Done with Lions, moving on to Rhinos.

Rhino Rock.

About a year ago, I set out to hike to Rhino Rock. I took a bus directly to Stanley and it was so hot, I abandoned the hike and just wandered around Stanley instead. This failed hike actually marked the end of my hiking season. I didn't do another one until about October.

Today, I set out again to walk to Rhino Rock. This time I took bus 14 to the very start of the hike. It was a really, really hot day and I felt tempted to abandon the walk again, but I decided to keep going.

To get to the Rhino Rock Trailhead, I took bus 14 from exit A, Sai Wan Ho Station and stayed on to the last stop. The last stop is Stanley Fort which is now a People's Liberation Army of China Barracks.

View over Stanley Fort from the Rhino Rock Trail.

Stanley Fort was originally built in 1841, as a British Army Barracks with accommodation for both soldiers and officers. These barracks are quite large occupying around 128 hectares. Of course, it is not possible to go inside nowadays, but I could hear the soldiers exercising as I climbed the hill.

The Rhino Rock Hike leads to a large rock which sticks out over Stanley Bay and has weathered beautifully until it resembles the shape of a rhinoceros' head. The hike starts on the left hand side if you are facing the barracks. There is a green gate at the entrance. I believe this is sometimes open, but when I went it was locked. I joined everyone else in manoeuvring myself around it. Past the gate there are some very worn down stairs. The climb up this hill is relatively short, around ten minutes, but it is very steep and quite tiring.

Steep path up.

Steep path up.

At the end of the stairs, there is a forest path leading to a trigonometrical marker. To the right there is a path through the bushes. The path is marked with ribbons to help hikers find it as it is not signposted. In fact this is a hike where the ribbons are a Godsend or it would be very difficult to find the way to the rock.

Forest Path.

Trigonometrical marker.

Selfie with trigonometrical marker.

Trail marked with ribbons.

The path begins with a walk through tall sharp shrubbery. When you emerge from this, there is a very slippy, loose sand slope. It's necessary to go slowly here to avoid falling. There are lovely views over Stanley Bay from here. I did notice some discolouration in the water and wondered if it was red tide which is caused by an overgrowth of toxic red dinoflagellates algae. We once went swimming at Deep Water Bay and swam into red tide. It was horrible, really hard to scrub it all off.

Path through the bushes.

View of the bay and fort.

View over the bay. I wonder if the reddish stuff in the water is red tide.

View over the bay.

Selfie with bay.

Next there is a steeper and even slippier slope and ropes are provided to help you go down without falling. Again I believe hikers set up the ropes to help other hikers, just like they do with the ribbons.

Slope down with rope.

On the slippery slope.

When you reach the bottom of that slope, you are off through the shrubbery again. This path is also pretty tall and a bit prickly. You should cover your arms and legs to avoid getting scratched. My legs were covered, but my arms weren't and I have the scratch marks to prove it.

Path through the shrubbery.

After this shrubbery, there is another oddly shaped rock. I don't think it has a name. I thought it looked a bit like an elephant waving its trunk in the air. It's quite difficult to get down to. This area is very slippy. I did not go all the way down.

The unnamed rock on the way down. It looks a bit like an elephant.

Unnamed rock.

The next part of the path involves making your way through some very large boulders. It's necessary to go slow, so queues form here if many people are going at the same time. It's also very difficult to pass people going the other way. There are more attractive and interesting rock formations around this area.

Queueing to climb down to Rhino Rock, Hong Kong.

In between the rocks.

View from between the rocks.

View from the slopes.

Fellow hiker on the rocks.

Rock Shapes.

At one point the way between the boulders is really narrow and you can only proceed in single file. I was glad I did not come on a Sunday. That would be hell on Earth, but it was great to have some people, as I could simply follow them without getting lost. I was beginning to feel this was more of an assault course than a hike.

Squeezing through the narrow path and still following the ribbons.

Narrow Path.

Narrow path between the rocks.

Looking back at the area with the narrow rocky trail.

Eventually I reached the Rhino Rock. Chinese people love to see different shapes in rocks and there are many named rocks here, such as: Lion Rock, Amah Rock, Shark Rock, Piglet Rock, Star Rock. Some look more like the animal or thing they are named after than others. Rhino Rock actually really does look like a rhino. There was a small boy behind me who made me laugh by asking his auntie very loudly: "Is that a real rhino?"

Rhino Rock.

Rhino Rock closer up.

Rhino Rock with person for scale.

Viewed from lower down, it is not rhino like at all.

People taking a rest near the rock.

I've seen photos of people climbing up and standing on the rhino's nose. I had no plans for doing this, partly because I'm not completely mad and partly because I have a bit of a balance problem, as I have something wrong with my ears. Actually, while I was there, noone climbed up onto the rhino. I think this trail is considered too dangerous and that the bit it was possible to climb up, I think it was a tree behind the rock, has been taken away. There were a group of Filipinas in front of me on the walk who had even brought their own step ladder with them, presumably so they could climb up, but I never saw them on the rock. Perhaps it wasn't long enough!!! Or perhaps they were trying to attach it and I had left before they succeeded.

There were lots of people taking turns at posing for photos. I took some shots with and without people in them and some selfies. Pre the big COVID outbreak here I used to ask people to take my photo. Now I feel nervous to do so in case they think: 'I'm not touching your phone you may have COVID', not that anyone has ever said that to me. This is probably me just me being paranoid, but today a lovely lady offered to take my photo, so I got some nice shots of me with the rhino.

Me with Rhino Rock.

Me with Rhino Rock.

Selfie with Rhino Rock.

I only went the wrong way once on the climb back up the hill which is quite good for me. There was a number 14 bus in when I arrived back at the stop so I leapt on. I had considered doing two hikes today. The other in nearby Chung Hom Kok, but although the Rhino Hike was short and didn't take up much time, it was just too hot to do a second walk.

View away from the sea.

View from the cliff.

View from the cliff.

As it was still early, I decided I would do a detour to Jordan on the way back. That way I got to cool down on transport first. Plus in a built up area, it's always possible to nip inside a shop or somewhere to cool down in the air-conditioning.

The number 14 bus route is very scenic. I took a couple of pictures as the bus crossed over Tai Tam Tuk Dam. I saw the Red Hill houses I kept photographing on section 7 of the Hong Kong Trail close up. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side for taking photos of these. My goodness those houses are colourful! I also saw the shopping centre that I mistook for a temple from a distance. Close up it looks very like a shopping centre.

Tai Tam Tuk from the bus.

Tai Tam Tuk from the bus.

Colourful building next to Tai Tam Tuk Dam.

When I got to Jordan, I took exit E, probably not the most sensible exit, as it brought me out into a shopping centre. It took me a while to find my way to street level. I eventually exited onto Nathan Road and turned left. Then I turned left on Austin Road and continued on to Chatham Road South where I again went left. I passed a beautiful school in an old colonial building. This is St. Mary's Canossian College, a Catholic girls secondary school, founded in 1900. It originally catered to the Portuguese Community of Hong Kong. Opposite the school, there was another former British Barracks, now frequented by the PLA. This one was Gun Club Hill Barracks. It dates from around the beginning of the twentieth century. There were canons outside its entrance.

St. Mary's Canossian College side view.

St. Mary's Canossian College.

St. Mary's Canossian College.

St. Mary's Canossian College.

Canon outside Gun Club Hill Barracks

Gun Club Hill Barracks.

Gun Club Hill Barracks.

I was heading for the Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower. This stunning building was designed by Zaha Hadid. I loved the Riverside Museum of Transport in Glasgow which she designed and I only just realised she had designed a building here, too. Innovation Tower is on the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Appropriately it is home to their school of architecture. The security guards would not let me on the campus due to COVID, though I did try and persuade them to let me in. I could only photograph the building through a fence and across a motorway, but it was still beautiful. This building was completed in 2014, so it has taken me a while to notice it exists!!!

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed across a pool.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed across a pool.

Motorway and bridge linking two campuses of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed from front.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed from side across a motorway.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed from side across a motorway.

On my walk back to the MTR I took a different route and ended up passing Kings Park which I think I've failed to find twice, but this time wasn't looking for. Actually I think I haven't found it before because it's not really a park anymore. It has lots of sports related buildings built on it. This time I passed the hockey ground.

King's Park Hockey Grounds.

Club for Chinese Civil Servants.

Finally, I took an mtr back home from Jordan.