Three Days in Hualien, Part 3 — The Ocean Park

August 25, 2011 — Three Days in Hualien, Part 3: The Ocean Park

The blazing midday sun in summer was simply too much, so our strategy was to spend the morning playing at the hotel and head out in the afternoon. The downside was that we missed one of the sea lion shows ~.~

To be honest, the park's mascot costumes weren't exactly attractive @.@'"

A child posing with a park mascot near the entrance — The park mascot gave the adults something to tease almost immediately.

But kids are wonderfully uncomplicated. They love just about anything ^.^

A happy child interacting with a park character — The adults questioned the design; the child was delighted anyway.

Even though we entered after 2:30 p.m., it was still unbearably hot ~.~ Our first stop was Adventure Island, where we could hide from the heat and enjoy the air conditioning.

The family entering the Adventure Island indoor exhibit — It was still scorching after 2:30, so Adventure Island became our first refuge.

After wandering past the marine exhibits, we checked the schedule and found that we were just in time for the presentation and diver-feeding show.

The aquarium viewing area before the diver-feeding show — A glance at the schedule showed we were just in time for the presentation and diver feeding.

A diver conducting a feeding presentation inside a large aquarium tank — A diver entered the tank and the feeding presentation began.

There were almost too many rays to believe. They had taken over the entire glass wall ~.~'"

Numerous rays crowding the glass of a large aquarium tank — There were so many rays that they nearly covered the entire glass wall.

Leaving Adventure Island felt like suddenly stepping back into daylight ^.^ Naturally, we had to take a photo of the beautiful Pacific Ocean~~~

A sunlit view of the Pacific Ocean from the park — Leaving the dim exhibit brought us back into the bright Pacific view.

Next came the sea lions. Feeding wasn't available during the summer vacation period, so after paying the same NT$300, all we could do was pose for a photo with one ~.~

Visitors posing for a close-up photo with a sea lion — With sea-lion feeding unavailable, the experience became a close-up photo instead.

Fortunately, parents were still allowed to take pictures from the side. With the afternoon sun shining straight into the park's automatic camera, its photo was basically a complete waste ~.~'"

The family posing with a sea lion at the ocean park — The automatic camera struggled with the harsh sunlight, but at least the parents could take photos from the side.

Then we hurried over to the Ocean Theater for the dolphin show.

The stage and seating area at the park's Ocean Theater — We hurried into the Ocean Theater for the afternoon dolphin show.

After a long wait, the show finally began. First came an acrobatic act by foreign performers—but that wasn't the main event, so two quick photos were enough ~.~

An acrobatic performance on the Ocean Theater stage — An acrobatic act warmed up the stage before the main event.

Ladies and gentlemen, the real dolphin show was about to begin ^.^

A dolphin performing in the Ocean Theater pool — The real stars arrived and the dolphin show finally began.

After a series of leaps and water tricks, the wonderful half-hour performance came to an end ^.^

The Ocean Theater stage at the end of the dolphin show — The wonderful dolphin show wrapped up after about thirty minutes.

Then the girls discovered a giant clam shell tucked away in a corner, and two little pearl mermaids were born…

Two girls posing inside a giant decorative clam shell — One giant clam shell later, two little pearl mermaids were born.

The Ocean Theater sat halfway up the hillside, with Adventure Island below and Crystal Castle at the very top. We really didn't feel like climbing, so we walked back to Adventure Island and took the cable car up instead ^.^

A hillside view of the park from the cable car — Rather than climb the hill, we returned to Adventure Island and took the cable car.

Crystal Castle wasn't crystal-like at all. It looked rather grimy—how did that happen? @.@'"

The exterior of Crystal Castle at the top of the park — At the top, Crystal Castle turned out not to look very crystal-like at all.

The Crystal Castle show, one of the park's four major productions, was a stage performance starring foreign entertainers, combining magic and dances from different countries—and dragging on a little too long @.@'"

As we walked downhill toward Pirate Bay, we were very glad we'd taken the cable car up. Otherwise, our legs would certainly have given out. Honestly, apart from the sea lion and dolphin shows, the other programs weren't particularly impressive. The rides looked rather old too, enough to make us wonder whether we'd get stuck in midair ~.~'"

Pirate Bay and hillside attractions at the ocean park — Walking downhill toward Pirate Bay made us very glad we'd taken the cable car up.

That evening, while walking down the steep slope toward the exit, Lisa took a hard fall and badly scraped her knee ~.~'" We had planned to visit Zhaofeng Farm the next day, but had to abandon the idea and stay at the hotel to rest.

It worked out surprisingly well: we ended up enjoying a relaxed and delightful five-star afternoon tea ^.^

Continue with “Three Days in Hualien — The Farglory Hotel.”