The Great Outdoors

It’s funny that when I opened my computer to write this blog post, NYMag (yes, they are still my homepage!) has an article entitled “The Upside-Down Travel Planner.” On the short list is “Hong Kong for Fresh Air.”

I’m not surprised that HK made the list. I think most people who have never been to Hong Kong (and I include my former self in that) don’t realize how much more there is to the city. We think skyscrapers and crowded, congested, streets. But there’s so much more to explore: beaches, mountains, deserted islands only reachable by boat. If you come to HK and only stay within the shelter of the big buildings, you would fail to even scratch the surface of life here.

So when we moved here and I learned how active people are, I too was surprised and thrilled to know that HK is a place where balancing the great outdoors with big city life is absolutely achievable. Hoorah!

On Saturday, Pat and I woke up to early hike Dragon’s Back in Shek-O Country Park. The park, which is on the southeastern side Hong Kong Island, is easily accessible by a bus or a 20-minute taxi ride.

While the hike usually boasts beautiful beach and city views, we had a pretty foggy day (which provided us with a bit of relief from the heat!). It was amazing to watch as the fog rolled over the lush green mountain tops and to smell the sweetness of honeysuckle – all just 20 minutes from our apartment.

Fog rolls in over Dragon's Back trail

After the hike, which took about an hour and a half, we headed toward Shek-O beach, where we cooled down in the water and chilled out. A few hours later, we grabbed a quick Vietnamese lunch in the small town and headed toward Big Wave Bay beach, another beach just a few minutes down the road.

Big Wave Bay is known as the best surfing on HK Island, although you never would have known it since the water looked like a lake. (Because of the twists and turns along the HK coastline and the mountainous terrain, the beaches are sheltered, causing the water to be pretty flat.) But the beach was awesome and even had a few small surf shops (which also doubled as restaurants) lining the walkway to the beach.

You can be sure we’ll spend the summer exploring more beaches and hikes and, who knows, maybe this will even be the year I learn to surf. 

Pat leads the way over the ridge. Despite how this photo looks, we did see other hikers....