Taiwan Best Trip : Itinery details and Costing Estimates

TEAM: The Senior Australians
THEME: An Adventure for Older Bikers and Hikers/Kaohsiung and Jade Mountain.
ITINERY:
Day 1. Hire bicycles at True Love Ferry Wharf and ride to Lotus Pond (24.5 km.) See http://tourguide.travelking.com.tw/Kaohsiung/4/. With frequent stops at tourist attractions, (Jhongdu Wetlands, Kaohsiung Hakka Culture Centre, Tower of Light, Heart of the Love River, Dragon and Tiger Towers and a teahouse for Oolong tea) - this will take most of the day. After sunset, take a cruise on the Love Boat and visit a night market where we eat and buy provisions for the next 3 days. Later we meet Mark from Blue Skies Adventures (www.blueskiesadventures.com.tw) who will have organised our permits and passes to hike in the mountains. He will take us by car to the trail head of the mountain track (altitude 2600m). Sleep in a tent.
Day 2: This will be a fairly leisurely hike of 8.5km to Pai Yun Lodge (altitude 3400m). We stay in this lodge again at the end of Day 3. See the blueskies adventures website for photographs of the lodge. We will make this day as simple as possible, giving our bodies time to adjust to the altitude.
Day 3: Young and enthusiastic walkers get up early in order to reach the summit of Yushan , also known as Jade Mountain, (altitude 3952m) for sunrise. However, we will go at a much slower pace, planning to reach the summit by noon and returning to Pai Yun Lodge by late afternoon. The return trip will be 5.0km with a climb of 552m. If we are experiencing extreme weather conditions, low level walks will replace the trip to the summit.
Day 4: Return to the trail head and Mark will drive us to Dung Pu where there are hot springs. We will have time for some warm relaxation in the thermal pools. This is on the road to Sun Moon Lake and we have quick look around there before driving back to Kaohsiung. To celebrate the adventure, a banquet at a fine waterfront restaurant is planned.
COSTING:
(All amounts are estimates only and are quoted in Taiwan Dollars.)
Day1: Bicycle hire, Café breaks, boat cruise and night market: $1,200 per person.
Day2: (including transport to and from the mountain, permits, hire of camping equipment, insurance and guide fees for 3 days) $4,800 per person. Additional to that is the lodge accommodation of $300 per person. Note: There will be other tourists with us for the mountain section of the itinery and this has helped to reduce the per person cost.
Day3: Lodge accommodation, $300 pp.
Day4: Outdoor thermal pool $200 pp, meal at Sun Moon Lake $250 pp, banquet on return to Kaohsiung $700 pp.
This costing has been based on a 4day/3night itinery. If it is changed to a 4day/5night plan with two nights accommodation at the Zhong-xin hotel, and additional cost of $1,000 per person should be added.

Thge two pictures and two video clips below were taken on a the Geelong Bushwalking Club walk in the Brisbane Range (Sutherlands Creek) which was led by Joe and Beth Gilks on Thursday 4th June 2009,

Historic Bendigo - our two day holiday

We have just returned from a very enjoyable two day visit to Bendigo in Central Victoria. Using bus and train got us there by midmorning, so we walked (with packs on our backs) admiring the old buildings and the Deborah Mine. We were lucky enough to find that the Archibald Portait exhibition was visiting the Bendigo Art Gallery, so more than an hour was spent there. The YHA backpackers is quite central and inexpensive so that was where we stayed the night. Here are som pictures

Photos from our walking holiday in Spain

Passing through quaint old villages

On the outskirts of Santiago

Walking through eucalyptus forest. Like being at home.

Another village with narrow streets and a church

One of the old hospitals used by the early pilgrims

About Us

We think that it might be a good idea to give the answer to the question that we are asked the most. That question is "Why do you keep on walking now that you are both aged in your seventies?"
We are fortunate that we both have good health. Not entirely fortunate, because we have always believed in eating good food and exercising as much as possible. We eat a lot of vegetables, small portions of lean meat and fat reduced products like skim milk. We only use the car to travel to places which are too far to reach on foot. We believe that a 30 minute walk is so much better for you than a 5 minute drive. When we were both working, one of us was able to ride a bike to work, the distance being about 4km. So 8km. a day, 5 days a week was a pretty good start to keeping weight under control and giving the heart and lungs a good work out. Most Sundays we would go for a long bike ride together - not rushing, but slow enough to let us enjoy the scenery.
There was a time when we were both into jogging, but we found that this was leading to problems with our knees.
There are many places in the world which hold a fascination for us and taking walking holidays is, we believe, one of the best ways of seeing the world and meeting its people. So, instead of answering the question, why do we walk, we are inclined to turn it around and say, WHY SHOULD WE STOP.

Australian Pictures

Our son Alex was with us on Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland.

Kangaroo on Maria Island, Tasmania

Beth and daughter-in-law Fay in the Victorian Alps

Snake crossing our path in Western Australia

Beth in the Purnululu National Park,Northern Territory

With 3 other Geelong Bushwalking members, Lerderderg Gorge, Victoria

Wombat with baby hiding between its mother's legs

Australian animals encountered in the bush

Koala