A shit detective story: aka how being curious about poo led me to discover a fruit I'd never heard of on my most frequently visited hiking trail.

This is one of the weirder things I’ve come across during my trail adventures. I spotted it clinging to the underside of a screw pine leaf on Green Island. It was maybe 3cm in length and cotton-candy-like in texture with a fine layer of pink threads. The internet thinks it is a twig spider egg sac.

Yesterday, I took my parents on another of my favourite Taipei day trips (well, near enough, we did it in reverse but all the ingredients were the same). We started off by taking a train to Shuangxi where we mooched around the old houses, got coffee, green bean cakes and triple peanut shaved ice.

Mudan Elementary School’s Christmas parade.

Green Island ocean stuff.

The Reeves' muntjac is the #forest creature most likely to photobomb other critters in #wildlife cams set up by the #Taiwanese forestry bureau (it shares a frame with a Swinhoe's pheasant below). Also photographed: a family of #Formosan wild boars, a Formosan black bear, Yellow-throated marten trio.

Seen in a smallish temple Chishang: a bouquet of rice in place of the usual lilies.

These trees are quite attached to their vehicular neighbours.

This year’s silvergrass season has definitely arrived. These photos were taken at Sanjiaopu Peak (三角埔頂山), a popular New Taipei silvergrass photography spot, and this week, I’ve also seen photos showing Mount Qixing’s Lengshuikeng Trail, Qingtiangang, and Mount Bangping all covered in fluffy plumes.

Community trail modifications.

A series of errors and non-ideal happenings led to us spending almost an hour waiting in this rural bus stop. The sound of water flowing through the drain and mist-muted lights was much more relaxing than I could have imagined.

The ridgeline behind New Taipei’s Zhonghe District is crisscrossed with a network of trails and one that I’d been interested in exploring for a while was the one that starts from Yuantong Temple. taiwantrailsandtales.com/2025/11/22/y...

Alishan being its usual beautiful self today. (Photo taken on the Shuishan Sacred Tree trail, which has had similarly dramatic light both times I’ve walked it.)

Shop dogs of Fenqihu.

A short (but still steep) Sunday afternoon hike in Ruifang District with a waterfall (the famed Golden Waterfall to be precise) and an abandoned rope/railway.

Last night, we returned to Quanhua Temple in Miaoli. It’s one of several temples in Taiwan that offer accommodation for pilgrims and travellers.

Lots of critters on Qixing Mountain yesterday.

I chose a splendid sunny day to go hiking today, along the Xindian-Maokong portion of Taipei Skyline Trail's first section (not even the whole 1A section but I didn't want to push too much). Once again, every info I needed was on @taiwantrailsandtales.com. taiwantrailsandtales.com/2023/01/28/t...

Pavement snake 🐍

Huye the tiger god’s canine friend is getting in on the incense action.

Lovely sunset from Scissors Rock tonight.

Baby bunny hanging out at FamilyMart.

Snake in a tree. 🐍 A red banded snake (紅斑蛇) to be precise.

Shady hikes are a good call will temperatures in the mid thirties even as we push into September. Here are a couple more cool contenders: Shuangxigou Historic Trail tinyurl.com/bdhe4usp Dongman Trail tinyurl.com/2p5w6jmf Salmon Bat Cave tinyurl.com/3kw2abcw

Observed in a fruit shop, 9:30-9:40 pm. An excitable middle-aged woman is queuing with a monosyllabic husband and a uni-aged daughter. The woman is AMPED to be in a fruit shop (it is a great fruit shop). She flits around from place to place as her family queue for her.

Some cracking paintwork on display here.

Ever wondered how building materials are transported up steep hills? These workers have a ropeway for carrying heavy stuff and seem to be living in dormitories on a nearby rise while their job is underway.

DAGUI WATERFALL RIVER TRACE (大鬼瀑布溯溪) With summer dragging on for a seemingly infinite length of time, there's nothing more appealing than immersing yourself in the nearest body of water and this easy river trace in New Taipei's Ruifang District is a top hot day spot. 🔗 tinyurl.com/4ap6xckp

Moon shadow. 🌖

Water scorpion vs. stick.

A cat’s kingdom.

Dramatic light over Taipei tonight.

With ghost month underway, Keelung’s markets and religious vendors are full of offerings to appease the hungry spirits. In the past, real animals would have been slaughtered, but that practise has been abandoned in favour of symbolic animal offerings. #Taiwan #GhostMonth #Keelung

Pastel pink and blue clouds in the sky above Keelung Islet and a container ship on its way to Keelung Port.

Today, work brought me to Keelung very early. DO-EN Coffee (豆隱咖啡自家烘焙) was the only coffee shop open so early — caffeine and cats to kick start the day.

Tiger God, Huye, sheltering inside a wayside shrine with offerings of coinage and an egg.

Oh how glorious it must feel to be a water buffalo in a muddy puddle on a hot day.

Pineapples and radishes suspended on the wall of a new building in Taipei to express a hope for wealth and good fortune.

Started the day off with a dip in Haixing Ocean Pool. Keelung retirees do not mess around when it comes to their morning exercise. There were scores of them already head g to the showers when we turned up just before 7.

A night heron that got a juicy worm despite not being all that early.

Beautiful evening weather up on Scissors Rock tonight. #taipei

KEELUNG MOUNTAIN NIGHT HIKE (基隆山夜爬) Keelung Mountain (or Mount Keelung, if you prefer), is one of those peaks that I’ve visited several times over the years. It’s also one that I’ve been meaning to get around to as a sunrise/sunset/night hike for the longest time. tinyurl.com/2az5ffph

Last night we stayed in Lingdong Temple (靈洞宮), a huge religious structure high up on a hill in Miaoli. The temple is often used as a base for hikers climbing Shen-Xian Trail, but on this occasion we weren’t there for the hike, just for a short escape from Taipei.

Fushan Botanical Garden sits so deep within the hills of Yilan that it’s actually in New Taipei’s Wulai District. The site has been open to the public since 1993, its 1097.9 hectares, there are gentle trails and plenty of beautiful natural scenery. tinyurl.com/wbkd4act

With its long blue, black and white tail, red beak, and piercing yellow eyes, the Formosan blue magpie is one of the most impressive and recognisable birds in Taiwan. It’s also become something of a mascot, with its image found in murals and artwork all over the place.

Tell me you don’t know what vegetarians eat without telling me you don’t know what vegetarians eat:

I saw someone posting online that the rains have temporarily restored the existence of Xiangtian Lake, so if you want to go hunting for fairies, now is your chance. taiwantrailsandtales.com/2021/09/03/f...

With the weather being all sultry ans unstable, there’s not much adventurous hiking to be done, but I go a bit doolally if cooped up at home too long. So to keep me sane, we came out to this temple which has a whole bunch of badminton rackets to use for anyone who can tolerate the karaoke.

Taipei has a new waterfall.

ERYANPING TEA TRAIL (二延平步道) I finally got around to finishing the write up this pretty tea trail in Chiayi that I hiked with my parents early 2023... where does the time go? It had bamboo groves, mist-covered tea terraces, and that quintessential Taiwan mountain atmosphere. tinyurl.com/5xpm3fp4