Outdoor Hong Kong (Part 9)

This visit to Hong Kong was one of a kind. Waiting in Japan in the days leading up to our flight we had been tracking the progress of “Super-Typhoon” Ragasa as it raced westwards. The target date for it to strike Hong Kong was the afternoon of our arrival.

We landed in Chek Lap Kok at 1pm, just 5 hours before the airport shut down for an unprecedented 36 hours. As we looked out of the plane window, we could see a few innocuously looking clouds being wafted by a gentle breeze. It was hard to believe that one of the most violent storms to ever hit Hong Kong was just a few hours away.

When we disembarked from the Airport Express train in Kowloon the station was eerily quiet. The normally crowded taxi rank was deserted and there was only one of the distinctive red HK taxis waiting there.

Unfortunately, the driver wanted HK$350 for a short journey to Lillian’s parents’ apartment so we declined to be ripped off and decided to catch the MTR. As the metro system was closing at 3pm this was also strangely free of the normal crowds.

The city had a deserted pre-apocalyptic feel to it. As we walked home from Mong Kok station we saw just a couple of people in the street where the bustling Ladies Night Market takes place. Usually this street would be packed with stalls selling cheap tat and crowds of people. (One of the oddities about this market is that the vendors have to assemble and then disassemble their stalls every day.)

The weather was still balmy as we reached our apartment but we were glad to be safely indoors.

The storm picked up overnight and I was woken up a couple of times by the rain smashing against the window. When we woke the typhoon was in full force. A No. 10 signal, the highest level, had been raised at 2.40am. By now the wind had changed direction and was blowing past the block. Periodically it picked up (the wind speed of the strongest gusts to hit Hong Kong was around 200kph) and we watched sheets of rain lashing the block on the other side of the street.

We looked in with voyeuristic fascination at a flat opposite where someone had left the windows open and curtains were billowing out. There was also a loose vertical air-conditioning pipe on one of the exposed side of our block that was whipping against the wall and looking like it was about to break.

At lunch-time we went for a walk around the multi-story carpark at the bottom of our block and surveyed the damage in the streets outside.

There was a beautiful Tesla parked in the street with the fallen branches of a tree across its bonnet.

The owner arrived shortly thereafter, removed the branches and drove the car away. Luckily it didn’t seem to be visibly damaged.

By 4pm the wind has fallen enough that it didn’t seem foolish to go outside so I went for a jog around town the neighbourhood.

Lillian, who was walking around the carpark, spotted me jogging past on my way to run a lap of the KGV cross-country running route (mentioned in several previous Outdoor Hong posts).

Aside from broken branches and leaf debris, the damage from the storm where we were was not bad and Hong Kong seemed to have been spared when compared to Taiwan and the Philippines. The most dramatic footage we saw was of a storm surge breaking through the glass front doors of the Fullerton Hotel at Ocean Park. See this this video from the SCMP.

The following day life seemed to have returned to normal. Cars and pedestrians were back on the roads.

When we went down to the nearby running track for some intervals there were the people jogging and walking around it as usual.

That afternoon I checked out Kowloon Park while Lillian was shopping. There were a few fallen trees which made for some sweaty back-tracking when I found my way was blocked.

The weather was hot and sticky. Regular Hong Kong September weather. As I sat in the shade eating my McDonald’s matcha ice-cream from the kiosk in the Park, I could feel drops of sweat dripping down my back.

This was a short visit, with only three nights in Hong Kong, so the next morning was our final one before returning to New Zealand.

Lillian and I decided to do one of our favourite walks, Stages 1 and 2 of the Hong Kong Trail. We started with a coffee in 100% Arabica coffee shop on The Peak, in my view the best coffee chain in Hong Kong.

Although we caught the bus to The Peak – a spectacular drive – the Peak Tram was also operating and beginning to disgorge early morning trippers.

It was beautiful clear day. The picture below is looking towards Tsing Yi and the featured image of this post is the classic “Peak” view of Hong Kong.

Unsurprisingly there was lots of leaf debris, many fallen branches and the odd tree on the path.

The Hong Kong Trail is a beautiful walk. It’s a fantastic way to experience the outdoors without having to travel far from the city centre. New vistas open up every few kms as you circle around Hong Kong Island, and there are plenty of pretty streams to cool down in.

We didn’t realise until we checked on Strava, but this was exactly the same route as the one we had taken 7 years ago on Christmas Day 2018. We also took a photo on the same little bridge, shown below. I’m always surprised at how we keep making the same decisions. So much for free will!

There must be a permanent orienteering course on the paths around the Peak. Lillian and I met at an orienteering event in Hong Kong so we were excited to see an orienteering control point. Old photos show that we had also previously posed at this spot with the orienteering control point!

The water in this stream looked clean enough to drink.

Towards the end of Stage 2 the path traverses above Aberdeen Harbour.

It’s a view I never get tired of. Stage 2 of the Hong Kong Trail ends in the forest left of the block of flats behind Lillian. From there we walked down to Aberdeen passing through the graveyard on their right.