Sayonara Japan

Konichiwa peps- We're back from Japan and we're exhausted! We had quite an adventure travelling around Japan and packed in as much as we could. I think we need another holiday to recover from our hectic travelling pace!

We spent 4 nights in Kyoto, then moved on to Hiroshima and the island of Miay-jima where we spent one night at a Japanese Ryokan, and, finally on to Tokyo for 4 nights. Kyoto had a lot of shrines, palaces, and temples- all were spectacular and wonderful to see. We also did a day trip from Kyoto to Himeji to see Himeji Castle- very cool.

After Kyoto, we moved on to Hiroshima. This was a very moving experience, and, I believe, a place everyone should see when visiting Japan. The city itself is lively and modern. The entire A-dome and peace park area is beautiful and really does have a sense of peacefulness about it. The peace memorial museum had very graphic images and was a bit upsetting. Overall, the experience and feeling is hard to describe.

We then travelled to the island of Miya-jima. This was one of my favourite parts of the trip. This was a charming, little island riddled with wild deer and home of the famous floating Torii gate of the Itsukushima Shrine. We stayed at a traditional Japanese inn- a ryokan- where we wrapped ourselves in our kimonos and slept on tatami mats. At first, the experience was a bit intimidating because there is a lot of etiquette involved while staying at a ryokan, but once we settled in, it was a piece of cake! We had the sweetest host "Grandma" who prepared for us an amazing 12 course Japanese dinner and we ate some "interesting" food. The next morning we took the ropeway up to Mt. Misen to check out the wild monkeys and climbed Mt. Misen- spectacular views!

Finally, we moved on to Tokyo. What a cool city! It's chaotic, overpopulated, electric, fun, a contradiction of old and new- really, it defies a description! Tokyo isn't necessarily about sightseeing, but more of just being in the middle of the action and taking it all in. We did partake in some of the traditional culture by attending a Kabuki performance- it lasted 5 hours, but was very interesting to see in person! We also took a day trip from Tokyo to Hakone to visit the Mt. Fuji area which was cool. It was a bit hazy so visibility was low, but we were lucky enough to still see it!

Some of our memorable food experiences:
1. Paul eating raw prawns that were still jumping around on his plate
2. Eating tons of Eel and giant fish eggs
3. Eating a fish head- eyes and all- at the ryokan
4. Eating an Owakudani Black Egg- boiled egg in the sulfuric geysers which turns it black
5. Visiting the Tokyo fish markets and then eating a sushi breakfast- I couldn't bring myself to eat the huge sea urchin- orange goo- but I did well eating everything else. The sashimi and sushi were HUGE pieces of fish- really like 3 pieces in one and hard to swallow in one go- yikes!

And here are some photos from our trip:

Kyoto Golden Pavillion:






Kyoto Street Shrine:






Himeji Castle:






Hiroshima A-Dome- the A-bomb exploded directly above this building (the only building in the city left in its post A-bomb state):





Floating Torii gate of the Itsukushima Shrine:






Pagoda on Miya-jima:






At the ryokan on Miya-jima:






Wild deer on Miya-jima:






Wild monkeys on Mt. Misen (ouch!):






Mt. Fuji:






Eating an Owakudani Black Egg:






Geyser sulfuric springs:






Tokyo Fish Markets (Octopus anyone?):






Tokyo sunset:






Tokyo at night:

Japan, Here We Come!

Paul and I have booked a holiday to Japan! We're going for 10 days in June! (June 8th to be exact) I'll have to start reviewing my Japanese again. Surprisingly enough, I still remember some basic phrases from my two years of Japanese over 10 years ago! I hope I can remember enough to communicate. Woo Hoo- the countdown is on.

Winetastic

Paul and I have returned from our holiday in Adelaide, South Australia. We spent the majority of our time hitting the wine trails of four different wine valleys- McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Barossa and Clare. Overall, the regions are known for Shiraz- (often times) a full bodied, spicy, red wine. Probably some of the best Shiraz comes out of the Barossa Valley.

It rained practically the entire trip, but it was gladly welcomed to the area as SA has been in a drought for the past two years. Besides, what's better than drinking fantastic wine on a rainy, cold, autumn day. We indulged in some pretty fancy food as well- squab, guinea fowl, and, pheasant- very yum!

Here are some photos from our trip:

The 150 year old vines:




One of our favourite wineries:




Look at all the wine we tasted:

The Country Comes to the City

The Sydney Royal Easter show is in town and we decided to check it out. It's like a state fair comprising of carnival rides, livestock competitions and all sorts of shows. It's one of Australia's largest annual events and attracts over one million people each year to Sydney's Olympic Park.

My favorite parts of the day were: 1. Seeing all of the livestock- cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, etc.; 2. The lumberjack competition- yes, chopping wood!; and, 3. The freak sideshow.


Look at the little piglets feeding.



The rodeo calf round up



The lumberjack relay- serious skill and muscle! This was so much fun to watch.



This picture is a little dark, but this is the sword swallower from the side show.

On the Road Again

This past weekend was Easter and in Australia we get Good Friday and Easter Monday off as public holidays. (Yay for a 4 day long weekend!) So, Paul and I decided to take advantage of the time off and hit the open road. We drove from Sydney up the coast of NSW to Coffs Harbour- about a 7 hour drive. Coffs Harbour is a coastal resort town known for its banana plantations and is home to the best known Australian, man-made tourist attraction, The Big Banana. It's a total tourist trap and a bit ridiculous, but their banana smoothies are delish!





Probably the most fun we had on our trip was checking out the small country towns of Bellingen and Dorrigo. They have that charming, "main street" village feel. The streets are lined with general stores, cafes, and, quaint coffee shops. On the outskirt of the town of Dorrigo are the Dorrigo National Park's World Heritage rainforests. We hiked for two hours through the rainforest to some of these amazing waterfalls and outlooks.











Here are some pictures of us checking out the Coffs coast.