Our alarm clock fired into action just after dawn and by 06:00 we were stepping it out along the Kowloon waterfront pedestrian path towards the Star Ferry terminal.
In the early morning sunlight we crossed the harbour towards Hong Kong Island and looked up to The Peak hoping the cloud cover would lift by the time we arrived at this famous lookout point. We caught a taxi from the ferry terminus to the commencement of the funicular tramway to Victoria Peak (Shan Teng in Cantonese).
Our very early start was so as to take advantage of the early morning light for photography and to avoid the vast crowds that visit this attraction each day. Our strategy worked well as there were very few people on the early tram and no queues at that early hour. Victoria Peak apparently has over three million visitors a year!
The vertiginous tram which runs from 07:00 to midnight every day, ascends to 396 m above sea level in just seven minutes. At the half-way mark up the steep incline, not surprisingly we met the corresponding funicular tram on its way down.
Funicular tramway to Victoria Peak
We arrived at the upper terminus of the tramway with the cloud lifting and the sun just breaking through. Incidentally, the terminus building is shaped like a wok and for many Hong Kong residents it is regarded as the ugliest building in HK!
'The wok', Victoria Peak
This lookout point is not the actual summit and should more correctly be called Victoria Gap as the true Victoria Peak at a height of 552 m lies quite a distance to the west.
We spent the next hour or so slowly wandering around the near level pedestrian road that circumnavigates the peak – the Pok Fu Lam Tree Walk. This cool (29°C at 07:00), shady pathway meanders amongst mature trees and lush vegetation with lookout points every few hundred metres giving us access to spectacular vistas of Hong Kong city and the surrounding waterways below.
Lugard Falls, Victoria Peak
Lamma Island from Victoria Peak
The architectural scene around the perimeter of the island is one of awesome proportion with skyscrapers jammed into every imaginable space. Buildings of thirty storeys seem petite when alongside the new giants of Hong Kong where buildings of 80 storeys or more are now encountered. A further point of amazement for us was the incredible number of container ships we could see at anchor in the harbour below; these vessels presumably awaiting their opportunity to enter the congested port to unload. The dynamic activity in the harbour was of high-density marine traffic moving in every conceivable direction. The craft included cruise ships, ferries, freighters, police craft, tourist boats and floating restaurants, some in the form of pirate ships.
Panorama from Victoria Peak
Hong Kong Central from Victoria Peak
Hong Kong Central & Kowloon from Victoria Peak
Around mid-morning, we had our breakfast at The Peak and then commenced our descent by foot, following the steep road that heads back down into the city, with the final half-kilometre being in amongst the busy streets and shopping malls of the CBD.
Corinne & Robyn, Victoria Peak
2nd tallest building in Hong Kong (International Finance Centre - 88 storeys)
Ferris wheel, Hong Kong
We then spent a couple of hours in the HK Maritime Museum situated at pier eight on the waterfront. The exhibits were interesting and very well presented and focussed particularly on the early marine history of the orient in the period of the Portuguese, English and Dutch trading with China. At this time in history the Pearl River delta region (Hong Kong to Canton/Guangzhou) was of critical significance to European markets for trade in silk, spices and opium.
Boat replica in HK Maritime Museum, Hong Kong
As we were a little weary after sixteen kilometres of walking in hot, steamy conditions we decided to head for home via the local shopping centre where we bought food for tonight. We also found a Nikon camera shop and bought a new camera battery to replace the one we have that doesn’t seem to be reliably achieving full charge.
Back at Hung Hom we showered, rested, luncheoned and prepared ourselves for some G&Ts and a night viewing some of the action from 'Day One' at Wimbledon!