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The Lighthouse

The Eluanbi Lighthouse was originally built by the British with the consent of China as a result of frequent wrecks off the coast and had to be fortified against Aboriginal raids.  During the war with Japan in 1898, that resulted in Taiwan becoming a Japanese colony, it was damaged then rebuilt by the Japanese. During the Formosa Air Battle in 1944 it was again seriously damaged by US bombing before being rebuilt in 1962 as a conical concrete structure and is now among the brightest on the coast: ‘The Light of East Asia’.

 

 

Nearby there is a beach and a bizarre bridge to a small island frequented by local tourists and holiday makers.

 

 

 

The scenery coastal in this area is quite spectacular and for much of the remainder of our tour we were to travel along the eastern shore with one spectacular view after another.

 

 

Continuing up the east coast in the morning we encountered some limestone caves that in eastern style had been usurped by religion as places of significance.  I mistook the name of one for Yoni – it was something similar - that I presume had something to do with its appearance.

 

 

But the complex provided a much needed ‘rest stop’, so it was appropriate. 

Close by there was a beach adjoing a giant fish farm, nevertheless enjoyed by the locals, and a bit further on we stopped at a 'marble carving factory' near the river below to see if we would like to buy very heavy Disney characters.

 

More beaches were to be visited along the coast.  

 

 

All very stony and some quite dangerous.

 

Going to the beach Taiwan style - we were told that many people can't swim

 

We had only one remaining overnight stay before returning to Taipei.   

 

 

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Travel

Ireland

 

 

 

 

In October 2018 we travelled to Ireland. Later we would go on to England (the south coast and London) before travelling overland (and underwater) by rail to Belgium and then on to Berlin to visit our grandchildren there. 

The island of Ireland is not very big, about a quarter as large again as Tasmania, with a population not much bigger than Sydney (4.75 million in the Republic of Ireland with another 1.85 million in Northern Ireland).  So it's mainly rural and not very densely populated. 

It was unusually warm for October in Europe, including Germany, and Ireland is a very pleasant part of the world, not unlike Tasmania, and in many ways familiar, due to a shared language and culture.

Read more: Ireland

Fiction, Recollections & News

Julian Assange’s Endgame

A facebook friend has sent me this link 'Want to Know Julian Assange’s Endgame? He Told You a Decade Ago' (by Andy Greenberg, that appeared in WIRED in Oct 2016) and I couldn't resist bringing it to your attention.

To read it click on this image from the article:

 
Image (cropped): MARK CHEW/FAIRFAX MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES

 

Assange is an Australian who has already featured in several articles on this website:

Read more: Julian Assange’s Endgame

Opinions and Philosophy

World Population – again and again

 

 

David Attenborough hit the headlines yet again in 15 May 2009 with an opinion piece in New Scientist. This is a quotation:

 

‘He has become a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, a think tank on population growth and environment with a scary website showing the global population as it grows. "For the past 20 years I've never had any doubt that the source of the Earth's ills is overpopulation. I can't go on saying this sort of thing and then fail to put my head above the parapet."

 

There are nearly three times as many people on the planet as when Attenborough started making television programmes in the 1950s - a fact that has convinced him that if we don't find a solution to our population problems, nature will:
"Other horrible factors will come along and fix it, like mass starvation."

 

Bob Hawke said something similar on the program Elders with Andrew Denton:

 

Read more: World Population – again and again

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