Farewell Taiwan

It is three and a half weeks since we arrived in Hua Lien. Using hire cars on several occasions and our bikes we have been out and about and seen quite a bit of the place. Rain, or more correctly drizzle, has been a bit of a dampener on some days while we have waited for the winds to turn from north to south. It looks like that day will be tomorrow and check-out formalities have almost been completed for our departure to Japan.

While here, people here have been very friendly and on several occasions we have received gifts of fresh fruit - the hire car people dropped off a delicious 15 kg watermelon, mangoes, guavas, bananas, and passionfruit; the Customs crew have given bananas; the pilot boat crew bananas, lychees and now mountain tea from Mt Alishan. The local chandler/fishing tackle owner came by to check out our fishing tackle and gave it all the thumbs down with an invitation to visit him the next day. He then made up several fishing lures and weighted lines and gave them to us!! We have spent some money with him though - including spare longer mooring lines for tying up to wharves and more fishing tackle. Cassie from the local birding club has taken us on outings for bird walks - and we have seen lots of interesting new birds and insects.

We will miss the traditional fresh markets abounding in tropical and temperate fruits from mangoes, pineapples, papayas and bananas to plums and peaches. Delicious fresh tofu, seafood, poultry, rice cakes, steam buns, etc. Some of these will be available in Japan although the tropical fruits will be imported so more expensive but no more traditional markets as such.

We won't miss the musical garbage truck - usually Fur Elise is the favoured tune to herald the rubbish pickup - we will hear more of the same in Japan!

Included in the food we've eaten are African land snails, hundred year old eggs, freshly made dumplings, fresh sashimi, and triangles of sushi rice which unwrap in such a way that the nori is freshly unfolded around it!

We've watched many ships coming and going into this busy port - the big three exports from Hua Lien are marble, gravel and cement. The Coast Guard have a big fleet here as well and always seem to be on the move as is the fishing fleet. All fishing boats have to stop off at the Coast Guard dock both before leaving and when arriving back in port to have their holds checked - maybe for illegal goods but we are not sure.

The national parks, nature trails and bike paths are all well maintained and what's more the national parks don't charge! The public toilets are almost always clean.

Riding our bikes on busy roads has not been as daunting as we thought. They are used to cyclists and motorcyclists and everyone seems to obey the road rules - no road rage. Turning across the traffic at an intersection they give way to you - you just take off and the oncoming traffic yields to you. Some intersections have flashing orange lights in one direction and flashing red in the other - orange has right of way over red. At unlit intersections the vehicle to arrive first has right of way - and it all seems to work.

So, it's farewell to Taiwan. It has been an interesting side trip to Japan which we have thoroughly enjoyed - the people, the places and the food.

We are without internet at the moment but hope to be connected once we arrive in Japan. Our Sierra Wireless modem battery cooked itself! So, keep a look out for new pictures to be loaded in the next week or so.

Taroko Gorge National Park

Just north of Hua Lien is the Liwu River which runs through the Taroko Gorge National Park.  It was just a short drive of about 40 kms so we hired a car with Alishan and left at 6.00 a.m. yesterday morning for an early start. Wow! What an amazing place. The gorge can be travelled via the Central Cross-Island Highway which has been carved and tunnelled through solid rock, mostly marble, across the Central Mountain Range. In one section it is 1100 metres deep. Over 780 men were injured during construction and about 212 killed - mostly from falling rocks due to landslides or explosions, or driving off the side of the road. In some of these cases the bodies could not be retrieved and the 'innards and brains splattered over the rocks scared even the birds and monkeys'!

Making stops along the way to enjoy the views, we continued along the gorge looking for the trail leading to the Baiyang Waterfall. Unfortunately, we went too far and on backtracking found the entrance tunnel had been closed due to a recent rockfall (no photo). The entrance was visible but not accessible. This was a pity as it was the only trail with waterfalls along it. We then walked the Lushui-Holiu trail (2km) and the Tunnel of Nine Turns trail (1.9km). Both fairly short but spectacular all the same. The Tunnel of Nine Turns trail was established in 1996, when the highway was diverted through a new tunnel built by the National Park Administration, 'for visitors to view these very spectacular parts of the park without the intrusion by exhaust-spouting clumps of metal that used to ply this road'.

This rock-stopper catches falling rocks!  Guardrails were quite often dented from falling rocks - no wonder the helmets!

We also stopped off at the Eternal Springs Shrine which has a steep stairway to the Zen monastery, Chan Guang Temple. We only went as far as the shrine though. We were glad of our early start as by lunchtime the number of tourist buses and people was staggering! Returning along the Tunnel of Nine Turns trail we must have passed hundreds of tourists.

Enjoying the tranquillity at the Shrine

Getting to Know Hua Lien

We have added some pics to previous posts as well as some more photo albums on the right-hand panel. 

A big thank you to Vincent Yu, owner of the dive boat which lead us into the harbour at Green Island.  Vincent was very helpful to us while there, allowing us to use his wi-fi access to the internet. We appreciated his help very much.  Thanks also to Arthur for help with interpreting.
Vincent does a lot of underwater photography as well as taking out dive groups through his company Air Dive.  While we were there he went out looking for a 1cm seahorse and sure enough he came back with the pics!  Very impressive.

Vincent Yu, 2nd from right, and his dive shop


Five days in Hua Lien and we are becoming familiar with the layout and where to do and find things. Following arrival on Sunday we were able to clear with Immigration and become legal tourists to Taiwan - it was all very easy. Monday meant a visit to the Port Captain to get port clearance. Hua Lien is a commercial port and Tweed, being under 500 tonnes, had to pay the going rate of TD$4500, about A$160, for 14 days. The day rate after that will be T$300 (A$10). For this we get mooring rights and access to non-potable water but no power. It's all a new country and a new experience.  Quarantine was the next stop and they were easy as well. In the meantime the girls from Alishan and Tweed had been dropped off at the laundromat to do some much-need laundry!! The division of labour for cruisers seems to be a matter of course at times.  Our friend Terry, a local who is also a sailor, has been very helpful with the procedures and running us about. He has now left Hua Lien with 3 other sailors on a 33-foot yacht to sail south around Taiwan, to mainland China and then back to Hua Lien. The southern leg will take them into the current and into the wind which has now changed to southerly. Safe sailing and good luck to them!!

Monday evening we took the dinghy across the harbour to the fish markets where we sat down to a platter of fresh sashimi - salmon (from Japan), sailfish, tuna and marinated flying fish set in fish eggs.  Very fresh and  very delicious!

Tuesday Marijka and I were taken by a local birder, Cassie, to a nearby park where we had a very interesting time looking for birds of which we saw at least twelve different types, including a mountain pie, serpent eagle, bulbuls, drongoes and more. Cassie then very kindly dropped all four of us at Carrefor where we did a bit of shopping and checked out some folding bikes. We need access to wheels if we are to get the best out of places we visit. No luck there so a trip to town in a taxi to the Giant bike shop where we found something suitable.

Jon and I are now the proud owners of Giant Halfways - alloy folding bikes which fold down to a nice compact size to fit in our aft cabin. With the deal finally done we loaded our groceries and rode off back to the harbour. It was only a short distance through some city streets before we arrived at the bike path along the foreshore which took us straight back home.

The bikes had another workout on Wednesday evening when we went in search of the Nanbin Night Market. The bike path follows the coast line south so it was an easy ride but the markets were a bit of a disappointment as most of the stalls were funfair type stalls with little of interest. We did however try a peanut and icecream roll - shaved peanut brittle on a wrap, topped with icecream of your choice and fresh coriander, then wrapped like a spring roll!! Very different and very tasty. Then it was off into the city for the night markets there and we eventually found a small place to eat - not sure what the food was called but similar to Malaysian roti.

We had spied a fresh market down a nearby street a couple of days ago so this morning we set off on foot to find it. A nearby church with a huge cross clearly visible was our landmark. It turned out to be a wonderful market with everything you could think of. Fruit, now including stone fruit and new season lychees, vegetables of every sort including many different fresh mushrooms and fungi, fresh chickens, seafood of all types - fish, squid, prawns, shellfish, etc. and a huge sunfish, half cut up. It seems you just ask for a piece and they cut it off as required.

Sunfish on sale in local market

Two weeks does not seem to be enough time to explore all there is to see in Hua Lien.

Flying Fish steet lights, Hua Lien

Out of the Tropics

We have now officially left the tropics!! During the night we crossed line of latitute 23.5 degrees North or the Tropic of Cancer. We have just realised it is four years to the day that we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn off the Queensland coast on our passage north to Darwin. But it is not the end of the heat yet as the area we are going into is getting into the northern summer.

We arrived at Pier #3, Hua Lien Port, 0800 this morning after departing Green Island at 1700 yesterday for an 80NM overnighter - a bit too far to do in daylight. We had 2 - 2.5 knots of current for the first few hours with a very light northerly wind and 2.5 - 3 metre swell from the northeast. The Kuroshio current which runs up past Japan is strong here but moves in a NE direction so we had up to 25 degrees of drift on. A bit of a roller coaster at times as we passed through some areas of turbulence but after about 8 hours the swell seemed to have lessened (or we just got used to it).  Our  speed slowly fell as we got out of the influence of the Kuroshio and were subject to the ebb and flood tides along the coast. It took about the same time to do 50NM with the current as it did to do 30NM against the tidal flow. Unfortunately, we missed all the beautiful scenery we had been told about but had lights shining all along the east coast of Taiwan, a few fishing boats and a couple of coastal ships to help keep us awake. There was only the occasional star visible in the overcast skies.

Alishan entering the harbour at Hua Lien

Fishing Harbours and Fishlovers

We are still enjoying our stopover in Green Island. The best part is being right next door to the fishing boat harbour as, being fish lovers, it is just a short walk to pick up some fresh fish for lunch or dinner or both. Yesterday's selection was a lovely skipjack tuna. After a late afternoon snack of sashimi which we enjoyed with the crew of Alishan aboard Tweed, we then had some quickly seared steak with vegetables for dinner. Yummo!!

May get a weather window to leave for Hua Lien by Friday or Saturday.

No fish from this fishing boat but more luck inside the fishing boat harbour.

Nice Weather for a Walk

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!

Food, Glorious Food!

Once we were able to get off the boat and go for a walk on Saturday, our first intention was to find an ATM to get some money. We had no Taiwan dollars so until we could get some cash we couldn't top up our fresh supplies. After trying the island's two ATMs with no output of cash, we then exhausted all the hotels seeking either a Visa cash advance or to change some US dollars. No luck!! We then tried the airport and were told we would have to try the post office as they have a bank agency but they wouldn't be open until Monday. We also found that the service station owner would be prepared to change US dollars as well.

Well, today being Monday, we trotted off to the post office and we were in luck. We changed some US dollars for Taiwan cash so then spent some time wandering in and out of mini market type shops buying bread here, fresh greens and bananas there - enough to keep us going for a day or two. By now it was lunchtime though, so rather than going back to the boat we sought out a local restaurant for something to eat. A bit difficult for us as most of the signs are in Chinese!! In the end we settled

on a small place where we were gladly received by the owner and shown a table. First, he wanted to know if he could cook the greens for us! No, no, we just want to eat your food. We didn't really know what to expect but out came the dishes. First was a creamy tofu, covered in some sort of sauce and topped with dried fish flakes and black sesame seed, second was mango salad - seemed to be potato salad with finely chopped (maybe dried) mango, topped with mayonnaise and black sesame seeds and garnished with chopped dried cranberries. So far, it was all very different and new for us. Third was a squid salad - dried, sliced squid over sliced cabbage and carrot and topped off with a different mayonnaise. Now it was time for the soup - fish soup with noodles, cabbage, carrot and seaweed and last of all a mung bean dessert - cooked mung beans in a sweet thin sauce or soup. It was very delicious, didn't cost the earth and we can't wait until tomorrow to try somewhere else - we think we have had enough to eat for today.

In the meantime, the weather reports are not good for moving further north to Hua Lien, about 80 nautical miles away. We may be here for up to another week but we won't have any difficulty filling in our time. There is plenty to see and do - nature walks, snorkelling, hot springs, sight seeing, bird watching, etc. plus the inevitable eating out.

Another Day, Another Cruising Plan

We spent a comfortable night anchored off Green Island, despite a bit of roll and managed some sleep. This morning we discussed making a run to Hua Lien, our original destination, or stay in the anchorage another night, or try and get into the boat harbour on the west side of the island and about 1.5 miles away. An approaching dive boat was hailed and they all spoke English so we asked if it would be possible to go into the harbour for shelter for a couple of days. A quick phone call and they said 'follow us'. First we had to get the anchor up which was caught around the coral we had anchored on - well, it was dark and we didn't know it was coral. Then Alishan had a similar problem so one of the dive boys went down and checked out the problem and they got their anchor

up as well. We then motored around to Nanliao Bay where there is a fishing/ferry boat harbour, 22 deg 39.652N, 121 deg 28.413E - not your regular marina with floating docks and berths but concrete wharfs with big rubber strips to rest up against. Hmmmm, well this is what we expected but it looked a bit daunting. Nevertheless we came alongside and there was no shortage of people to help tie up. They gathered fairly quickly to see a couple of sailing yachts in their harbour.

A diver goes below to sort out Alishan's anchor problem

We were immediately boarded by two members of the Coast Guard. This is not a regular Port of Entry where immigration, customs and quarantine formalities can be completed. They were very polite, very young and soon had all our paperwork plus a copy of our logbook to take away with them. We can stay while the weather is making up its mind about what to do and maybe turns into something nice for cruisers. At the moment the sky is all low clouds with intermittent drizzle but very calm in here. Motoring around here the wind was still up and probably blowing 20-25 NE north of the island.

 Curious locals come by to see the strange yachts in harbour

We have been assured it is OK to go ashore where we can buy fresh supplies, fuel if needed and fish - this place is famous for fish apparently and the Coast Guard boys indicated there was great sashimi available not far from here. Wow, good food at last after the offerings in the Philippines. Maybe the weather will make us to stay here for a few days at least. There seems to be lots to see and do and the people are very friendly here in the Far East just as we found them to be in South East Asia.

Landfall Taiwan

After motoring for 52 hours with light winds, we turned off the engine yesterday morning when the wind came round to the west. We had arrived at the Bashi Channel and with wind and 2.5 knots of current with us were doing over 9 knots towards our destination, Hua Lien, about two thirds up the east coast of Taiwan. The wind picked up and came further to the NW then died for a short period before deciding it was about time we had some more northerlies! At 8-10 knots we were able to continue motoring into the wind but then they decided to turn it up and before long it was 10-15 and gusting stronger. It was getting pretty uncomfortable and when we were about 9 nautical miles SE of Green Island, we decided to seek shelter. It was a long nine miles as the wind gusted up to and over 30 knots but we finally arrived just before 9:00 p.m. and using radar and our charts were able to edge in to the SW facing bay and anchor in about 19 metres of water over coral, 22 deg 38.520E 121 deg 28.647E. Not ideal but at least we felt safe. We were both tired after our third day on passage and glad to be able to relax a bit.
After we had a cup of tea and were getting ready for sleep we saw lights off the back of the boat and thought it was a fishing boat coming in. On investigating, it was a coast guard vessel which had been anchored not far away. They shone bright lights on us, made no contact and then went across to where Alishan were anchored and did the same thing. Then they left and re-anchored. They left some time during the night.
Now we are not sure what to do. The weather files all seem to conflict, gribs show strong northerlies starting Monday - did they come early? Who knows. We will sit out today and then make a decision about when to go the further 80 NM to Hua Lien.

Leaving the Philippines

It is now 5.45 a.m. and the sun is up on our second day on our passage to Taiwan. We still have phone access and also internet access!! Have not been able to turn off the engine yet. Light southerlies gave way to light NW/N and now NE which have continued all night. Forecasts all say easterly to SE so keeping fingers crossed. Tally for the 24 hours will be about 140 nautical miles so still a ways to go. Passed many fishing bangkas during the night but these ones are all fishing for squid so have bright lights and are stationary. Also a few FAD (fish aggregation devices) - some made of long, thick bamboo lashed together and with a palm frond or something else to make them visible during the day. A few had lights to make them visible at night, otherwise it is just luck - other FADs are large steel cylinders painted yellow with no lights so again it is not a nice feeling to think you might hit one.