the sea was undecided: whether to batter the pier or allow the star ferry -and confusing mix of other vessels- safe passage on her back. by the time i made it to the Lamma pier she had decided on the latter. nic came wearing his trademark hat and after a short exchange with a friend of his- along with some oolong tea- we headed to the cheung chau pier. the slow boat took to the water with sturdy ease, sitting at the back watching the water churn like milk in a blender. the sun broke free a few times allowing us the luxury of watching the sea and surrounding islands become illuminated by her faint shadow. after a few photos and some vacant looks at the ocean we arrived at cheung chau.
the island is a small community, one hour ride from central (or thirty minutes by speedboat) with a few beaches, some temples, good seafood, small lanes confused with shops and housing, a couple of parks and alot of decrepid buildings yearning for a lick of paint. we walked slowly around the island, mainly down small, odd looking alleyways which ended up leading to other alleyways which ended up..... alot of photographs were spilled onto film from eager eyes and racing brains... the moments were captured in colour and lens for later reflection and nostalgia.
we came upon a beach held from the island by a wall along its back, a wall that had cloaked itself in grafiti- quite out of place really. the beach was covered in small pieces of smooth glass, thick sand and the odd carrier bag. it was deserted, apart from the smoke from an old mans cigarette a few hundred meters downwind.
a ferry came, we boarded, the sun spilled into the water, deserting the sky, leaving her naked and cold. the sea embraced the sun. the sun bled. the gold and red blood flooded every area my eye could see. i was captivated. all i could do was click my camera. i only hope a fraction of the beauty was captured by my humble lens, i doubt it!
it was a sweet, sweet day.
|
