April 9, 2024
April 9th
Xiuliu Island on ebikes
My daughter (Ruby) and her two boys arrived in Taiwan on Friday night and after a couple of days of gradually adjusting their body clocks, the four of us take a four-hour train journey south to Kaohsiung on Monday morning, then ride in a taxi for an hour and catch a ferry from Donggang over to a small island called Liuxiu, which is pronounced Leo-cho. It's just off Taiwan's southwest coast. It feels like quite a trek and by the time we walk into the lobby of our small hotel, the day has basically gone.
Around five we take a stroll around the harbour and the boys end up swimming in their underwear at the beach at Vase Rock, a popular spot for Instagrammers.
The plan is to stay three here nights and rent two e-tandems to see the sights.
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On Tuesday, after breakfast in a 7-Eleven, we stroll to one ebike rental place that I spotted on Google Maps. It's only about 10 minutes' away. The forty-something owner doesn't speak any English, but he's friendly enough and uses a translation app on his phone to let us know the two chunky ebike tandems he has are available and offers each at NT$400 a day - £10, or less than US$13. The ferry linking the island to Taiwan proper is a passenger one and most visitors who arrive rent motorscooters - the preferred mode of transport of Taiwanese.
Our tandems have large batteries strapped below the front seats and there's a throttle that gives them a decent speed of over 20km/hr, but they weigh a ton and are not the kind of thing you would want to try to lug up some steps. The rental guy says that we have to return the tandems before 5:30 and it's already gone 11 0'clock. Time's awasting and we pedal off with a few wobbles as the excited boys twist and turn on the back.
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The island's shoreline measures about 12km. As I said, it's a small place. A few years ago I visited, that time bringing my own bike on the ferry, so I've a pretty good idea what it's like. With there there being few four-wheel vehicles and the boys being young (nine and 11), this seemed the best place for them to ride safely. And there are some nice beaches tucked away.
Instead of going along the coastal road, I soon realise we've taken a wrong turn and are heading straight down the middle of the island. Not to worry, we do a U-turn and find the right route, which starts with a climb. In fact the coastal road undulates and it's just as well these hefty tandems are electic. Even though the inclines are very short, several are quite steep.
After a couple of kilometres we reach a place where for a small fee you gain entrance to a winding path that leads down to a rock-fringed beach. The water is clear and is too tempting to resist, at least for Oscar and myself, with yellow and black stripped fish hovering around us as we wallow around in the calm water. It's like being in an aquarium. Charlie decides to stay dry.
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There's another small beach near a temple complex, adjacent to a harbour full of small fishing boats, and we decide to take a look. About 20 novice divers in wet suits are warming up on the crescent of sand, stretching muscles and listening to their leader ass we make our way to some jagged rock formations where fish swim around in shallow rock pools.
We ride around the island's southern tip and it's not far to Secret Beach, which isn't much of a secret. Here, grity sand gentle slopes into the warm water and we sit and get splashed by small waves that crash over the adjacent rocks, many of which are fossilized coral.
A procession of snorkellers and wet-suited divers come and go before we decide to pedal back at gone four. There's one last climb to do and Oscar and I have to get off and push it's that steep. We tell the rental guy we'll be back tomorrow, hopefully a bit earlier.
Today's ride: 12 km (7 miles)
Total: 3,807 km (2,364 miles)
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