Advice on driving in taiwan

Hi,

i went through some threads on driving, but will still like to get some advice.

we are planning to go to taroko gorge and hopefully explore further south from hualien to taitung. How is the driving like ? We have driven in the states and also in New zealand. When its mentioned that the roads are winding and mountaneous, is it like in NZ ?

Will it be better to take public transport to hualien and drive from there to taitung ? If so, can we do it as a day trip from hualien ? if we were to drive from taipei to hualien, how long will it take. Is it difficult to drive to taroko gorge ?

Lastly, can i get a rough idea of how much per day is the car rental, including all the insurance that we have to pay.

Thanks

Advice on driving in taiwan

tpe-HL takes about 3-4 hrs,driving to Taroko is easy, it is the segment after that where the road narrows down that is difficult.

HL to Taidung another 3-5 hrs.

Advice on driving in taiwan

Taipei to Hualien is not an easy drive. Lots of heavy truck traffic, reckless drivers, and winding narrow roads with little shoulder to pull over.

Hualien to Taitung is a much more pleasant drive IMHO. Roads are wide and straight, with much less truck traffic.

Car rental in Taiwan is quite expensive. It will cost around 2600 NTD all in per day.