Sunday, February 19, 2017

An enjoyable Sai Kung Peninsula outing with a good friend

The water was clearer than the sky in Sham Chung this afternoon

...but a few hardy butterflies -- like this furry looking specimen -- 
braved the cooler, less sunny conditions to remain alive and active! 

The beautiful spell of weather Hong Kong has enjoyed in recent days came to an end literally overnight last night.  Yesterday, visibility was as high as 45 kilometers over in Sai Wan Ho.  Today, I don't think it exceeded 15 kilometers anywhere; and I experienced more rainfall -- and definitely way more misty and overcast conditions -- than caught sight of bright sunlight for much of the day.

Fortunately, it only started pouring in Sai Kung town (where I had gone for a Thai dinner featuring a tasty sour and spicy squid salad, rich beef green curry and fragrant white rice) just before I got on a green minibus out of there, and way after a friend and I hadn't only finished hiking and gone on a boat ride earlier in the day.  

But even while brighter weather would have added welcome color to the surroundings that we passed through on our trek from Pak Sha O to Sham Chung as well as the boat ride from Sham Chung to Wong Shek Pier, we were grateful enough for the temperature remaining pleasant, and it being warm enough for some butterflies to continue flitting about (even while cool enough for me to figure that the snakes that had awoken from their winter slumber in recent weeks had gone back into hibernation).

Something else that I really appreciated on today's excursion was the company of the woman who had been my regular hiking companion until she left for Canada a few years back.  Although I wondered whether it'd be the case when we had first said our goodbyes, she has indeed returned to Hong Kong a couple of times since, and we've found time to hang out -- and even go on hikes together on her too short trips back to the Big Lychee.     

This afternoon, I was reminded again how we share a love for nature, photography while hiking, and what another friend has described as "non-competitive hiking".  In addition, I also do like it being the case that, once she overcame her horror at piling back the calories during post-hike dinners (with the aid of my explanation/justification to her that "we hike in order to eat, not in order to lose weight!"), we got to thoroughly enjoying our post-hike meals and actually consider our outings incomplete without them! ;b    

No comments: