Yangmingshan National Park

We set out on Monday to have another day out, this time to Yangmingshan National Park, which is in New Taipei City. The National Park is centered on an area created by volcanic activity about 800,000 years ago. Getting there was relatively simple; metro to Jiantan station (about 5 stations north) then a bus to the park bus station. When we got off the metro and found the bus stop there was a long queue, split into two queues with a bloke there to make sure people flowed onto the bus nicely.

Because the bus route starts at that stop the bus was empty when it pulled up, but that changed. We had to stand until we got to the Chinese Culture University, where almost everyone got off. Also, because the bus was so full, we didn’t stop to pick up more people which made the ride much quicker than we expected.

Once at the park bus station and having bought our day passes for the shuttle bus, we decided to do the short bush walk to the visitor centre. The centre was very nice, with great displays about the geological history of the area and the flora and fauna in the park. The signs were all in Chinese and English, which made it even better.

Having spent some time enjoying that, we walked out to the bus stop to get a ride to the fumaroles. As we were approaching the bus stop we saw a shuttle bus drive by; it was full with several people standing. The buses were small, and couldn’t take many people. So we waited for the next bus, figuring that would have space. No. That was full too. Apparently the drivers don’t communicate with base to tell them there are people waiting, the next bus was also full. We were now a tad irritated and decided to walk back to the bus station to get the bus.

When we got there we joined the queue and waited. Another bus arrived and loaded up, but this time they seem to have got the message and it didn’t fill up completely. This, after walking to make sure we got on the bus, was frustrating, to say the least. Twenty minutes later we got on a bus. We had now been in the park for 2½ hours before getting on a bus.

Once on our way it was all good. We got off at the correct stop, due to the driver announcing the stops in English, and because we had a photo of a map. A lot of people got off the bus to see the fumaroles and/or to do the hike that started there up the mountain (it was too hot for us to do that), so we figured we would have no problem getting back on.

First we could hear one of the fumaroles; the familiar roar of air and steam escaping through a hole in the ground. Then we could smell the sulphur, and lastly we could see them. It reminded us of Rotorua. It was only a small active area, but quite nice and worth a look, especially for those who hadn’t seen such a thing before.

We didn’t stay long, as the buses run about 20 minutes apart and we didn’t want to spend 40 minutes there. Having secured our seats on the next bus we continued through the park intending to get off at a particular stop. However, this driver didn’t announce the stops and the electronic sign in the bus was broken, so we missed it. So we got off at the next stop and went for a walk to see a swing bridge. Having traversed that, we walked on to see a small pond. This area, and the bridge, were popular for wedding photos; we saw a few couples there with photographer and assistants having their photos taken (after walking past the “Keep Off The Grass” sign to do so).

Continuing past there we were now walking to a waterfall, with a brief stop at a lookout. Past the lookout we walked through grass taller than us, then into the bush. It was pleasantly cool in the bush and we followed the trail up and down stairs, and along the flat. We could hear the stream below us, which always makes a bush walk more pleasant. Eventually we came to the waterfall, which was nice, and we carried on the path rather than turn back. We came to the road and then had to figure out where the nearest shuttle bus stop was. It was just down the road. We sat there in the shade and had some lunch whilst waiting for the bus.

We rode that bus back to the bus terminal, where we boarded the bus back to town. But the bus we rode on had lots of soft toys hanging from the ceiling, and two large ones sitting on the back seat. We wanted to ask the driver about it but didn’t do so when we were moving, and once we left the university the bus was too full to get near the front. We are still curious but I guess we will never know the story behind the toys. But they made for a nice bus ride.

The day started out hot and sunny, but the cloud came over and it cooled down nicely. The shuttle bus situation left us feeling frustrated but once we got to the walks we enjoyed the park.

As I was writing this we felt a small earthquake, another reminder of home. Not that we feel many earthquakes in Auckland, but where I grew up they were fairly routine.

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