Hiking Again - Shek-O and Big Wave Bay

Last week we did a mountain hike, this week we chose a more water-friendly trail instead - the hike from Chai Wan to Shek-O and Big Wave Bay.

We followed directions from the web, taking MTR to Chai Wan MTR station and exited towards the cemetery. I kid you not, to get to the beginning of the trail, we were supposed to climb up to the mountain top, which means we needed to pass the cemetery...


There was this crazy "metal-skin" house at the foot of the mountain. It's amazing that the house withstood the Summer typhoon.


Okay, here we go - Getting ready to climb up the hill through all these steep steps!!


"Oh wow... it looks like there are more than 1000 steps up!!!"


10 mintues later...

Indeed, I can tell you, there are at least 800+ steps up the hill (if not 1000+). I was so proud of ourselves that we didn't really stop at all.


Though Mike had to be extremely careful the whole time since the width of the steps was only half the length of his feet. He had a hard time balancing with only half of his feet. Poor Mike!! =(


Okay.... last pile of steps..... Almost to the top!!!


Finally Done!!! Yay!! ("yaying" while sweating, profusely...)


View of the cemetery from the top of the hill.



It was a bit freaky walking through the cemetery. Most of the cemetery in HK that I had been to was an indoor cemetery house. It was probably my first time to walk through so many grave stones up close like this.


The directions we got from the web were not very clear. There was no clear sign at the mountain top about where the trail starts. We started our "adventure" to find the correct trail and first ended up on this path that obviously didn't have any walkers for months!! (Look at all the tall grass!!) Safety comes first, so we abandoned this path and explored the opposite direction...


The other way looked a lot more "promising". Don't let the grave scare you away. If you look at the trail, you'll see it's a lot more "traveled" than the first one we found.


We continued exploring this path, looking more and more promising. (though still hadn't seen any other hikers at this point yet...)


Oh my gosh... We FOUND IT !!!!! ^___________^ The Pottinger Peak Country Trail !


After the extreme uphill challenge up the cemetery, we picked the semi-downhill trail to the Big Wave Bay in Shek-O.


"We want to see some wave actions, don't we, Mike?"


The trail is full of wild, interesting vegetation. Very inspiring for photo-shoot... Wish I had borrowed one of Andrei's DSLRs... Mike was nice enough to let me borrow his really good quality point-and-shoot and taught me a few neat tricks using it!! haha, lucky me!! =D


And we got to see mountains as well~


A tiny river intermingled with parts of the trail.



Time for my photograph practice ;) Enjoy!!!

The Trees Collection

I am very attracted by the deep, damaged texture of this tree...


Shooting up from the bottom, equally beautiful...


Don't they look a bit like mutated fingers?? Or is it just me...?


The Bunny-Ear trees



The Animal Collection

We saw these two seemingly-wild dogs at the entrance of the trail. They didn't have any collar nor owner with them. But they seemed a bit too clean and timid to be wild dogs. Before we found out whether they were wild or pets, they disappeared into the far far end of the wood.... =)



The Flowers Collection





Very cute tiny yellow flowers







The Leaves Collection





Healthy green leaves.


Dry grey leaves



Huge broken leaves


Very "eaten" leaves


I know i know, these leaves were very poorly-eaten by insects already. But somehow... they have a sickly beauty to them... Extremely pretty to me!!


Tiny leaves on rocks



The Mountains Collection

The Contrast Version



The colored version


"Did you see it? In the middle..."


The Shek-O Collection


Shek-O in a peek through the trees


Reaching Big Wave Bay


End of trail into Shek-O


Shek-O Visitor Village, very different from the day-to-day city settings that we are accustomed to ...


A red brick wall... somehow it recalled memory of my "baby-hood" in China... (I grew up in China until I was two)


Bamboo Wall. Very nostalgic feeling...


Other visitors.


Have you ever looked at the people you pass by causaully everyday?


Have you ever looked at the beautiful smiles on their face?
Simple happiness...


The Objects Collection




A dumpster? A construct site? or Somebody's home? (hopefully not the latter...)




Beach front graffiti


The Big Wave Bay Collection


Little white boy running on the beach. Pretty good action shot, huh? =D


Trees at the very back of the beach




Look at the strong texture of the rocks!!! Amazing!!


People sitting leisurely on the shallow sand beach, chatting...


Pretty blue water


I was stunned by the big waves. No wonder it's called the Big Wave Bay!!


The forgotten, lonely backpack...


It might not look like it, but Mike was indeed trying to tie his hat onto his backpack...


A group of young people gathered in circle on the beach... I remembered those days... ;)


I love fresh air of the ocean!!


And the soft, lovely sound of waves... Can you hear it?


Capturing the moment...


A beautiful, enjoyable moment


Cheeze.... ^_^


I want to surf too....


"Beach People" Collection


A couple


A girl


A guy


Another guy


Another girl... (hey, she looks familiar...?)


A footprint...


The Wave Collection









Father and son




Sand mixed with water


Colorful rocks

Our quiet moments



More Rocks




Mike took this picture - I really like the contrast of the texture between the rocks nearby and far away...


Leaving the Bay
On our way to the bus station, we passed by this small park near the beach.

They have really pretty pink flowers.


Hey, I think someone might be taking pictures of me!!! ;)



Mike on the bus, meditating... (about where to go eat after we get off the bus)

Hunger after a hike

We were so hungry after every hike. You would never imagine how many calories it burns just walking for several hours straight.
This time we went straight to Triple-O to get Mike's favorite veggie burger ;)


Hungry Mike!!


HUNGRY Me!! ^o^