Water Under the Bridge ......

Exploring Aberdeen Country Park.

14.03.2021 - 14.03.2021

Today I decided to get my weekly exercise by walking to Aberdeen Country Park. I began by taking the MTR to Wan Chai Station, exiting through exit D and heading towards the Hopewell Centre. I then took the lift to the 17th floor so that I could exit onto Kennedy Road, head left and start climbing up Wan Chai Gap Road. There was some weird art in the Hopewell Centre, not sure what it was about. The Hopewell Centre itself is interesting. It was once the tallest building in Hong Kong – and the second-tallest in Asia. It is a cylindrical building with a revolving restaurant on top and an observation lift on its outside wall. Feng Shui experts claim that as its shape makes it look like a giant cigarette, it is a fire risk, so a swimming pool was placed on its roof to cancel out the flames. The Hopewell Building has 2 entrances: one on its ground floor on Queen's Road East and one on its 17th floor on Kennedy Road. This is loved by hikers as it cuts off the need to climb some of the dreaded slope of Wan Chai Gap Road which is where I was heading.

Sleeping Duck??

The walk from Wan Chai Gap Road to Aberdeen Country Park - takes you from the north to the south of Hong Kong Island. Wan Chai Gap Road is really steep, you can hear your calf muscles screaming as you climb it. I took it slowly and tried to distract myself by taking the occasional photo, but I was so relieved when I finally reached Bowen Road. That's not the top of the climb, but it's a place to take a rest and, though the Wan Chai Green Trail which is next is also steep, it isn't quite as bad as the first bit. Bowen Road has a pretty park, a fitness trail and a stairway leading to Lovers' Rock. I haven't been to Lovers' Rock yet. I imagined it would be a rock shaped a bit like an embracing couple or something, but it is actually a rock shaped like an enormous penis. Apparently people go there to pray if they are having fertility problems. I'll save it for another walk.

Tree Roots.

Bowen Road.

I sat in the park at Bowen Road for a little while to drink some water and get my breath back. The park here is quite pretty with a pagoda, a bridge, a stream and lots of flowers.

Park on Bowen Road.

Flowers in Bowen Road Park.

The next stretch of the walk isn't as steep as the first but it's longer. I tried to distract myself with the occasional view, a lovely waterfall and a cute little street sign for Dutch Lane complete with windmill. Apparently staff at a Dutch shipping company long ago had accommodation provided near here and used this path to walk down to work, hence its name.

Bridge.

View over Hong Kong.

Waterfall.

Scenery on the Climb.

Dutch Lane.

Not long after Dutch Lane, I reached Stubbs Road. Many roads intersect in this area. I headed to a little park just across the road. I was pleased to see it had a Thai themed garden which had previously been entered for the Hong Kong Flower Show replanted here. It also had many plants, a pagoda and some interesting rock formations.

Thai Garden.

Beautiful Flowers.

Rock Garden and Pagoda.

Rock Garden.

I was heading for Aberdeen Country Park but before going there, I decided I would pay a visit to the Police Museum. I hadn't realized that this involved climbing more steps or I may not have bothered, but actually the museum was quite interesting. The Police Museum is located in the former Wan Chai Gap Police Station at 27 Coombe Road and it is dedicated to the history of policing in Hong Kong. There were lots of old photos on display here. Having been visiting things related to World War II recently, I was very interested to see pictures of the skeletal inmates of the Japanese prisoner of War Camps in Stanley being released at the end of the war and the raising of the Union Jack ceremony when Hong Kong again became a British colony. The Japanese occupied Hong Kong for three years and eight months. There were also displays of police uniforms from different time periods. Then there was an exhibition on heroine making and heroine smuggling, including different hallmarked bags heroine was carried in and toys with secret compartments where it was hidden. Also interesting was a display about Hong Kong's triad organizations. I know very little about these and had not realized how much ritual and ceremony was associated with them. Linked to the triads, there was a display of many rather evil looking weapons that had been confiscated from triad members. Finally there was a display of counterfeited money which had been confiscated over the years.

The Police Museum Building.

Gun In front of the museum.

Police Box at entrance to Museum.

Old police telephone.

Police Booth and Phone.

Traffic pagoda.

Traffic Pagoda in Old Photo.

Traffic Policewoman inside Traffic Pagoda.

Police Vehicles.

Old Police Uniforms.

Triad Robes.

Triad Ceremony.

Triad weapons.

Heroine Smuggling Bags.

Survivors of Japanese Prisoner of War Camp, Stanley.

Raising the Union Jack Ceremony at the end of World War II.

Vietnamese Boat People Many of Whom Made Their way to Hong Kong as Refugees.

A lot of policemen were members of the Sikh community.

Views from outside The Police Museum. There are lots of posh houses in this area.

Views from outside the Police Museum. Posh Houses.

After looking around the museum, I headed back past Wan Chai Gap Park and walked along Mount Cameron Road until, just before the houses, I saw a sign for Aberdeen Country Park. There must be a lot of street sweepers in these parts because there were certainly a lot of brooms hanging around.

Brooms and Hut.

A sweep of brooms, if that's not their collective noun it should be.

Entrance to Aberdeen Country Park.

Cute little sign on one of the trees.

I could have taken the direct and fast route to Aberdeen Upper Reservoir, but I was attracted to a sign for Lady Clementi's Ride and I decided to follow that one even though it was much longer. This trail is named after Marie Penelope Rose Eyres. She was married to Sir Cecil Clementi, who was at one time the governor of Hong Kong, so she was officially known as Lady Clementi. Both Lady Clementi and her husband loved horse riding and both have trails here named after them. I have walked parts of Sir Cecil's Ride in the last few weeks, now it was his wife's turn, but I wasn't doing it because I am obsessed with governors or anything, honest. It was because I had heard this trail has two beautiful old masonry bridges and I wanted to see them. What I didn't know was that it also had lots of remains from World War II as well. I'm beginning to wonder where in Hong Kong hasn't? Lady Clementi's Ride is beautiful. It wends its way through woods and is crossed by lots of little streams. If I had followed the entire trail I would have ended up at Black's Link, but I didn't want to do that so I only followed part of the trail.

Lady Clementi's Ride.

War Remains, Pill Box.

Colourful Foliage.

Waterfall.

First Masonry Bridge.

Flower Filled Path.

Pools.

Sylvan Path.

Fallen Trees.

Wartime Pill Box.

Waterfall.

Second Masonry Bridge.

War Remains.

Sylvan Paths.

Colourful Foliage.

War Remains.

Pavilion near the Upper Reservoir.

After I had seen the two beautiful old masonry bridges, I left Lady Clementi's Ride and started following a path going towards Aberdeen Upper Reservoir.
Aberdeen Country Park has two reservoirs: an upper one and a lower one. These were built to supplement Pok Fu Lam Reservoir in supplying fresh water to the west of Hong Kong Island. The Lower Aberdeen Reservoir dates from 1890 and was originally owned by the Tai Shing Paper Factory. Later it was bought by the government and expanded. The Upper Reservoir was built by the government and opened for use in 1931.

Bridge across Aberdeen Upper Reservoir Dam.

Looking across Aberdeen Upper Reservoir.

Dam Aberdeen Upper Reservoir.

Aberdeen Upper Reservoir.

Dam Aberdeen Upper Reservoir.

Aberdeen Upper Reservoir.

Aberdeen Upper Reservoir Dam Wall.

Once I had crossed Aberdeen Upper Reservoir, I spotted some more war remains, so I took a look at those. I then walked down lots of stairs to get a view of the dam wall before heading to the lower reservoir.

War Remains.

I spotted some fruit on a tree.

Beautiful Pathway.

Aberdeen Lower Reservoir.

After viewing both reservoirs, I decided to leave the Aberdeen Country Park. There were lots of beautiful flowers on the way to to the exit.

Beautiful Flowers.

I jumped on a bus that was going to Central, but got off at Hong Kong University Station and admired the artwork on the walls there before heading home. Hong Kong University Station has a thirty metre long street scene by artist, Stella So, which shows the streets, shops, buildings and people of Western District getting on with their everyday lives.

Hong Kong University Station.