Knocklofty park

It's Christmas! Although the middle of summer doesn't feel quite the same. Everyone is terribly enthousiastic though, wearing hats and decorating and stuff. Guess they feel Christmas needs all the help it can get. From my point of view.... it still needs more.

So on an apparently average spring-feeling day (summer here is in the low 20s in the afternoon), I set off to the botanical garden, as everything else is closed.

And even before getting there, I saw birds! Parrots, just free, and lots of other ones that I don't know, all screeching and peeping. I even got a wonderful view of a kookaburra! He didn't sing, unfortunately, probably because there was another bird on the same tree making a huge racket! Actually, without the other bird there I would never have seen the kookaburra at all!

The gardens were great, with tons of ferns and local plants.

They even had a subantarctic house, which was a small circular house with extremely well done paintings on the walls, so the cliffs and sea just seemed to go on forever!

I then went on to Mt Stuart and the Knocklofty park, where there were many more birds and flowers, and even 2 wallabies or small kangaroos! They seemed to have red coats, but with my red tinted sunglasses, it's a bit hard to tell. I also heard a snake but didn't see it, and wasn't going to wade off into the tall grass looking for it.

Today I was careful to wear my sunglasses as soon as it got too bright, and so only roasted a bit on my forehead and nose (the glasses protect the cheek bones).

Hobart

A good japanese farewell, with a whole plateful of Mochi (sticky rice-based something), and a magnificent view of Mt Fuji leaving Yokohama on the airport bus. I will just mention here that the plate of Mochi was for the whole house, not just for me!

I arrived fine in Hobart. Both planes were late, but no big problems.

You have to declare all food products when entering Australia, so had to open my bag at customs. and then explain that my boots were for purely marine use (freshwater equipment is also quarantined). And of course, once everything has spilled out, it won't fit back in, will it...

But I made do, as the Gold Coast is a hot and humid place, and I had no intentions of being stuck there! Will a bag full of warm socks and sweaters, I'm not well adapted for temperatures above 20...

Outside Gold Coast airport

Everyone here is super friendly, although a bit hard to understand...
Luckily I came in on a french passport, so don't feel too bad.
The hostel is relly nice, right in the center of town. Should be silent tonight, but with bunches of folks arriving tomorrow.

Tip top of Tasmania.

It's super sunny here, and quite warm. But nicer than the hot and misty that there was in Gold Coast.
I've wandered around a bit this afternoon, but it will be an early night for me. Tomorrow is Christmas, so most things are closed. I will wander along the port and then go to a botanical garden not too far away. Then nothing special on Sunday. And then on Monday, I signed up for a big tour, with 2 different water falls, Wellington mountain and a Tasmanian devil park. It was quite expensive, but there's not much choice when you don't have a car.

Shall have fun for sure.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

And a special photo for Uncle John and Patty, to show I STILL love ginger beer. From a local brewry, "with extra bite"!

Kanazawa - Zushi

On this overcast but not rainy Sunday I set out for a true Sunday ramble.

Starting from Kanazawa-bunko station I decided to walk to the zoo instead of taking the bus. This was not the wisest idea in the world, as I got lost and wandered in the complete opposite direction for half an hour, and then had to climb a huge hill just to get to the zoo gate. Next time I will take the bus, as it's no fun having to make a pause before you even get to the hiking course.

I had in mind to take the hiking course towards Kamakura, and look for a shortcut down to Zushi, or possibly even Jimmuji station. Well if there was one I completely missed it, and ended up taking the same road as always down to Kamakura. But the hike was well worth it for all the fall colours which are comming on well. Although I can do without the ginko tree nuts...

This Sunday was a festival day where parents dress the children in traditional costume and take them to the shrines, so it was fun seeing all the cute little costumes.

From the Kamakura beach I took a new path up the hills between Kamakura and Zushi. And so it was quite a suprise to see the beach at Zushi, black with people and with loudspeakers. And it was even more puzzling to see the total absence of regatta or surfboard competition.

So, intrigued, I went off to investigate!

And to my wonder and suprise, I found an equestrian archery event in full swing! There were about 6 horses, all with colours and ribbons, and 10 riders. There were extremely smooth, and their costumes were excellent! They also had a panel of judges, in traditional court dresses, and all the helpers were wearing what I assume were traditional groom clothes. Even the starting signal was traditional, as they had a young boy at each end of the track who would turn the red-with-a-gold-circle side of their huge fan to the gold-with-a-red-circle side.

I had read that there archery contests happen now and then, but was very happy to have been able to see that one, and you couldn't have had a more beautiful backdrop as Sagami Bay!

Jimmuji

Well well, one lives and learns!

It turns out there is a quite large, if not actually giant, Buddha statue just 25 minutes from Oppama station (15 coming back down)! Now who would have thought!

I found out about this by hunting around on Internet for interesting things to do in the area. There is a blog that talks about this trail that goes from Jimmuji station to Oppama station where one sees this large Buddha. So I first set off to the nearest shop to get myself some maps, and then set off early this morning to investigate this trail.

And it was absolutely 100% worth it!

I took the train to Jimmuji station, and the blog clearly explained how to get onto the trail. From there on it was easy to follow, as I have now learned enough Katakana to read the signs that said "hikingu coosu" this way.

Garden of the home.

The beginning of the trail goes past a school and then the most wonderful old-people's home I have ever seen. The pictures are of the rear garden of the home, which is not bad at all! But they also had some chicken coops and other bird cages, and a little cosy house, probably for a cat. Very very nice place.

After that the path winds slowly up the hill following a small stream, with tons of vines and ferns and liverwarts. Then at the top of the hill it gets into the dryer forests, with japanese cypress and bamboo. I took a little detour path to where some cherry trees grow to see if they had fall colours, but they had already lost all their leaves.

So back onto the main path, and through a large temple complex. Here too, some worderful gardens.

From there, the path meandered along the crest of the hill, with a few autumn colours starting, but an unfortunate number of high tension lines right across the view.

Then after a bit of rough path (but with chains and cords to help you), you get to the lookout tower, and the climbing rocks. From the look-out tower you can see everything from Yokohama in the distance to the North, Oppama and JAMSTEC straight East, Yokosuka and the lighthouse at Uraga to the South-East.

And then Zushi and Sagami Bay to the West, and Mt Fuji in the distance, barely visible though the clowds and the power lines. (between the 2nd and 3rd group of cables from the top)

And of course, right in front of Oppama, you can clearly see the Buddha, rising out of the nice orange and yellow chestnut trees. (to the left in the photo)

It's a couple minutes to the Buddha from the lookout tower, passing by all the different climbing rocks.

The statue itself is very impressive, both from the tower and up close, and is, indeed, very big. Standing on some rocks I still could not even reach it's feet!

And all that, right behind the house, almost! I shalll definitely be going back that way again!

And I promise I will be buying new batteries for my camera soon, so that I can show you photos that are in focus next time!

Stoll

The weather today is just cool enough, with just the right amount of sun and wind, that staying inside is just impossible.

After a morning spent attempting to work, and failing, I set off for a stroll in the sun. I went up to the little park near the house that I had visited on my first day in Japan. Then off down the northern side of the hill, towards Kanazawa-hakkei.

There is a small little valley there, between 2 steep hills, with a small canal running down the middle. Following the canal is a small little walkway with some extremely pretty houses, all covered in flowers. At the top of the next hill you get some nice views of Oppama.

Then off down the hill and up the next, which is much more countryside-ish. And as it doesn't feel like the city anymore I took the oportunity to do some wildlife viewing stops.

With at the menu a couple nice catterpilars, and a most amusing grey squirrel. I must have spent nearly 10 minutes watching him, as he picked the chestnuts out of the husks and threw the finished fruit out of the tree. He wasn't the least concerned about me, and I was quite happy that someone had left a convenient staircase right next to the chesnut tree. It was a bit unfortunate, however, that someone had also left a whole battalion of mosquitoes there.... And it was the continued presence of those mosquitoes, and not the disappearance of the squirrel that caused me to move on.

On the other side of that hill you get back onto the flat ground, but there are still a lot of very nice gardens here. Then you cross the train tracks and you're back on the main road to Kanazawa-hakkei. I did not care to attempt another mosquito-infested forest, so went off to the station. Where I did my civil duty by helping an american couple figure out which train they wanted to take.

A very nice stroll, on a perfect Saturday. I can't wait till the leaves start really turning colour though!

Homestay

My first small japanese class came with a homestay program, which turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had some doubts about this as first, as I am very shy.

The host family were very fun and they have a cute little cocker spaniel. I spent my afternoons learning about food, mostly, as the host mother loves to cook. My homework will be to have to try all of these recipes out for myself! We even went to an orchard to pick japanese pears. The pears look like brown apples, are the size of a small grapefruit and have very firm and sweet flesh. Very very tasty.

When not eating we spent a lot of time in Tokyo, going window shopping in all the chic areas. But also went to a very nice aquarium near their house in Chiba.

I was also very happy with the japanese classes (I will be continuing in the Yokohama branch of the same school). So all in all it was a wonderful experience that ended all too soon.