Monday 24 January 2011

Worth travelling several thousand miles

Travelling Aunty has arrived! We introduce her to the excitement of our island life. The island you can't escape from after midnight unless your spleen explodes, you take a machete to your own limbs, or the gas bottle outside the kitchen window blows up. Something like that. They're not getting out the emergency helicopter for a bruised knee. We already told Squirrel that.

We gave Travelling Aunty five minutes to slurp a cup of tea, then we took her on a two hour walk. No matter that it's three o'clock in the morning in her head. This is my cure for everything, whether it's jetlag, too much beer, mild depression, family crisis or contemplation of divorce. A nice long walk.

Anyway, we only have three weeks of her company, and we need to point out the local sights, which I do here for you too, dear reader, if you got this far.

The rock of hazard, doom, general mayhem, painted yellow and black as a precaution. Beware! Danger! You might trip over it. We can't think of any other reason why they painted it yellow and black, unless it is in homage to hornets.

The excitement of village life, en route to the beach. There are so many things we can do here, Aunty Dee, if we avoid being knocked over by a village vehicle, licked by a savage hound, or - unlike the art teacher - miss out on falling into one of the holes in the road while they install the new drainage system. Look, we can kick a stone around the street!

The fish farms, situated between the sluice and the concrete factory. I know the picture makes it all look lovely. That is because you cannot see the litter in the sluice, the concrete factory, or the fish farms.


General ineptitude, while I put my finger over the lens. You'll see a lot of this type of thing Aunty Dee. Ineptitude, bickering, furious staring, rage-filled breathing, Tiger who shouts IT'S ALL POINTLESS. All the characteristics of a happy and normal family enjoying each other's company.


The busy and industrious mainstreet of Sok Kwa Wan. The one with the seafood restaurants where you get to pick your fish, clams and crabs from the tanks, while Shark stares at you with undisguised loathing. People say there is a shop here somewhere. I haven't found it myself.


The ferry to Hong Kong Island. Lucky we made this one! There isn't another for three hours. A ferry ride is a perfect opportunity for us to explore our favourite topic of conversation. How many life jackets there are, how many passengers there can be, and how many of us are going to die, either from immersion in cold polluted harbour water, or by being chopped into pieces from propellers.

Welcome to Hong Kong, Travelling Aunty. Tomorrow we can pass through Yung Shue Wan where we can show you the butchers, the power station and the new sewage pipe.

6 comments:

Irene said...

I do read the cynic come through in almost every word.

sharon said...

This could get too exciting you know ;-)

I think the rock could be graffiti!

RuralDiversity said...

I really like the idea that the rock is graffiti.
The blacker you paint this place, the more I want to visit it! (don't worry, I'm not going to suddenly turn up as a kind of freaky, internet-stalker type visitor!)

Kelly said...

Living on Cheung Chau turned me into an island person. Fourteen years and counting now on Vancouver Island, and I still love the ferries. I love the feeling that you get on the ferry that for a fixed period of time, no one can touch you; your time is your own to have a conversation, play a game, read a book, have some food or a drink, and you can't be interrupted. Island time can be magical. You really are kind of separated from all those mainland people. That can sometimes be a good thing.

R. Molder said...

love the painted rock!!!

Grit said...

thank you for your comments people. i have a dreadful cold, which coincides nicely with an additional house member and increased catering requirements. i am pumping myself up on medication and i might make it through the day.