Time in the hills - walking the new year

 The weather over the new year period was icy plains wind cold, but clear, which matters a great deal given how inundated we can be during the cold season, downwind from the Chinese manufacturing exhaust.  Ange arranged an afternoon walk, ending up at Po Toi O for lunch.  It was fantastic, out on the new bike trail, with a few other people.

Pickle on his way up the bike-track.  Note to self, bring mountain bike in Granny's garage back to HK.  I am definitely getting too old to whizz down single-track, but the boys would have a blast.

I know I sent you this one on WhatsApp already, but I do love it, gives one an idea of the elevation, with Clearwater Bay Beach 1 below to the left; my summer swimming spot.

The boys and their mates up on the ridge-line.

Po Toi O village way down below, with the golf course behind it.

Ev on his way down back to the water...

Ev, Jake, Luke and Aiden heading down the final bit of road to the restaurants.

The first two weeks of the new year... please let it be... a new year

 How does one know it is a new year?  The same incredible challenges for the people of the world; the same insanity in American politics?  The same, ongoing grind against poverty, unemployment and corruption? For me, I know it's a new year because we pause to potter, to tackle little projects.  And they delight disproportionately.  I loved your ride map of the Cradle of Civilization - thank you. I engaged in a big clean-out, in the process discovered some old diaries that I'd kept ... 1989, 1991, 1993... 1995.  From Jan 31, 1994 - "Joshua is born!  Early afternoon, Jan 31, 1994.  He is beautiful and delicate".  Ok, so at least there is some change there, you being robust in every sense now.  Reading pieces in them I confess was a bit shattering.  So many new years, but so alarmingly unchanged in the things I worry about or want to change in myself.  So maybe, given nature and nurture, whichever one, or combination of both really matters, it is just that... sort of all.  I feel so different but am so the same.  

Starting the year, beautiful morning with Holly

New year, new table, Ange in action tackling renovation.

Took a picture of the old and the new as it emerged....

In the end, sanded and stripped...

Became this once tackled with Teak oil - bring on 2021

Holly and the Christmas past

 

Christmas in the strangest of years

Pat, Anita and Claire gave the boys sticky-tape rolls of led disco lights which synch to the music they play. I have no idea where they found the lights, but it has certainly been the gift of the year :-).  Of course the temptation to wait until nightfall, ramp up the volume, and get down is not insignificant.

Aiden's room, glowing blue...

while Valentino's love-nest glows red in Ev's; not enough to detract from the game however.

The very late morning loot; Christmas fare of balls, boots, and water bottles silently voice optimism about '21. 

Some inevitable rushing around delivering this, collecting that, Ev down at the water with Bougainvillea - bright green socks.

We went to the Schats' house for desert, games and a few more drinks, it was great fun.  Hugo watching the arrivals.

Late night calls of Merry Christmas, Ange on the phone to Tracy in Kenton

The sky from the patio, wintery high altitude dry.  Santa's tracks for another year.

Picasso's bicycle bull - Sheung Sze Wan version

 

A lovely week so far

 It's been a lovely week of leave.  To have that break, and rediscover oneself is fantastic.  All the things that are so easy and lovely to do, but too time-consuming to tackle outside the weekends, at which point the roads and beautiful places are very quickly peopled.

On Monday

I achieved very little - enjoyed my birthday with the homies, and speaking to you...

...after a decent stint of lazying about and reading in bed with the cat.

On Tuesday, I tackled a circuit of exercises and then went for a longer than anticipated run.  No pictures of that of course.  On Wednesday however...

...we hit the hills with Robyn, Pieter and hound Hugo, and walked the newly opened mountain bike trail.

Really lovely view from the contour part of the trail, water crystal clear at the beach that I swim at, bottom left of the picture.  It's amazing.  You can see the coastal reef and the sand bottom thereafter; you can also see how the waves coming into the bay fold around the point and into the bay.

On Thursday I decided it was time to break away from Clearwater Bay.  I resolved to brave the grey and chilly windy weather (11C, wtf?), got up well before sunrise and cycled through Sai Kung to the country park on the other side.  I arrived there as the dawn was breaking, went through the booms, and onto the road that runs up through the hills...

...and comes out at the High Island Reservoir, which is a massive piece of fresh water.

Staying on the road, eventually you climb all the way up to a saddle, and can look back over the reservoir (the first photo above is taken from in the trees behind and to the left of the pump-station tower, top left, to give you an idea of scale)...

...before you descend the other side which has really lovely views.

At the very end of the road is the start of the UNESCO Global Geopark's walking trail, with the reservoir on one side and the...

... run-over dam with the sea on the other side of that on the other.  As it happens there is a South African connection, because the sea wall itself is constructed of Dolosse, those perpendicularly ended concrete bollards the design of which I understand to have originated in East London of all places. A harbour engineer, Eric Merrifield, invented them in 1963 to rebuild a part of East London harbour which had been trashed by a storm (in case you've ever wondered, they weigh 80 tons each).

I had no idea what a UNESCO Geopark was, so looked it up; quite interesting for those who have budding geological urges to fulfill.  There are apparently 161 UNESCO Geoparks globally.  What they have in common is that each one has a unique geological feature.  The HK Geopark unique feature is that it has hexagonally shaped volcanic rocks that violently pushed up out of the ground.  They look like they came out of some sort of giant grater.  Here is the website for the HK Geopark, and a few pics taken from there and a website called Culture Trip - thanks to them for these.

Massive cliffs made out of the hexagonal columns.

Love how some super-extreme force shaped and bent them.

One of the cliff faces into the Reservoir really shows the column's through their decay.

Just to confirm that you can take Covid precautions whilst staying committed to disgusting-I-watch-too-much-of-the-TDF-neon lycra for cycling.

...and yup, Big Blue outside the Sai Kung post office, just in case you'd forgotten; it's an ironic statement ... to wear neon lycra to and then ride a dik-wiel with mudguards ;-)

From birthday to birthday

 It's been a shocker of a year, blog-wise, sorry.  Not sure what it was. Too much time staring at a screen?  Running out of creative inclination... is that one of the things that happens to a person as you get older?  Maybe one of the things we surrender?  Maybe it was a turned in on oneself pandemic response.  The physical isolation becoming a mental thing?  Its a monochrome time.

It was a highlight of the day, speaking to you.  Love what you are doing with your life and talents - super-engaged and putting out: ideas, work, leadership, physical assets, yourself ... amazing.

Claire and Anita came to say happy birthday; Claire, Aiden and Evan from the parking lot.

From back when the world was open - Ponti, OG,  in Hang Hau - modified phone pic