Once again, I'm a day behind.  Maybe today I will have enough time to fix that before we head off on the road for two weeks.

Yesterday we visited Yehliu GeoPark, which is a site preserved because of its unique sandstone formations and other geological features. The most famous formation is called Queen's Head, and it is easy to see why.

One of my favorite formations was the candle rocks.  These rocks have a compressed core that is harder than the surrounding rock, so through differential weathering, the wick is left in the center of a worn away circle.

The formation on the left is called fairy shoe.

It was pretty sunny and hot on the rocks, which seems unusual to me now since it has been cloudy or covered in most of the places we have visited so far.  Nevertheless, I had some of the most fun I've had here hiking out on the rocks along the sea with Corinne and Jenny.  We were the only ones to make it all the way out to the end of the peninsula.  The main part of the park with the sidewalks was covered in people, but out on the rocks toward the end of the park we only saw a few fishermen.  It was so nice to be able to escape the crowds and clamber down along the shore.  I got sunburned on my shoulders, chest and the back of my neck, but I don't regret going at all.

 After visiting the geopark, we went to the Fisheries Research Institute.  We just got to see a museum of models of fishing nets and ships, a small aquarium, and some preserved fish specimens.  Some of the live and preserved fish were cool, but I didn't think the FRI was as exciting as a lot of the other places we have visited.  I would have liked to see some of their actual aquaculture pools or something.

Blood Parrot Fish: Reminds me my grandparents

The other important thing we did yesterday was our lunch.  Instead of having the usual boxed lunch, we went to a seafood restaurant and ate a Chinese round table meal (which involved ten different dishes!) My favorites from the meal were boiled crab, fried fish, and miso soup.  I was surprised to find that the squid was actually good too.  It was served in a dark, herbed sauce with a platter of carrots and zucchini (or cucumber, I couldn't decide for sure which it was).  I didn't expect to like it, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The texture was a little bit more rubbery than what I am used to, but it wasn't bad.