortable seats. It was not crowded. We walked about 15 minutes to the theme park after we docked the boat.
The Tsing Ma Bridge is the world's seventh-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion in 1997. The bridge was named after two of the islands at its ends, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan . It has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic, which also makes it the largest suspension bridge of this type. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft) and a height of 206 metres (676 ft). The span is the largest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic.
The 41 metres (135 ft) wide bridge deck carries six lanes of automobile traffic, with three lanes in each direction. The lower level contains two rail tracks. There are also two sheltered carriageways on the lower deck for maintenance access and as backup for traffic when particularly severe typhoons strike Hong Kong. Though road traffic would need to be closed in that case, trains could still get through in either direction.
A comfortable ride across the Harbor on a jet ferry.
Our jet ferry parked at the dock.
A month later, (February 27) we were in charge of a couples' Saturday activity. We took 25 other senior missionaries and some Center employee for a day at Noah's Ark. The day was foggy, but the weather was warm after a cold early February. Sister Gibbons is explaining something to Sister Paul with Elder Gibbons at their side. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day.
Kevin Nield, our new DTA, and his wife joined us. Terry Oakes, the DTA for the last five years, is in the background. Sister Linford, wife of our medical doctor is on the right. She is older than us; is 80 and her husband is 79. This is their 5th mission!!!
The apartments were part of the Island development.
A lovely beach parallels the strolling path to the Resort.
The themes of the Park are painted on this cement hill under an overpass. Do you see the words "Goodness", "Love" and "Patience"?
The background of the Park is fascinating
The world’s first biblically proportioned Noah’s Ark was opened to the public on in May 2009 in Hong Kong. Its builders - Chinese evangelical billionaires - say they hope the ark will promote positive values. Speaking at the opening of the Ark to the public at Ma Wan Park in Hong Kong, Chan Kai-ming, Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) said, “Noah’s Ark is a new tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Ma Wan Park shows SHKP’s long-standing commitment to building homes with heart and contributing to the community."Noah’s Ark will give Hong Kong a new tourist attraction and help promote positive values of love for life, family and nature.”
“Noah’s Ark is a place where people can get close to nature. The facility is full of happiness and positive messages, with many interesting interactive facilities and activities. It will lift people’s horizons with new knowledge and let them rethink life and experience love,” said Moses Cheng, Ma Wan Park Advisory Committee Chairman.
The concept behind Noah’s Ark are the Kwok brothers, heirs to Hong Kong’s largest real estate developer SHKP. They have built the 450-foot-long ark and luxury hotel complex complete with 67 pairs of fiberglass animals to draw visitors from beyond the city’s limit. Thomas Kwok, an evangelical Christian, is the main champion of the project that has been in discussion for 17 years. The ark is inspired by his Christian faith, but will not be promoted in an overtly religious manner. Instead, the message being promoted is that the financial storm will soon be over and new life, represented by the animals emerging from the ark, will soon be opened up.
But despite avoiding an obvious religious message, the ark - the foundation of which was laid in 2004 - was developed in partnership with five Christian organisations.
The Ark is on a 270,000-square-foot site on Ma Wan Island overlooking the Rambler Channel and Tsing Ma Bridge. There are five levels with different themes. The lower ground floor has a sea-front restaurant and the ground floor has Ark Expo and Noah’s Hall. The first floor is devoted to the Ark Life Education House and the second floor houses the Treasure House. The top floor is Noah’s Resort. The ark is surrounded by facilities including the Ark Garden, Noah’s Adventureland, Noah’s Stadium and Fun Fun Track. The backdrop of green hills, a traditional village and Ma Wan heritage will make the area a new tourist attraction.
The agreement with the government calls for the park to be operated on a commercial basis without government funding. Ma Wan Park will create a fund to hold any surplus from operations for the repair, maintenance and promotion of the Park. Neither the Ma Wan Park Company nor SHKP will profit from developing or operating Ma Wan Park. The Park’s accounts will be strictly monitored.
Previously built arks include one in the Netherlands that could float on water and contained real animals. But the Netherlands ark was about one-fifth the size of the biblical ark. Another ark was built by Greenpeace in 2007 on Turkey’s Mount Ararat that was intended to be a warning of impending disaster from climate change.
"When you go to Disneyland, there's really no message there," says Ms Leung. "But at Noah's Ark, there is such a strong message that life goes on. "Ma Wan Park is intended to promote family values and teach love, social harmony and care for the environment.Noah's Ark is a multi-media vehicle designed to foster:
Love for Self and Others
Love for the Well-being of the Body and Spirit
Love for Life
Love for the Environment
Love for Learning
Love for Challenges
Love to Serve Others
The Ark also offers a platform where businesses, schools and organizations can show their commitment to the community by sponsoring activities for the less fortunate and offering their staff, students and volunteers an opportunity to serve society.
Even a tiled wall depicts many animals.
The eagle graces the top of the entrance way.
You can see the size of the ark as you compare with the people below. It is not made of wood, but it looks like it.
Many of the life-like animals are placed in beautiful garden settings. They are placed in pairs. A sign accompmanies the animals that names them, tells what part of the world they are found, and identifies how endangered they are. The Expo musuem that is on the first floor of the ark has hundred of displays that teach Christian values and environmenal principles. The entire Park has a definite educational and spiritual theme. (To see the animals in larger size, click on the picture.)
These raccoon panda statues are as life-like as the live ones we saw at Ocean Park.
Beautiful public sandy beach.
Hyenas ready to pounce.
The side of the ark has a door open with scores of animals exiting after the flood. The size of the ark can be seen in this picture.
Isn't this a beautiful setting? You have to look over a railing near the entrance to see this. We missed seeing them the first time we walked by.
Even a pair of bears to greet you. Reminded us of Yellowston Park in the United States.
2010 is the Chineses Year of the Tiger. This rare white tiger is really impressive as it stares at us through the flowers.
i couldn't resist taking tis pictureon my second visit. The beautiful bridge is centered between the two giraffes' neck and head.
The Ark Garden is on the island near the bridge. The setting is lovely.
Even the turtles were able to get off the boat. The Ark Expo inside the ark did not permit photos, so we were not able to include photos of that part of the day. The park tries to teach Christian values in subtle ways, highlighting the reality of the Ark and God’s dealing with Man. It also teaches environmental principles and warns of global warming. The expo has exhibits, interactive activities for children, 180 degree theatres, 4D productions, Noah Ark collections from around the world, and bible teachings. The Expo takes about 70 minutes to go through it, with docents speaking Chinese and English to help explain the exhibits. One of the interesting exhibits was the research being done by Hong Kong University on wood pieces (petrified wood)found on Mt. Ararat that some think are parts of the ark. They have had teams on the mountain and have been one of the leading research organizations since 2004.
Other attractions include a hotel on the top floor of the ark, the 3rd floor with an area for rope-building team activities for teen-agers and corporate people, interactive video games with messages of improving ones self image, developing health attitudes etc. We did not explore these sites on this visit.
We were tired when we arrived home about 5 p.m., but we felt rewarded for our efforts.
The Indian people eat with their right hand. (no utensils). Notice Sister Smith is preparing to break off a piece and dip it into one of the sauces.
Our first stop after breakfast was in Temcor where we met with the NGO, Mr. Masrthy from Abhivrudhi Construction, and the contractor, Mr. Shrinavar. They were ready for us with beautiful garland leis, some snacks, and warm welcomes. We reviewed the projects, were brought up to date on progress and headed for the villages about 45 minutes away.
These were really elaborate leis. They were actually quite heavy. Giving flowers is a tradition in India, somewhat like Hawaii.
The women looked even more beautiful with their flowers.
We got them home and took a more detailed picture of one of them.
We even had a cake to celebrate our visit.
The villages consisted of huts and some concrete buildings. Most villages had wells, but they were located away from the homes and required sometimes long walks by the women to get the water. The wells were sometimes not functioning well. 
Women gathering at the well to visit and draw water. They used their heads to carry the water.
The mothers are excited to know they will soon have water closer for their use.
The women are all dressed conservatively, and they are proud to be mothers.
The dirt mound covers the distribution pipe from the tank into the village and the spighots. The villagers helped dig the trenches.
This is one of the almost completed tanks. They still have ladders to install and some finish work. The water is supposed to be flowing within two weeks.
The water is flowing into this tank. We were asked to be part of a symbolical water releasing ceremony. Here we assemble before I turn the handle.
The sign is pretty small, but it does give credit. Sometimes the name and logo are placed on the tank itself, but the Church thinks that is a little too showy.
The tank is plastered and painted after it is built. It really is quite neat and attractive. 
At one stop there was a school and the children all came out to see what we were doing. In order to appreciate their facees, click on the picture to enlarge it and enjoy their expressions.
Do I look like I'm having fun?
