Thus like so many natives of the West Country before him the only real opportunity for change seemed to be a move overseas. The opportunities at the time appeared to be outlined in The Sunday Telegraph. A short service commission in the armed forces, The Hong Kong Bank or appointment as Probationary Inspector in the Hong Kong Police. All three invited applicants to submit why they should be considered for appointment and the clerk at Crown Agents on the Embankment was obviously more efficient than his counterparts elsewhere. The call for an interview for an appointment in Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service came through well before the others and decided the fate of a boy who was quickly to become a man.

Together with seven others, after interviews and  medical examinations the small band was assembled at Heathrow Airport on a cold wintry morning on 6th January 1967 to board a plane for a 22 hour flight via Rome, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Bangkok. Eventually arriving at Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon, they were met by a Senior Inspector Eric McCosh (Later to become Commissioner Correctional Services) and quickly bussed through the grubby streets of eastern Kowloon to board a vehicular ferry across the harbour. Then via North Point, Leighton Hill, Happy Valley and Deep Water Bay to the paddy fields of Wong Chuk Hang where a collection of Nissin Huts were scattered around a large drill square which made up the Police Training School at the base of Brick Hill.