A great way to spend a Sunday - with two other couples we headed out to Sai Kung East Country park to hike to the famous Tai Long Wan beaches we had heard so much about. As well as 6 adults we had two 2 year olds, and two babies (7 months and 4 weeks old), so the oddity of the Hong Kong hikes being paved suddenly becomes very handy with 2 strollers! It was always going to be pretty slow going with all the kids but our pace also wasn’t helped by the Oxfam trail walkers streaming along in the opposite direction. The walk itself was pretty easy, with lots of gorgeous bays and views along the way, it made me think of NZ alot when looking off into the distance especially.

We eventually made it to the beach, which was beautiful, fine white sand, rocky surrounds and WAVES. We also snuck across and checked out the beach next door which was even more gorgeous but not a stroller friendly path so we headed back to Ham Tin beach to spend the rest of the day. There are two basic restaurants spilling onto the beach and a huge expanse of sand. The water was warm, the waves were fun and the sun was shining, you could hardly wipe the smile from my face.

Eventually it was time to jump on the boat home, this was an exercise in teamwork to get all the children and bits and pieces plus two strollers onto the quite small taxi boat. Mission accomplished and we headed off, the driver was keeping a solid pace as we left the bay, when we hit open water though we were suddenly in huge swell. The driver was an absolute master and worked the angles perfectly and at great pace to deal with the swell safely, but it was an extremely exciting / nervewracking / intense ride. The views were incredible, I was just expecting a ride home but it was a whole adventure in itself, we passed amazing cliffs, lots of small islands, interesting looking graveyards, floating villages, fancy yachts, junk boats and even a boat wreck courtesy of Typhoon Mangkhut.

The ride ended in Sai Kung as we got out onto the pier, giggling with that feeling you have after surviving a roller coaster. The pier had a full on fish market operating off one side with buckets being pulled up and down on string to deliver the goods. We felt like we had been on holiday, it was so different to the city yet is just 1 hours drive away, apparently you can camp on the beach so our next purchase is looking like being a tent…!