Boat Cruise

Hey Everyone,

I'm playing a little catch up here, but I did not want to miss the opportunity to share with you my first boating day experience in Hong Kong. I was invited by Aunt M and her family to join them on their boating day trip. To be honest, I did not know what to expect. They had described the event to me as a "boat cruise," but coming from Winnipeg, a "cruise" could be defined as the little paddle boat that runs up and down the Red River, like "boat cruise" we booked for grade 9 graduation. Anyway, I was told to pack for the beach, and even then I had to think twice about what I had to bring. I was excited and nervous but it was definitely a great time and a new experience.

All the boats that were heading out at the same time

When we arrived in Sai Kung, the weather did not look at all pleasant. It was grey, cloudy, and threatened to rain. When all the boats took off together, it was like being part of a fleet. It seemed as if they were heading to the same place, but one by one they branched off. The further we travelled away from the pier the more the sky started to clear up. It started looking like a beautiful day. We finally stopped along one of the islands and dropped the anchor. This was where we were going to stay for the rest of the day.

The clouds cleared and the sun came out

There were quite a few families on the boat, all of them Aunt M's friends. Everyone was very nice and we all had a fun time. There were a few activities that were available to us, one of them was riding a banana boat. When it was first described to me, phrases like " it looks like a banana" and "you try to grab on and not fall off" as well as, "you can sit on it," did not help my understanding of what it was exactly. Sadly, I had so much fun that I forgot to take a picture of it, I'm sure I'll be able to describe it better... maybe. The banana boat ride is very similar to tubing, except that instead of an inflatable donut, it's a raft that is shaped like a banana with two pontoons on either side to allow your feet to rest and you sit on it. The banana boat has three seats. So, as you straddle the raft and grab the holders the motor boat takes off, dragging you and two of your companions along, until one of you wipes out and brings everyone down with you.

Chilling with everyone in the shade

Swimming in the ocean was also fairly new to me. One of the first things I did was canon ball off the boat edge into the water, and surprise, surprise, it was VERY salty. It was so salty that I didn't even need to tread water and I would float. It was nice not having to work for it, but keeping it out of your eyes, nose and mouth proved to be a challenge. I'm sure when I got of the water salt crystals started forming on my skin! Another one of the options was fishing. The appeal for sitting in a boat hours on end did not particularly catch my fancy, so I didn't go. The people who went on the second round in the afternoon managed to come back with quite a haul. There were so many types of fish, I'd be lucky even to identify one!

I wish I could say that I caught all of them
 but I didn't... these lovely fish were divided
and will be showing up on people's dinner tables

On the way back to the pier, the view was stunning. We passed a lot of boats on the way back, many like the ones you see in the picture below. Everyone was so tired after a long day in the sun that I'm sure half of us dozed off on the way back. I know I did. I'm just glad that I woke up half way; enough to see this beautiful scene.

The view on the way back to the pier

Okay, so I'd had a wonderful day. The weather held up, the sun came out, I swam in the ocean, and learned what a banana boat was. But what really, REALLY made my day was what I saw next...

WILD COWS!!! I know this may not be a big deal but it was so different! In Winnipeg, we have random: ducks, geese, deer, squirrels, turkeys, gophers.... but COWS?! I was told by Aunt M that because grass was really sparse, the wild cows come up to eat the grass. There are no regulations, and if one just happens to be on the road, you have to wait... and wait... and wait, until they get out of the way. I expect this maybe in Dublin or something like that but I was really surprised to see them in Hong Kong. Maybe because its so hard to find beef in local stores that I really didn't expect to see it walking around.

Cows along the boulevard

Note: Make sure to put sunscreen everywhere and double check next time.... Somehow, I managed to miss the same spot three times while applying sunscreen... and of course this happens just after me saying that I'd never been burnt before. Figures!