Stella My Bella

Stella, by the way, is my motorcycle. She did it again. 4 hours to Jia Le Shuei and back, through the mountain and all with no problem. She looked like a pack horse on the way down. I took a tent, sleeping bag, yoga mag for the ground, hammock, boogie board, fins, clothes, pillow, pot to boil water, peanut butter, CSET study guide, ipod, etc. Looking back I don't know how I did it.
This trip has been planned for monthes, with the details changing every few days. Thursday, the day my friend and I were set to leave, it was raining. So my friend bailed. I wasn't going to let a little rain and cold stop me. I put on 5 layers and my rain gear (I look like the marshmellow guy). Loaded up and headed out by myself. 20 minutes in the sun came out made the trip enjoyable the rest of the way down. I was so excited that it was sunny and there was a perfect camping spot under some palm trees with a place to hang my hammock. I only wished I brought my surf board instead of my boogie board. But who knew it was going to be so nice. I unpacked in record time, changed and went boogie boarding. The waves were good size with a strong off shore wind. Every time you go to take off it was like a waterfall in your face. I got plenty of laughs from the locals, but I didn't care. I was just stoked to be in the water and offically on vacation.
After a shower at a nearby hostel I headed to the closest town, about 20 minutes away for dinner. There is a foriegn owned surf bar and grill with hamburger and fries (last time was when I was home last summer.) With a full belly I walked around collecting some provisions for the next few days and headed back to camp.
Friday, I woke up early at decieded to try the flint I bought last year. I collected fire wood from the beach and palm husk. After two tries I had a roaring fire. YAHOO! (Now I am seriously trying out for Survivor!) I boiled water for oatmeal and used a french press to make some coffee. I snuggled with my sleeping bag in my hammock and read for a while, while I waited for my friend to arrive. Next we went for a hike to the 7 waterfalls (In the pictures)and back in the afternoon for a evening surfing session. It was so much fun. Some of the bigger waves that I have caught in a while. 3 more friends showed up that night and we went back into town for dinner.
Saturday, we had breakfast with a Taiwanese family camping next to us and then headed over the West side of the island (Taiwan) for an afternoon surf session. The waves were smaller which was good for my friend to learn how to surf. After that we headed to one of the best places to snorkel. Right off the bat we saw a Morrey eel. So cool. I was so much fun. The boys are really good at free diving and so it was fun to watch them. On my way back in I saw a sea snake (one of the most posionious in the world) so I was offically finished. It was a cold drive back to camp. Showered while the boys surfed (they never stopped). Then headed into Kenting (tourist town) for dinner and siteseeing. It was crazy evening full of fun and laughter. (I think we all got a little too much sun that day.)
Sunday, was a lazy morning of we should pack and get on the road but with noone actually moving or motivated to leave. Somewhere around 11:00 we got our stuff together, I put alot of my stuff in my friend's van to take back thankfully, and headed home.
It was only for days, but it felt like a month. I had fun, reguardless of the hard ground, cold weather and constant fireworks. Here is a few pictures to go along with our adventure.