True Confessions!

I admit it. We have never spent a day at a beach before. Never wanted to - sunburn, sand, worrying about kids and the undertow, too many people, lounging around in a swimsuit(!), Jaws, and no shade to speak of. Now, I am a changed woman.

Today we took a bus to a Hong Kong pier, then got on a junk boat (basically just a rented, bare-bones yacht) for a 1-hour trip to a beach in Hong Kong. The boat had a nice indoor area with tables and benches; an upper deck with chairs and gorgeous views; an outdoor seating area at the front of the boat ("I'm the king of the world!"); and a bathroom and changing area. It was a nice, relaxing boat ride. We went with 6 famililes from our area, most with little kids.

Then we took a dinghy to a dock at a beach and spent the day in the swimming area and under some shade trees. The beach was nice and small, and not crowded at all. It was a beautiful, sunny day, not too hot, just right. And the water was nice and cool, with big waves to ride in on but not too deep for kids to stand up in.

We brought picnic foods to share - somebody made some delicious baklava - sandwiches, cookies, and a lot of water. Everybody sort of watched out for everybody else's kids, and they all played together. They shared their sand toys and had fun burying each other's feet in the wet sand. It was really fun! I had no idea the beach could be such a great time, just hanging out in the water, playing in the wet sand, and cooling off in the surf.

As we headed back to the junk from the swimming area, we noticed signs around the swimming area for passing boats. The signs said "Warning! Shark nets!"...meaning they net off the swimming area to keep the sharks out. I'm really glad I saw that AFTER we spent the entire afternoon in the water, because I would have worried whether those nets were still intact and hole-free!

We got back on our junk, had more picnic food, including some lovely homemade baklava, and headed back to Hong Kong harbor. The ride back was a little rocky at times, but it was fun as long as we were sitting down.

We had almost decided not to go on this trip because of the whole beach avoidance we had before, but we really wanted to spend time with our friends - many of the people who went along are friends of ours but we never really get to see each other. Today was a beautiful, fantastic opportunity for fun in the sun!