To start the day with some physical activity, Josh, Felix and Mummy went for a walk along Bowen Road, which is very near our house.
The road was named after Sir George Bowen, an Ulsterman who served as the 9th Governor of Hong Kong from 1883 to 1885. It was colloquially called “Third Road” by residents in Hong Kong for being the third east–west road from the shore at that time. “First Road” and “Second Road” were Queen’s Road and Kennedy Road respectively.
As Hong Kong lacked fresh water at that time, Tai Tam Reservoir was built in Tai Tam Valley. An aqueduct was built to transfer from Tai Tam to Central via Wong Nai Chung Gap and Happy Valley. Later Bowen Road was built on top of the aqueducts. The road makes the south boundary of Victoria City. A boundary stone was at the junction with Stubbs Road. The road also passes by many schools.
From Wikipedia
Bowen Road is about 4km long, and runs from the Stubbs Road roundabout all the way into Central, passing above Happy Valley, Wan Chai and Admiralty on the way. It’s very popular with runners, kids on balance bikes, dog walkers (despite the long-term presence of a dog poisoner) and parrot walkers. Yes, you read that right, parrot walkers. We passed a guy standing looking out at the view with his parrot Josie. He invited us to hold her, and told us a bit about her.
Josie is quite an unusual bird, a Hawk-headed Parrot originally from Venezuela. She is very affectionate, and bobs her head when she wants her owner to scratch her. She takes showers with him, and sometimes gets in trouble if she nibbles his fingers too hard! Josh and Felix both tried holding her, and said that it only hurts a little bit when she nibbles. She was also touching their skin with her tongue to get at the sweaty salt! Her owner said that she wiggles her bottom when she needs to poo. Her wing feathers are clipped so she can’t fly far on her own, and she has a little chain on her leg too. She looked super healthy with shiny feathers and bright dark eyes.
