Hong Kong continued

After the weekend Debbie has to go to work,  as most people do, so I am an independent tourist once again; but capably armed with all Debbie’s advice and recommendations.

 First of all I take a wander from Debbie’s apartment to the very pleasant Hong Kong park and watch young Hong Kong professionals take their lunch break.

Hong Kong park

Then for a contrast with the city I take a walk away from the city along the path that starts behind Debbie’s apartment and then goes along the edge of a country park towards the other side of the island. The path goes very steeply uphill to begin with and then levels off with views back down to the city. Here is a view to Happy Valley racecourse.

Happy valley racecourse

Before long I have crossed over the island with views to the south and I drop down to a beach called Deep Water Bay. I take a swim here, as the sun starts to go down and then catch a bus back to the city.

Deep Water Bay

The next day I take a ferry to one of the other islands –Cheung Chau. It is a pleasant boat ride of about 40 minutes across Hong Kong harbour before we arrive at the island.

Hong Kong harbour

Cheung Chao is the most densely inhabited of the ‘off islands’, but the buildings are low-rise, so feels entirely different from the city. It has a real holiday feel to it, together with an authentic fishing community and in my usual way of comparing the new with the familiar, it reminds me of the Isles of Scilly (with the addition of Chinese and warm water). The shape and size of the island is similar to St Mary’s, with the main town being on an isthmus. The port is on one side of this narrow strip and the swimming beach on the other, with higher land to either side.

I walk along the seafront through quayside restaurants and look at the fishing boats moored in the harbour.

Waterfront restaurants

Working fishing boats in the harbour

 

Here there are still people who live aboard their boats and I watch this old lady pull herself from the quay to her floating home with the help of a raft and rope.

Raft to get home

I walk up to the high ground at one end of the island and enjoy the view back over the island.

Cheung Chau island

On my way back down to the main town I visit a temple which is dedicated to a God of the sea.

Temple

A man inside offers to tell my fortune for 20 Hong Kong dollars (about £1.50). I choose a bamboo stick from a jar. The number on it relates to a piece of paper pre-printed with my fortune. He reads it to me first in Cantonese and then translates it into English. The first part is about the sun rises each morning and setting each evening (?) and then he tells me that after December will be a very good time for me. He asks me how old I am and when I tell him, he says that after I am 53 things will be very good for me. He also tells me it is a very good time for me to be travelling. The cynic in me thinks that I just told him my age and he knows I am travelling because I look like a tourist. Anyway I have kept the paper, so perhaps someone who can read Cantonese can translate it again for me.

Fortune teller

I walk along the couple of sandy bays on the opposite side of the island from the port. I think about swimming, but then read a sign which says that the shark net has been removed for maintenance and apologises for the inconvenience. It would be pretty damn inconvenient to be eaten by a shark, so I decide against it.

Beaches on Cheung Chao

The path along the cliffs goes through an area with some interesting rock formations and lovely views along the coast.

Rock formations and views from the cliff path

On my last day in Hong Kong I take a bus to small town on the south coast – Stanley, and if you want a bit of history it is named   after Lord Stanley, the 19th-century British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. It was the administrative centre of Hong Kong before this moved to the north shore. Stanley was where British and Canadian troops made their last stand before surrendering to Japanese troops during the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941.  So that’s enough of that. Nowadays it has a pleasant market, waterfront with pier and beach (this time with shark net intact) and I spend a pleasant day there.

Stanley pier

Stanley beach

So now it is time to leave Hong Kong after my extended stay and I will be sorry to go in many ways. I have really enjoyed the variety and surprises that Hong Kong has to offer and Debbie has been a fantastic host. I’ll have to travel a very long way to find such good digs at any price!