Victoria’s journey in Hong Kong was not as easy as I expected.  I read the manual and headed to a photography store to buy film, ironically located on Queen Victoria Street.  I shared her story with the kind gentleman who helped with my purchase.  After departing I loaded the film, excited to get started.  Not sure where I went wrong, but roll one was destroyed before I even took one picture.  Realizing I should have asked for assistance initially, I went back to the storekeeper and he graciously loaded the film properly and gave me a bit of instruction on focusing the Canonet.  Unfortunately, as you will see, I unknowingly struggled with the focus.

Victoria was my niece, the same age as my son, and I have such wonderful memories of the two of them spending time together. Little, their grandfather, would take them for donuts and to the park, sharing in their joy. Since we lived close by, the five cousins (Victoria’s 2 older sisters and my daughter) shared lots of shenanigans. She made everyone laugh. So I wanted to capture all things named Victoria on Hong Kong Island. This was a fun journey, taking me back to places I already enjoyed, but also on fun excursions searching for the “Victoria” location. During these journeys I also decided to capture intriguing number 8’s (her sports jersey number) and the color purple (her favourite).

One of the most amazing finds was a sign I’ve passed many times on my climb to “The Peak”.  I’m not sure why I stopped to read it the day I was taking Victoria to Victoria Peak Gardens, but to my amazement it was a dedication of Victoria House at 15 Barker Road.  The house was built on the site of the former Victoria Hospital and the dedication post referred to an official name change and sited the date July 1, 1997; Victoria’s birthday!

Hong Kong used to have a number of “swimming sheds”.  The last remaining one is off Victoria Road in  San Wan.  I was intrigued to see what a swimming shed was and took a friend with me one day to find out.  We almost walked right past the stairs leading down to this shed on  Victoria Harbor .  The highlight is a long dock with an interesting ladder to access the water. The shed has a changing room and a small snack shop. There is a great view of a lighthouse on an island in the harbor and as I read the spot is more a photo stop these days.  Albeit the location reminded me of the cousins playing at a coastal access to Naragansett Bay in our old neighborhood.

Our journey helped my to learn more about my current home city.  Like the fact the the area I live was initially known as Victoria City.  And I enjoyed taking Victoria to Victoria Gap, Harbor, Park, Peak, Prison and Road.