Aloha from Hong Kong.

Today I decided to combine walking the Little Hawaii Trail, with a visit to Hong Kong Velodrome Park and meeting up with my friend Jason.

Little Hawaii is an easy walking trail that wanders past several waterfalls. I initially thought the trail was called Little Hawaii just because the waterfalls and lush green jungle scenery look like Hawaii. This is partly true, but it is a bit more complicated than that.

So how did it get its name? Well, apparently, in 1906 a Canadian businessman, Alfred Herbert Rennie, built a flour mill in Tiu Keng Wan, which is the coastal area below the Little Hawaii Trail (it's now called Tiu Keng Leng). Rennie was helped in this endeavour by two of Hong Kong’s most prominent businessmen, Catchick Paul Chater and Hormusjee Naorojee Mody (who founded the Star Ferry). Rennie needed a source of power and a water supply for his mill so he built a hundred foot dam on the nearby stream and created a small reservoir. The remains of these structures are now part of the Little Hawaii Trail.

Rennie's Mill was not a success and Rennie, faced with the prospect of bankruptcy, committed suicide by leaping off a company boat with a heavy box attached round his neck. Following Rennie's death, the mill was closed down.

Later in 1946 the villagers of Tiu Keng Wan turned the abandoned reservoir and dam area into a private pool, and the village chief named it Little Hawaii Swimming Centre. The swimming centre was popular at first, but then there was a tragic accident and a child drowned here. After that the swimming centre was closed down.

As for the mill building and the houses around it, they became home to large numbers of Kuomintang soldiers who fled from Mainland China after the Communists won the Civil War. The British Colonial Government was not that keen on having all these refugees in case it upset their large, powerful Communist neighbour so they placed them in an area that was at that time quite remote.

To get to the Little Hawaii Trail I went to Diamond Hill MTR and took exit B2 to the transport interchange station. I had intended to get on bus 91 which goes all the way to Clearwater Bay, but a 91M to Po Lam came in first, so I boarded that. I got off at a village called Tseng Lan Shue on Clearwater Bay Road. I crossed the road using the subway and exited to the left. From there I walked just a short way before seeing a sign for the Wilson Trail. I started to follow this. The area around here was lush and green and I was walking along the edge of the small stream that feeds into the Little Hawaii Falls. All around me there were Coastal Coral Trees with huge red flowers.

Sign for the Wilson Trail on Clearwater Bay Road.

Tseng Lan Shue Village.

Tseng Lan Shue Village.

Lush Greenery.

Greenery and Coastal Coral Trees.

Coastal Coral Tree.

Coastal Coral Tree.

Close up of flowers of Coastal Coral Tree.

Close up of flowers of Coastal Coral Tree.

Mountainous scenery with Coastal Coral Trees.

Path lined with Coastal Coral Trees.

Path and Stream.

Small Purple Flowers.

After a short walk the path splits near a house surrounded with pretty blue flowers and the Wilson Trail heads off to the right. On the left there's a sign for the Little Hawaii Trail. I followed this and continued to walk along next to the stream. I passed a little shrine near the water's edge.

House near where the road splits.

Pretty Blue Flowers.

Sign for the Little Hawaii Trail.

Mountain greenery and Trail.

Shrine.

After a short walk I reached the first of the waterfalls. From the broken manmade structures here I would guess this was where the dam used to be. I walked on the remains of the dam wall and also viewed the dam from the pools below it.

Standing on the dam and looking down.

Standing on the dam and looking down.

Looking towards the former dam.

Looking towards the former dam.

Looking across the rocks towards the dam.

Small Waterfall.

Just past these pools there is a small bridge. Near the bridge someone had planted lots of beautiful flowers. It is necessary to cross this bridge to continue on the trail. Before I crossed it I clambered over rocks towards a large waterfall with a view over the Tseung Kwan O area. There is a huge drop here and thus the biggest waterfall, but it is really difficult to view it. I assumed there would be a better view of it from further down, but there isn't really. To see the full extent of the falls you either need a drone or you have to climb up through the stream clambering from boulder to boulder.

I went as close to the edge as I could on both sides, but I must admit it made me feel quite dizzy. Later when I went home I watched a video of someone visiting the falls. They leapt across the rocks onto the rock at the edge then proceeded to stand on one leg in a yoga pose next to the drop. Madness! It made me feel ill just watching it.

Bridge.

Flowers near the bridge.

Looking down the stream towards the big drop.

View over Tseung Kwan O.

View from the rocks on the right side before crossing the bridge.

Small falls between bridge and big falls.

Looking back towards the bridge.

View over Tseung Kwan O from the rocks on the left after crossing the bridge.

View over Tseung Kwan O from the rocks on the left after crossing the bridge.

Top of big falls.

Top of big falls.

After looking at the top of the falls from both sides, I wandered down a path through the forest. I could hear the gushing waterfall but could not see it due to the vegetation all around it. Eventually I reached a crossroads and headed to the right. The path here took me to a bridge at the lower falls. I was expecting to see the huge magnificent waterfall I had been at the top of, but I could not as it was too far back and hidden by all the greenery. It was still very pretty, but not as dramatic as expected

Sign at the crossroads.

Approaching Bridge at Lower Falls.

Bridge at Lower Falls.

Bridge at Lower Falls.

View from the bridge at the lower falls.

On the rocks at the Lower Falls.

Looking at the lower Falls from the rocks.

Selfie at Lower Falls.

A pleasant seat on the other side of the lower falls.

I then walked back to the crossroads, turned right and began to walk down the stairs. I ended up at the lowest bridge of all. This had lovely views over the stream and some small falls. There was a large pool of water here. I continued on the path and descended a small flight of steps into Tseung Kwan O Village. There were some jackfruit growing on a tree here. I passed the sign for the trail at this end of the walk and then I looked for signs to the MTR. There were plenty of signs, but it was actually quite a long way.

View from the lowest bridge.

Pool at bottom and view. Again it looks manmade and was probably part of the mill.

Pool at the bottom of the falls.

Jack fruit.

Sign at the bottom of the trail.

I'm cheating here. I took this photo from the internet. It was taken in rainy season and by people who were brave enough to climb up the falls. I am just adding it to show you the bits I did not reach. Also, as it's still dry season, even if I had reached them they would not be like this.

As I walked I phoned my friend Jason. He lives in Po Lam. We had arranged to try and meet up in the Velodrome Park in Tseung Kwan O. He goes there most days and I wanted to see the cherry trees there. I could probably have walked there but I did not know the way, so I took the MTR one stop to Hang Hau and exited through exit B2.

When I exited the MTR I saw the most colourful school ever, then I went into a little park called Hang Hau Man Kuk Lane Park. This is a Chinese style gardens with ponds and lots of flowering trees. There were golden pui trees everywhere. I added the pictures of these to my last blog.

The most colourful school in the world.

World's most colourful mural outside world's most colourful school.

Hang Hau Man Kuk Lane Park Fancy Gateway.

Hang Hau Man Kuk Lane Park Pond.

Hang Hau Man Kuk Lane Park Pond and tall buildings.

To get to the velodrome, I exited Hang Hau Man Kuk Lane Park and took the subway under a motorway. This brought me to Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre and Velodrome. I managed to find Jason and we got to catch up on all the gossip as well as taking a stroll around the park. I found the cherry trees, but some of my photos turned out with very strange colours. I think I must have been shooting into the sun.

The Hong Kong Velodrome opened in 2013. It has 250 metre long cycle track inside.

The Velodrome.

Entrance to the velodrome closed due to COVID.

Me wandering around looking for Jason and him photographing me going the wrong way.

Jason and I posing with a golden trumpet tree.

Jason and I in the Velodrome Park.

Posing in front of the velodrome.

Cherry Blossom.

Cherry Blossom.

Cherry Blossom.

Blossom.

Beautiful Flowers.

Bauhinia Branch.

Jason being silly as usual.

Bicycle Art in Velodrome Park.

Robotic Art at the Velodrome

Have you seen my shuttlecock?

Then Jason escorted me to the MTR and I headed home while he returned to more wanderings around the park.