June 13 (Lunar calendar: April 26), 2023 Tuesday | Dawnxisoul393art
The Charming Sharp Island, Hong Kong:
Today we went to "Sharp Island" in Sai Kung, New Territories to sketch and paint. The weather was not very good in those days, it rained a lot, and in covid-19 situation, if it was cloudy or raining, people were more depressed. On rainy days, we should have stayed home to escape the bad weather, but we still decided to go on a trip that day, not only because the trip had been planned for months, but also because we were influenced by the famous Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who said, "If everything goes well on a trip, it's not a trip." Although we had prepared umbrellas and raincoats, we still got wet, but we had a good time. Sharp Island is one of the UNESCO World Geopark sites in Hong Kong. This long and thin island is not only a geological wonder formed 140 million years ago, but also a lush green nature. In one day, we not only enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the coast and the wonders of the rocks, but also easily took a short hike.
Sharp Country Park is a 100-hectare country park in Sai Kung, established in 1979, and is the smallest outlying island country park in Hong Kong. The park covers eight small islands, including Sharp Island. There is no land transportation to Sharp Island, only a few street ferries from Sai Kung pier. Although the transportation is not convenient, many swimmers and tourists still go swimming and visit the park during holidays, many people also like fishing on the coast there. Visitors can also take the street ferry at Sai Kung pier to the other seven islands besides Sharp Island for a coastal tour. We spent the day in the rain, with a big umbrella, following the Hong Kong Tourism Department's travel guide to some of Sharp Island's attractions and painting some rainy island scenes. Our first stop was "Half Moon Bay", which is formally known as "Hap Mun Bay". It is called Half Moon Bay because it is said to be shaped like a half-moon. Half Moon Bay is included in the Sharp Country Park and is famous for its clear water and beautiful scenery, and is a popular place for swimming in the hot season.
Half Moon Bay is comparable to many foreign island beaches, and it is one of the best public beaches in Hong Kong in terms of water quality. The Sai Kung Pier is near the Sai Kung Country Park, where many Hong Kong people come to hike, and some come specifically to see the sea by the pier. There are also many people who come to take a sightseeing boat or rent a cruise boat to go out to the sea. Cruise ships abound at the Sai Kung Pier, whether they are luxury yachts or small sampan-like boats. There are two trestle bridges at the Sai Kung pier, so even if you don't take a boat, visitors can just go up and walk all the way to the top of the trestle bridge to enjoy the sea view. When we arrived at the Saigon pier, although it was drizzling, there were many people near the pier and even people walking their dogs in the rain.
There are many small islands in the sea. The farthest and largest island is a sharp island. On the roadside near the trestle on the right side of the pier, we saw many ticketing signs of small ferries to the sharp island. These small ferries were fishermen's own boats, so there was no formal ticket office. Most of them were a paper sign that said, "Sharp Island ticket point" or "Half Moon Bay ticket point". There were many fishing boats that could go to sharp island. The tickets of different ships had different colors. It took about 20 minutes from Sai Kung pier to the small pier on Sharp Island. We thought the time by boat passed quickly, because it was really good to see the scenery in the rain on the sea. Sai Kung Sea was dark blue in the rain. We passed several small islands along the way and saw the white lighthouses on the islands. It was very comfortable for us to be blown by the sea wind on board.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
We took out our painting tools and painted the rainy seascape outside the boat, and soon we arrived at the small pier at Sharp Island. Half Moon Bay is at the easternmost end of Qiaozui Chau, facing the outer sea, so the water quality is better. Just near the dock, the boat was stranded on the sea, from a distance, we saw the beach of Half Moon Bay. There were still some people in the rain, not too many. After going to the island, the sea water on the edge of the island was clear, and groups of small fish swiming around. It is said that the water quality here has reached the first level of Hong Kong's water quality standard, it is one of the ten public beaches with the best water quality in Hong Kong, indeed, it deserves its reputation. Half Moon Bay was really shaped like a half moon, there were some small hills on both ends of the beach. There were still some umbrellas of various colors on the beach (it should be used to cover the rain today), and there were some people swimming in the rain in the light blue water. When we got closer, although it was raining, but also quite lively, there were swimming, playing in the sand, children were also quite a lot, almost all were family tours, or couples tours.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
Half Moon Bay Public Beach belongs to the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department and has relatively complete facilities. However, there is no fresh water, and the shower water is desalinated sea water. From the satellite image, the whole island of Sharp Island was green except that the Half Moon Bay beach was white. In an open space above the beach, there was a camp and a barbecue. When the weather is good, it should be possible to barbecue and have a picnic. There were many small fish in the puddle on the Half Moon Bay beach. Standing where there was water, some small fish came and bit from time to time, which made little Dawnxi scream. The dense trees, climbing plants and shrubs along the way made us feel like we were in a "green tunnel". Sometimes when the rain stopped or the rain was smaller, different kinds of butterflies flying along the road from time to time. Walking along the hiking trail, we sketched and painted under our big umbrella. The road was not easy to walk. We always walked with little Dawnxi in our arms.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
After walking for about two hours (normal walking may only take about an hour), we arrived at Sharp Beach. This half-rock, half-sand beach was said to be a great place for diving, canoeing, swimming, and sunbathing. We could sometimes get up close and take a closer look at the interesting coastal terrain. Dozens of boulders resembling Hong Kong's local snack, pineapple buns, were scattered along the shoreline. "The pineapple bun" is actually a kind of rock called quartz feldspar, which was formed when the magma in the earth's crust gushed into the cracks around the volcano and cools down. After thousands of years of seawater erosion and weathering, as well as thermal expansion and contraction, the surface of the feldspar cracked into pieces, much like the puff pastry of a pineapple bun, so it is called pineapple buns at sea. Other typical igneous rocks on Sharp Island include volcanic conglomerates containing prismatic volcanic debris and rhyolite with lava flow patterns on the surface.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
After descending the slope, we walked down to the rocky beach and observed the coastal ecology at a close distance. At the end of this geological trail, there was a small lighthouse to guide the boats. We continued to walk towards Sharp beach to the pier. Before we took the street ferry back, the rain subsided and we could enjoy the beautiful sea view again. The one-day sketching and painting tour of "Sharp Island" in Sai Kung was over. Although the one-day tour was short, it allowed us to enjoy the beach in the rain and experience the lively and quiet island. We were amazed by the Buddha on Lantau Island, the fishing island atmosphere of Pui O, the quaint atmosphere of Lamma Island, the prosperity and leisure of Cheung Chau, but the most enchanting is Sai Kung, which is known as the "Back Garden of Hong Kong". The sea next to Sai Kung is also indescribably beautiful!
Original by dawnxisoul393,
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