14 January

Winter hasn't arrived yet, the air is cool and the days are full of soft sunshine and pale blue sky. There’s an absence of the plethora of insects of the summer months. It feels like the island is resting.

15 January

Drawn to my rooftop, I watch the pinks of a gentle sunset over Lin Fa Shan. The mountain is already in the dark of night but colour still
infuses the sky.

20 January

Silvermine Bay looks aptly named today, all is silver. The sea is calm
but there is still the sense of the pulse of the ocean in it. The tides
and currents move the waters gently.

25 January

Running along the coast, I come to the fields at Shap Long where the buffalo love to rest. There they are together and content in the winter sunshine. The grass is dry, there hasn’t been rain for days.

28 January

My sister Jenneth is visiting us and we are in Tai O today. It’s cold.
We eat hot roasted pineapple on the blue bridge spanning the main canal of the fishing village. The cooking has released the juice and it drips uncontrollably as we bend over to avoid getting it on our jackets. It’s delicious.

We get on the boat for a tour of the village and then out into the bay with the possibility of seeing pink dolphins. They are actually called the Chinese White Dolphin, but the adult dolphins look bubblegum pink. I haven’t ever seen the bay so choppy and we feel
apprehensive but the captain knows better and only takes us to the
mouth of the harbour.

Walking through the village, we see the dried fish and shellfish and
smell the scents of food cooking. I love the pink bamboo that I notice in someone's garden.

We sit in the hotel overlooking the bay. It used to be the old police
station where pirates and smugglers were plotted against back in the day. We sip warming coffee and watch the Black kites wheeling in the thermals.

29 January

Winter has arrived now, with frigid winds blowing from the interior of China. The winds bring tales of snow and freezing, icy days. It’s
impossible to get warm. The winds draw out all the warmth from the
rooms and they feel fridge-like. The heaters get hauled out and we
walk around in umpteen layers of clothes, hats, scarves and gloves.