Traffic chaos did not prevent thousands of sun worshippers heading for the beaches on the south side of Hong Kong Island yesterday with temperatures there reaching 31 degrees. Beach-goers arrived as early as 7 am to secure a parking place and space on the sand but they still had to queue. And those who opted for public transport suffered from delays as traffic jams more than doubled the normal journey time from Central to Repulse Bay to 40 minutes. Mini-bus driver Ip Chi-kwok, 41, said the traffic was so heavy that a one kilometre journey from Beach Road to Repulse Bay Road took up to 20 minutes. There are 44 parking spaces available outside the beach and several along Beach Road leaving many cars cruising the coastal road until they found a free place. 'We were extremely lucky to get a place in half an hour,' Dilys Wong Wai-shan said. 'The place was packed.' Ivan Tsui Chiu-ho, 23, who took 20 minutes to find a parking space at 7 am, said the beach could do with another 400 parking spaces.
