Cairns
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| Album - Cairns 2010 |
Thursday 1st - and my plan to reduce the connection risk by splashing out on a direct flight to Cairns sort of worked - Jetstar got us there a couple of hours late and lost my bag. My MUK flightmates patiently waited as I searched the cavernous Cairns domestic terminal - inconveniently located at the extreme end of the airport from the forlornly vacant baggage carousel - for anyone to help. Eventually some Jetstar people came back from where they'd been loading the plane and were able to let me know that they thought my bag hadn't made my flight and would come up the next morning. This was a slight problem as I needed my gear for the cruise the next day, which was to leave at 8:30.
We went to our hotel and then into town to see whether the Thursday night CUF welcome activities were still going - quite a hike. It was getting quite late, thanks to all the delays, so rather than finding the assembling ukulele masses we just had a quick look around. Wanting to celebrate our arrival with some icecreams we went into a convenience store, whereupon a wizened Aboriginal gentleman approached me saying that I looked like a musician (although we didn't have our ukes with us), and would I play him a song? Being in an unfamiliar environment I thought it best to accede to his request and gave the assembled shoppers a muted 1-verse version of Slow Dance Baby on his guitar (missing string and all). He took this as a signal that I would be delighted to hear the extended mix version of his own song, about land rights and so forth; admittedly it was pretty catchy!
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Friday - very grey. I got onto Jetstar who said the bag would be on the flight that should arrive at 9:30. But it was running late. Stuff it - I decided to buy some bathers & a towel and take the 10:30 cruise to Green Island. It was a great walk into town along the esplanade (and I was passed by a bunch of ladies jogging by pushing prams, a mums-and-bubs exercise class); I'd been warned that there was no beach but instead there was a manmade lagoon - but it was closed for resurfacing. I got to the ferry via a quick detour to the shops and met up with Jo and some of the Dukes.
It was a great daytrip, snorkling with Marg from BUMS, Jo, and the girls from the Dukes and getting to swim along with a couple of turtles. Over lunch we had uke performances by Jason Arimoto and Matt "The Jumping Flea" Dahlberg and a bit of a jam. On the trip back to the mainland we saw a humpback whale breaching several times which was fantastic, but I felt guilty that Shelly had gone on a whale-watching cruise and didn't end up seeing anything. I didn't get any photos of the whale - it was a kilometre-or-so away and the boat was bouncing around a lot in the choppy seas.
Back at the hotel I asked whether my bag had been delivered, and the desk lady assured me that there'd been no sign of it. I checked the room, no luck. Now quite concerned, I went back to the desk, about to dial Jetstar - when I just about tripped over my bag in the lounge area. Seems to be that whenever an airline loses my bag, it gets lost again on its way back to me.
We headed into town and caught the end of The Mighty Uke screening - it was great to catch up with some of the other ukulele people from around the country. I got to play a few songs (Slow Dance Baby, Reboot, Black Hole, Thank You, Drunk Mosquito, Sinking In) from my Shoulder Season CD - thanks Gail & Ric for helping out! - and despite slightly dodgy PA and an automatic gain control setting that kept kicking in and playing havoc with the levels, it seemed to get a pretty good response and I sold a few CDs. (I managed to sneak into the bar later and see the last 10 minutes of the Hawks victory over the Dogs - very satisfying, cheering along with the bar staff in an otherwise indifferent crowd.)
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Saturday - we had a run-through of the MUK set at Gail and Ric's hotel room - managing to blow up the toaster and set off the smoke detector. After lunch a few of us headed into town to check out some of the other big band performances and the art show - both very impressive. Later we gritted our teeth through the choice of song for the world record attempt (Achy Breaky Heart) - but it was quite a buzz to be part of an ensemble of well over 600 ukuleleists. Into the evening, MUK got to perform our set at the Courthouse Hotel which went over a treat - we had comments that we were the most professional group. We were followed by the Dukes who were great fun.
Now off duty, I felt a lot more relaxed & even managed a chat with the Mayor. There were very good crowds at the festival, but the numbers in the pub were swelling towards midnight, many wearing the face paint of the World Cup teams about to compete. We headed off towards the Night Markets where the Dukes were serenading a security guard; we missed them there but Shelly, Susan and Adrian & I caught up with them for a short while at the Casa De Meze.
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Sunday - was the main day of the Cairns Ukulele Festival. I walked to the Tanks Art Centre with Jo and enjoyed a great day's entertainment; particularly Rose's and Renee's performances, and the James Hill workshop... and James Hill's show was absolutely amazing!
Afterwards we headed back to the after party at the Cape York Hotel and I got to sing a couple more songs during the open mic segment - Ghost Tram and The Room Next Door, and MUK got up to play Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.
It was a very enjoyable festival, as always it's great to catch up with ukulele people from around the country and around the world, and to get to sing a few songs is always a buzz. There are probably a couple of things that could have run a bit more smoothly from the organisers' point of view but everyone overcame the hiccups with great spirit and I'd definitely be keen to get back to a future festival up there. As always, it's the ukulele community that shines. Big congratulations to the performers from MUK, our entourage, any everyone who supported our trip - particularly, greater MUK, and SEGUE.
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Monday - as the ukulele players dispersed, I ducked into town to sort some things out for my Japan trip, and then met up with Llyn for a trip into Kuranda via suburban bus and the Skyrail cable car. It was quite rainy but this added to the atmosphere somewhat - the misty conditions provided a great sense of depth as ridges faded away into the distance. We met up with Bosko and Honey on their home turf and did a bushwalk - bumping into Susan and Adrian. We returned to Cairns via the Scenic Railway which was an amazing bit of engineering. Dinner with Llyn and Adrienne, and then back to book some tours through the hostel I had relocated to.
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Tuesday - my friend Melissa was in town for a wedding, and - being a keen SCUBA diver - was keen to get out on the reef. We booked the Poseidon cruise, and I got the early pick-up from Cairns. It was a pretty spectacular drive up - the sun was finally starting to appear, and it was a good bunch of people on the bus. On board at Port Douglas I met up with Mel and her friends & had a great day out with 3 SCUBA dives. There was some fabulous coral, not too many noteworthy animals but it was nice to see a baby shark and a cuttlefish, and the usual vibrantly multicoloured inhabitants of the reef. A big thanks to my dive partners who were excellent company and also to Poseidon for rescuing my luggage when I left it on board (and apologies to the other tourists that I've sneered at on occasion, when they've left belongings behind). I'm only an occasional diver but it's always a lot of fun!
That night I stayed in Port Douglas. I explored the town for a bit and then had a good catch-up with Mel and a couple of her friends over pizza and a beer or two.
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Wednesday - started with an early morning swim before breakfast. Then I joined the tour to Cape Tribulation - a place that I'd only heard spoken of in reverent tones, without really knowing what was there. I was on the trip with a bunch of backpackers who were pretty good value but there was a fairly high bogan component - eg European girls with attire more suited to clubbing than rainforests, and prone to leaving things behind and generally not being particularly organised. (I think I'm showing my age here!) Also it struck me that the tour guides are a somewhat itinerant group. We had a short cruise on the Daintree river and saw a few crocodiles, and went out on one of the boardwalks, and saw strangler figs and big lizard things.
We got to Cape Trib at lunchtime and with a free afternoon I grabbed some lunch and had a chat with some guys who were riding their postie bikes from Cairns to Cape York, then went for a wander in the forest and then up & along the beach. Back at the lodge I discovered that all my roommates were female; I told them that it was OK by me and I didn't mind if they had all their pillowfights & so forth. After dinner I went on a night rainforest walking tour which was pretty good but we pretty much failed to see any wild creatures besides the occasional spider... but we did see an awesome stick insect while we were waiting for the bus to take us there. Back from the walk I dropped into PKs and saw the last few minutes of the NRL State-Of-Origin and had a bit of a chat to some fellow tourists, but the grandpa in me called it a night.
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Thursday - in the morning I tried my hand at Jungle Surfing which was pretty good fun. The highlight was the kids' expressions changing from considerable distress to absolute delight as they learnt to trust the ropes and harnesses. Then I checked out the bat sanctuary which was a bit shabby but the guides were pretty good value. Then, back on the bus at lunchtime, for the return to Cairns via Mossman Gorge - unfortunately the bus was running late so we only had a short stop there.
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Friday - and the lagoon was open! I wandered down at breakfast time, and passed an aqua-aerobics class, and one of the participants yelled out towards me "there's one of the ukulele people!!!". I even had a quick dip myself. I quickly ducked into town to grab my Japan Rail pass and a new SD card and then waited for the airport bus which was very late and proceeded to get lost while trying to find a couple of drop-offs, all the while the driver making all sorts of feeble excuses and me getting progressively more nervous about the countdown to my flight time.
Next time in Cairns: the Undara Lava Tubes, see a Cassowary
Questions: why does every hotel have a swimming pool but no-one ever seems to be in them? For that matter why do they all seem to be too cold to swim in?
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| From Cairns 2010 |
Japan
My sister, Michelle, has been to Japan a bunch of times, and I was curious about what it would be like - and since it's only a single flight to Osaka from Cairns, and it was (I think) quite cheap to get there, and I had a long-standing invitation to visit Chi (formerly of MUK), it seemed like a great opportunity to head there and find out firsthand what it's like to be in a completely different culture (at least, from what I'd heard). I'd heard that it wasn't the best time to visit- it's the humid/rainy season; but I packed a couple of borrowed phrasebooks and a 20-year-old Lonely Planet, and boarded my half-empty Jetstar flight to the land where they build airports in the middle of the bay, and railways in the sky. (The flight was very uneventful - although I had to plead my case to receive the video & meal pack that the agent had thrown in for free when I'd booked. And despite being the middle of the day they got us to shut our shades against the glare; I had hoped to see more of New Guinea etc.)
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| From Japan 2010 |
Chi met me at Kansai - it was fantastic to see her again, it's always terrific to have such an enthusiastic welcome! And it was invaluable to have a local contact just to get me started in an otherwise overwhelming new culture. I'd got to know Chi quite well during her time in Melbourne but it was fabulous to see her in her home environment. We caught up on things during a noodle dinner in Kawachinagano, and I started absorbing things like how to slurp my noodles, and how to pronounce some of the place names. Chi had booked me into a Ryokan (Japanese-style guest house) close to her home, and helped me with the basics of checking in and finding where the bathroom was. I had a futon to sleep on, which was very comfortable, and I slept soundly through the chorus of moo-ing frogs in the picturesque dam outside the window.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Saturday - Chi joined me for breakfast at the Ryokan. I decided just to eat everything, no matter what it seemed to consist of, and my leap of faith was well rewarded - I think it was all very nutritious. I'm a bit hazy on whether I added the right condiments to the right dish, or used the right cutlery or crockery or whatever. After checking out, we walked a couple of hundred metres to the local Shinto temple, which certainly reinforced the fact that I was now in Japan. It was functional rather than touristy but a great introduction into some of the cultural aspects. Also it was a nice walk in the countryside - it's in the hills on the fringe of Osaka (it sort of reminded me of Lilydale in relation to Melbourne). Other things of note - Chi pointed out the doors of many buildings opening straight onto the kerbside - you have to pretty much look each way not only when crossing the road, but when going out the front door.
We called past Chi's apartment in Tondabayashi, which was great - I'm always intrigued to see just a normal home when I'm travelling, rather than just hotel rooms & tourist attractions. Then we wandered down to Tondabayashi Nishiguchi station for the 45-minute(?) ride into town. I found the suburban railways a little bit of an acquired taste - there are lots of lines forming a bit of a tangled web and there are several railway companies which made ticketing complicated on occasion, although the colourcoded trains and romaji subtitles made it straightforward - eventually, and there were plenty of staff to help. Having a local guide was best of all though!
We had a break from the steamy weather with a spot of lunch at the cafe of the Osaka Museum of History, and then wandered across to Osaka Castle. We were adopted by a slightly elderly and delightful volunteer guide who helped explain the many points of interest. Next we went across to the Dotonbori district - shopping malls and big crowds soaking in the cruisy late afternoon sun underneath the giant animated models of animals available on the menu inside the corresponding restaurants. Chi introduced me to takoyaki - a DIY sort of thing where you pour a savoury pancake mix over a portable gas stove on the table, then add small pieces of octopus, sauces and flavourings. As it starts to cook, you scoop the batter into bite-sized balls - yum!
Osaka isn't reputed for a lot of touristy stuff but we had a nice walk along the canal, and then we went to the Umeda Sky Building observation deck - it was too hazy to tell when the sun was setting, but is was quite spectacular as the city lights started to shine. (Some aspects of the experience were slightly naff but overall it was good fun!) We explored the food court underneath, and then found a small neighbouring garden and tried to spot the loud but evasive frogs. Back in Umeda, Chi suggested that we should try some sake, and we had a great time in a sake bar trying raw fish & wasabi, and being befriended by some baseball fans who thought I looked like Jeff Williams, the star pitcher from their team, the Hanshin Tigers.
Sunday - I fumbled my way through the hotel breakfast OK. I met up with Chi and we took the train to Kyoto - only about half-an-hour away. (In fact the suburbs of Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara are pretty-much contiguous.) We were greeted by a big downpour, so we had some lunch and then, after checking with one of the many piccolo-voiced tourist information girls, we took a bus to Ryoanji, a very historic and beautiful temple. The rain resumed its ferocity as we waited for the bus so we sheltered in a souvenir shop (Chi bought some gifts for Michelle), before risking a soaking. Next stop was Kinkaku-ji, another tourist highlight - the golden temple is astonishing when you first see it, and the grounds and gardens were delightful despite the grey weather, one of the highlights being a traditional tea ceremony.
Sightseeing finished for the day, we stopped by another souvenir stall where Chi bought me a wonderful charm bracelet with my name spelt in Hiragana. We took a bus back to Kyoto station (I'm sure I was being a pain by trying to find a bus I could use my JR ticket on, which involved a bit of a walk.) We had another great meal with Chi patiently trying to explain what we were eating and how we should be eating it. Apparently I was holding my chopsticks like a small child does. We also had more sake, which I really enjoyed; it comes in different flavours - mostly quite similar to white wine, but one we tried was a lot like whisky.
And then, after a fantastic weekend, we parted company - Chi returned home so she could be back to study her course during the week, and I was off to continue my touring solo - yikes!
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| From Japan 2010 |
Monday - prelude - I woke up early for some reason, and twigged that the World Cup Final was on. I'd missed most of the match but caught Spain's winning goal. And incidently Japanese TV was generally pretty normal, as far as I could make out. But I've never seen anything as joyous as the actors in Japanese TV commercials.
I set out on foot towards the Eastern side of the city where there are a large number of temples and other sights. My strategy was based on correlating my tourist maps with the places that seemed to attract lots of people - not a perfect strategy, at one point I ended up in Kyoto Womens' University, and another time I found myself in a railway station I think. Also I possibly saw some lesser attractions and might have missed some major ones. The highlights of the morning were Sanjusan Gendo (33 Pillars temple) - great practice in starting to recognise numbers, Kiyomizu-dera, the laneways and roads leading onwards, Maruyama park (I had a moment of panic when I'd realised I'd left my Lonely Planet at a previous crossroads - luckily it was still there. I then then explored the Gion district, and through the regular suburban streets and markets & away from the tourist strip. I was trying to find an internet cafe but they were surprisingly thin on the ground, and expensive - but this quest took me past Heian Shrine, to the Visitors Centre, a textiles museum and a hostel whose only discernible occupant was a cat. It was a nice tour but ultimately unsuccessful - no internet.
I planned to do the Geico (aka Kyoto's Geisha) tour of Gion but still had a couple of hours to kill so I tried to find the Path of Philosophy but I misjudged the scale of the map. I ended up a bit lost in a very picturesque cemetery, which, it turns out, is only a couple of hundred metres from the Path of Philosphy, but separated from it by a cliff, a river and a highway. So with feet, time and energy all expiring I headed back to Gion to join the tour, which was great. Emi, the guide, was thoroughly entertaining and not a little quirky, and we learnt a lot about the culture & misconceptions about the Geico, the tea houses and Gion. The tour finished at an optional Geico performance which was pretty pricey, I thought, and it appeared to be overly touristy so I gave it a miss. Instead I gave myself a challenge of getting back to my hotel by train. The ticket machines were a bit confusing at first but I figured out that you put the money in and then select what ticket you want - a bit like drink vending machines I guess. I wussed out on dinner and had Starbucks.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Tuesday - with considerable excitement I waited at the Kyoto Shinkansen platform, thoroughly entertained by the calisthenics of the platform master who'd oversee each train's departure with enough white-gloved theatrical signalling to make an AFL goal umpire proud. My train approached sedately and probably didn't have enough distance to get up to speed before Osaka and Kobe, but then the driver opened it up and we launched headlong towards Hiroshima at an astonishing, yet very comfortable, rate. Most impressive was how mountains would loom up from the distance, then be gone in moments; with the lasting significance of boulders you might canoe past in a river. (I had a reserved seat for this leg, but as the train was quite empty and all my journeys were off peak, I didn't bother for subsequent Shinkansen trips - there was no problem getting a seat.)
I hadn't managed to book a room in Hiroshima - the websites were basically an exercise in frustration, but I found the tourist information centre who took care of it for me and booked me into the slightly French-themed Hotel Flex. By the way, I was very impressed by the "business hotels" I stayed in - for about the same price that you'd pay for a private room at a backpackers hostel in Australia, you can get a compact, but very comfy hotel room.
I took the train to Miyajimaguchi, and then the ferry across to Miyajima. The mist and rain was quite a theme of the afternoon, and led to some spectacular/spectral sights - and soggy feet. I had a look around the main tourist area, particularly the Itsukushima Shrine, and then took the shuttle bus to the ropeway (cablecar) - in the hope that the rain might be down at sea level but it could be clear up on the mountain. Alas there was heavy mist all the way up (worse than Cairns!) and visibility was only a few metres. But, keen to explore, and with a handy umbrella, I set out on the mountain paths. It was quite an adventure - I found some of the shrines and made it to the peak; the umbrella kept most of me dry-ish, but passing heavy showers turned the tracks into rivers and my feet were soaked. Back at the base station I got chatting to the only other travellers foolish enough to be taking on the weather, and it turns out they were Korean cast members from the touring production of Mamma Mia. (I should have had a couple of my CDs handy!!!) Their English was not good (but better than my Japanese & Korean) but we had a friendly chat while sheltering (with some deer) in the bus stop. Back at the temple the tide was now out so I walked out to the massive gate, occasionally wading through the receding streams, but my feet couldn't get any wetter than they already were.
I took the ferry back (the mainland port seems to be alongside some sort of aquatic speedway...?) and got the train back to Hiroshima. By mistake I got off one station too early but then took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat and then have a wander through the city, past the trams and the castle, and along the river banks - the rivers were raging and carrying plenty of detritus, including a number of pieces of furniture. Back at the hotel I hung up my shoes and socks to dry (the socks were a lost cause) and rewarded myself with a beer.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Wednesday - more rain, so I took the tram, rather than walk, for the few blocks to the Peace Park (and was quietly humming Ghost Tram all the while). Hiroshima trams still have conductors, who sit behind a sort-of counter inside the door. I spent most of the morning going around the Peace Park's monuments and memorials - it was all very sobering. I was most struck by the story of Sadako, the models of the city, the watches stopped at 8:15 and the letters that the Mayor of Hiroshima sends to governments of countries that conduct atomic tests. I was heartened by the trees that had been scorched by the blast and had survived, and to be honest I was slightly puzzled as to why the spot on the ground directly beneath the hypocentre was not within the park, but instead had an apartment building on it. I walked back to the hotel so I could have a look around the city.
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| From Japan 2010 |
The rain had affected the Shinkansen schedules - but I made the wrong decision to take the first train which was a 'stopping-all-stations' rather than the express so I was about half an hour late back to meet up with Chi in Osaka (sumimasen!). Incidently, I found Japan very musical - stations, trains, pedestrian crossings, doors - everything seemed to have its own little sequence of chimes to let you know what was happening. We went to Kitahama station and were met by Tarasuna, who is a friend of Yuki ("Honey", from Bosko and Honey), and who took us to The Frame House bar, for the Wednesday Ukulele Night. The young ladies that run the bar seem to be ukulele nuts and I understand that they have ukulele events there almost every night. I keep finding that each ukulele group has its own way of running their nights and at the Frame House it seems that the night is basically several uke lessons upstairs (I should have ducked in to check it out); there wasn't any group practice. It was a great bunch of girls & guys though - everyone had a uke and every so often, in between drinks and chatting, someone would break out a song. Great fun - ukes are a great passport for getting to meet some locals! And I was very flattered that they were calling me the 'very handsome Australian' - of course I deflected such praise but then relented and let them call me handsome- once I had donned my Fedora.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Thursday - after spending some time fishing around for a contact lens that must have popped out in the shower, I had breakfast while waiting to see if it would re-appear and proceeded to spill my misu soup, thanks to the lack of binocular vision. Finally, with a new lens inserted, I headed off to Himeji (about half an hour by Shinkansen?) to see the castle, highly recommended for its spectacular construction and views. Unfortunately it is currently being restored, and the main tower is closed while an amazing scaffold is being built completely over it. It will be reopened (within the scaffold) next year. This was a bit disappointing but since I was already there I was able to wander around the grounds and some of the associated buildings. I also had a good look around the neighbouring Kokoen Japanese gardens but was slightly hampered by the drizzle and humidity. During my brief time in Himeji I was also impressed by the street art, and was amazed by the sight of a Shinkansen zipping past at full speed on the express track, only a few metres away from where I was waiting on the platform. Returning to Osaka by Shinkansen it was quite an experience to see, up ahead, a large thunderstorm, and to be bearing down on it at a colossal rate. It almost felt like we would collide with it, and then the trickles of rain on the windows suddenly became solid sheets of water, with their own weird physics, for a few minutes as we passed through.
I transferred onto the regular JR intercity train for my journey to Nara, which took in a loop of Osaka and some fantastic gorges. I used the same trick of getting the Visitor Centre to book a hotel for me, which was nice & close to the station and had free internet (nb my main consideration in finding a computer was just to recharge my phone - quite a logistical exercise), but the breakfast was very ordinary - I think it was a vegan-themed hotel or something. I had a bit of a wander around the main tourist mall section of town and then back to rest up for my last full day of this trip.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Friday - Nara is celebrating 1300 years since becoming an imperial city... I'm not too keen on their logo though. I walked the tourist route around the shrines and temples, evading the herds of deer, under sunny skies. I checked out Sarusawa Ike pond, Kofukuji, the Daibutsuden and Todaiji Temple, Nigatsu-do Hall, and Tamukeyama Hachimangu Shrine. I might nominate the iced coffee and cheesecake as the highlight of the tour though! After lunch, some big thunder clouds started to roll in and I could hear rumbles in the distance, so I made a beeline back to town in case the weather turned bad. I then took a free tourist shuttle to see some of the sights around Heijo-kyo, but as I arrived, the lightning started peppering the area and the tourists were marshalled into the visitor info tent. After half an hour of waiting I joined a few people venturing out into the drizzle with the sky still crackling, but the staff prevented us covering the wide spaces between the major buildings of the complex. It looked like it was going to take a while to clear so I headed back to JR Nara and then back to Chi's place. On the way I was charmed by a couple of elderly Japanese ladies who enquired about whether I was carrying a violin, and I mimed and said "ukulele" which elicited much mirth. I found myself ahead of schedule, I took a longer-than-necessary train ride back into Osaka and out again. I was a bit concerned when, a couple of stations short of my destination, several uniformed railway staff suddenly swarmed over the train and disconnected my carriage from the neighbouring one. I asked one of my fellow travellers "Tondabayashi?" pointing along our train and managed to communicate sufficiently to confirm that I was on the right track. Literally. The driver had read out a list of stations on the PA system, but I needed to confirm that he hadn't preceeded his list with "Change here for...".
I met up with Chi, and had a fabulous evening out at a local restaurant - I possibly ate too much and I think I definitely had a bit too much to drink! or at least I should have re-hydrated a bit more first, after quite a sweltering day. But I finally got to try some Japanese pizza. And Chi was kind enough to steer me away from accidentally eating some whale. I came back from Japan about 3kg lighter despite eating well and trying to keep my fluids up - I think the summer humidity was a factor, and enjoying a diet that my system wasn't used to. And heaps of walking of course.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Saturday - I'd been having a fantastic time and would love to have stayed longer (and I hope to be back soon!) but it had been a very full couple of weeks and I was starting to wilt. Chi chose a gentle final day - Tondabayashi has a historic district with some grand old manor houses that we had fun wandering around, while she patiently taught me some more Japanese. For the occasion, she was beautifully dressed in a Kimono, which looked absolutely fantastic. (In comparison, the practicalities of travel meant that I was starting to run desperately low on fresh clothes myself.) At one venue there was a photography class practicing their skills; at least a couple of them got frustrated with their fancy cameras not giving them a picture - only to finally figure out that the lens cap was the cause of their problems. Then, we drove a few kilometres to a hillside rice field for Chi to show me where she volunteers sometimes - it was great to get out into the countryside with the farmland, streams and frogs.
And then it was time for farewells - Chi drove me back to Kansai, where we had a final dinner together before it was time to head into immigration. I think I was asleep as soon as we took off (apart from being woken every five minutes or so by a shrill announcement about the meal service, or our flying time, or the video units or whatever, and then by the same thing in Japanese. But I did finally see a bit of New Guinea in the pre-dawn). My journey took me through Gold Coast airport, which must be rare in that its runway straddles a state boundary, and then back to my waiting motorbike at Tullamarine.
I'd had a fantastic time, and my big question at the start of my trip, viz, "is it possible to survive Japan - ie get around OK, find accommodation and meals?" was answered as a definite affirmative, notwithstanding all the help that I received. Everyone was helpful and made great efforts for me when I was trying to navigate or buy something. Sure, I was mainly in touristy areas, but everything seemed well organised & neatly presented; when I saw a Japanese guy with tattoos it really stood out - I don't think I'd seen any other tatts, or piercings etc - everyone seemed "normal but in a conservative way" which suits me fine. And we could do with a bit more of that around Brunswick I reckon. Also you could quite comfortably have an early breakfast in Melbourne and dinner in Japan - or depart from Japan in the evening and be back the next day for lunch at home. And it really wasn't expensive - there are some great deals on airfares and prices in Japan were comparable to back home, and I thought that the accommodation (mainly "business hotels") and the attractions were excellent value.
Things I missed in Japan: perforations on much of the dunny paper, racks of chocolate in shops (there were some sweets, often made from seaweed, like much of the food :-), and for some reason I started noticing that all the crappy, I mean, slightly less desirable jobs were done by Japanese people, where in many other places, things like convenience store attendants, stop/go sign holders and cleaners are done by an ethnic class.
Huge thanks to Chi, who took care of most of my arrangements for me and was invaluable as a guide and dear friend (and helped carry my bags despite my protestations) - I very much hope it's not another three years before we see each other again! Also to Yuki (Honey) in Kuranda for putting me in touch with Tarasuna, Michelle for lots of great suggestions, tourism info & encouragement, and Natsuko at HIS Cairns.
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| From Japan 2010 |
Next time in Japan: Hot Springs, Tokyo, I'll be game to try the space-shuttle controls on the toilets, more of the countryside, the Path of Philosphy, a capsule hotel.
