Surf's Up!

So this past Sunday I went surfing...in Hong Kong! It was especially sweet because I didn't think I was going to be able to surf again until I returned to Malibu in January. Although the waves weren't as big as I would have liked, there were quite a few decent-sized ones. We'd heard word that the swells were supposed to be pretty flat but I was just so entranced with the notion that I was going surfing in Hong Kong, I didn't even care. I did catch enough waves that I lost track of the number, which is always a good sign. It was a day well spent in the end and more than just because of the surf.

We left campus around 11 and took the MTR east, south and then east again. Emerging into the bright sun from the network of trains below, we located the small bus with "Big Wave Bay Beach" printed on the back and hopped aboard. There were about 12 of us: 2 Australians, 3 Germans, 4-5 Americans, 1 Brazillian, 1 local student, and a guy from Finland, with several more joining later from France and the US. It was a great group.

We got to the beach around 1 and were surfing by 1:30. $50 HKD ...50! That's roughly $6.50 USD to rent a surfboard for an entire day. That much would give you about 20 minutes in the States! It was just too good to be true; but it wasn't. I definitely caught a good number of waves in a place that had the feel of a desert island. The beach backed up into a great, green, mountain range. Looking out from the beach over the ocean, I could see several islands of differring sizes, some that were just rocky hills jutting out of the water. And on the one side of the beach, the bank was very rocky and angled up steeply, eventually blending with green over-growth and then leveling off after a few hundred feet. On the level, was an estate, complete with a beautifully groomed lawn and mansion. It was picturesque to say the least.

We surfed for a time, ate lunch and then surfed some more. Earlier, we had seen a trail lined with steps that looked like an interesting climb. It was nearly 5 'o' clock and getting closer to the time for the sun to set over the mountains so we started up the (what we would later find to be) 1200+/- steps. At points along the trek upward, there were rest stops with benches and tables and temple-like coverings for roofs. And the views consisted of everything I described above, but you could see it all at once. Wow...so much natural beauty in the same place.

About half-way up the trail, there was a grouping of rocks that were just begging to be climbed on. You should have heard them. I will be posting pictures shortly.

After completing our descent, we returned the boards, had a bite to eat and then caught the bus to the MTR station. It was a day well spent, complete only after dining at a local Japanese restaurant and drinking some mango juice (mangoes and dragonfruit are now my two favorite fruits).

I will surf again, soon.