Hong Kong 7s weekend

   Last weekend was exhausting but huge fun. NT, HT and myself ( and half of our Singapore it would seem) flew to Hong Kong to experience the famous Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament. I'm not as big a fan of rugby as the rest of my family but even I knew that this 3 day festival is reputed to be the best and wildest of all so I was keen to come too and hoped to fit in a little light shopping and maybe a hike on one of the surrounding hills.  

 

HT had not visited HK before so we spend the afternoon of our arrival doing a little sightseeing along the harbour

 and came across The Queen Elizabeth cruise ship which HT had seen only a short while previously in Sydney

On the first day the rugby doesn't start until the afternoon so we had time to visit the Jade Market and haggle (probably not very well) for a few treasures. 

NT went back to join HT and get to the stadium early whilst my friend AL and I took the bus to Stanley. This delightful seaside town reminds me of Cornwall with it's pretty beach, market stalls and trendy cafe's 

We headed back to the city and to the stadium to join the boys, the rugby was now in full swing and you could hear the roar of the crowd from several streets away.

The stadium is really impressive and beautifully tucked in between tall buildings and hills

 I found NT and HT in the South Stand. This is the stand that has a reputation for being the 'party stand', only over 18's are allowed and an interest in fancy dress, beer drinking and singing is encouraged, we felt rather under dressed.

There were people dressed as Super heroes, fairies, Minions, nuns, Mario, pirates, bishops and a whole lot of other characters and animals

Over the 3 days of rugby NT and HT saw every single game I think. I wasn't quite so dedicated and took the opportunity to do a bit more sightseeing and to meet up with friends from the UK who recently moved to HK.

Last year on my first visit to HK I was thrilled to see hills surrounding it and heard that there is good hiking trails so this time I packed a little rucksack and my walking shoes and spent a morning hiking a route.

I took the tram up to the top of The Peak, the old tram felt a delightfully old fashioned way to ascend and the views on the way up and then at the top were amazing.

There was a huge crowd of people and the sound of drumming and then lion dancers coming towards me. A poster explained that there was a charity walk taking place that morning.

I started off down my path which was initially very quiet and then hundreds of the charity walkers appeared

Soon they were gone and I had the path pretty much to myself and again the fabulous views, first looking back on The Peak.. 

....then more views of HK harbour and it's outlying islands

 The path became more rural and it really felt like 'proper countryside'

The leaflet that I had showed an extra detour to ascend Mt. High West (494m). The 100 metre rise to the summit was described as 'quite challenging' but promised views of Lantau Island and Kowloon Peak. It certainly was a challenge, and involved scrambling up a narrow path using hands and feet in places

 I was a little disconcerted when I came across a 'Path Closed' sign but didn't want to turn back, I was having too much fun. Just then 3 men came down the path, I tried talking to them about the route but they didn't speak English nor I Cantonese so I decided that if they were happy to ignore the sign so was I. 

It was a very steep climb up but well worth the effort and as promised the views were extensive

I took the easier path down off the other side and after a while returned to my original route and walked on down to the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir and then took a bus back to the city

Later that afternoon I re joined my family at the rugby in time to see the last few games and the final between Fiji and New Zealand. The party atmosphere was reaching fever pitch, the players came out to fanfares and jets of smoke and fire

 Fiji won convincingly and as they took their trophy and mounted the stage a firework display exploded from the stands

It had been quite a weekend, rugby, shopping, sight seeing, catching up with friends and hikeing. I am getting to love visiting Hong Kong and look forward to a return trip asap-my walking leaflet has details of a route called The Dragons Back-with a name like that it has to be done!