Far from the Madding Crowd (遠離塵囂)

Yesterday wasn't so sunny. But I didn't want to be pushed around by the holiday crowd milling around shopping malls. I tried another route up Tai Tung Shan. The ascent was quite steep. But after that, it was simply skirting paths along the watersheds or the cols between the various hills. The route was full of surprise discoveries.

Some beautiful creepers at the side of a tree.

This tree in the distance look so fresh after a slight drizzle.

This tiny plant didn't lose any time. It pushed up new leaves.

This tree did the same

I thought I found traces of some ancient rock writing but on closer inspection, I discovered that they were merely patterns formed by some dried up wort.

One of the mountains I saw after the stiff climb up to the highest path along the side of the various mountains.

A twisted ball of fern leaf before it opens out I found along the mountain path

Some yellow leaves

The hills were still filled with late blooming camellias

its heart.



A view of the hills that I covered

Some huge moss like plants I found on the surface of a rock high up in the mountains

A close up of its leaf-like flowers

Other creepers were fighting for space upon the surface of this rock with the mosses

Other hills on my way to Broken Head Camp

One side of the hill on which the camp was built

I could see mountains and hills getting fainter and fainter with distance.

I found these growing at a shadowy spot shortly before I arrived at the camp

Close by were these fir like leaves of another type of fern

Finally the Broken Head Camp

Some worts growing on the planks sealing up the window of one of the camp houses.

A pattern formed by pieces peeling off its plastic window cover

Another such pattern

A view of Mui Wo on the way down

The path on the way down Pak Kung Au

A view of another part of the downward path

A farewell view of the mountain path I traversed.

My First Visit to Kiu Tsui (初到橋咀)

It's been quite a while since I first heard of the name of Kiu Tsui in Sai Kung. But I 've never been there, not even once and have absolutely no idea what it might look like. My recent visit to Yim Tin Tsai rekindled my interest in that place. I saw a placard along one of the several stalls lining the broadwalk along the seaside of Sai Kung harbour advertising a rather cheap trip there: $20 per head. So I decided to give it a go the Sunday just before Christmas eve.

There is a new park just in front of the broadwalk now. They got some interesting ideas: paper boats which I am sure all of us learned to fold as children but now  turned into artwork.

I was lucky. The sun was shining, giving a sheen to the fan like leaves of the ferns at that small park.

The ferry soon started. A speed boat was hurtling along the surface of the water under the cloudless sky.

In less than 30 minutes, I was already on the island. I found an abandoned boat turned upside down on the beach.,

and patterns on the corrugated zinc sheets outside a beach-side shed

the underside of what used to be the support of the roof of a pavilion

Some bricks in front of an abandoned wooden rack serving as support of the feet outside a raised hut?

An abandoned machine under the sun.

the side of another abandoned fibreglass boat

I caught this young photographer with his girlfriend/wife concentrating on taking a photo of the other end of the tombolo which one could access from the beach by walking through some reefs at low tide

A young family taking time off to enjoy a bit of sea air

Some crumpled up rubberised canvas sheets lying about on the beach. Perhaps used as a boat cover when needed? 

As it's winter, there were fallen leaves everywhere.

Some abandoned metal pipes chained together to prevent stealing

A common plant with half-flowers said to be two lovers which one often finds near beaches.

The leaf of the what is commonly called "Big-Leaf Tree" under the sun, You'll find this kind of tree close to beaches all the time.

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The underside of another one of those roof support for a pavilion I found earlier

A fallen flower I found close to that abandoned pavilion roof

I tried to walk around the beach. But all the paths seemed overgrown and I had to turn back and found this old stump along one side of the beach.

When I doubled back, I found this pair of pants hung outside one of the corrugated zinc sheds

I tried to walk around the island from the other end of the beach and found this abandoned metal frame but I was no luckier on the other side because all the paths there were equally if not more overgrown with spiked creepers impossible to pass.

Found this plastic water bottle at the side of an LCSD beach food and beverage kiosk on the other beach on the island

the window of that kiosk looking built like those one finds on a ship's cabin

The island is one of the smallest country parks in Hong Kong. On the island, we find eroded basalt boulders along the beach . Their surface are cracked like the top of our "pineapple bun".

The pebble and shingle beach on the other side of the island where the cracked pine-apple bun basalt is found.

The beach was full of all kinds of shells, complete, eroded or broken.

Some shells I found. Their shapes are most peculiar. This one looks like a Mexican sombrero.

These are purple colored

This one was probably washed up one of the rocks.

It was quite late by the time I left the island. A view of the ferry pier.

A chair I found on the way back to the pier

And some canoes inside a cage

A lookout point beside the pier

A final look at the beach

The sun was setting



A couple sharing the ride back.