HONG KONG


Kayaking


Night-time view


Rock formation


Trekking the coast


couple of sticky hours to get here, so it’s a joy to wade into the clear water, where a small motorboat takes us on the next leg of our journey. Skirting the coast, we head south to what Unesco calls the ‘Geopark in the City’ because of its proximity to the metropolis.


Natural wonders


Here, as if it weren’t enough to see the effects of cliffs «oÕn`i` LÞ Ìhi *>ViwV Ìo VÀi>Ìi V>ÛiÃ] n>ÌÕÀ>l >ÀVhiÃ] stacks and blowholes, a series of hexagonal rock columns with an average diameter of 1.2 metres are peppered across a land and sea area of 39 square miles. I reach for my phone and start snapping. “Don’t worry with these ones – you’re going to see many more that are so much better,” says San, explaining how the columns were formed by cooling volcanic magma. He’s right. Wherever we go, there are interesting


formations, some pillars tinged orange and red by the surrounding sedimentary rock, rows of others tilted at an angle or folded over. Many of the formations were only revealed during quarrying for the East


Dam at the High Island Reservoir in 1971. The dam itself is also impressive, protected from the waves by 7,000 enormous interlocking blocks. Chugging round the coast, we reach Po Pin Chau, an island that broke away from the mainland to reveal a series of huge hexagonal pillars resembling a church organ. From sea level, we get a real sense of their 100-metre height. Farther on, we stop at the centuries-old Tin Hau temple, where I watch amid the heady scent of incense, fascinated, as two locals prepare offerings of fake money to be burned. Next it’s Sharp Island, linked to the coast by a tidal causeway dotted with volcanic rocks. It’s our last stop before we reach Sai Kung town, with its wÃh ÀiÃÌ>ÕÀ>nÌÃ] 7iÃÌiÀn-ÃÌÞli V>vià >n` viÀÀiià that sail to Half Moon Bay Beach. While the sandy stretch looks nice, it’s not a patch on the beaches I’ve seen on what has been an amazing adventure. And as if the day wasn’t perfect enough, one ov /hi *ininÃÕl>½Ã yiiÌ ov `>Àk-}Àiin ,ollÃ-,oÞVià awaits to whisk me back to the hotel.


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