Romantic Cruises along the Love River／愛河遊船 航向幸福的滋味
Romantic Cruises along the Love River
◎English translation: Hou Ya-ting ◎Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung City Shipping Co., Ltd.
The Love River flows through Kaohsiung's downtown and is a must see for visitors. With its long history of many lovers' stories, it has become a deeply romantic symbol for the city. Beautiful year round, the Love River has different ambience by day and by night. Bask in Kaohsiung's year round sunshine by day or enjoy flamboyant sunsets and colorfully lit bridges by night. Dusk brings forth a truly romantic ambience and is particularly pleasant time for a river cruise. Kaohsiung features various options to see the Love River including solar-powered Love Boats, amphibious vehicles and gondolas.
The solar-powered Love Boats provide a truly romantic way to travel down the river. Cruises take visitors past the Jhongjheng Bridge which is beautifully lit up at night and the city's former city hall, which now serves as Kaohsiung's History Museum. Zodiac Wharf also features the 12 star signs along the riverbank and lit up at night. Finally, there are great views of the skyline from the Love Pier.
Kaohsiung's amphibious vehicles are another popular way to enjoy the Love River. The brightly painted amphibious vehicles are popular with young children and the elderly. Visitors have the choice of two routes which start out by taking visitors past the sights of Kaohsiung by road and then on to a cruise down the Love River. Tours commencing from C5 Warehouse at Pier-2 Art Center are only available on weekends and take passengers through the Yancheng District, Glory Pier and finally along the Love River. There is another route offered from the Ambassador Hotel. Both tours run on the hour from 11 am to 4 pm and take approximately 40 minutes.
Gondola boats provide a romantic feel that gives visitors the feeling of being in Venice. Sometimes the Gondoliers sing or play music and take visitors past the Jhongjheng and Wufu Bridges. By day the gondola cruise will take visitors along Hedong Road, past the Sea Turtle and Soaring Dragon statue to the Heart of the Love River. There are also extended tours that are given by Gondoliers which take visitors by bus to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, the Jhongdu Wetland Park and conclude with gondola cruises down the Love River.
愛河遊船 航向幸福的滋味
◎文／李微潤 ◎攝影／高雄市輪船公司
到愛河，總能看到各式船隻悠遊其上，一入夜，船身更閃爍霓光，將河面妝點得熱鬧燦爛。在愛河遊船有愛之船、水陸觀光車鴨子船和貢多拉船等選擇。靜謐地坐在環保太陽能愛之船上，少了傳統船隻的柴油味與運轉噪音，多了平穩與寧靜，視野也十分廣闊，讓人更舒適的欣賞河岸風景。離岸後伴隨著解說員親切聲流洩入耳，駛過如彩虹般柔美的中正橋，橋旁是建於日本時期的舊高雄市政府所在地，目前則是高雄歷史博物館；「星座碼頭」則有12星座燈柱閃爍光芒；而真愛碼頭充滿設計感的風帆造型與巍巍高樓相互輝映。悠遊愛河若在白日前來，金燦陽光或澄艷夕陽灑落水面、建築，波光粼粼；若在夜晚航行，萬家燈火，璀璨夜景倒映於河面上，船隻彷彿駛進繽紛色彩的圖畫之中。
還有造型特殊且受到歡迎的水陸觀光車鴨子船，明亮鮮豔的外型彩繪，能在路上跑、也能在水裡航行的雙重體驗，相當老少咸宜。鴨子船每趟航程約40分鐘，假日11:00-16:00每整點有一個航班，並有2個航線可供選擇：駁二藝術特區愛河新航線，售票及乘車地點在駁二C5倉庫，沿途可欣賞鹽埕區的街景、光榮碼頭與愛河的海河體驗；另外，愛之船國賓站愛河航線，在國賓飯店前搭乘，經愛河周邊道路後沿著愛之船的水上航線，欣賞愛河與光榮碼頭的水岸與陸路風情。
從義大利威尼斯引進的歐風貢多拉船，兩端月牙造型柔美，夜晚時分船身點綴的亮麗霓燈，饒富異國情調。夜晚航線從中正橋到五福橋段，船夫於船尾悠悠撐槳，有時放聲高歌、或播放浪漫樂音，河面唾手可及，倚著金邊華麗紅椅放鬆心神，想像沉浸在南國溫柔的懷抱。貢多拉船的航程不限於愛河，到了白天，便成了便利的交通工具，從河東路上、愛河畔鰲龍站啟程，一路北行至愛河之心願景橋，沿途可到美術館、中都濕地公園等景點，單趟航程約1小時，船夫沿途導覽，遊客不妨來趟愛河支流的水上漫遊，體驗高雄的不同風情。
