Just A Little Train Trip - Hualian

Call us crazy but we decided instead of going straight to California after Tony's last day at work, we'd stick around Taipei for a week and hang out with friends and let Tony get his big theology assignment done before going on 'vacation' in the US. Looking back now, it may not have been the best idea - a bit stressful to say the least - but we did get to spend yet another week with our dear friends in this great place.

So... after leaving Vienna Garden and moving into Anna and Sharon's place by 2am on June 9 - we woke up a few hours later and headed to the Taipei Railway Station for a little adventure (you're probably starting to call us crazy). Enze Jie had wanted to take us to her hometown of Hualian for a long time but the timing was never right... so here we were - on the train (one of us really loved that!!!) heading to the East Coast. The only other time we'd been there was with Amber and Jason back in 2005! This time we had an expert tour guide.

Enze Jie and her dad picked us up from the train station and helped us buy some lunch - then transported us out and up to the top of a hill where we got settled in a great little minsu (BandB). After our plentiful lunch, we all took much needed naps before heading out on the town.

The weather wasn't so cooperative but Enze Jie took us to this great beach. Hunter was so impressed by the big bubbles... he wasn't the only one!!! But we did manage to restrain ourselves from buying a jumbo bubble blower for the sake of luggage allowances.

It's a little weird looking back at us wearing shorts and t-shirts when it is so dark and rainy there - of course in NZ when it's dark and rainy, it's actually usually very cold to boot... but not Taiwan - it's usually finally comfortable when it's dark and rainy - it means the humidity is down! Anyway, here we are on the East Coast of Taiwan for the last time (as far as we know it).

These rocks were so cool... Annie collected a bunch of them (shhhhhhh!!!) to create some artistic installation piece in their apartment in Taipei. I just like them because we've got placemats that have the same rocks on them - maybe I can use my photos when the others finally get too waterlogged and warped from spills by littlies...

After the beach we had an early dinner at a 'famous' noodle house in town then bought some regional specialities to enjoy once the kids finally fell asleep. We had a nice evening sharing stories and snacks and reminiscing about the past five years in Taipei.

It was still overcast in the morning but we all agreed it was more fun to eat breakfast out on the lawn. What a lovely view, eh?

Helena actually has taken a real liking to Anna Jie over the past few months (good thing as we stayed at Anna's place for a week) so it was fun to see them together.

Some Taiwanese B and B's have a disappointing breakfast, but this place did a really nice waffle and coffee... we did plan ahead though and brought plenty of extra fruit.

And somehow Annie managed to keep her waffle safe from the wandering hands of Tony who was trying to charm the others away from theirs! I wonder where Hunter and Helena get their food snatching habit from??? SO after breakfast we decided to split up for a few hours... Annie wanted to see some of Hualian's natural scenery, but we knew our kids couldn't handle more time in the car before heading home on the train so the ladies dropped us off at...

OCEAN PARK!!!

And we had the BEST day out!!! THIS is vacation!!!

Going to any amusement park on a weekday is really the way to go... we got to see all the shows and ride the rides without any lines or crowds. It was FANTASTIC and the kids both really enjoyed it! And I enjoyed seeing them enjoying themselves so much.

For the first time in our lives we discovered that walruses are actually quite graceful in the water - maybe not well-mannered above, but yeah, they were so quick, strong and graceful - we were impressed.

Check out these pearls!!!

 

Hunter was just big enough to go on the water ride - so Tony took him along and they had a blast! In fact, Tony enjoyed it so much he practically made me do it too... so I went by myself (not sure why Hunter didn't want to go a second time, but hey... I'll take a few minutes by myself when I can)... and it was a pretty fun ride.

Then it was onto the carousel so mei mei could also participate...

once it got going, she lost that bewildered look and wanted to go back again... but we didn't want to miss out on:

THE DOLPHIN SHOW!!!

Yeah, being there on a weekday with fewer people meant we got good seats - but somehow the kids weren't satisfied... they wanted to get in the pool too...

Well, he didn't quite make it into the pool but Hunter was selected as part of the audience participation segment in the show... I think he had to hold a ring so the dolphin could put his nose/snout (what's it called on a dolphin???) through... it took a bit of coaxing but he ended up doing it... what a blast!

After a fun morning out, we re-grouped on the train and headed back toward the big smoke!!!

Enze Jie's i-phone was the saving grace on the train trip home for these tired two...

Thanks, Enze Jie, Anna and Annie for a really fun excursion!

Train Crazed Day Four

Day Four - Tuesday, March 23


With a foreboding weather report slated for the end of the week, we decided to take another adventurous day out early on in their trip. This was a special trip with a train crazy boy in mind... we took the MRT to the train station then hopped on a train headed east to Ruifang where we transferred to another train along a quaint line called the Pingxi Branch Line. So that was already 3 trains... we spent the rest of the afternoon getting on and off trains to look at different sites (well, we actually cut it down to just two stops) - it was a beautiful trip!

We started our trip like everyone else with our lunch boxes on the train! I don't think Dad nor Lynne have ever really done that before... what a kick to eat with chopsticks on a train with no table... they caught on pretty quickly.

We had a few minutes between stops so Helena got a bit of tumbling action in and Tony got in a bit of weight-lifting (though I'm not sure if this exercise is in any of the books).

Little Miss Independent got a bit of time to roam before being strapped back into her stroller... here's a rare moment she actually sat still. She's finally starting to get into books - though she still hasn't really worked out which way is up.

Our first stop was Shifen

It was a quaint township which has been beefed up a bit for tourists lately, but you still knew there was authentic life going on here... it was a cool place and we could've just stayed here all afternoon (if we wanted to just sit back, relax and chat over a coffee - but heck, that's totally over-rated, right?).

We had some fun on the suspension bridge - we actually got to go across two of them and Hunter was fascinated each time...

though from her stroller, little Helena wasn't all that impressed.

Our destination - the Shifen Waterfall!!! It was a beautiful scene before us and a totally man-made tourist park behind, but it was still worth the 30 minute walk along the river to get there. Plus the park was fun for the kids to run around in for a bit after all that train-sitting and path-walking.

We could be anywhere in the world, eh?!? Good thing we were here together in Taiwan! We love sharing 'our' island with the rest of our family.

Tony and I were giving this horse a run for it's money... when was the last time it had to hold xxxkg?? Oh wait, maybe it weighs more than us anyway!

Hunter has become very thoughtful and good at sharing.

Our second/last stop was at the end of the line in Jingtong where we were planning to have dinner at a 'famous' restaurant listed in the Lonely Planet (and although our book is over 5 years old, my friends assured me the info was still accurate), unfortunately, it wasn't listed that the restaurant is closed Monday & Tuesday... so we ended up eating noodles and some other fried food while waiting for the last train. Oops!!!

We didn't mind waiting for the last train because we had planned to send off some sky lanterns - so it was better that it was dark. However, as we were setting up our lanterns, other groups of people were already sending theirs up - with firecrackers attached!!! Well, this sent Helena into a frenzy and she spent the rest of the evening glued to either Tony or myself with her head buried into our necks screaming at high decibels into our ears... she's really become afraid of loud noises in the dark.

But we did manage to send off four lanterns - which was a unique experience for Dad and Lynne and the kids... the sky lanterns really are pretty cool looking.

By the time we got home (after 9pm) we had been on at least 7 trains!!! Not bad for a day out... not bad at all!

And morning and long evening were the fourth day.

Pre-Flight Walk In the Park

Amber had the great idea (and the persistence) to get us all to Irvine Park at some stage while we were together... so finally on the day we left we made it! Both Tony & I agree that this was a great way to 'end' such a busy trip... we got to experience something new in a relaxed setting with our family... yep - I'd recommend this over frantically finishing the shopping/packing anyday!

Grandpa & Hunter were looking for turtles in the pond.

We had a tasty picnic (thanks, Danny & Pearl) which we thought to throw together just as we were leaving the house... good thing we did - there weren't many good options there!

After lunch it was on to the next logical activity - the train ride!!! The wait took longer than the ride itself, but we made good use of the time. Evan's already looking bigger and stronger than when we first met him three weeks ago.

Grandpa totally spoils Hunter... he scored an engineer's cap and a train whistle... looks like we'll be having some fun dress up games back in Taipei!

Evan wasn't all that thrilled about the train ride, but Helena was giving Grandpa a good run for his money! She's a total squirmer!!!

Hunter and his engineer buddy.

Choo-choo

After the train ride we headed over to the zoo...

It may look as if there's nothing worth seeing based on this photo, but actually the zoo had California bears and even a bald eagle!!! That in itself was impressive to me for some reason! But it didn't take long to look through it all... and by that time, we were ready for some air-conditioning!!!

Amber & Jason - the happy new parents!