top of page

Adventures in Hong Kong

I've never been one for big cities due to my desire, as those of you who know me are well aware, to be surrounded by 'greenth', (a famous stefneeb-ism to describe that kind of greenery you can breathe in). Hong Kong then was bound to come as a shock to the system after my six week stint in beautiful Bali. The transition was made easier than expected however due to the kindness of my friend and old boss from Copenhagen, Leanne. I stayed with her in her lovely home in Sai Kung (a fantastic suburb of Hong Kong surrounded by national parkland) for the duration of my two week stay and, because of this, was able to develop something of a social life: I visited Leanne's fantastic new school - Hong Kong Acadamy - for a few days and was introduced to a lot of fun and interesting new people.

Sailing adventure with the outward bound team...

Hong Kong truly is a wonderful city with so much going on. The national parkland surrounding the hustle and bustle of the city is great for adventuring: I managed some hiking, camping, yachting and even windsurfing with my first ever real-life windsurf student after my course, my old friend Mike from back home. One of Leanne's colleagues invited me to join in a yacht race with the Outward Bound team which was fun: I'd packed a day bag and expected to be back home by early evening and had a shock when, during the safety briefing at 8am that day, the skipper told us he'd try to have us back by 7am the next day... Of course this was the first day I'd been left in charge of Leanne's sick and aging cat: she had gone away on holiday for the week and left me cat-sitting. Only in charge of the bloody cat for half an hour and already it would be going a whole night without food! Whoops! Terrified the cat wouldn't be alive when I returned home, I tried to concentrate on the adventure which took us out sailing through the city's harbour and out beyond to finish up at a little island where we had bbqs and a party afterwards. What fun!

Another of Leanne's new colleagues, Zina, also invited me on a mini camping adventure and it was great to be able to hop on a bus, hike through the lush national parkland, end up at a secluded beach and hire a tent for the evening. The beach we arrived was only accessible by foot or by boat, there were no showers or facilities except two small shack-like restaurants with Chinese toilets andof course beer for purchase! The water was crystal clear, the sun was shining and the beach was golden. What more could we ask for? So beautiful and, even though it wasn't the first time I'd been to Hong Kong nor visited its beaches, I was still amazed that the city has all of this beauty on its doorstep. Following our camping adventure, Zina and I headed back to the city for a different type of adventure: a night out at the races. Happy Valley is an incredible facility: a lush horse track with the city as a backdrop, it's jam-packed full of expats every Wednesday night and makes for a lot of fun!

Camping in Sai Wun, Sai Kung

My trip even included a couple of job interviews in the end at two different schools in the event that I may decide on Hong Kong for my next international school posting. The schools I visited are truly wonderful places with incredible campuses - definitely tempting and something to consider for next year.


bottom of page