As the years have gone by, I've lost touch with some, but inevitably end up reminiscing about good times shared with friends we've had in common. Social media has proven to be the way to reconnect, or at least feel like you're keeping up, by getting a glimpse into someone's current life when they post updates or photos.
Anyway...Alex and I revisited the site of our first family camping trip in HK when we joined our old friends for an outing to the beach at Long Ke Wan during Fall Break. Paul missed out as he was traveling for work. I was still congested - recovering from a cold, but figured could walk slower, and could bring lots of water in case it was hot. I shouldn't have worried - it was overcast with a few drizzles and cooler, but not cold - the water was clear and still warm from the summer. By November it will be too cold to swim without a wetsuit. The beach was deserted and we had a great time bobbing and swimming around just outside the breaking waves. Alex body-surfed a few waves.
The beach was as pretty and as quiet as the time we went camping - maybe because it was mid-week, but maybe because there's nothing there except a rehab facility - no village with a shop or restaurant like the more popular Tai Long Wan (Big Wave Bay) villages of Ham Tin or Sai Wan. At least, that's what I think - I still haven't made it there although I want to go jump off those rocks near Sai Wan someday!
That camping trip, it was so long ago - we went to Long Ke Wan around thirteen years ago. It was our first time camping in Hong Kong. I was looking for photos, but since it was the early days of digital, they're probably on some old old media format - floppy disk or memory stick - will keep looking, but have memories of three-year-old Alex making the walk down, and back up on his own, and Maggie at seven, along with her elementary school best friend and family who we went with. I remember Paul rolled and carried most of the camping gear in a travel duffel with shoulder straps - not a proper hiking pack, and we split the 12 litres of water - heavy! I remember setting up our tents above the high tide line, eating camp-stove heated canned food and instant noodles, falling asleep listening to the waves, waking up at dawn, playing in a stream and on the beach all day, and after hiking out, waiting a long time for a taxi as the setting sun shone on our tanned and rosy-cheeked children...
Back to the present... After a picnic and swim, as the sun started it's descent and the tide rose, it was time to go. The climb back up from sea-level wasn't as bad as I'd remembered, but then again it was 13 years ago and the children were little, and we carried all our camping gear plus water, instead of just going a day trip. Even better was that there were taxis waiting - us out of shape city-folk weren't up to trekking 10km to where we left the car.
While the beach was quiet, the East Dam at High Island Reservoir in Sai Kung East Country Park has grown in popularity since it's been promoted as a tourist spot as part of HK Global Geopark. Since you can taxi in, it's one of the easiest places to see the volcanic landscapes. Not long after the HK UNESCO Geopark was established, we walked from Sam Mun Tsai village in Tai Po to another area - Ma Shi Chau in the Tolo Channel and there are several other areas I hope to visit in the future.
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