Hunter has never brushed his teeth so often as he did while they were here - he wanted to be part of the action all along! Both of the kids absolutely took to Auntie Rae & Uncle Nate in a matter of moments and the feelings seemed to be mutual!
Paris, eat your heart out - Taipei is the city of Love!!!
After a bit of a shopping trip for a much needed carry-on suitcase and a fun teppanyaki lunch, these guys made it up the Taipei 101 while the kids were napping! With rain predicted for the rest of the week, we thought they'd better get up there while it was somewhat clear... but you'll see later on that the weather report was fairly inaccurate! At any rate, they enjoyed the view, the building and the ice cream they got at the top!!!
Once the kids woke up we took them out for our favorite activity - a bike ride along the riverbed! It was such a pleasant evening and all of us enjoyed the trip.
Of course we had to take them to a night market - it's such a Taiwanese thing to do... so Tony met us there after work and we kept the kids up late sampling all manner of tasty delights! One of my & Hunter's favorites is the fruity shaved ice... while Rae was busy taking pictures, Hunter's spoon never took a rest - he ate his share and then some!!
Nate is a big puppy lover so he found this a special treat!!
Lovely ladies(don't worry, we didn't buy them)
After trying boiled squid, stinky tofu, fried chicken pieces and a few other classics, we wanted to end on something sweet so we shared an icecream burrito - well, it's almost a burrito - it's icecream with peanut slab shavings and coriander/cilantro wrapped up in a thin rice paper 'tortilla' of sorts! Very refreshing!
The next morning these guys went for a hike at 7am while Tony went to work and I stayed home to stabilize two tired kids (we got home from the night market close to 10pm - they never stay up that late!!!).
Notice - it's a gorgeous day overlooking the city - no rain clouds at all!!!
They even got to check out a temple while out on their adventure. This was great - we were introduced to a lovely Taiwanese woman who hikes our local mountains every morning and because she's training to be a tour guide - she's quite happy to take people with her to show them around! This was my dream come true as the Clarks really wanted to go on a hike but that's one thing I just couldn't arrange with the kids... perfect set up!!! Thanks, Jill!!!
After they got home and showered, we took the MRT out to meet the McFedries who are friends of Nathan's from Christchurch and friends of our's too!!! What a small world! We met for a tasty Thai lunch (thanks guys) and some fun catch up.
On Wednesday, Tony took the day off so we could go further still... so we went up to Danshui for the afternoon. It was the most quiet we've ever seen the place, but it was still nice just to be near water and in good company. Most of our food stalls weren't open yet so we got noodles and sat along the river under a big shade tree. Hunter was quite keen to watch people fishing and Helena was happy to have daddy around!
For the first time, we took the ferry around to the Fisherman's Wharf (we've always taken a bus) - Hunter, of course, LOVED the boat ride and that's all he could talk about. It was fun letting Raewyn use my camera because she thought to photograph some of the things I take for granted now like this great view of mountains and city.
Six Clarks in Taiwan
You've got to get photos of all the icons in the area and the Lovers Bridge is definitely the icon up here! We had a good time walking around looking for tea and snacks (does it seem like all we do is eat here?) and Tony even got a yoga demonstration out of Raewyn...
and Helena managed to get a bit of ice cream... she enjoyed it so much it became the motivating factor in her longest journey on foot to-date and we all were witnesses to the event!!!
Yep, Hunter's now big into boats after two boat rides in the past week! I'll have to look around for other opportunities for him.
As if we hadn't eaten enough snacks, etc; Tony took these guys over to our favorite local restaurant for a sampling of sit-down food. They loved it!!
On Thursday, their final day with us, we took a leisurely stroll to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (via Starbucks) and got their just in time for the changing of the guard ceremony!! What a way to end the trip!!!
Here are the guards on their last leg of duty - the new guards came about 3 minutes later! What a relief that must always be!!!
Thanks, Rae & N8 for a special week! We really enjoyed your company and appreciate your friendship! May your next step be a grand adventure!!!! (the kids still miss you)
After trying boiled squid, stinky tofu, fried chicken pieces and a few other classics, we wanted to end on something sweet so we shared an icecream burrito - well, it's almost a burrito - it's icecream with peanut slab shavings and coriander/cilantro wrapped up in a thin rice paper 'tortilla' of sorts! Very refreshing!
The next morning these guys went for a hike at 7am while Tony went to work and I stayed home to stabilize two tired kids (we got home from the night market close to 10pm - they never stay up that late!!!). 
Notice - it's a gorgeous day overlooking the city - no rain clouds at all!!!
They even got to check out a temple while out on their adventure. This was great - we were introduced to a lovely Taiwanese woman who hikes our local mountains every morning and because she's training to be a tour guide - she's quite happy to take people with her to show them around! This was my dream come true as the Clarks really wanted to go on a hike but that's one thing I just couldn't arrange with the kids... perfect set up!!! Thanks, Jill!!!
After they got home and showered, we took the MRT out to meet the McFedries who are friends of Nathan's from Christchurch and friends of our's too!!! What a small world! We met for a tasty Thai lunch (thanks guys) and some fun catch up.
On Wednesday, Tony took the day off so we could go further still... so we went up to Danshui for the afternoon. It was the most quiet we've ever seen the place, but it was still nice just to be near water and in good company. Most of our food stalls weren't open yet so we got noodles and sat along the river under a big shade tree. Hunter was quite keen to watch people fishing and Helena was happy to have daddy around!
For the first time, we took the ferry around to the Fisherman's Wharf (we've always taken a bus) - Hunter, of course, LOVED the boat ride and that's all he could talk about. It was fun letting Raewyn use my camera because she thought to photograph some of the things I take for granted now like this great view of mountains and city.
Six Clarks in Taiwan
You've got to get photos of all the icons in the area and the Lovers Bridge is definitely the icon up here! We had a good time walking around looking for tea and snacks (does it seem like all we do is eat here?) and Tony even got a yoga demonstration out of Raewyn...
and Helena managed to get a bit of ice cream... she enjoyed it so much it became the motivating factor in her longest journey on foot to-date and we all were witnesses to the event!!!
Yep, Hunter's now big into boats after two boat rides in the past week! I'll have to look around for other opportunities for him.
As if we hadn't eaten enough snacks, etc; Tony took these guys over to our favorite local restaurant for a sampling of sit-down food. They loved it!!
On Thursday, their final day with us, we took a leisurely stroll to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (via Starbucks) and got their just in time for the changing of the guard ceremony!! What a way to end the trip!!!
Here are the guards on their last leg of duty - the new guards came about 3 minutes later! What a relief that must always be!!!
Thanks, Rae & N8 for a special week! We really enjoyed your company and appreciate your friendship! May your next step be a grand adventure!!!! (the kids still miss you)
.JPG)
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