A HONG KONG grandmother took the high road to the handover yesterday, chasing a dream of being the first woman to pilot a helicopter around the world.
Jennifer Murray admitted to being on a 'tremendous high' as her single-engined piston helicopter left Denham, west of London, bound for Hong Kong and the handover.
Mrs Murray, 56, the wife of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific executive chairman Simon Murray, will be accompanied on the 39,000 kilometre trip by experienced helicopter pilot Quentin Smith, 32.
'We are going on an incredible adventure,' said Mrs Murray. 'Why? Because I love challenges. There aren't many firsts, real challenges left today.' Her route took her to Paris last night, but the next 96 days will see her pilot the craft across Europe and the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and Taiwan into Hong Kong on June 24.
The aviators will be met by Governor Chris Patten and lead a helicopter parade through the harbour as part of handover festivities.
From Hong Kong, they will fly to Japan, along the Russian coast and across the Bering Strait to North America, then over Greenland, Iceland and back to Britain on August 15.