I enjoyed making this video so I hope you enjoy looking at it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
What a bargain - we're off to Japan Yipee
As luck would have it when I returned from Italy with Carol I received an email from Jetstar advising me that they had really good flights from Australia to Japan. The total price was around $1100.00 each which included airfares and travel insurance.
What a bargain.
I asked Alan what did he think and he thought it was a good idea. So the tickets were purchased and this coming Sunday we leave. Very exciting.
We have the first four nights booked in hotel in Tokyo but there after we will arrange our accommodation on the run. Should be fun.
Day before we left
The day started off with a visit to the physio for my hip and ankle. I'm walking much better now and feel quite confident that I'll manage ok In Japan.
After the physio I went to Dandenong and purchased a couple of jumpers for me and some skivvies for Alan. So now we're set for clothes.
When I got home Alan had a visitor (Jim Kerin) and we chatted for a while and then I put some washing out and bought some in (the normal process) we then juggled things in the shed so we could get the camper trailer in as well as our old boat. Did this without much trouble.
We had lunch and then I looked at what I wanted to take. Stay coordinated my head kept on saying but in reality I liked the variety of clothes I had laid out but decided on mauve (forever faithful).
I've now packed my bags and cleared my digital camera of all photos as well as the memory sticks. So I'm set.
Its now 4.47 and I'm ready for a rest.
Alan's merrily checking out all manner of things in Japan with Dolly Parton singing merrily beside him. Play a song for me apple jack, apple jack, play and song for me and let your banjo sing. Quite good really.
1 March 2009
Well the flight went well although at the time it felt pretty long.
Food was excellent, and just sitting in a row for two made it that much better.
We managed to catch the train in from Narita to Tokyo station without any problems at all. And then when we got off at Tokyo Station and chap walked straight up to us and asked if he could assist us. Well did he ever. He travelled with us to Shinjuduka Station and even walked with us to the hotel. How nice was that!
We also went out for dinner and found a little restaurant where you put your money in a vending machine and a ticket comes out, you take a seat and then a waitress comes up and takes the ticket and then comes back with your food. Excellent!
We crashed into bed around 1.30 am Australian time so we had had a pretty long day.
2 March 2009
Today has been very nice. The skies are crystal blue you need a coat and sometimes for me a hat but apart from that it is excellent walking around.
We went to the top of the parliament buildings (I think) and you could see Mount Fuji. We then caught the train to the electronics place. It was good but I`m not that interested in electronics but it was still interesting seeing everything.
Had another nice lunch of rice with chicken.
We are currently back at the hotel and have just found out that we have free use of this machine so that is good and I`ll write more tomorrow.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Its Tuesday and a little over cast. We had a call from Le-Anne around 6.30 this morning she was a little worried that she had not heard from us. We explained that we were having trouble with the phones.
She was alittle worried about the fires, but Alan has checked the papers on the net and he is not that worried about our place.
Will write again a little later today.
Today had been very eventful in a good way.
here is a quick list of what we did.
Caught train into Tokyo
Caught train from Tokyo to town in the country
caught smaller train from country town to a village (by now it was snowing) then we caught a train that zig zagged up the mountain
then we caught a cable car to the top of the mountain.
then we caught a wire roped cable car up and over the mountain.
then we caught a boat and travelled across the bay and around
then we caught a bus back to the train station then we caught another train back to tokyo the another train back to the hotel.
then we crashed in bed.
I`ll fill the other bits in later when I get home.
Now I`m just filling in time until I can visit the foot massage person here at the hotel.
I went downstairs to where the massages are done, thought about having a full massage until I realised it was a fairly young chap doing the massages so decided my feet were the best thing to be done. My feet were soaked in a lovely bath for about 5 minutes and then he started on my feet. First of all I expected this to be soft and gentle but it didn't feel that way to me. Eventually I stopped jumping all over the place and about 30 minutes later my feet felt better and I had $50.00 less to spend.
We went out walking to find a place for dinner and ended up going to an Italian restaurant in the Lumei (I think for dinner). It was very nice but quite expensive.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Last night was quite amazing. After returning from the wilds of the country we arrived back in Tokyo and after dinner Alan decided he wanted to find an internet cafe and so I decided to go shopping - well looking away.
After I bought a couple of things I was walking back to the hotel and was just amazed to be standing in falling snow, it was the most amazing thing to happen. No one else seemed to notice the snow but I thought it was amazing. I felt like tapping people on the shoulder and saying "do you realise we're in a massive big city and its snowing" decided against it as I'm sure they would have thought I was nuts.
When I got back to the hotel as we looked out our window you could see the snow and it was large flakes not something little. The flakes were quite bigs probably 5 to 6 mm across and they were just swirling all around the place, as I said just amazing.
But today we headed off the a museum that Alan wanted to look at. as our luck would have it we got off on the wrong side of the station and as a result we had to walk and walk and walk! my feet were just dying. In the end I just said to Alan that he should go on and I'd catch up or just wait outside for him.
As I was waiting a lady came up and spoke to me she was very nice and after a while I gave her one of my koala`s and she was quite thrilled then she turned around and gave me a copy of a famous piece of work an artist had done. I'll get his name and add this to this blog when I get home.
Thursday 5 March 2009
Today we are heading out to Takayama on the Shinkansen. This is my first trip (Alan has travelled on these on previous trips) so I'm looking forward to it. Firstly you notice how clean and respectful people are to the trains. The cleaners are dress in pale pink uniforms, all the carriages are cleaned and head rest receive new covers before the passengers board the train. Its so very nice getting into a clean train.
Friday 6 March 2009
This town is really nice. After a very nice breakfast we went to the rail station and caught a taxi to the market that had been advertised in the local handout at the hotel. The market was a little disappointing as there weren't many people there because of the rain. Having said that I still enjoyed myself.
We then started to walk to the old part of the town, dodging the puddles as we walked. it was quite an interesting exercise. the houses were quite old and had massive drains at the front of them. We walked in and out of many of the shops (the houses had been turned into shops) and eventually we walked into one that had quite a few paintings for sale. i purchased one that was like a silk screen print of a blue tree on a white background. the lady that served me was very nice so I gave her a small koala that I had in my bag, she was so excited that we ran over to a cupboard and gave me a print of a samurai (I think or possibly a dragon) anyway I said thank you and when I returned to work I gave it to the Asian Studies Library and they were very happy.
Saturday 7 March 2009
Today we are in Kyoto and heading off to the tall bamboo. We caught the train to Usumasatenjingawa to Randentenjingawa. We we got off the train Alan checked the directions and we only had about 100 meters to the next station. Couldn't see a thing. Are you sure you have the right directions? Yes! Anyhow we started to walk down the road and I spotted a sing "Warm inside with an English Menu" that was enough for me. We had had very little for breakfast and the place looked nice and clean so we went in. the staff were very nice and although I'd never had eggplant on toast it tasted ok with a cup of tea. The amenities were extremely clean.
We we finished breakfast we went outside and started looking for the station. Blow me down it was right in front of us. For us it was called a tram stop and we jumped on with everyone else. This was interesting because we were differently the only Anglo's on the tram. it was a most enjoyable trip and eventually when the tram stopped we were at the end of the line.
When we walked outside the station a chap was standing there selling rides on his rickshaw. We lashed out and jumped in. Heated seats, heated blanket and a very nice man as well. I have to be honest although it was a bit of fun I don't particularly like having someone pull me along. Its a bit degrading i think. he didn't seem to mind and the fact he has travelled to Australia about 7 times quite clearly he makes good money from doing this type of work.
The chap ran up the road will very little effort. He then said he would show us where we could take some good photos. And true to his word he did just that. It was very enjoyable the whole excursion on the rickshaw.
When we left the chap we started on our way back towards the station. At one stage during the walk Alan started to laugh. I asked him what was he laughing at and he said "I clipped my umbrella to the back of my jeans and behind me I heard and group of young Japanese girls calling out pussy pussy" As he was walking the white umbrella was swishing backwards and forwards and because of that the girls just thought he was a cat with a tail. Perhaps not as funny now as it was at the time.
As we were walking down towards the train Alan spotted a sign sayings "Monkeys" and said that he would like to see them. i suggested that he could walk up to see them but I wasn't interested in going. so off he went. Me in my wisdom thought he'd be gone for about 30 minutes but as the 30 minutes turned into an hour and then an hour and thirty minutes I began to wonder where he was and then finally he arrived. I have to admit that even though I didn't go I still enjoyed my self sitting on a rock next to the river and just watching the people walk by - it's very interesting.
When we got back together we decided to have lunch and started to walk onto the bridge and down a side street. We came across once restaurant that was quite big and as we went upstairs we also got a view over the Ooigawa River so that was very nice. We had a nice lunch and then went outside and caught a taxi to our next location, which was the Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion.
This place was totally amazing. But what just astounded me was as we got out of the taxi we walked straight into the Japanese family that we had met the night before. So more photos were taken and we walked into the Temple. How beautiful was this. I have photo that you will see and I'm sure you will love them. the gardens were just beautiful and you certainly can do a lot with moss. don't kill it use it to you advantage it just looks beautiful.
When we left there we continued on to the Kyoto Handicraft Center. Although this was a big building with lots of stuff in it, it really wasn't worth the effort going there. It was quite a long walk back from here to our hotel but it was interesting. There had been some type of festival that had been held in the area and there were heaps of people around. As we continue on our way back to the hotel we bought a few bits and pieces in the seven 11 store and I tried on some second had kimono's they didn't fit me but now i regret that I didn't buy one just for the fun of having one. Maybe next time I'll buy one.
I can't remember what night we did this but we caught the train into the centre of Kyoto. It was quite amazing. We got of the train and then seemed to walk for ages before we surfaced and then we followed the crowd and then down a side street that was quite busy. The main street we came to wasn't quite as nice as we expected but as we were hungry we thought we'd better find somewhere to eat.
Finally we came across a restaurant that had the every welcoming "English menu sign" and we went in. although the menu was in English their English wasn't that good but eventually we settled on out meals and placed an order. The girl that was serving us was very nice but it was clear that another girl there felt she could do better and "took over", a short time later one meal arrived, we both looked at it and it was generally thought between us that it was Alan's although it didn't really look right. Then about 10 minutes later another meal came and then Alan said I think that must be mine. Bad luck about mine as by this time he had almost finished it!. Can't remember what we did except think that we wished the first girl was still in charge of our meals and not the second. Its all and experience and the food was ok so really all was well.
The second night in Kyoto we did the same thing except this time we went down another major street and the place was alive with buskers and groups all over the place it was truly beautiful. As we walked through some of the shops we came across a shop window that was full of artificial ice-creams so being the sweat tooth's that we are we went it and selected two most beautiful sundae's they were just beautiful. After this we followed the road back towards the station and bought a couple of pastries (they are very nice in Japan) for breakfast and then caught the train back to our station (can't remember the name)
Sunday 8 March 2009
8 March 2009
Today we're heading off to Nara to see the deer that apparently just walking all around the place, ie, though the shops and around the vehicles and people. Should be interesting. We walked from the hotel the Western to the station just a couple of minutes walk.
We're getting so good with the trains now. Even though we don't speak or write Japanese we can still work out way around. The stations are so clean and fresh its a pleasure to travel by train.
I can't remember what time we arrived at Nara but i do remember it was a beautiful day. Alan had the directions to the park so we started to walk then we started to look for the street that we needed to walk up to the deers. I just rung Alan and we needed to find Sanjo Dori, sounds early but in fact it took us awhile to find it. It was alive with people and music was coming out of most of the shops so it was a bit of fun. As we started to walk up the street we could see what appeared to be a park at the top.
As we were walking we came across a number of really nice little shops that weren't that expensive so I bought a couple of things.
The one thing that I had started to buy by this time were the little things that you hang on your mobile phones or backpacks. I bought a nice little tiny bear and hung that on my backpack.
When we got to the top of the road a young girl walked up to me asking if she could be our guide. I was a little hesitant as we didn't have enough money to pay someone to be our guide, however very quickly she said there was no charge and it was part of her education to do volunteering work a couple of days a month to improve her English.
So off we all tottered. It was very interesting almost immediately a group of deers walked over to us looking for treats, but this time we had bought some in anticipation so it was a bit of fun feeding them. We very slowly started to walk towards the area that apparently had the biggest Buddha in Japan unfortunately for me my feet had started to really kill me so I suggested to Alan that he walk with the girl and I'd wait - about an hour later they came back and then we started to look for a place for lunch. Alan had spoken to me about treating her to lunch as it had been fun having someone with us that explained such a lot about the place. We eventually found a nice Japanese restaurant and had a lovely meal - it does make a difference when you have someone that does translate the menu for you.
After lunch we said our farewells and headed back to the station and back to Kyoto.
Monday 9 March 2009
today we're heading off to Hiroshima. Although this will be interesting I'm a little concerned as to how the people will treat us. We did drop a bloody big bomb on them after all.
I just love the shinkansen trains. As we were waiting to leave Kyoto we spoke to another couple there and they were from Adelaide and were also travelling down to Hiroshima.
The first thing that struck me was that Kyoto and Osaka did not have any spare land between to the to of them. We arrived on time and then caught a taxi to the hotel. How amazing it was. Even though it was in the port area and quite a lot of industry was around it. It was amazing. The foyer of the hotel must have been approximately 150 feet in a circle. it had a massive water feature in the middle with arches and goodness knows what else. we were on the 10 floor and had a view over the harbor - just amazing.
Once we were settled we headed off into town. to get to town we caught a bus (as I said we're getting really good catching the public transport here!:-)
Initially we missed the spot to get off to the memorial park.
After walking for some distance we saw the remainder of the building. It was quite amazing to think that it had remained almost in one piece ie the structure was still there although the walls were basically gone.
I have to be honest I wasn't sure if we would really be accepted at the museum, we (the allieds) had totally wrecked this city. However, no one really took much notice of us, I was certainly surprised to read how many people survived. But also the stories of the mothers and fathers who had spent days looking for there children - I hope I never experience anything like this. I had pancake down stairs in a little cafe.
We were told that when the Americans dropped the bomb there target was the bridge. The bridge was basically the "T" of three rivers. They almost made a direct hit. After a short time we walked back to the main street and caught another bus back to the hotel.
My feet were killing me and when we got back to the room. I decided in my wisdom to try the foot massager that was in the room out. What a mistake, the bloody thing seemed to grab my feet and just started to crush and bang them. I didn't exactly scream out in pain but I wasn't happy.
Anyway we had a rest and then decided to go back in to the city for dinner. We walked around for quite a while and then decided to go to a restaurant that was really busy, I figure a restaurant that is busy must be good. We climbed the stairs and were taken to our seat. We chose our meal from the menu (pictures) and then when it arrived we thoroughly enjoyed it.
After dinner we travelled back to the hotel and I once again thought I'd try out a masseuse that was available just near the hotel. It was quite good but I think my feet were so sore they really needed to be rested, not crunched.
Also thought I take a chance and have another foot massage. Finally we spotted one and walked downstairs. The room was quite dark but calming, with a beautiful perfume (smell). The chap started on my feet and said exactly what the last chap had said in Tokyo that I was stressed and that I should rest my feet, well that wasn't going to happen so after 30 minutes of him massaging my feet I paid him and we continued on our walk. I now truly think I had the wrong shoes with me I should have all leather shoes that support my feet, so for my next trip that's exactly what I'll have.
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Today we are going to Miyajima island so this should be fun. To get to the island we travelled with our JR Railpass by bus, train and ferry.
We had a beautiful day and there were lots of people on the island. pity my feet were so sore. We walked around the island to a pergola that apparently looks like it is floating in the water. I'm sure it would have if the tide had been in but it was out. There was a big "gate" at the entrance and it looked just beautiful. they had lots of deers walking around which is great.
I said to Alan that I wanted to go on the sky way to the top of the mountain so we found a free taxi and caught a ride up to the top. The trip up was in two stages and as you climbed up the mountain you began to see the beautiful scenery - how lucky were we having such a beautiful day.
when we got to the top we took photos and had a look at the monkeys - I didn't want to get too close just in case they bothered or bit me. then we walked around and started talking to a very nice Japanese girl, her photo is in the video. After about an hour we did the return journey back down the mountain.
Once at the bottom I suggested to Alan that we catch the hydrofoil back to Hiroshima station. it was more expensive but well worth it, we were back in town about 30 minutes later and then just caught the bus back to the hotel. We did the same trip back into town that we did the night before but this time when to a different restaurant - another nice meal.
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Today we are going to the Hiroshima City Transportation Museum at Chorakuji. We caught the train out to where we thought we should have been but we ended up lost, so we took some photos waiting for another train and started all over again.
Eventually we managed to find the right station and then caught a taxi to the museum. Its funny but even as we walked in it seemed amazing that they could fit 1500 cars in the building but as we walked in they had a Rolls Royce and some other vehicles there - and then we found out that the cars were in fact miniature. Inwardly I nearly fell over backwards because I knew
Alan was looking forward to seeing the cars.
So although disappointed we spent about an hour there and then caught another taxi back into town and went to the Kure Yamato Museum - now this was really good. We were given ear phones on arrival and walked around listening to what had happened. We also noticed a large submarine that was across the road and so when we had finished with the museum we walked over there and checked it out. this also was very interesting.
When we started to head back to Hiroshima I noticed another hydrofoil and suggested that we catch that back to Hiroshima Port - we did this and had a lovely trip back. Its just amazing how quickly you we on these boats, as we were down to the spot where you get on there was a chap there waving to us to hurry, my brain was saying "why the boat is ages away" but sure enough by the time we got down to where the boat was people were getting off and we were getting on so it was bloody quick believe me. We got back to Hiroshima Port and by now we knew exactly were to go to catch the bus back to the hotel. However as we got there I put the wrong money in the machine and managed to complete confuse the bus driver, so there he was trying to apologise to me and me trying to apologise to him, mind you I think I manage to confuse people all the time.
Today we leave this hotel and move to one closer into Hiroshima. But first thing as we went down to breakfast and sat down and chap came up to us and said "were you on the bus from Hiroshima Port last night" "yes were were", well he told us the bus driver was upset that I have paid twice the amount that I should have and gave the money to this chap to give to us. Now he he could have said "sure mate" and forgotten all about it and could have kept the couple of Yenn but he didn't so that was very nice, wasn't it.
Thursday 12 March 2009
Today we are leaving Hiroshima for Nikko in the north. When we arrived at the station I did what I had been getting into the habit of and that was taking a photo of Alan at the station. Much to my surprise an elderly couple came up to us and asked if we could take a photo of them in front of the station. No worries of course we can. This couple were on their first trip to Tokyo - how fantastic. I have a photo that you will see Alan and I standing with the lady. They were just so excited to be taking the trip.
I was also fairly amazed when the lady in the ticket office said to Alan you will arrive at Nikko at 7.10 this evening. We said inwardly "sure" never thinking this would happen but before I write any more I must tell you we arrived at Nikko at precisely 7.10 - how amazing! Would never happened here at home.
When we got of the train we needed to find accommodation, although not late in the day it was very dark and quite cold. We found a telephone box and Alan rang the backpackers Nikko Lodge they had room so we walked down the road a little and caught a taxi up to the lodge.
Almost the first word they said to us was to remove our shoes, although i did I don't particularly find this comfortable, especially when they aren't my slipper that i was putty on. Having said that it was quite nice, very warm and they were happy enough to prepare an evening meal for us. it was lovely.
Unfortunately for us, even though they had turned the heater on it didn't work and our room was freezing, so they found another heater for us and then we were fine.
The one thing that I had noticed by now was the fact that the en suite's in some of the hotels and certainly this place had a capsule type of set up. very efficient although in this place you almost needed a step ladder to get in and out of the place. I did have one good laugh at Alan and that was because when we decided to send some bits and pieces home he decided to send his towel back home (I kept mine :-)) and guess what they didn't supply towels so we had to share a towel but that really wasn't an issue - as I said it gave me a chuckle.
We also managed to check out email so that was good. Sent a couple of email off to Le-Anne and others at work.
We had a pretty good nights sleep although as it was a bit of a rabbit warren I was concerned that if there was a fire we could be in trouble. Normally this wouldn't bother me but they did have an open fire in the lounge area and sparks can always be a problem.
Friday 13 March 2009
This morning was our first look at the mountains surrounding Nikko, very pretty, and it was quite cold.
Once we worked out how the breakfast worked we asked if we could leave our luggage at the door and that we would collect it later in the day. that was fine.
Alan also asked the chap how far the temple that we had come up here to see was. Only a few minutes walk is what i thought he said, and so did Alan! Not exactly the case.
I heard him say, just walk down the path turn left at the playground and continue down to the river and then its not far!
We started to walk ..... and walk ..... and walk ......
we walked down a hill, along the side of a river then crossed the river via a bridge and then walked a bit more and then we finally came to the entrance. This was miles and miles and miles, I was just buggered, my feet were just so painful I didn't think I could walk any further. Then after walking up hill for about 15 minutes I called out to Alan and said "that's it I've had it, you go ahead and I'll catch up later in the day." I said for ages and just looked and perhaps that's what you need to do when on holidays just sit and watch.
Anyway eventually I got myself up off the rock and started walking again, I was not a happy camper. Not so much because of the walk but because the turkey at the lodge said it was a short walk - it wasn't!
Once we enter the park we went to the shrines and they were beautiful and then we went to a garden that had masses and masses of azaleas there, just beautiful. We should do more will moss in our garden as they (they Japanese) certainly know how to use the moss to their advantage.
We then continued into the valley for the very special shrine, and it was lovely but it had lost quite a lot of shine to me by this time.
This area was absolutely immaculate, no rubbish, no anything, I don't think dust would have dared fall, as little Japanese ladies were cleaning all the time. Well, as we walked out the shrine I spotted a single piece of white paper on the ground. i couldn't believe it "a tab of a Qantas ticket" I quickly picked it up and popped in my pocket. if here was going to be any rubbish it wasn't going to be a Qantas ticket - no way.
Received a couple of emails when we checked at the end of the day one from Le-Anne and one from Di at work. Very nice, only short but very pleasant to have the contact.
Alan and I had a chuckle, because we told Leh that we were in Nikko she thought we would be able to buy her a good camera for next to nothing, only thing was there were no Nikon camera's in the town.
When we left Nikko we caught a train back into Tokyo only this time we were staying at Oueno, We got to the station ok and eventually found an internet cafe and Alan picked a hotel that was a 2 minute walk from the station - sounds good to me. Our first problem arose when we got into the taxi. this takes time, take the backpacks off, the taxi driver needs to open the boot, everything is put in the boot, we get into the car and put the seat belts on and then tell the driver were we need to go. problem. Unfortunately he didn't speak any English and therefore couldn't read the hotel name, bugger. So unfortunately we had to ask him to let us out the the taxi and then we had to walk back into the station to write down the telephone number and the full address.
So, once we had this we walked back outside stood in the queue and went through the whole procedure of getting into to taxi. Well, we nearly fell out of the taxi, the poor bloke started to drive and then just as we left the taxi rank he said, here we are! the hotel was about 30 seconds from the taxi rank, we felt terribly embarrassed, this time we had to get out of the taxi within 30 seconds of being seated in it. the hotel was certainly within the 2 minutes from the station.
that night we had dinner in the building complex and had a lovely meal, after dinner we had a bit of a walk around the market area around the station and eventually packed it in fairly early.
Saturday 14 March 2009
After a rotten night of sleep, I was still away at 1.30 am way too hot and my feet were killing me from our massive walk yesterday up in Nikko. The chap that ran the hostel said it was only a hundred yard walk more like 5 klms to me.
Because I couldn`t sleep I took a couple of panadol at 1.30 to help with my sore feet. The we both sleep in until 9.45 am so clearly we needed it.
Once we were dressed we went over the the station and had breakfast in the Andersons cafe, just full of pastries, as they are a Danish company that shouldn't have surprised us.
Alan and I then parted, he went to a museum and I went walking through a market similar to Victoria market but about 50 times bigger. I didn't see anything that appealed to me so I came back to the hotel and had a bit of a sleep and Alan came back at about 1.30. We then had lunch and he has now gone to look at the pandas at the zoo and I went looking for stuff to buy again but didn`t find much and came back to the hotel and have been on the internet looking for a bike that I can buy and have sent home. I now know where to get one its only a matter of convincing Alan that I really need to get one here. don`t know I can but try.
Its raining here but not that uncomfortable.
I have emailed leh a couple of times today and she seems to be having quite a good time by herself but I think she may be missing us a little. no email from Michael.
We had another nice dinner in the same restaurant and almost did the same thing again today, we walked around the place just looking.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Today we are heading home, we've had a fabulous time over here and am sure we will come back again. the people are lovely and the train are fantastic in fact if I had a complaint it would be there aren't enough bench seats in the cities and towns to sit on to have a rest and i understand the braille tiles are important for the blind but my goodness they ended up killing my feet, couldn't take a step without walking on one.
the flight leaves here at ..................... so we will leave early.
We got to the airport in good time and just had a cup of tea and sat back and looked at everyone.
We also had a good flight home, seemed longer that what it did when we went over there. We have now decided that next time we will only take small back packs with us and not worry about lugging masses of clothes with us. Some of our clothing went for the holiday as well.
Monday 16 March 2009 - Home again, home again, jig a dig jig.
How nice to fall into our bed.
tomorrow will be exciting, we're heading off to Maryborough to collect our new little Boxer Puppy, his name will be Cooper ..... more to follow.
What a bargain.
I asked Alan what did he think and he thought it was a good idea. So the tickets were purchased and this coming Sunday we leave. Very exciting.
We have the first four nights booked in hotel in Tokyo but there after we will arrange our accommodation on the run. Should be fun.
Day before we left
The day started off with a visit to the physio for my hip and ankle. I'm walking much better now and feel quite confident that I'll manage ok In Japan.
After the physio I went to Dandenong and purchased a couple of jumpers for me and some skivvies for Alan. So now we're set for clothes.
When I got home Alan had a visitor (Jim Kerin) and we chatted for a while and then I put some washing out and bought some in (the normal process) we then juggled things in the shed so we could get the camper trailer in as well as our old boat. Did this without much trouble.
We had lunch and then I looked at what I wanted to take. Stay coordinated my head kept on saying but in reality I liked the variety of clothes I had laid out but decided on mauve (forever faithful).
I've now packed my bags and cleared my digital camera of all photos as well as the memory sticks. So I'm set.
Its now 4.47 and I'm ready for a rest.
Alan's merrily checking out all manner of things in Japan with Dolly Parton singing merrily beside him. Play a song for me apple jack, apple jack, play and song for me and let your banjo sing. Quite good really.
1 March 2009
Well the flight went well although at the time it felt pretty long.
Food was excellent, and just sitting in a row for two made it that much better.
We managed to catch the train in from Narita to Tokyo station without any problems at all. And then when we got off at Tokyo Station and chap walked straight up to us and asked if he could assist us. Well did he ever. He travelled with us to Shinjuduka Station and even walked with us to the hotel. How nice was that!
We also went out for dinner and found a little restaurant where you put your money in a vending machine and a ticket comes out, you take a seat and then a waitress comes up and takes the ticket and then comes back with your food. Excellent!
We crashed into bed around 1.30 am Australian time so we had had a pretty long day.
2 March 2009
Today has been very nice. The skies are crystal blue you need a coat and sometimes for me a hat but apart from that it is excellent walking around.
We went to the top of the parliament buildings (I think) and you could see Mount Fuji. We then caught the train to the electronics place. It was good but I`m not that interested in electronics but it was still interesting seeing everything.
Had another nice lunch of rice with chicken.
We are currently back at the hotel and have just found out that we have free use of this machine so that is good and I`ll write more tomorrow.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Its Tuesday and a little over cast. We had a call from Le-Anne around 6.30 this morning she was a little worried that she had not heard from us. We explained that we were having trouble with the phones.
She was alittle worried about the fires, but Alan has checked the papers on the net and he is not that worried about our place.
Will write again a little later today.
Today had been very eventful in a good way.
here is a quick list of what we did.
Caught train into Tokyo
Caught train from Tokyo to town in the country
caught smaller train from country town to a village (by now it was snowing) then we caught a train that zig zagged up the mountain
then we caught a cable car to the top of the mountain.
then we caught a wire roped cable car up and over the mountain.
then we caught a boat and travelled across the bay and around
then we caught a bus back to the train station then we caught another train back to tokyo the another train back to the hotel.
then we crashed in bed.
I`ll fill the other bits in later when I get home.
Today we went to a shrine and bought some pretty things to Le-Anne, and others.
My feet started to hurt me about an hour into the trip but it was fun and I have some good photos to add to this later.
I also went to the craft exhibition.
we also caught a taxi and travelled around the Emperors palace. bought some strong panadol for my aching feet.
Now I`m just filling in time until I can visit the foot massage person here at the hotel.
I went downstairs to where the massages are done, thought about having a full massage until I realised it was a fairly young chap doing the massages so decided my feet were the best thing to be done. My feet were soaked in a lovely bath for about 5 minutes and then he started on my feet. First of all I expected this to be soft and gentle but it didn't feel that way to me. Eventually I stopped jumping all over the place and about 30 minutes later my feet felt better and I had $50.00 less to spend.
We went out walking to find a place for dinner and ended up going to an Italian restaurant in the Lumei (I think for dinner). It was very nice but quite expensive.
by for now.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Last night was quite amazing. After returning from the wilds of the country we arrived back in Tokyo and after dinner Alan decided he wanted to find an internet cafe and so I decided to go shopping - well looking away.
After I bought a couple of things I was walking back to the hotel and was just amazed to be standing in falling snow, it was the most amazing thing to happen. No one else seemed to notice the snow but I thought it was amazing. I felt like tapping people on the shoulder and saying "do you realise we're in a massive big city and its snowing" decided against it as I'm sure they would have thought I was nuts.
When I got back to the hotel as we looked out our window you could see the snow and it was large flakes not something little. The flakes were quite bigs probably 5 to 6 mm across and they were just swirling all around the place, as I said just amazing.
But today we headed off the a museum that Alan wanted to look at. as our luck would have it we got off on the wrong side of the station and as a result we had to walk and walk and walk! my feet were just dying. In the end I just said to Alan that he should go on and I'd catch up or just wait outside for him.
As I was waiting a lady came up and spoke to me she was very nice and after a while I gave her one of my koala`s and she was quite thrilled then she turned around and gave me a copy of a famous piece of work an artist had done. I'll get his name and add this to this blog when I get home.
Thursday 5 March 2009
Today we are heading out to Takayama on the Shinkansen. This is my first trip (Alan has travelled on these on previous trips) so I'm looking forward to it. Firstly you notice how clean and respectful people are to the trains. The cleaners are dress in pale pink uniforms, all the carriages are cleaned and head rest receive new covers before the passengers board the train. Its so very nice getting into a clean train.
Friday 6 March 2009
This town is really nice. After a very nice breakfast we went to the rail station and caught a taxi to the market that had been advertised in the local handout at the hotel. The market was a little disappointing as there weren't many people there because of the rain. Having said that I still enjoyed myself.
We then started to walk to the old part of the town, dodging the puddles as we walked. it was quite an interesting exercise. the houses were quite old and had massive drains at the front of them. We walked in and out of many of the shops (the houses had been turned into shops) and eventually we walked into one that had quite a few paintings for sale. i purchased one that was like a silk screen print of a blue tree on a white background. the lady that served me was very nice so I gave her a small koala that I had in my bag, she was so excited that we ran over to a cupboard and gave me a print of a samurai (I think or possibly a dragon) anyway I said thank you and when I returned to work I gave it to the Asian Studies Library and they were very happy.
Saturday 7 March 2009
Today we are in Kyoto and heading off to the tall bamboo. We caught the train to Usumasatenjingawa to Randentenjingawa. We we got off the train Alan checked the directions and we only had about 100 meters to the next station. Couldn't see a thing. Are you sure you have the right directions? Yes! Anyhow we started to walk down the road and I spotted a sing "Warm inside with an English Menu" that was enough for me. We had had very little for breakfast and the place looked nice and clean so we went in. the staff were very nice and although I'd never had eggplant on toast it tasted ok with a cup of tea. The amenities were extremely clean.
We we finished breakfast we went outside and started looking for the station. Blow me down it was right in front of us. For us it was called a tram stop and we jumped on with everyone else. This was interesting because we were differently the only Anglo's on the tram. it was a most enjoyable trip and eventually when the tram stopped we were at the end of the line.
When we walked outside the station a chap was standing there selling rides on his rickshaw. We lashed out and jumped in. Heated seats, heated blanket and a very nice man as well. I have to be honest although it was a bit of fun I don't particularly like having someone pull me along. Its a bit degrading i think. he didn't seem to mind and the fact he has travelled to Australia about 7 times quite clearly he makes good money from doing this type of work.
The chap ran up the road will very little effort. He then said he would show us where we could take some good photos. And true to his word he did just that. It was very enjoyable the whole excursion on the rickshaw.
When we left the chap we started on our way back towards the station. At one stage during the walk Alan started to laugh. I asked him what was he laughing at and he said "I clipped my umbrella to the back of my jeans and behind me I heard and group of young Japanese girls calling out pussy pussy" As he was walking the white umbrella was swishing backwards and forwards and because of that the girls just thought he was a cat with a tail. Perhaps not as funny now as it was at the time.
As we were walking down towards the train Alan spotted a sign sayings "Monkeys" and said that he would like to see them. i suggested that he could walk up to see them but I wasn't interested in going. so off he went. Me in my wisdom thought he'd be gone for about 30 minutes but as the 30 minutes turned into an hour and then an hour and thirty minutes I began to wonder where he was and then finally he arrived. I have to admit that even though I didn't go I still enjoyed my self sitting on a rock next to the river and just watching the people walk by - it's very interesting.
When we got back together we decided to have lunch and started to walk onto the bridge and down a side street. We came across once restaurant that was quite big and as we went upstairs we also got a view over the Ooigawa River so that was very nice. We had a nice lunch and then went outside and caught a taxi to our next location, which was the Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion.
This place was totally amazing. But what just astounded me was as we got out of the taxi we walked straight into the Japanese family that we had met the night before. So more photos were taken and we walked into the Temple. How beautiful was this. I have photo that you will see and I'm sure you will love them. the gardens were just beautiful and you certainly can do a lot with moss. don't kill it use it to you advantage it just looks beautiful.
When we left there we continued on to the Kyoto Handicraft Center. Although this was a big building with lots of stuff in it, it really wasn't worth the effort going there. It was quite a long walk back from here to our hotel but it was interesting. There had been some type of festival that had been held in the area and there were heaps of people around. As we continue on our way back to the hotel we bought a few bits and pieces in the seven 11 store and I tried on some second had kimono's they didn't fit me but now i regret that I didn't buy one just for the fun of having one. Maybe next time I'll buy one.
I can't remember what night we did this but we caught the train into the centre of Kyoto. It was quite amazing. We got of the train and then seemed to walk for ages before we surfaced and then we followed the crowd and then down a side street that was quite busy. The main street we came to wasn't quite as nice as we expected but as we were hungry we thought we'd better find somewhere to eat.
Finally we came across a restaurant that had the every welcoming "English menu sign" and we went in. although the menu was in English their English wasn't that good but eventually we settled on out meals and placed an order. The girl that was serving us was very nice but it was clear that another girl there felt she could do better and "took over", a short time later one meal arrived, we both looked at it and it was generally thought between us that it was Alan's although it didn't really look right. Then about 10 minutes later another meal came and then Alan said I think that must be mine. Bad luck about mine as by this time he had almost finished it!. Can't remember what we did except think that we wished the first girl was still in charge of our meals and not the second. Its all and experience and the food was ok so really all was well.
The second night in Kyoto we did the same thing except this time we went down another major street and the place was alive with buskers and groups all over the place it was truly beautiful. As we walked through some of the shops we came across a shop window that was full of artificial ice-creams so being the sweat tooth's that we are we went it and selected two most beautiful sundae's they were just beautiful. After this we followed the road back towards the station and bought a couple of pastries (they are very nice in Japan) for breakfast and then caught the train back to our station (can't remember the name)
Sunday 8 March 2009
8 March 2009
Today we're heading off to Nara to see the deer that apparently just walking all around the place, ie, though the shops and around the vehicles and people. Should be interesting. We walked from the hotel the Western to the station just a couple of minutes walk.
We're getting so good with the trains now. Even though we don't speak or write Japanese we can still work out way around. The stations are so clean and fresh its a pleasure to travel by train.
I can't remember what time we arrived at Nara but i do remember it was a beautiful day. Alan had the directions to the park so we started to walk then we started to look for the street that we needed to walk up to the deers. I just rung Alan and we needed to find Sanjo Dori, sounds early but in fact it took us awhile to find it. It was alive with people and music was coming out of most of the shops so it was a bit of fun. As we started to walk up the street we could see what appeared to be a park at the top.
As we were walking we came across a number of really nice little shops that weren't that expensive so I bought a couple of things.
The one thing that I had started to buy by this time were the little things that you hang on your mobile phones or backpacks. I bought a nice little tiny bear and hung that on my backpack.
When we got to the top of the road a young girl walked up to me asking if she could be our guide. I was a little hesitant as we didn't have enough money to pay someone to be our guide, however very quickly she said there was no charge and it was part of her education to do volunteering work a couple of days a month to improve her English.
So off we all tottered. It was very interesting almost immediately a group of deers walked over to us looking for treats, but this time we had bought some in anticipation so it was a bit of fun feeding them. We very slowly started to walk towards the area that apparently had the biggest Buddha in Japan unfortunately for me my feet had started to really kill me so I suggested to Alan that he walk with the girl and I'd wait - about an hour later they came back and then we started to look for a place for lunch. Alan had spoken to me about treating her to lunch as it had been fun having someone with us that explained such a lot about the place. We eventually found a nice Japanese restaurant and had a lovely meal - it does make a difference when you have someone that does translate the menu for you.
After lunch we said our farewells and headed back to the station and back to Kyoto.
Monday 9 March 2009
today we're heading off to Hiroshima. Although this will be interesting I'm a little concerned as to how the people will treat us. We did drop a bloody big bomb on them after all.
I just love the shinkansen trains. As we were waiting to leave Kyoto we spoke to another couple there and they were from Adelaide and were also travelling down to Hiroshima.
The first thing that struck me was that Kyoto and Osaka did not have any spare land between to the to of them. We arrived on time and then caught a taxi to the hotel. How amazing it was. Even though it was in the port area and quite a lot of industry was around it. It was amazing. The foyer of the hotel must have been approximately 150 feet in a circle. it had a massive water feature in the middle with arches and goodness knows what else. we were on the 10 floor and had a view over the harbor - just amazing.
Once we were settled we headed off into town. to get to town we caught a bus (as I said we're getting really good catching the public transport here!:-)
Initially we missed the spot to get off to the memorial park.
After walking for some distance we saw the remainder of the building. It was quite amazing to think that it had remained almost in one piece ie the structure was still there although the walls were basically gone.
I have to be honest I wasn't sure if we would really be accepted at the museum, we (the allieds) had totally wrecked this city. However, no one really took much notice of us, I was certainly surprised to read how many people survived. But also the stories of the mothers and fathers who had spent days looking for there children - I hope I never experience anything like this. I had pancake down stairs in a little cafe.
We were told that when the Americans dropped the bomb there target was the bridge. The bridge was basically the "T" of three rivers. They almost made a direct hit. After a short time we walked back to the main street and caught another bus back to the hotel.
My feet were killing me and when we got back to the room. I decided in my wisdom to try the foot massager that was in the room out. What a mistake, the bloody thing seemed to grab my feet and just started to crush and bang them. I didn't exactly scream out in pain but I wasn't happy.
Anyway we had a rest and then decided to go back in to the city for dinner. We walked around for quite a while and then decided to go to a restaurant that was really busy, I figure a restaurant that is busy must be good. We climbed the stairs and were taken to our seat. We chose our meal from the menu (pictures) and then when it arrived we thoroughly enjoyed it.
After dinner we travelled back to the hotel and I once again thought I'd try out a masseuse that was available just near the hotel. It was quite good but I think my feet were so sore they really needed to be rested, not crunched.
Also thought I take a chance and have another foot massage. Finally we spotted one and walked downstairs. The room was quite dark but calming, with a beautiful perfume (smell). The chap started on my feet and said exactly what the last chap had said in Tokyo that I was stressed and that I should rest my feet, well that wasn't going to happen so after 30 minutes of him massaging my feet I paid him and we continued on our walk. I now truly think I had the wrong shoes with me I should have all leather shoes that support my feet, so for my next trip that's exactly what I'll have.
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Today we are going to Miyajima island so this should be fun. To get to the island we travelled with our JR Railpass by bus, train and ferry.
We had a beautiful day and there were lots of people on the island. pity my feet were so sore. We walked around the island to a pergola that apparently looks like it is floating in the water. I'm sure it would have if the tide had been in but it was out. There was a big "gate" at the entrance and it looked just beautiful. they had lots of deers walking around which is great.
I said to Alan that I wanted to go on the sky way to the top of the mountain so we found a free taxi and caught a ride up to the top. The trip up was in two stages and as you climbed up the mountain you began to see the beautiful scenery - how lucky were we having such a beautiful day.
when we got to the top we took photos and had a look at the monkeys - I didn't want to get too close just in case they bothered or bit me. then we walked around and started talking to a very nice Japanese girl, her photo is in the video. After about an hour we did the return journey back down the mountain.
Once at the bottom I suggested to Alan that we catch the hydrofoil back to Hiroshima station. it was more expensive but well worth it, we were back in town about 30 minutes later and then just caught the bus back to the hotel. We did the same trip back into town that we did the night before but this time when to a different restaurant - another nice meal.
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Today we are going to the Hiroshima City Transportation Museum at Chorakuji. We caught the train out to where we thought we should have been but we ended up lost, so we took some photos waiting for another train and started all over again.
Eventually we managed to find the right station and then caught a taxi to the museum. Its funny but even as we walked in it seemed amazing that they could fit 1500 cars in the building but as we walked in they had a Rolls Royce and some other vehicles there - and then we found out that the cars were in fact miniature. Inwardly I nearly fell over backwards because I knew
Alan was looking forward to seeing the cars.
So although disappointed we spent about an hour there and then caught another taxi back into town and went to the Kure Yamato Museum - now this was really good. We were given ear phones on arrival and walked around listening to what had happened. We also noticed a large submarine that was across the road and so when we had finished with the museum we walked over there and checked it out. this also was very interesting.
When we started to head back to Hiroshima I noticed another hydrofoil and suggested that we catch that back to Hiroshima Port - we did this and had a lovely trip back. Its just amazing how quickly you we on these boats, as we were down to the spot where you get on there was a chap there waving to us to hurry, my brain was saying "why the boat is ages away" but sure enough by the time we got down to where the boat was people were getting off and we were getting on so it was bloody quick believe me. We got back to Hiroshima Port and by now we knew exactly were to go to catch the bus back to the hotel. However as we got there I put the wrong money in the machine and managed to complete confuse the bus driver, so there he was trying to apologise to me and me trying to apologise to him, mind you I think I manage to confuse people all the time.
Today we leave this hotel and move to one closer into Hiroshima. But first thing as we went down to breakfast and sat down and chap came up to us and said "were you on the bus from Hiroshima Port last night" "yes were were", well he told us the bus driver was upset that I have paid twice the amount that I should have and gave the money to this chap to give to us. Now he he could have said "sure mate" and forgotten all about it and could have kept the couple of Yenn but he didn't so that was very nice, wasn't it.
Thursday 12 March 2009
Today we are leaving Hiroshima for Nikko in the north. When we arrived at the station I did what I had been getting into the habit of and that was taking a photo of Alan at the station. Much to my surprise an elderly couple came up to us and asked if we could take a photo of them in front of the station. No worries of course we can. This couple were on their first trip to Tokyo - how fantastic. I have a photo that you will see Alan and I standing with the lady. They were just so excited to be taking the trip.
I was also fairly amazed when the lady in the ticket office said to Alan you will arrive at Nikko at 7.10 this evening. We said inwardly "sure" never thinking this would happen but before I write any more I must tell you we arrived at Nikko at precisely 7.10 - how amazing! Would never happened here at home.
When we got of the train we needed to find accommodation, although not late in the day it was very dark and quite cold. We found a telephone box and Alan rang the backpackers Nikko Lodge they had room so we walked down the road a little and caught a taxi up to the lodge.
Almost the first word they said to us was to remove our shoes, although i did I don't particularly find this comfortable, especially when they aren't my slipper that i was putty on. Having said that it was quite nice, very warm and they were happy enough to prepare an evening meal for us. it was lovely.
Unfortunately for us, even though they had turned the heater on it didn't work and our room was freezing, so they found another heater for us and then we were fine.
The one thing that I had noticed by now was the fact that the en suite's in some of the hotels and certainly this place had a capsule type of set up. very efficient although in this place you almost needed a step ladder to get in and out of the place. I did have one good laugh at Alan and that was because when we decided to send some bits and pieces home he decided to send his towel back home (I kept mine :-)) and guess what they didn't supply towels so we had to share a towel but that really wasn't an issue - as I said it gave me a chuckle.
We also managed to check out email so that was good. Sent a couple of email off to Le-Anne and others at work.
We had a pretty good nights sleep although as it was a bit of a rabbit warren I was concerned that if there was a fire we could be in trouble. Normally this wouldn't bother me but they did have an open fire in the lounge area and sparks can always be a problem.
Friday 13 March 2009
This morning was our first look at the mountains surrounding Nikko, very pretty, and it was quite cold.
Once we worked out how the breakfast worked we asked if we could leave our luggage at the door and that we would collect it later in the day. that was fine.
Alan also asked the chap how far the temple that we had come up here to see was. Only a few minutes walk is what i thought he said, and so did Alan! Not exactly the case.
I heard him say, just walk down the path turn left at the playground and continue down to the river and then its not far!
We started to walk ..... and walk ..... and walk ......
we walked down a hill, along the side of a river then crossed the river via a bridge and then walked a bit more and then we finally came to the entrance. This was miles and miles and miles, I was just buggered, my feet were just so painful I didn't think I could walk any further. Then after walking up hill for about 15 minutes I called out to Alan and said "that's it I've had it, you go ahead and I'll catch up later in the day." I said for ages and just looked and perhaps that's what you need to do when on holidays just sit and watch.
Anyway eventually I got myself up off the rock and started walking again, I was not a happy camper. Not so much because of the walk but because the turkey at the lodge said it was a short walk - it wasn't!
Once we enter the park we went to the shrines and they were beautiful and then we went to a garden that had masses and masses of azaleas there, just beautiful. We should do more will moss in our garden as they (they Japanese) certainly know how to use the moss to their advantage.
We then continued into the valley for the very special shrine, and it was lovely but it had lost quite a lot of shine to me by this time.
This area was absolutely immaculate, no rubbish, no anything, I don't think dust would have dared fall, as little Japanese ladies were cleaning all the time. Well, as we walked out the shrine I spotted a single piece of white paper on the ground. i couldn't believe it "a tab of a Qantas ticket" I quickly picked it up and popped in my pocket. if here was going to be any rubbish it wasn't going to be a Qantas ticket - no way.
Received a couple of emails when we checked at the end of the day one from Le-Anne and one from Di at work. Very nice, only short but very pleasant to have the contact.
Alan and I had a chuckle, because we told Leh that we were in Nikko she thought we would be able to buy her a good camera for next to nothing, only thing was there were no Nikon camera's in the town.
When we left Nikko we caught a train back into Tokyo only this time we were staying at Oueno, We got to the station ok and eventually found an internet cafe and Alan picked a hotel that was a 2 minute walk from the station - sounds good to me. Our first problem arose when we got into the taxi. this takes time, take the backpacks off, the taxi driver needs to open the boot, everything is put in the boot, we get into the car and put the seat belts on and then tell the driver were we need to go. problem. Unfortunately he didn't speak any English and therefore couldn't read the hotel name, bugger. So unfortunately we had to ask him to let us out the the taxi and then we had to walk back into the station to write down the telephone number and the full address.
So, once we had this we walked back outside stood in the queue and went through the whole procedure of getting into to taxi. Well, we nearly fell out of the taxi, the poor bloke started to drive and then just as we left the taxi rank he said, here we are! the hotel was about 30 seconds from the taxi rank, we felt terribly embarrassed, this time we had to get out of the taxi within 30 seconds of being seated in it. the hotel was certainly within the 2 minutes from the station.
that night we had dinner in the building complex and had a lovely meal, after dinner we had a bit of a walk around the market area around the station and eventually packed it in fairly early.
Saturday 14 March 2009
After a rotten night of sleep, I was still away at 1.30 am way too hot and my feet were killing me from our massive walk yesterday up in Nikko. The chap that ran the hostel said it was only a hundred yard walk more like 5 klms to me.
Because I couldn`t sleep I took a couple of panadol at 1.30 to help with my sore feet. The we both sleep in until 9.45 am so clearly we needed it.
Once we were dressed we went over the the station and had breakfast in the Andersons cafe, just full of pastries, as they are a Danish company that shouldn't have surprised us.
Alan and I then parted, he went to a museum and I went walking through a market similar to Victoria market but about 50 times bigger. I didn't see anything that appealed to me so I came back to the hotel and had a bit of a sleep and Alan came back at about 1.30. We then had lunch and he has now gone to look at the pandas at the zoo and I went looking for stuff to buy again but didn`t find much and came back to the hotel and have been on the internet looking for a bike that I can buy and have sent home. I now know where to get one its only a matter of convincing Alan that I really need to get one here. don`t know I can but try.
Its raining here but not that uncomfortable.
I have emailed leh a couple of times today and she seems to be having quite a good time by herself but I think she may be missing us a little. no email from Michael.
We had another nice dinner in the same restaurant and almost did the same thing again today, we walked around the place just looking.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Today we are heading home, we've had a fabulous time over here and am sure we will come back again. the people are lovely and the train are fantastic in fact if I had a complaint it would be there aren't enough bench seats in the cities and towns to sit on to have a rest and i understand the braille tiles are important for the blind but my goodness they ended up killing my feet, couldn't take a step without walking on one.
the flight leaves here at ..................... so we will leave early.
We got to the airport in good time and just had a cup of tea and sat back and looked at everyone.
We also had a good flight home, seemed longer that what it did when we went over there. We have now decided that next time we will only take small back packs with us and not worry about lugging masses of clothes with us. Some of our clothing went for the holiday as well.
Monday 16 March 2009 - Home again, home again, jig a dig jig.
How nice to fall into our bed.
tomorrow will be exciting, we're heading off to Maryborough to collect our new little Boxer Puppy, his name will be Cooper ..... more to follow.
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