With the north wind still blowing, we decided to take a walk yesterday afternoon. Green Island has a road which runs around the coastline but also an inland road running to the highest hill which has the usual communications towers, and some nature trails. Although it was low cloud and occasional drizzle, we decided to walk part of the inland road and then take the nature trail to the east coast. We didn't start off until 2:00 p.m. so knew we would have to keep moving. It was an excellent walk though, up the winding two-lane road with dense vegetation on both sides. We saw some birds, notably bulbuls, shrikes and a large flock of cattle egrets in breeding plumage, as well as some butterflies. Just after we set off we were joined by a local dog - he led us to the turnoff and then continued to lead us for the rest of the walk!!
These beetles are found only on Green Island
We found the entrance to the nature trail which was well marked and paved with large slate blocks which tended to be a bit slippery in places. They are certainly very pollution conscious on this island with hardly any litter to be seen and the trail very tidy. Along the road we had seen signs warning users not to speed and endanger the wildlife. Mind you, a couple of small unidentifiable roadkills were found to be very attractive to our accompanying dog! Emerging onto the road on the east coast we continued our walk back to the harbour.
Jon and Yap carrying our fender back in the gathering dusk
This section of the walk was about 8 kms and the sun was going down. A lucky find presented itself on the rocky beach when we spied a large polystyrene fender. We had been told to look out for these as they are much bigger than the inflatable plastic ones we carry and are much better at keeping the boat off the wharf when tied up. We collected the fender and continued walking with it carried between two people. We passed the hot springs at Jhaorih, one of only three saltwater hot springs in the world. They are very popular, with a lot of people visiting at night, however we kept on walking as we didn't really have time to stop and enjoy them. The place is only closed from the hours of 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m for cleaning. Walking along the southern end of the island we could see the spot where we had anchored off a few days ago. The shoreline was coral reef and if it had been earlier and sunnier a snorkel would have been just wonderful.
Confucious comtemplating the cliff face, Green Island
We arrived back at the harbour in darkness after walking about 13-14 kms, dropped our gear, and then headed for the Hi Ya Restaurant. This restaurant is run by the aboriginal Amis people and serves local food. Along with Marejka and Jaap from Alishan we had crispy fried flying fish, sizzling tofu, stir-fried greens and fried rice. It was a very nice meal and a lot cheaper than our meal the other day which we now consider to have been quite expensive. Flying fish is a local delicacy and during this time of the year large schools (flocks?) are seen flying along over the water. We will have to think twice about discarding the ones that land on our decks during the night as they are very tasty.
Our new-found fender doing its stuff!
