Introduction:
History
Victoria Peak - more commonly known as The Peak to locals - is one of the most recognised landmarks in Hong Kong. Standing at 554 metres above sea, The Peak is also the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island. It was a natural sighting post for incoming (cargo) ships in the nineteenth century. The earlier residents used it for different purposes; they used it as a retreat from Hong Kong’s boiling summers.
Governor Sir Richard MacDonnell’s summer home was built there to take advantage of the cool climate, and many (rich) residents followed suit. There was not much more development until 1881, when Alexander Findlay Smith petitioned the Governor, Sir John Pope-Hennessy to operate tram routes. One of the tram routes connected The Peak to the south of Murray Barracks to Victoria Gap. Mr. Findlay Smith had hoped that this would attract more tourists, resulting in more money. Eight years later, on land he owned, the Peak Hotel was opened. Unfortunately, it was burned down in a fire in 1938. |
Transportation
Peak Tram: Adults- HKD 28 one way, HKD 40 return; children (1-12) and seniors (65+) HKD 11 one way, HKD 18 return; children under age 4 free of charge
One-way Trip Time: Seven minutes Frequency: every 10 - 15 minutes Taxi: Around HKD 50 to Conduit Road back from the peak Personal: Drop off allowed but no Public Parking |
What to wear to the trip:
What to bring to the trip:
Water Bottle- to keep hydrated
A healthy snack- there are places where you can stop and sit down and have a snack First aid Kit- just in case of emergencies Rain jacket- just in case it rains Phone- just for emergencies or a replacement for camera mosquito repellent- just in case of mosquito sunscreen- depending on the weather |
Optional things to bring:
Activities
1. Guess the image - Take a close up image of an object and get your friend to try and guess what it is
Things you will need: Camera 2. Make an art piece - Collect things around you and combine them to make your masterpiece. The things you collect has to fit in a standard backpack size. Do not carry very long branches or gigantic leaves. Make sure the things you pick up are from the floor and do not take the flower or plant off the stem. Things you will need: a recyclable bag to put your collected items. 3. Leave Hide and Seek- Find a unique looking leaf and hide it so that it will be hard to find. Make sure you remember what it looks like. Describe and give hints to your friends and family until they find the leaf that you hid Things you will need: find a place to hide the leaf 4. Find the pole- During the walk, you will see different poles numbered. Find a pole with a number on e.g. 46103 and memorize the number. Then, during the walk, find those numbers on different poles again. |
Plant Species:
White jade orchid tree
These are harder to find. But when you see them, they are actually very pretty. Sometimes, they fall off the plant and are on the floor. |
Elephant ear plant
These are very easy to find on the peak trail. They are everywhere. Sometimes, you will also see some insects on the leaves. |
Ferns
like Elephant ear leaves, these type of plants are very easy to find. They are everywhere, and sometimes you will see some bits or pieces of ferns on the ground because they have fallen off. |
Moss
When you hike along the trail, you will see some of these rocks, and on them, there are normally moss on them. The moss on the picture below is the green bits sticking to the rock. They are quite slippery if you step on them. |
Animal Species:
Butterfly
Butterflies are hard to spot and they never stay in one place for longer then one second. You usually see them on some big leaf. They are not dangerous but don't try and touch it as it will fly away instantly. |
Black ants
Very Hard to spot on the way to the top of the peak Black ants are pretty common around the world and HK is no different. They are usually seen scavenging leftover/dropped food around the walkway. They aren't dangerous and will only attack you if you attack it, it's friend or its scavenged food. But the thing you don’t want to do is attack its nest! |
Wild boars
There has been evidence of wild boars on the peak trail. If you do see a wild dog or pig, do not approach it and do not stare at it for a very long time. I would advise you to just walk around the wild boar. |
Squirrels
Squirrels are hard to find on the way to the peak. Not common to spot in Hong Kong. Usually climbing on trees and finding food. Just like birds, they are scared of you so don’t go to close to them. |
Public Facilities
As you walk up the trail, you will come across at least one public bathroom. You may see temples, playgrounds and empty grass hills. Children will enjoy running around on grasslands and playing with the equipment. If you are planning on having a picnic, throw away your rubbish in the bins around you. Remember, there will be bins everywhere throughout the walk.
As you get to the peak, you will also find more outdoor playgrounds and parks. On the second floor of the Peak Galleria, there is an entry to a big playground. Taking a five minute walk will lead you to another park with a bathroom and space to ride bikes, scooters etc. What do you see during the trip?During the trip, you will see a mixture of man made items and also some natural items. E.g. for man made, you might see the skyline if the weather fits and it isn't too foggy, and for natural items, there are plants and leaves everywhere you go. the trip takes about 1 and 1/2 of an hour to 2 hours, depending on how fast you walk. You will see lots of children playing on the park facilities. There will lots of people there because this is a very famous and populated trail.
There is an app called strava where you can record you're distance. https://www.strava.com/mobile-link to the app |
Risk Assessment
Risk
Vehicles
Steep hills
Flash floods
Rail end |
Problem
The streets are very narrow so it will be hard to walk the trail without having to wait for the vehicles to pass.
Young children and elderly may get tired during the trail as the hills are very steep. If it rains, flash floods are a possibility. Around mid-way through the walk, you may find that the rails seem to stop. They will start up again after 15 minutes of walking, but, as the drop is very steep.
Hypothetically speaking, if you were to fall down you would get highly injured. |
Solution
To be safe, vehicles are prohibited. Even so, we recommend not to walk “smack-bang” in the middle of the trail. If you do happen to walk in the middle, you will also be stopping other people from walking- a huge inconvenience.
These paths may get steep at some points, so don’t bring someone that will get easily tired.You can also bring something to help them overcome this situation.
Do not do this hike on a rainy day.
Walk close to the side where there is no edge.We advise you to keep small children from the edge. Please be careful.
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