Beautiful Lantau

I've been eager to post some pictures from my recent trips to Lantau Island before too much time passes and I completely forget. The past two weekends I have been fortunate enough to enjoy the wonders of Sunset Peak (HK's 3rd tallest mountain) and the stone cabins that rest in its saddle. I went up the first weekend with the Bakers, Tozers, Drew and Ryan. Here's a photo of us (excluding myself) on the way up. It was such a clear day, clearer than I've seen it in a long time. I think that's HK island that you can see in the distance.

We stayed in my old favorite, Cabin #2. In honor of #2 (and because I was the self-proclaimed tyrant of the trip) I forced everyone to form a giant "2" with their bodies. I really wanted a number sign too, but was afraid of pushing my luck and having a rebellion on my hands.

This is all of us on the roof. I love the roof on Cabin #2! It's probably my favorite spot in the world... and on a clear day like the one we had, the view was absolutely breathtaking. BTW, I think this could very well be the best picture EVER.


I had such a great time up on the mountain that I wanted to go up the following weekend. This time I went with my ECC care group. The weather wasn't quite as good, and sadly, Cabin #2 wasn't available, but we had a great time anyway. I have Susan to thank for the pictures below... I haven't downloaded mine yet, and for some reason, didn't take very many anyway.

Here we are in front of one of the cabins we rented, #16, the cabin managed by the Aufrances. On a funny note, sitting in the front row in the picture are our care group's 3 Michelles... and it wasn't even planned. :)

Five of us girls spent the night on the mountain. We'd rented 2 cabins, so we decided to sleep in the larger one, #18. Here we are before bed, snacking and playing games (2 of my favorite Lantau past times!).

Soon after the above picture was taken, I discovered a leech inching across the door of our cabin. Of course, seeing a leech threw all of us into a panic. We quickly checked our feet and legs to make sure we were free of blood-suckers. We thought everyone was fine, and then suddenly we heard a scream from the bathroom... one of our party, Ruth (center), had discovered what she believed to be a leech on her toe. I confirmed its identity, tried to pull it off, but failed. Finally Jen was able to pull it off with a tissue. Yuck. Thankfully it hadn't been attached for very long. Foolishly, we tried to flush it down the toilet (I'd failed to consider the fact that they can swim...), and soon found it climbing along the toilet bowl. Thankfully, some bleach found in the kitchen soon put an end to our leech problem for good.

The next morning we had reasonably clear weather, and we were able to see most of the other cabins, as well as the airport below.

I love these cabins and would really like to do more to make sure that they don't completely fall into disrepair, whether that means eventually managing one of them, or attending some work days. They were once used quite frequently by HK missionaries (most of them are still owned by mission organizations), but now it seems that fewer and fewer people are interested in such a rustic getaway. I'm glad that I have memories of what I consider to be the good old days of Lantau Mountain Camp, when the mess hall and swimming pool were still in use, and 10-15 families stayed on the mountain at one time...

But I guess in the 60-70 (?) years that they've been standing, the cabins have seen much change, but have remained through it all. I know there's still a future for the stone cabins of Sunset Peak! [Cue sappy music to signal end of emotional concluding paragraph(s)]