Today was a Mount Fuji day. We had been assured when we arrived at the Hakone Hotel that we could see Mount Fuji from our rooms, but with torrential rain and mist, it stayed resolutely hidden – something which it apparently does much of the time. The next morning though, the elements obliged and the iconic peak of Mount Fuji was visible in the distance poking...
Today was meant to be a very full day, but ‘best laid plans of mice and me ….’ and all that, meant that it was quite a quiet day. The plan had been to get the train from Shinjuku to Odawara and that part went well. In fact that part went like clockwork – the train left exactly when it was meant to and it arrived exactly when it was meant to...
There are lots of adjectives starting with ‘T’ which might be applied to Tokyo – thrilling, thriving, titillating, trenchant – but one which you definitely wouldn’t apply to most of the city is tranquil. The city teems with life and noise in the sense of people, traffic and activity. Our starting point today though was perhaps the one...
Landing in Tokyo Narita airport was an eye opener, or perhaps more accurately described as one of those landings best experienced with eyes closed. The pilot’s eyes might as well have been closed as they couldn’t see anything at all. Thanks to the (very) low cloud and mist, we were only aware of the runway when we touched down. An interesting way to...
Our last few days in Brisbane were spent visiting, chatting and generally relaxing – a perfect combination. After a day in Kenmore, we then headed down to Byron Bay to stay for a couple of days. A side trip for lunch to Bangalow in the hinterland made a lovely diversion, but sadly it was then time to leave Brisbane. An early morning flight on April 6th saw us...
Verbing, or what grammar nerds refer to as denominalization, is a modern (and perhaps not very desirable) linguistic trend, but that is what we did today – we summitted Mount Coot-Tha. The worst culprits for verbing are sports commentators (” … will he/she medal in this event …”) but also business people (“… we need to...
Sometimes a day of slightly aimless meandering can unwittingly be very fulfilling. Having no specific purpose or target for the day means that you achieve all you set out to do and today was one of those days! We didn’t rush, but headed off mid-morning to walk up to Holman Park ferry stop. This should have been very relaxing until Anne shouted belatedly –...
A day of travel today …. However, our flight from Hobart was not until about 2pm, so for the morning we decided to head a little north of Hobart to Bonorong Wildlife Park. We got there a little time before the tour, so wandered around for a bit spending ages in front of cages looking for animals that were asleep, given that they were nocturnal! We did manage to...
The first adjective which comes to mind when describing MONA (The Museum of Old and New Art) is eclectic. Somehow though this doesn’t seem to do justice to the unique combination of art, architecture and experience which it represents. This experience started for us on the Mona Roma – a high speed catamaran from Bridge Street Pier in the centre out to...
We had been recommended by friends to visit the Wooden Boat Company in Franklin on the Huon River and figured what’s not to like – wood and boats – a perfect combination. The drive was about 40 minutes and the last stretch followed the river. The Wooden Boat Company is in a shed on the riverfront by a small marina. Their aim is simple – to...