Tap Mun (Grass Island), May 1st 2009

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Friday was a public holiday, I had considered the Hong Kong Wetland Park but after speaking to our friends Mark and Sam we decided to complete the Grass Island trip that we had to cancel due to the terrible weather the previous weekend. It was an early start and meant we got out of the house before Catherine left for Manila and thus avoiding any complete meltdowns.

We left the house as planned at 7am on the dot thanks to some guidance from Catherine. We got to the car park at the entrance to the Country Park at the same time as the Webbs and in enough time to buy a couple of kites from the shop and to get to the bus stop.

The good thing about doing things early in Hong Kong is that you always manage to avoid crowds. This is a great thing, believe me, especially when travelling with little ones.

The bus trip to Wong Shek Pier was pretty good, as usual the bus driver seemed a bit too keen to get there as soon as possible which makes for an interesting trip at the best of times. The children all seemed to enjoy it though and it made a change from catching a Taxi.


We got to Wong Shek very early for the ferry over to Tap Mun. There was a guy waiting with a Surfboard and he asked us where we were headed. He seemed pretty happy that we were heading to Tap Mun and offered the sharing of a speedboat. I pretty quickly agreed to this after him saying it was only going to cost about HKD 100 for the whole boat. The bloke proceeded to speak Cantonese (fluently, or at minimum confidently) and said that the boat would be there shortly.

This poor guy was amped up ready to get on his surfboard and go and the boat person was messing him around. He ended up negotiating with a guy on the pier so it ended up being HKD 150. Considering this move ended up turning a slow 30 minute trip on what actually ended up looking like it could be described as a smelly old boat with seats it was probably the best money I have spent in ages. It took somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes to get there and the good thing about speed boat is the kids LOVE it and they just do not feel seasick as it is more of a bump than a rock, bloody marvelous!



The Island feels like it could well be a look at what life used to be like around Hong Kong's shore lines a long time ago. Getting off the boat at the Pier we only just got to the dry end of the pier and there were 3 big sheets of shrimps drying on the concrete basketball court. Dried fish is pretty much the extent of what is on offer for sale on the island other than a few small sea dweller nick knacks which my girls ended up with, of course.

The walk around the bottom part of the island took us about an hour and a half including a good stop for snack and a spot of kite flying at the top of the hill near the Concrete football pitch/helicopter pad. The kids loved the kite flying and conditions were great to start with at the beginning. The wind picked up quite suddenly and after getting Rhiannon's kite to a pretty good altitude the string snapped, we chased it down with much enthusiasm.



We continued the walk around the island past the 'balanced rock'. I thought this may be more interesting in real life than in picture I have seen but I was wrong. It's really not that much to look at, although sitting above it was a nice spot for a pic of My Girls and I.



We carried on to the village past an awful lot of grave sites. It must be said, not a bad place to be buried in the scheme of things!

We got back to the fisherman's village at 10:40 and decided an early lunch at the New Hong Kee seafood restaurant might be the plan. Unfortunately they were booked to the rafters from 11am until 2pm with 600 tourists coming through, yes by 10:30 the place was insanely busy.

We ended up next door with more Fried Rice with Sea Urchin, Crab and Clams then we knew what to do with. Washed down with a couple of cold bottles of Tsing Tao it really was a good end to the visit.

The only thing that I found really disappointing was that all the paths on the island are concrete and it just takes something away from what it could be. That and the mindless visitors that just don't seem to appreciate what it is that makes the island special, but then that is par for the course around here.

If anyone is considering it here is some info:
Bus to Wong Shek Pier: KMB 94 from Sai Kung or 96R on Sunday and Holidays from Diamond Hill
Boat: Hourly on weekends. INFO HERE
Speed Boat: Phone 9257 2706 - Not the best English but it worked. Agree the Price before getting on.
New Hong Kee Restaurant 2328 2428