So I hadn't planned to write (specifically) about the Ocean Park Cable Car.
But then I got all these pictures.
And it became impossible to not write about this (surprisingly) short cable car ride that has, over the course of the years, become a signature of the theme park.
I'm not sure about you, but this cable car ride was the very thing I wanted to come to Ocean Park for.
Yes, there were the park rides and all the mammals and sea creatures in all the different attractions, plus the Ocean Express train running on the funicular tunnel system, but this- this 1.5km long cable car system between the Waterfront and Summit areas of the park- was what I remembered, and what, today, twenty-siz years later, I had come all the way from Tsim Sha Tsui to Wong Chuk Hang for.
If it sounds silly, you'll understand that there're some memories which don't go away.
Like that of eighteen-year-old me looking through the windows of the cable car down the slopes of Brick Hill, and out in the distance towards South China Sea.
Twenty-six years ago, it was the view below my feet that I remembered the most.
And it was the same view that I was glad to have today.
It is possible to be emotionless towards what is (just) a cable car ride.
But altitude makes a difference.
Being suspended from an altitude makes an even bigger difference.
Then there's the engineering.
I dont know when the cable car system in Ocean Park was built. It might have been right there from the beginning in 1977. It might have been later.
But I'd like to know just how they managed to bring all that steel up the sides of the hill- what kind of equipment did they use, how long did it take to set all this up etc etc..
I'd like to know how they managed to make it sturdy enough to withstand typhoon winds of up to at least 100km/h.
And I'd like to know how they've managed to keep it so well maintained thus far.