His and Hers Hiking

His

The Wife found a good price on airfare and took a short vacation to Sydney, Australia, where her brother lives with his wife & 8-month-old daughter.  I was left at home by myself for a few days, since I couldn’t escape work quite so easily.  She worried that I might get bored being by myself, but I assured her that I would take advantage of the opportunity to do all the activities she hates to join me on– namely hiking.

The Wife has strict rules regarding the climbing of hills.  If there is an elevator or a cab, walking up stairs or hills is the last thing on her mind.  When we ride the Mid-Levels escalator, she plants herself on the right side to let the machine do its job, refusing to take a single step forward.  You can imagine what she thinks about doing this sort of thing … recreationally.

So last weekend, I took a trip to the New Territories to visit Sheung Luk Stream and the beaches at Sai Wan & Ham Tin Wan in Sai Kung.  Sheung Luk is famous for its cliff-lined pond, where the brave and stupid can jump 25 feet into the cool water.  After an hour and forty minute ride on the subway, minibus, and taxi, it was only a short hop over the hill to Sai Wan.  The weather was hot, but that only built up my anticipation.

A small path just before a concrete bridge led upstream along the rocky bank.  The white sand beach and bright green forest seemed far, far removed from Central Hong Kong, but I was far from alone.

It was a great spot.  On top of being able to cliff-jump yourself, you have the added entertainment of “tough guys” doing dives and flips, along with “scaredy cats” clinging tightly to the top, trying to build up their courage.

After the ponds, I wandered back to the footbridge, bypassed the grazing cows– they almost seemed to be collecting tolls– and hiked over the last hill to Tai Long Wan.  This has been ranked the best beach in Hong Kong many times, for good reason.  The sand was powdery and perfectly white, the water was calm and clean, and the singular restaurant sold cheap, cold, Tsing Tao.  It even has hired boat service back to Sai Kung town, if I was willing to wait until the 7:30 run.  Instead, I wandered my way back to the road with the expectation that I could take a taxi home after it had dropped off a load of campers.

One problem.  There were two dozen people at the trail head and there hadn’t been a cab for 20 minutes.  Calling a dispatch service is usually an option, but we had long since left cellular phone coverage.

Decision time: Stay and wait or start walking back?  I figured that if I was going to have to walk, I was better off using the daylight I had left.  Plus– since I’d be following the road– I could always try to grab a cab along the way.  “Are you walking back?” someone asked from behind me?  A family of four was looking a little lost and hoped that they could follow me to ensure they found their way back.  Apparently, they also realized the dire straits of being at the back of the line.  We shuffled along for about 30 seconds before another group– college students this time raced past us.  Twenty feet in front of us, they slowed down to match our pace.  That’s one way to ensure that they get the first cab.

The college students ended up saving us all some sore feet (Sai Kung was more than seven miles away).  They were the first to get a cell phone signal.  Soon enough, we were flagging down a green cab and headed back home.

Hers

Two days later, The Wife returned home from the airport.  In addition to her adorable pictures of the niece, she had some exciting news.  “I went on an EXCURSION!  Can you believe it?”

Although one of my favorite pastimes in a new city is to let myself get a little lost and see what I stumble upon, The Wife would much rather have a precise understanding of her own location at all times.  So, her stroll into downtown Sydney to find Circular Quay without a map was kind of a big deal.  She headed out of Pyrmont and across the old pedestrian bridge.  Up the hill, she reached George Street and the Queen Victoria Building, just 8 blocks from her destination.

I like to imagine her thoughts at this juncture: “Well, I could walk some more… or I could sit on a bus!”  Like Sirens calling sailors to the rocks, the bus stop tempted The Wife astray from her walk.  It was a nice direct route, after all.

“I had a great plan!” she went on to say. “but it didn’t quite work.”  She wanted to take cheesy-Asian photos at all the landmarks she could find (but, you know, ironically).  Unfortunately, she only snapped two shots before the embarrassment of awkwardly aiming her phone backwards finally overtook her.  “Everyone was looking at me!” she admitted, shyly.  Still, she had a chance to see the Opera House again and rub shoulders with Sydney’s cross-harbor commuters.

Decision time: walk back?  Don’t be silly.  There’s public transportation available.

The Wife almost jumped for joy when she saw a ferry labeled Darling Harbor.  A few more snapshots & a walk back across the bridge and “Sydney Excursion” was crossed off of her to-do list.

From The Wife after reading this blog post: “Yup, I won. I clearly make the best decisions.”