On a Quest of Discovery.

Peter and I get our second injections tomorrow so I did not want to exhaust myself with a long hike today. Added to that, Peter wanted to swim in the morning, so I couldn't go for a walk till the afternoon when it would already be getting hot. For these reasons, I just went for a short walk close to home, but I wanted to do one I haven't written up before, so I chose to walk to Nim Shue Wan Village and the Trappist Monastery. On route I saw some lovely flowers.

Irises.

Flowers.

There are several lovely, sandy beaches in this area, though sometimes they are covered with quite a bit of rubbish. From time to time there are community efforts to clean up the beaches in this area.

Nim Shue Wan Beach with Discovery Bay in the background.

View of Discovery Bay.

Discovery Bay written on the Beach.

Beach with tree.

Nim Shue Wan Village was originally a small Hakka village. It dates back to the early nineteenth century so was there long before Discovery Bay was ever built. Now it is located right next to Discovery Bay on Nim Shue Wan Beach. At the end of the nineteenth century, the village was almost totally destroyed in a huge typhoon. Following the typhoon, there was an outbreak of disease and the surviving villagers moved away, leaving the village deserted for around twenty to thirty years. Then around the 1940's some Hakka people moved back into the village. They made their living from growing vegetables or breeding pigs. Nowadays Nim Shue Wan Village is still inhabited by some fishermen, but it's also home to lots of Filipino helpers who work in Discovery Bay, but find it cheaper to rent accommodation here.

Path through the village.

Village Houses on a Stream.

Village House.

Village House.

Village street.

Village House.

Village Houses.

Village House.

Village House and Flags.

Pathway through the village.

Village Houses.

One of the really good things about this village is that it has lots of little farms which grow either flowers or fruit and vegetables organically. It is possible to visit these farms and buy a variety of produce from them.

Market Gardens with Discovery Bay in the background.

Bananas.

Pomegranates.

Plant Nursery.

Colourful Garden.

Market Garden.

Crops.

Market Garden.

Flowers for sale.

Pathway through the village gardens.

Across the gardens to the sea.

View across the gardens towards the sea.

Small organic farm with banana tree and pond.

Colourful Garden.

Moth.

Like most Chinese villages on the sea, Nim Shue Wan has a Tin Hau Temple dating from 1920. The statue of Tin Hau, goddess of the sea, located here was taken to nearby Peng Chau Island and hidden during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The pathway to the temple is lined with colourful flags. There were also a couple of small village shrines. One of these was probably a shrine to the earth god as he protects villages.

Which religious building will you choose?

Flags mark the path to the temple.

Tin Hau Temple.

Tin Hau in her temple.

Shrine

After looking around the village, I continued further on to the nearby Trappist Monastery. This is the beginning part of a hike from Discovery Bay to Mui Wo, but I was not doing the full hike, just the beginning part. I have done the full hike on earlier occasions, but I did not take any photos of it.

Pathway.

Flower lined path.

In addition to being able to walk to the Trappist monastery, it is also possible to get there by kai-to, a small passenger ferry, which travels between Peng Chau and Discovery Bay. From the ferry pier you must walk up a slope lined with the fourteen stations of the cross.

Kai to Pier.

Kai to Pier.

Station of the Cross.

Station of the Cross.

Station of the Cross.

The Trappist Monastery was founded by a group of monks who were driven out of Mainland China in 1947. The monastery was at one time known for its dairy farm. It is still possible to find Trappist Dairy Milk in Hong Kong nowadays, though the dairy has now moved to Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long. When the dairy here was closed down, many of the cattle were released. Their descendants are now feral cattle and can be found all over Lantau Island.

Monastery Gateway. Enter in Peace.

Leave in Health.

Garden at the monastery.

Virgin Mary.

Bridge to Monastery.

Monastery Building.

Building and Flowers next to Monastery.

Monastery Pond.

At the Monastery.

Monastery.

Monastery.

The monastery is no longer called the Trappist Monastery. Nowadays it is known as Our Lady of Joy Abbey.

On my walk back to Discovery Bay I enjoyed the scenic coastal views towards Peng Chau Island. I was pleased when it started to rain as I had totally forgotten to take any water with me and the weather was incredibly humid. The rain fortunately cooled everything down.

Nim Shue Wan Beach.

Looking towards Peng Chau.

Peng Chau.

Beach and Boat.

View over Discovery Bay.

Beach and View.

Beach.

View over Discovery Bay.

Beach.

Beautiful View.

Beautiful View.

View.

View.

View.

Coastline.

Lone Boat.

Colourful plants.

Down to the Beach.

Today's Wildlife was a Burmese python. Actually it wasn't. I didn't see this, but my friend did in another part of Discovery Bay a few days before my walk.