City waterfalls

It's been a bit of a strange year with the whole coronavirus.  With nowhere to go, I had built up a lot of annual leave at work and I had to clear this before the end of the year.  This seemed to be a issue being faced by many Hong Kongers.  Given the situation being faced by many, it seemed to be a very good problem to have.  I decided to take off a few Mondays for the rest of November to clear some of that leave.

I didn't have anywhere in particular to go, so I decided to go and explore some parts of Hong Kong I had never been to.  I jumped on the bus and went out to the far Western side of the island.

Nothing is really all that far in Hong Kong.  The bus ride was less than half an hour, yet in that short ride it felt like I had travelled to a different country.  It was a calmer, more relaxed part of Hong Kong, it felt almost suburban.  The cafes were the old style Hong Kong shops with lots of tiling everywhere and everything was just a bit more retro in terms of the architecture.

I had come out this way for a specific reason though.  I wanted to go and look at Waterfall Bay.  I had seen other people post some photos of it and it seemed worthy of a quick visit.

It was a very short walk from the main residential areas around Wah Fu.  The waterfall itself was more impressive than I expected.  It was taller and larger than I thought it would be, but beyond that it was also its location.  This waterfall looked out of place next to the tall high rises and buildings.  It looked like it belonged in the middle of a tropical forest in some remote location (which I guess it would have been long ago).

Instead, it sits like a preserved reminder of what was once here.  A protected little memory amongst the concrete and the buildings.  It is so starkly out of the place, yet this seems to make it even more unique and special.

I looked closely at the water as I contemplated dipping my feet in or swimming.  Sadly the water did not look anywhere clean or clear enough.  The water had pooled up in small unmoving areas and there was a slight layer of detritus floating on top.  I took a few steps back and decided that it was best to just admire from a distance.  After a while, a group of school kids appeared.  They were loud as they started throwing rocks into the water and trying to skim stones.  The peacefulness of the place was gone, but it was another reminder of just how close this place was to the busy streets of Hong Kong.