Video | Hong Kong’s hardcore stream trekkers and canyoneers go wild in search of new adventures away from the pack
Exploring hidden vistas that seem a world away from Hong Kong’s urbanised cityscape, adventure junkies scramble up and plunge down watercourses, combining the extreme sports of stream trekking and canyoning
Standing calf-deep in a running stream, we are surrounded by green, from the towering ferns and tangled vines above to the moss-covered boulders at the water’s edge. The roar of the churning water fills the shaded valley, and the damp air lays heavy on our skin.
Here, deep in Hong Kong’s northern New Territories, it seems we could not be further away from civilisation, but we are actually only about 30 minutes away from the city’s urban heart.
“You almost expect a dinosaur to run past,” remarks my guide Colin Tait. I try and keep up as he works his way up through the boulder-filled stream. Hiking against the flow, he uses large rocks, roots and branches to lever himself up. “Wedge your feet between the rocks [in the water] like this,” he says, using his hands for balance. But the rocks are deceivingly slippery.
The Scotsman has brought along a country parks map, but it’s more for show. He knows his way up this stream and he knows what lies at the top, where a group of his friends are waiting for us. Tait is a stream trekker. He’s been exploring Hong Kong’s stream system for two decades. “When you are climbing a new stream, you have a real sense of anticipation,” he says pointing to the building incline and rush of water up ahead. “You learn to read the stream.”
