OK -one more blog update -Taiwan!

11/7/14

Taiwan is so beautiful I just have to do one more blog update - no Earthcruiser here, but "Formosa"= "beautiful" and we can vouch that it s so! 

First Taipei. We didn't want to spend too much time in the city, but "Taipei 101" was a "must see". It was once the tallest building in the world, but now is number three. It boasts the fastest elevator in the world. The view from the top is certainly breathtaking! 

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But another aspect fascinated me more than the view. That was the jade carvings and the red coral carvings. 

Jade is mined in Taiwan, and the red coral comes from the waters around here. The beauty is astounding, as are the prices! Some of the carvings were for sale at millions of dollars! But it staggers belief that some of these red corals which are obviously very old, are still traded despite being endangered! But the carving skill is also astounding! 

 ~AU $ 1,000,000 (6+kgs red coral). 

  ~AU$7,000,000! (Yes 7million!) (11 kgs red coral) 

I'm sure red coral jewellery is available in Australia for a fraction of the cost, but I also understand that there are fake red coral pieces..... To think that I have seen red corals washed up on beaches and didn't keep them for polishing! 

On day 2 we caught a train out of the city to the Marble Gorge (Toroko Gorge) where Taiwan Jade is found. This jade is multicoloured. In fact the colours are so bright that you would be excused for thinking it was dyed! But pieces such as urns were selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Whew!

We booked in to Taroko Lodge. What we didn't  realise was that this lodge specialises in bike tours of the gorge. "It's all downhill" I was told. "Boy are you in for a treat"! "Must do". So I who have not been on a bike for 20+ years was convinced to try it! 

 I actually was not sorry, despite a sore bum by the end of the 25kms, and walking a further ~10km.

Toroko gorge is to be seen to be believed! There are HUGE cliffs above DEEP gorges (hundreds of meters high). There is a river flowing through MARBLE boulders. Mountains are clothed in clouds. Budhist and Confucian temples appear on the cliffs, with narrow walkways and suspension bridges as access. 

The owner of Taroko lodge supplies the bikes and the transport to the top of the gorge, and pickup in the afternoon. We spent about 8 hours exploring the gorge. It was very hot. In the late afternoon tourist buses were coming back down the gorge making the bike trip very hair-raising! But it was certainly a great experience and certainly memorable. It was a treat for sure! 

Next day we hired a car from Hualien town. This was far less stressful for Joe (driving) than hiring in Taipei would have been (did I mention the taxi driver travelling at 137kmph on the freeway in Taipei?)

So up into the mountains we went on the cross island highway.

   This is our track. Those wriggly lines really were that wriggly - and narrow, with lots of backing up when we encountered vehicles coming the other way! 

We finally stopped at a hotel at over 3150m elevation (Song Syue Lodge-Taiwan's highest hotel)! We all imagined we had mild symptoms of altitude sickness, but it was probably just suggestibility, given that the hotel had oxygen cylinders about the corridors! However by bed time we were convinced that it was real -albeit mild. 

Next day we toured the mountain roads, including a pass at 3284m. The windy roads became familiar, and Joe was driving like a native Taiwanese. 

We returned via the Marble Gorge again and it was just as spectacular as before. 

We are off to KL tomorrow enroute to Cambodia to visit my brother and sister-in-law and their extended family. We are looking forward to seeing them all again! 

So no more blogging until we restart our Earthcruiser adventures in about September.  

Lake Akan

2/7/14

We have come along the coast in a South-westerly direction from Shirotoko peninsular. The coast here is mostly flat and not too visually appealing, except for the occasional gem. 

Then we turned inland towards Lake Akan. On the way we stopped at Mashuko Lake which was in the clouds when we passed by here the first time. Today's view was much better, and well worth having a second look. There is no access to the lake other than viewing platforms on the crater rim. It is said to have the purest water in Hokkaido.

Zef hadn't seen an active volcano so we stopped at the sulphurous fumeroles of Mt. Lo (Akan).

The view from the JR tower in Saporro on our last night in Hokkaido. We are now off to Taiwan without the Earthcruiser. 

Matilda has been left in Furano with friends, but she is not well. The transfer case leak recurred again and now we hear that the problem is thought to be a transfer case manufacturing fault, which allows the seal to move and become damaged. This is estimated to potentially cost us AU$5000! The vehicle has done only 25,000 km and so would ordinarily be covered by Fuso warranty in Australia. But unfortunately the warranty is a "back to base" warranty -so we are not covered outside Australua. What's more Fuso Japan also will not cover the warranty (despite their own mechanic making the diagnosis of the problem). They say it is Australian Fuso's problem.

We ran out of time to solve the issue, so after we get home we will talk to Fuso and a consumer protection body to see whether we have any recourse! 

However we did manage one win -our Qld vehicle registration renewal can be done with the Japanese inspection certificate, which has been approved by inspectors in Qld. This was not before significant problems though. The Japanese did not accept the Earthcruiser modification to the wheel attachments, which left a space between the wheel and the brake drums. The attachment bolts sat proud of the wheel by about 3mm. The Japanese mechanics said it was not safe and insisted on replacing the bolts with new bolts which had been machined to sit flush with the wheel, leaving no space between the wheels and the drums. Not cheap! 

I will stop this blog now and resume when we return to Japan in mid September. 

Shiroto National Park -again.

1/7/14

After we left Asahikawa we headed for Monbetsu on the Okhotsk Sea. This is where the sea ice collects on the coast. We visited the cold simulation room, where the temperature is -20 degrees C. I tried out my snow jacket to see whether it will be enough in Siberian temperatures (summer) next year. And yes it will be fine. 

Also here are the underwater aquarium, (actually just an aquarium, but maybe better when the sea ice is in. 

The seal hospital is great value. Here they rehabilitate seals which have been injured by the sea ice, ans release them back to the ocean. In the meantime they are allowed to entertain tourists, even to the extent of being patted. 

In Utoro we did the short version of the boat trip. Again I recommend the boat trips. Last time we saw wild bears, but this time we saw white tailed sea eagles close up. One had just killed a cormorant and was squabbling with another eagle over the carcass. It was fabulous to watch. Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo. 

We then went up to the rotemburro which we enjoyed with Staurt and Nira. This time there were people there wearing shorts! So we did likewise. I must say it is not nearly as nice an experience if you are dressed! 

Leaving the onsen we saw a wild bear! He was a half-grown youngster, but he was only three meters from us! He didn't stay long, shuffling off into the bush. What a thrill that was! A wild bear! We reported the encounter to the Nature Centre as requested, especially since he was not far from the onsen. Unfortunately we were all so excited we didn't get a photo. 

 But we did get a photo of this stag with his great antlers and his doe. 

This time decided to camp at the Shirotoko Pass. This place was in the clouds as it was last time we were here. It made for interesting camping, although the view camp me a pond went. 

Moving off to the south east side of the peninsula we started to see the Russian occupied Japanese Kurile Islands, which are as close as 6 km from the Japanese coast! These islands were occupied by the Russians within days after the Japanese surrender in WW2. This causes consternation in Japan still and there has never been a declaration of peace between the 2 nations.