Saturday October 26, 2024

This was a much nicer day. I was awake early and had a quick shower. Garlon had told us to help ourselves to breakfast. However, by the time we had both showered and packed our stuff Jean was cutting up fresh dragon fruit and we were chatting again. I had to drag Ralf away. I knew we had another longer day ahead of us and possibly headwinds.

Jean is studying for exams to allow her to work in Australia as a Doctor. We chatted about the Taiwan Health care system which is private, but subsidized by the government.  The doctors and nurses are underpaid due to a complicated system of how much money individual hospitals are making. If the hospital makes money then the staff are paid better than a hospital that doesn’t earn as much money. Good luck with your exams Jean, I wish you could come to Canada, but as we had discussed and her research indicated Canada is not a great option for a practising Doctor. Canada does not make it easy for foreign trained Doctors. Even though we have a shortage of Doctors.

Good luck Jean. Australia will be lucky to have you as a new General Practitioner.

Garlon has cycled the Round Taiwan Route and Jean has cycled sections. They both said this section was boring. All we had to do from leaving their flat (apartment) was to cycle to the coast and then turn left and keep the ocean on the right side. I think we went a little bit further than the Round Taiwan Route indicates because the first 35 kilometres was lovely.  Ralf was using google maps again and it found a lovely route for us.

We were along the coast all the time. Then we followed the Miaoli Bike Route which was a great bike route. It kept us away from Highway 1 for about 35 kms. I said to Ralf if this adds a few kilometres to our day, I don’t care as it was worth it to be away from Highway 1. As most bike paths are, it was a little wiggly, going past sand dunes, crab watching places and forested areas, it was worth it.

This area is a popular fishing and crabbing area.

Eventually we had to cycle along Highway 1. It wasn’t too bad. There was a full width lane for cyclists and motor scooters and if that wasn’t enough a shoulder as well. We were on Highway 1 for about 20 kms. As I was cycling along I agreed with Jean and Garlon this was very boring.

We saw a lot of cyclists out today. The first group were a younger group of teenagers with a variety of bikes. They had a sweep person at the back and as she passed us with a few slow pokes, she said “pleased to meet you”. The younger cyclists that were with her said the same thing, it was really nice.

The second group were a group of roadies that were on a supported ride. All of them were on really nice road bikes but we caught up with them at their end stop which was our lunch stop a 7/11. Typical roadies barely acknowledged us.  After yesterdays ride, we realised we need to eat more often. It takes a while to get back into the routine of being on a touring bike and being on a tour. I look down at my Garmin and think – 20 ks to go that is less than an hour. When you are touring it is 20ks to go that is going to be an hour and a half.

We are following google maps and it took us through some different neighbourhoods to keep us of the busy Highway 1. It was very overcast today, so some of the photos aren’t very clear.

We arrived at our Hostel which was advertised as a Homestay. Which to me meant that it was like a B&B, you would meet the owners and be able to chat. As opposed to a hostel where you generally only meet other tourists. It was a bit basic. I don’t mind hostels, but this was not as inviting as most of the hostels we have stayed in. As the hotels are reasonably priced I think we will stay in hotels.

We went to the local supermarket for dinner and a couple of beers and spotted a lovely temple which we will stop at again before leaving this area tomorrow.

Early night and I will update when we are in Taichung. Tomorrows ride is a relatively short 47 kms.