Yet another weekend in...

Xiao Liu Qiu!!

How many times have I been here?!! Four, five? I don't know, but what I do know is that I still really like it. This trip is from November of last year, but only just got round to posting it.
This time I was accompanied by Lee and Natalia, which made the trip a lot more interesting as English, Chinese and Spanish were being spoken throughout the weekend.

Lee and Natalia
























A fisherman had just brought in his load from the sea, so we took a peak to see what he had. He had quite a range of tropical fish, and also this fish with a long beak/nose which I have never seen before.








He also caught a very long and still breathing eel.








A flower that only blooms at night

Another weekend on Xiao Liu Qiu

This is my third time to the island

There is definitely something about this little island that keeps bringing me back, it is becoming one of my favourite places in Taiwan. It is my third time to the island and on this occasion I was joined by Adrian, Andrea and Leza.

At first glance Xiao Liu Qiu just seems like a pretty little island with nice views, clean beaches and some odd attractions (and just for those reasons it is worth coming). And that is the most common impression I have found people have when I have asked around. However, there is just so much more going on here. All you have to do is dip your head in the water and you will see some great marine life. Just by walking two metres into the shore we spotted a huge sea snake/eel. We are not too sure as to what it was as we were to scared to get a good close up of it.

From my last trip here, we met a guide who has kayaks and could take us around the island to check out some of the better snorkelling areas. But as we were rushed that time, we didn’t really go that far. So this time I really wanted to get a few hours of kayaking around. As it turned out, we didn’t go that far this time either, but not because we didn’t try, it was just that the tide was too strong. Every time we jumped out of the kayaks to snorkel, the tide just kept pulling us back. However, (and this is the main reason why I like this island so much) we did spot sea turtles swimming beneath us!!! It is just such a rush being able to see them metres away. I think we spotted five in total which our guide thought was extremely lucky.

Judging by the photos, it doesn’t seem we did much, but that is mainly because we spent a lot of the time in the water. I just wish I could have gotten my hands on an underwater camera!!

Leaving Dong Gang port. And a couple of shots on the ferry









A great coral beach.
















It was around this shoreline we spotted the sea snake/eel.


















After going kayaking, the only thing we were in the mood for was lying down and resting.

The last photo of the day before the scooter ride home. (Andrea, Adrian, Leza and me)

Next blog, cycling the east coast.

Xiao Liu Qiu

Summer is coming so that means longer days and and great weather to go and about during the weekends.
So off I went with a group of friends to the island of Xialiuqui. I have been there before, but that was in winter, so now that it was summer, everything looked new and green.

We did not do much in terms of sightseeing as we spent a lot of the time down at the beach snorkeling. Saw lots of cool fish and a sea snake. But the highlight was rowing a kayak along the sea and spotting a sea turtle a few metres up ahead.

At night, we had a great barbecue and then, the owners of the cabin site invited us to write on and release a sky lantern. Sky lanterns are really popular here, they are huge lanters on which you write a wish on. Then, when they are lit up with fire, they float up into the sky.

Getting on the ferry









































The cabins in which we stayed in

























I am one of those black heads in the water!









A storm was coming


















Sky lanterns

























2 large beds for 6 people!