We drove down to Kenting on Monday morning. Everyone had the day off for Mid-Autumn Festival. Most people were heading back home after their mini-vacation, but she has an apartment in Kenting which makes it easier to go there whenever we want.

I bought my surfboard a month earlier. But work and the weather had kept me from going to Yuguangdao (魚光島) in Tainan. We packed the surfboard into her car on Sunday afternoon and she picked me up Monday morning at the Kaohsiung Train Station.

We drove down the highway in her CX3 Mazda. It’s quick get up and smooth handling makes it a fun car to drive, especially in southern Taiwan where the traffic laws are suggestions.

Heading down the highway, you’re able to see the mountains in the distance but today the pollution created a haze over everything. I looked over at her and mentioned, that the pollution is pretty bad today. Laughing, she said ,”at least you can see the mountains.”

From Kaohsiung, Kenting is an hour and a half drive. We stopped by her apartment to change and drop off our things. She asked if I was hungry and I replied a little bit, it was already 1:00 PM and I wanted to get out to the beach to surf since I had to take the bus back home to Tainan in the morning for work.

Last time I came down, we had visited Gangkou Beach (港口海灘) but there was a surfing competition and no swimming signs posted on the beach. I had looked up the best spots to surf in Kenting and this was one of the closer beaches.

We got in the car and started the drive to the beach when we made a stop at a 7-11 to grab some food. I told her I would stay in the car and asked if she could grab some sushi. She got out of the car and started looking around and told me she couldn’t find her wallet. Last time we came down we were about to go eat when she said the same thing. I told her I was positive that I had seen it on the table in her apartment and that I could pay for lunch. This time I hadn’t seen it in the apartment but told her it was probably there and we should just keep going. She agreed, and I backed out of the 7-11 and started heading towards the beach.

The drive on Kenting Street (墾丁路) to Gangkou Beach (港口海灘) is one of my favorite reasons to come down here. The twists and turns up the mountains and the coast line right off the road makes this one of the most beautiful stretches of road I’ve ever been on.