pulau ubin’s chek jawa wetlands

The few tourists on the island rented bikes. But when I biked around Taiwan’s Taitung, I had to watch the road, and missed some of the sights. So I hiked to Chex Jawa Wetlands’ boardwalk, and was rewarded with spotting butterflies, but not so lucky to discover a wild boar glaring at me through the forest.

Donghai Wetland park

Right on the coast in Taitung, Donghai Wetland was so close to where I was staying that I headed over the highway while almost gale force winds roared in off the Pacific Ocean. Waves crashed on to the pebbly beach by this small marshy region.

Taitung’s wetlands

Complementary bicycles were available at the place I stayed at in Taitung, so I took full advantage and cycled towards Taitung’s Forest Park. I passed the fifth person in Taiwan I’d seen peeing at the side of the road — two had been women!

A reserve that should have been preserved

When I caught a train to Tamsui, my eyes followed a trail running parallel to the tracks that continued all the way to the last MRT station. On the journey I spotted so many pieces of garbage it seemed like someone had tipped a box of never-ending litter along the route.

UBC’s Botanical Gardens’ North Gardens

A group of university students rushed ahead of me leaving the Asian gardens. They turned into the tunnel that went under South West Marine Drive to the North Garden.

Fresh water turtle hike

Within Turtle Swamp Wetlands, there was a wide trail amongst Australia’s best vegetation. If I’d visited in the spring, the ground would have been covered in wildflowers. But when I arrived on Russell Island, it was winter, or at least that’s what the locals thought a twenty-three degree day was.

Turtle Swamp Wetlands

While trees were being bulldozed to build more houses, Russell Island’s Turtle Swamp Wetland was preserved. This was a place to soak up the beautiful squiggly bark gum trees, grass trees and paper barks.

Drifting across the straight

While I wandered through Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on the north side of Singapore Island, I kept seeing highrise buildings and hearing droning traffic in the distance.

Sungei Buloh Wetlands’ Coastal Trail

There were silver fish cutting up the water in the tidal ponds, but it was hard to discover what kind they were. Along the Coastal Trail when I peered into the water past Kingfisher Pond, a whole other world opened up. A variety of creatures intertwined and swam in a maze like world.

Creatures of Sungei Buloh Wetlands

I may have been on edge about crocodiles while I walked through Singapore’s northern wetlands, but the sight of a huge lizard didn’t make me relax either.