Tanabe

Amused at Osaka station by the modes of transport. Bicycles can be parked outside the station  NZD $1.80 for a day. There is one seat at the bus stop. Reading overhead train signage an art in itself.

This says blah blah...at own risk no responsibility.....blah blah

Just waiting for the bus

Managed to catch the right train...getting a bit confident now!

Arrived in Tanabe around midday. Township was so quiet we thought they may have "shut for lunch" as in Italy and France. Wandered about and heard voices through a net curtain. Success a small eatery for lunch.  Chap apologies for Japanese menu only but not to be defeated we asked other diners "any English" and pointed to the chalk board menu. Managed to work out a dish a lass pointed to called omelete. Presented with a very thin omlete filled with rice and tissue thin salad. Delicious. 

Found our hotel after lunch. Ok to check in early which we are always grateful for. Had a wander about the town which is on the coast. Seaside sign " slippery when wet" amused. World wide we are all too stupid to work it out for ourselves!

Large shine had an impressive rope over the front. Looked like hereford horns to me.

Cutesy sign at the beach

History here is that two Warlords, one with a white rooster and the other with a red rooster. A cock fight ensued over land/patronage etc and the victor, white, won

Colourful signs everywhere

Next morning we got the bus to Takijiri to the start of the Kumano Kudo pilgrimage route.

The Kumano Kodo is one of the two UNESCO World Heritage pilgrimage routes. History of >1000 years. We are walking to Nachi Taisha which is about 70km. Today we walk to Chikatsuyu. Weather started off dry then rain, not too bad though. Plenty of up, only saw a few folks. One poor guide was trotting back and forwards trying to herd her American small group who were painfully slow. We reckoned if they stopped talking so much they could focus!

Plenty of these.

Got to keep an eye on the footwork otherwise falling would be untidy.

Occasionally you would come around a corner and find an azalea in full bloom, usually magenta, amongst all the soft green maples, otherwise vegetation is cedar and redwood.

See the rock work done who knows how long ago.

Lunch was a bento box provided by the hotel this morning. Is like a mystery parcel with bits you have no idea what they are but hunger overcomes any hesitation. Have to say though the rice cakes are pretty bland.

We arrived at the Ryokon we are in for the night in good time. Really lovely place with all one needs, spacious (hooray) and with a view to the small stream.

Yet again a mystery parcel for dinner delivered to the door.

Tomorrow we have a long hike for Hongu which is well known for it's Onsens. This is bascially hot springs baths where you wash before then enter the gender seperate bath houses. All the rage and one of the larger complexes we are staying at. It will no doubt have multiple vending machines which are everywhere in Japan. Loaded with soft drinks, snacks, beer and tinned coffee. Which we have not sampled say no more.

Osaka

 First stop in Mishima before we got on the Osaka Shinkansen/Bullet train was the bakery at the entrance. The khaki green buns in the middle of the table were very unappealing to say the least. 

Hakone Bakery

Interesting to see rice field's in amongst the many populated areas on the journey. Very lush and green with all the new growth on the hillsides. Lots of light industry and most houses are small two storey or apartment blocks relatively close together. Amazed to see oyster farms....

On arrival at Osaka a trick for young players is there is actually two stations...Shin Osaka and Osaka.  Bit of a shambles when we existed the correct station to find our booked hotel was not 300m ahead then a slight left curve. Major construction completely threw Google Maps and us. Round and round for a bit then the nice security chap showed us on his paper map the new layout. Dumped our bags in our room then back to the train station to get the Osaka Loop train to Osaka Castle. 

Lovely warm day with many folks out and about. Absolutely huge site. 

Really lovely gardens with lots of Camphor and Zelkova trees as well as flowering peach and plum.

Crazy for cherry blossom here. Picnics under the trees and constant photos taken.

Castle originally built 1616 with various rebuilds due to burning down, a problem of wooden structures. The size of the stone foundation incredible. One piece 59sqm surface area. How on earth that was put in place 400 years ago is astounding. We did not que to go in to the castle but did a lap of it and surprised to see WW2 damage in one corner from US bombing day before the Japanese surrendered. Massive stones stayed in place!

One sees some interesting day wear from young Japanese, particularly girls. Look at these shoes. A slave to fashion but mobility difficult.

Unbeknown to us the Japanese are mad for baseball and are actually the World champions having beaten USA ( irony in that) Canada and Korea. Throughout the city are these baseball pitches with the high netting. 

So a good day and lovely sunset out of our hotel room ( really a large closet) window. Found a wee bar with a small plate for supper....no one spoke English and we can not read Japanese but it all works.

Fiji, Inzaimakinohara, Daiba.

 Well the adventure begins. Easy flight to Fiji. Lovely 29C temp with a cold beer beside to pool a delight. A midnight change of room due to sleeping next to a aircon unit which was like being inside a jet cockpit. Somewhat frazzled but back to the airport early to await flight to Tokyo. 

May as well be comfy

9 hrs to Tokyo passed very quickly with plenty of old movies to watch again. We arrived at  Narita along with 300+ on the full flight. Got through immigration, customs (otherwise  known as herding) bag collect made our way to the train level. Flagged picking up our Japan Rail Pass as the que horrendous. Had secured some yen previous so bought our train tickets, $18, to our accommodation we had booked 20mins from Narita. Inziamakinohara hotel close to the train station so arrived 9.45pm. Room was fine for the night and staff helpful. Sadly dinner was off but recommended to we go to the 7/11 store. Entering this store was like a wonderland......rows and rows stuff we did not recognise let alone be able to read. Ahha spotted bananas, lettuce rolls and steamed buns. A machine made lattas and worked out the cash....$15.  Had a feast in our room then crashed at 11pm. 

Bathrooms are something else...need a degree to drive the toilet and shower. Breakfast was outstanding...noodles, salmon, egg and croissants!

Toilet instuctions!

Next morning train to Uneo to collect the famous Japan Rail Passes. Then on to Tokyo ....massive station very busy but to our credit we nutted out where we needed to get the next train platform without a cross word! Shinkasen or Bullet train to Mishima was a nice ride and fascinating scenery. Mishma is famous for being very close to Mt Fuji. Friends live in a small town called Daiba nearby. Kumi and Darryl are both teachers in primary  schools, Darryl originally from Dunedin. Jeff and Darryls Dad are car buddies from way back. 

In Japan children in junior school go six days a week with sport or club day Sundays. Was very weird to see school kids in uniform when we arrived in Mishima Saturday. Thankfully Darryl and Kumi (whose family have lived here for centuries, cemetery beside the house) teach smaller children who only do five days so have the weekends but are at school by 7am.

Famous mountain

We went for a good 2 hour walk around the village the had very yummy sushi made at a  local specialist down the road for dinner.

Village allotments

Topiary on a large scale

Family plot.

Fabulousness sushi.

Today, Sunday, we went to Hakone to the east of Mt Fuji which is a resort a bit like Queenstown 50 years ago.  Magnificient walking through ancient redwoods. The shrine is in amongst these towering trees. Weddings photos and dozen of people leaving wishes for "happy life" "good health" beside the shrine.  Cobblestone path are part of an ancient way from Tokyo to Kyoto. 

Offerings on the track

Kumi and I 

They do have bears here

Redwood one thousand years old

Wedding brides headwear of interest

The wishing board.

Japan similar to New Zealand has plenty of earthquakes so when you wander about the town there are power lines strung everywhere. Just as you see in Nepal an ugly mess. Reasoning is when they have earthquakes it is easier to reconnect power overhead rather than if it was buried. Another observation is we have seen no litter beside rail tracks or any graffiti that you see throughout Europe and the Middle East. Nor any dropped in the streets.

Tomorrow we take the train to Osaka for an overnighter the on to Tannabe on the Kii Pennisular to start our one week hike.