"Smooth" Sailing

It's been a year since our last junk trip so a few weeks ago we chose a day with fine weather and hired a junk to enjoy a day out in the sunshine. Well, that's what we thought would happen anyway. How were we to know that a beautiful sunny day would later turn into one with fierce winds and heavy rain?!!

The day started off beautifully, clear skies, light breeze and plenty of sunshine. We boarded the junk at Central Pier then headed out to Sai Kung with my cousin's family. We stopped at High Island, a tiny island with one lone seafood restaurant for lunch. Initially we'd intended to go to Billionaire's beach (we were told that the sand there is super fine) which was just around the corner from where we were having lunch. But as we sailed past it on our way to lunch, there were already 18 junks anchored close to Billionaire's beach. And it was only 11am on a Monday! Don't people work??? I guess you could say the same about us then, har har. So we stopped at a smaller beach nearby instead.

Our "wheels" for the day

Enjoying the sea breeze on the upper deck

There's no such thing as personal space in Hong Kong!

A partially hidden Hong Kong skyline

An old coastal village

Rough seas as we sail into the open sea toward Sai Kung

The nausea starting to creep in

Thank goodness our pit stop wasn't too far away - Yau Ley restaurant on High Island

Digging into the fresh seafood

An ice treat to cool down

Is this a sign of things to come? ;)

Our sexy little girl with Wah Yee

Our transport to the beach

The trip back to Central was pretty rough. In less than an hour the weather went from sunny to overcast to stormy. Unbeknownst to us, the HK Observatory had issued the Typhoon 1 warning signal. The heavy rain made it extremely difficult for the skipper to read the waves and the strong wind made the sea horribly choppy. Poor Ryan who has never gotten seasick on all our previous boat trips was in tears telling us that his tummy was "pain pain", and Tania didn't fare much better either.

Chilling after our swim (and a nap for Mia)

The calm before the storm (right before we sailed into the tropical storm)

Sick as a dog, plastic bag all ready!

Hard to tell but it was raining cats and dogs by the time we got back to Central

It was one heck of a choppy ride, thanks to Typhoon Goni which swept by Hong Kong but thankfully we all made it back safely!