Flying High

Our wonderful supporters at the Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong invited a group of our campers to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon with them at their China Clipper lounge at the Peninsula Hotel. The idea was to give the children a chance to experience a ride in a chopper! Plus dine in one of the Peninsula's fine dining establishments.

A group of eight enthusiastic campers arrived at noon in the lobby of the Peninsula and were warmly greeted by a wonderful group of Peninsula staff. The children could hardly contain their excitement as they waited to be taken up to the China Clipper lounge. A ride in a helicopter was a dream come true. It was bound to be a truly awesome experience for all the children!

We were taken up to the China Clipper, which is a dedicated departure and arrival area for helicopter guests and decorated with unique aviation memorabilia photographs. The children were given a quick safety briefing before they were allowed up to the roof to have their pre-ride photograph taken. Robert, the pilot from Heliservices divided the children into two groups of four. He flew the first group across the harbour to HK Island, over to Repulse Bay and Ocean Park and up over the Peak before returning back to collect the other group. All of us waiting back inside the China Clipper were able to watch the helicopter take-offs and landings on big screens. The kids thought these screens were nearly as great as the ride itself!

The second group took a different route passing over Tseung Kwan O, Kowloon Peak and the Victoria Harbour before returning back to the Peninsula.

After all the excitement, we were treated to a delectable gourmet Sunday brunch at the Spring Moon, the hotel's chinese restaurant which was transformed into a replica of how the restaurant might have looked like in the 1920s. After brunch, all the kids left with a goodies bag containing a china clipper cap, a peninsula teddy bear and a chocolate helicopter. The best word to describe the awesome, exciting and breathtaking experience the kids received is simply WOW!!

Camp Quality would like to particular thank the Peninsula's Regional Director of Public Relations, Sian Griffiths, who got it all started, Chairman of Heliservices John Leigh for arranging the Helicopter slots and Lamey Chang who liased very effectively with the Camp Quality office throughout this event - Our sincere thanks to you all!!