Junk Boat!

Last Sunday we took a trip on a junk boat.  Renting a junk boat is a popular thing to do in Hong Kong.   We have some very good friends who are moving back to the US after a 3 year stay in Hong Kong.  A group of about 50 of us rented the boat for the day as a going away party for them.  It was also Father's Day so it was a great day for a celebration.  There is a wide range in the type of junk boats.  Ours was a very large party boat.  It was perfect for our group which was about half children.  It had 4 different levels with a disco, 2 karaoke areas, a Jacuzzi, a full kitchen (it included a full meal), a large area with tables and seating, and a sun deck for lounging and sunbathing.  It was an amazing boat for our first junk boat trip, but it will be hard to top (or even come close to equaling) on subsequent trips.

Our boat for the day

Karaoke

Tom, Tommy and Charlotte waiting to get in the water

Relaxing in the Jacuzzi

We boarded the boat at 10 AM and it sailed for about an hour until it reached an area with calmer waters for us to dock and swim.  The boat had a double slide off the back and a diving platform at least 10 feet above the water.  It also had an inflatable "trampoline" the kids had a great time playing on.  The trampoline might have been effective with a smaller group, but ours was always full of kids and if you went out onto the trampoline surface you would instantly just sink to the middle.  You couldn't stand up, much less jump.  Tommy had a great time playing on it anyway.  Charlotte was the youngest on the boat and there was only one other kid younger than Tommy so he really had fun trying to keep up with the bigger kids.  We had a lot of fun going down the slide and jumping off the platform (well except Charlotte.  I couldn't blame her for not trying, I found it a bit intimidating myself).  It was the kids first experience really swimming in salt water.  They kept commenting on the salty water.  

Jenneke and Charlotte in the water.

Tommy in midair after going down the slide

Tommy and Charlotte on the trampoline.  

After over an hour of swimming, the kids were ready for a break.  We dried off and relaxed on the boat.  Tommy has had problems with seasickness in the past and was complaining his stomach hurt.  He spent a lot of time cuddling with Tom or I and I was getting quite nervous considering we were scheduled to be on the boat for 6 more hours.  Luckily after a rest and a meal, Tommy was feeling much better.  We got back in the water for more fun.  The boat had some kayaks and we took a few trips around the boat.  

Tom and Tommy

Tom and Charlotte

Jenneke and Charlotte

We also went out on the speedboat to go tubing.  Tommy took the first turn.  He was on the inflatable raft with 2 other boys.  He held on for the first 2 turns (the rule was if you fell off you were finished, if you stayed on you could keep going).  It had started to rain while we were out and was starting to get heavier, so we headed back to the boat for safety.  After a 20 minute wait, the rain had stopped and we went back out.  I had a turn and managed to hang on.  Then Charlotte joined me.  We held onto the handles together and I laid slightly on top of her to keep her from flying off.  We stayed on for our turn and Charlotte had fun, but she didn't want to take another turn.  Tommy got one more turn with Tom and fell off this time.  He hit the water hard and was happy to be finished.

Tommy on the raft with our boat in the background

Tommy in the middle ready to hang on

Overall, it was an amazing day.  We all had a great time.  The weather was perfect.  The previous 10 days had been extremely hot and sunny.  Luckily, Sunday was overcast with a few occasional showers.  Other than the brief break when we were tubing, the rain didn't affect us at all, if anything it helped cool things down.  After we got home that evening, it rained all night long as well as having heavy downpours off and on for the rest of the week as a tropical storm had moved into the area.  We got very lucky we had a good day.

We had a great time and our group is already planning a trip for next year.