Shan Ding Lu

If you have visited or lived in Taiwan and traveled around a little you will know just how beautiful a place it is and how genuinely hospitable people are. Well Lanyu Island off the south east coast is both beautiful and friendly but in a way that makes it a very pleasant getaway from Taiwan proper.

Back in Perth a family island holiday for us usually involves a week on lazy Rottnest Island.  I have wished to visit Lanyu for many years so with the kids on summer holidays we packed our bags and ventured off to see what it is like.

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Tags: Children, Fishing, Taiwan, Travel // 13 Comments »

A good tropical torrential rain is a wonderful thing. It is cooling and so refreshing. At this time of year Taiwan is blessed with so many torrential downpours.

Typhoon Fung-wong has been bearing down on Taiwan for the past few days. Like a thundering bowling ball it hit the central east coast early this morning, hurled over the 3000m mountain range and left the central west coast early this evening. Though the winds were not too strong, the rain has been steady. And there is yet more to come over the next day as the tail of the typhoon drops its remaining water. It is now on its way to China and hopefully on course to Beijing for a final scrub down before the Olympics.

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Tags: Shan Ding Lu, Weather // 5 Comments »

I recently listened to a speech by Australian of the year, Tim Flannery where he describes our atmosphere as The Great Aerial Ocean.  It is a great speech by a great man that jolts you in to realising just how valuable, vunerable and scarce that thin layer of air really is.

There is a circuit I regularly cycle across the flat plains either side of the Goaping river. It is fertile and irrigated land, covered in small farms, factories and villages. Each of the activities that take place along the route let off a tell-tale odore of their existence. A reminder of the aerial ocean in which we swim. [Read more →]

Tags: Around Da Liao // 8 Comments »

There is a very enjoyable dish that anyone who has visted a Taiwanese night market must have enjoyed. It is an oyster omellete or er a jien (蚵仔煎) . It consists of a corn starch base with egg, a dozen or so fresh oysters and cuttings of fresh green vegetables. All quickly fried such that the oysters are just warmed and greens keep their stalks crisp. It is then covered with a mostly sweet but slight chilli sauce. Yum.

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Tags: Fishing, Food, Taiwan, Travel // 2 Comments »

There are so many amazing insects in Taiwan that you could discover a new one every day. And after years, still find one that surprises you.

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Tags: Insects, Uncategorized // 10 Comments »

It is true that if the Communists had any sort of a navy in 1949 the history of Taiwan would have been very different indeed. When the Nationalists arrived in Taiwan they spent the first 20 years fortifying the nation for an impending communist invasion.

When I first arrived in 1989 Taiwan had just lifted martial law. Air raid drills were still common and the military had a very strong presence. You would often see movements of army vehicles and troops and there was a continual coastal watch. I remember being moved off the beach one evening by a couple of soldiers as well as being cautioned, though not badly, for taking photos of the Kaohsiung harbour entrance.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Uncategorized // 9 Comments »

The thunder clouds have been threatening for a while but today Kaohsiung received it’s first large showers of the plum rains that signal the start of the long hot humid summer ahead.

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Tags: Children, Insects, Shan Ding Lu // 1 Comment »

Just across the lane by our house is a field that has been growing rice for the last 5 months. I was lead to believe that farmers could get two rice crops a year from their fields. Having watched the field opposite us I can say that while they may be able to, no-one down here in the south does. Some farmers put red beans in between rice crops but most of the fields used for rice have remained fallow for the remaining 7 months.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Shan Ding Lu // 7 Comments »

A mushroom walks into a bar and asks for a beer. The bartender says “Sorry we don’t serve mushrooms here”. To which the mushroom replies. “That’s not fair, I’m just a fun guy” (Fungi).

On the recent Batongguan hike I took many photos of the fungi we passed. Though not catalogue quality shots, this sample represents the huge range of mushrooms, lichen and other fungi to be found in the mountains here.

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Tags: Mountains // 1 Comment »

For a country with a population density of over 600 people per sq km it seems implausible that you can hike 100kms over 7 days and only meet a few dozen. But that is the hidden secret of the Yushan national park and the Japanese era central cross island walk trail.

I was very fortunate to join Richard at Barking Deer Adventures on this restricted hiking trip. Five of us started from Dongpu 東浦¦ at 1200m, climbed to the Batongguan meadows at 2900m, took a side trip to the peak of Yushan (Taiwan’s highest at 3952m), trekked for two days around 3000m before descending over 3 day to the eastern entrance of the Yushan national park near Yuli 玉里 at 400m. What a truly incredible hike. For its remoteness, variety of landscape, difficulty, and historical significance.

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Tags: Mountains, Travel // 17 Comments »