BA Boomerang, Bratwurst and Buddha - Berlin to Hong Kong - Day 10 (Cheung Chau Island)

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BA Boomerang, Bratwurst and Buddha - Berlin to Hong Kong


CAST LIST

Me (Shaun): 50 something, loving all the travel
Alison: 50 something (just!), also loving all the travel
Link to trip report index: here

Friday 23rd September 2016

Woke up at about 8.30 and had breakfast as usual in the lounge. We headed out to TST and topped up our Octopus cards with some of my winnings from yesterday then made our way to Central, along with lots of people on their daily commute and found our way to the piers. We’d decided that a rest day was in order so had decided to head to one of the outlying islands for some time on a beach.

As we arrived at Pier 5 the fast ferry to Cheung Chau island was just leaving - we could have run for it but we’d only be able to get a standard non-air conditioned seat so we thought we’d just wait it out for the next service instead. The next ferry was a slow service taking about an hour whereas the fast service takes about 35 minutes.
So, nothing else for it – a Starbucks it is while we waited for the ferry.



Interesting to note that standard class is first come, first served but deluxe air conditioned seats upstairs have to be pre-paid with no upgrades available on board. We decided to spring for the deluxe area at a grand total of HK$19.80 (about £2!)

Eventually we boarded the ferry and as the weather was good we enjoyed some lovely views back towards Hong Kong Island and harbour.

It wasn’t as nice as yesterday’s ferry, but for £2 we couldn’t complain!


We passed a number of smaller uninhabited islands before docking at Cheung Chau Island.







The initial view is pleasant enough even though you are faced with McDonald’s and a 7-11 store as you disembark.







We already knew that the beaches were on the other side of the island so we just wandered through the very small village whose roads are so small that no normal sized vehicles can pass through, so there are specially designed mini-fire engines, ambulances and police cars that look like something out of Legoland!



On the way we saw the Venerable Banyan Tree, a tree that is thought to be the source of Cheung Chau’s good fortune. It is so revered by islanders that in recent years a restaurant opposite was knocked down instead of the tree to make way for a road extension.



With a few more steps we came across Tung Wan Beach and Kwun Yam Beach – fantastic!





We walked down the promenade just above the beach and took in the views before deciding to head back into the village to get some lunch before we settled on the beach. We chose from the gourmet selection of sandwiches, soft drinks and crisps from the 7-11. On the way back to the promenade we spotted a small shop selling Tornado potato skewers / spiral potato skewers. Basically, they are whole potatoes cut into a spiral and put on a skewer and fried before being covered in special salt, which is a local delicacy (well, delicacy is putting it a bit strongly, but it was quite tasty!)





We made our way to Kwun Yam Beach, hired a couple of beach chairs and a table, bought some beers and settled down for the afternoon.
What a fantastic spot! There was only one other couple on the beach and the bar was real surfer place with some interesting local bottled beers that of course had to be sampled!



The sea area was roped off with a shark net and in the middle was a floating pontoon. I swam out to the pontoon as it didn’t look too far away but ended up being further away than I thought. On arrival I noticed that the steps up were covered in seaweed and barnacles so I just had to “man up” to climb on board. Alison joined me a few minutes later and we relaxed on the pontoon for a while (with me doing my best impression of a beached sea lion) then we headed back for the shore, that’s enough exercise for one day. The sea seemed quite clean and was lovely and warm.

The only piece of excitement was that the quietness was occasionally punctuated by the frequent arrival of the air ambulance landing nearby. I think there are a number of retirement / recuperation homes nearby and occasionally the patients need urgent care from a fully functioning hospital that can’t be provided locally.

The time was getting close for us to leave for the day so we got changed in the changing rooms provided (converted lorry containers) and made our way back to port via the prehistoric Cheung Chau Rock Carvings although not much to see really. As we passed the other beach closer to town (which was busier) we saw that they had a permanent toilet/shower block provided.

When we got to the pier the indicator sign showed that there was no boat showing for over 90 minutes? That surely couldn’t be right as we’d checked the ferry schedule previously. It turned out that the sign was broken so we bought our deluxe class tickets for the return journey for the 6pm ferry.

We sat outside at the back of the boat for most of the journey back, enjoying the warmth of the evening sun and the fresh air. Wonderful!











We had some good views of Hong Kong as we neared the terminal





We showered and changed before enjoying drinks and canapés in the lounge. The lounge staff were amazing this holiday – always welcoming us, anticipating what we wanted and were truly helpful. We would highly recommend the Mira!

Feeling a bit peckish for dinner and not wanting anything too heavy or elaborate, we wandered along Knutsford Terrace but it was really noisy and crowded. As I was a bit grumpy this evening for some reason we settled on The Burger Room in the Miramar Shopping Centre. The styling and ambiance was similar to an American diner but done in a very stylised fashion.

The Burger Room

The food was ok – we had 1 classic burger, 1 chili burger, 1 twisted cheese fries, 1 beer and 1 diet coke. Total cost HK$280. For some unknown reason, the burgers came ready cut in half – I can only imagine to prove that they’d been cooked as per order otherwise I’ve no idea why.







After we arrived back at the hotel we thought we’d thought we better make use of the free drink tickets (that we’d been given at check in) for the bar in the lobby. We waited a while at the bar, ready to be served and there was only one bar tender on and a couple of waitresses. The poor chap behind the bar constantly shuffled his cocktail menu in an attempt to mix the various drinks being ordered whilst the waitresses shuffled around. Eventually we were served, handed over our tickets and received our drinks (I think we both had cocktails but didn’t make a note of which ones!)



We didn’t linger long before heading back upstairs for a coffee in the lounge – getting a picture of our favourite member of the lounge staff - Roman:



We completed the lounge survey as it was nearly the end of our trip (giving high marks as was deserved), and then headed to bed. A lovely lovely day on the beach today.

Datapoints:
Starbucks count today: 1
Starbucks total for trip so far: 6
Steps today: 17496
Steps total for trip so far: 155,772
Miles today: 8.7
Miles total for trip so far: 72.9