Travel (Outside of Canada)

Green Island is located east of Taitung, Taiwan. It is quite small, but it is also a perfect destination to enjoy for a day. I visited it during the summer time with my classmates. Two classmates grew up in this local place. We had a total of ten people join this summer trip together. At first, we took the train about three hours from Kaohsiung city to Taitung. Then, we chose a fifty-minute ferry ride due to the cheaper price than a twelve-minute flight ticket. As soon as we got off the ferry, we walked on the street to our classmates’ sweet home.

The next day, we rode on scooters to explore around the island for an hour. This way all the beautiful attractions breezed into our eyes. We saw the Lyudao Lighthouse which is the most beautiful landmark in Green Island. The whole area was built in white for displaying the peaceful skyline. Not too far away from the lighthouse, there is a short trail called Little Great Wall. We took a walk to the top to view this whole island. Nearby, we also saw the Sleeping Beauty Rock. The shape of the rock really looks like a lady who is sleeping on the seashore.

On second day, we wanted to go diving to see the most excellent sea creatures like tropical fishes and coral reefs. We enjoyed our daytime for swimming along with the fishes and diving into the sea. We also learned how to drive a small boat to see beautiful coral reefs in different places. After that, we saw a hot spring spot. The Green Island has the best hot spring, Jhaorich Saltwater Hot Spring, in Taiwan. In the world, there are three places where saltwater hot springs can be found: Japan, Italy, and Taiwan. It is a very serious hot hot hot spring water where the saltwater comes from the sea instead of underground. We decided to come back to this place during the midnight so we will see the clear galaxy and stars in the sky.

The last day, we visited classmates’ friends and families so we ate at the local restaurant. The restaurant was owned by my classmate’s family so we had a wonderful time eating local homemade food. Because we had to catch our ferry schedule, we had to rush on the way to ferry. Our classmates had a wonderful memory during this summer and we always remember it.

Nowadays, the Green Island is more touristy than natural scenery. The hot spring spot is full of people and trash around. The tropical fish and coral reefs have been reduced due to the water pollution. The transportation has increased because of the needs of tourists and the government is over advertising the Green Island for business. However, those developments have improved the local people's income and life. Young people can find a job on the island and don't need to leave the island for other places to get jobs. Older people can have more activities for enjoying their life. I have been in love with this beautiful island and the magic of nature so I hope it will stay in the good condition. As we take advantages of the nature, we should try to keep the balance between humans and resources.