I have realized on this trip, that vacations for me are generally divided into two major categories: cultural or natural...and the two really can't be compared. So how do I decide what was my favorite travel destination?
Visiting New Zealand (one of my favorite destinations) or Snowmass/Aspen, Colorado (where my heart is), and Iceland (hopefully a future trip) are mostly about immersing oneself in nature, with little about history and culture unless you visit a museum. We hike, we explore mountains, hot springs and glaciers, beaches and distant seas, and we marvel in the absolute beauty of the unique countryside and its native inhabitants, especially animals. For us, Japan was more about the cultural experience. Aside from seeing the majesty of Mt. Fuji and beauty in zen gardens, we didn't have time to hike, bike or visit Japan's islands and beaches, and we stayed in cities, both big and small, and saw temples and shrines and all things religious, spiritual and historic.
So I can't say that Japan is better than New Zealand because they are so different and therefore can't be compared. I can say that my two trips to Africa were my absolute favorite trips and I think that's because Africa is the perfect blend of culture and nature; same with our Machu Picchu/Galapagos vacation combo which ranks high for the same reason. I can now say New Zealand, hands down, was my favorite natural vacation. And here we go...spoiler alert!...I can also say that Japan, hands down, is now my favorite cultural destination, but more about that below.
It's important to say that other factors definitely affect the joy of any vacation...the food, the inherent travel delays, the people, the weather. This is why China will never top any "best vacation list". It is a great cultural experience to see The Great Wall, the Xian terra cotta warriors, the karst formations near Guilin, rice patties and the Yangtze River, the pandas and the spectacular skyline of Shanghai. However for us, the experience was so affected by the oppressive pollution and lack of any sunshine for 19 days, the bad mystery food, the overcrowded, rushed (bordering on rude) population and the huge travel distances and wasted time between those "wow moments".
Japan was so different from China (which surprised and thrilled me) and now tops my list as my favorite purely cultural experience. Why? Many reasons including...
1. The people were polite, kind and very helpful, despite a huge language barrier, as most speak very little English. They would go out of their way to help, often leading us to our destination. They would stop and offer help, even if they only knew ten words in English, studying our maps to find the Japanese kanji characters to see where we wanted to go. They don't smile broadly like Americans as a form of greeting, but they slowly nod and seem so appreciative to see an Anglo face. Conductors bow when they enter or leave a car of the train. They have a great sense of style too, no matter what style suits them best. No one can pull off an anklet sock like the Japanese!
2. The food was fresh and delicious and we tried so much...sushi, shabu-shabu, Korean barbecue, sukiyaki, yakitori, Wagyu and hida beef, ramen noodle soup, soba noodle soup, udon noodle soup, 10 course Japanese keiseki cuisine, mochie, dango, fish cakes, and so many other local delicacies I just couldn't identify.
3. The trains and subways were efficient and timely, clean and fast! Our world changed once we figured out how to use the Hyperdia app and realized it was a brilliant road map to where we needed to go by rail and exactly when and how. And the trains and stations had just enough English to help us out. The taxi drivers were also professionals and wore suits and ties!
4. The cleanliness...not a garbage can in sight and no one litters, no paper towels are handed out in restaurants or restrooms and there's a cleansing washlet Toto toilet most everywhere, even in the subway stations. Smoking is in designated areas and no cigarette butts are thrown in the streets. A lot of attendants in the train actually wear white gloves.
5. Finally, the outstanding sights...from big city, crazy Tokyo, with its sophisticated people and its Harajuku girls, to Mt. Fuji, which poked its head out just for us the whole time we were there under a full moon, to spiritual Kyoto, with its numerous spectacular shrines and temples, geisha girls and all things vermillion, to Kanazawa, with its colorful market, fresh fish, samarai house restorations, and miraculous Buddhist zen gardens and finally, to quaint Takayama, with its extensive old town, so lovingly preserved and a step back in time, 100's of years ago. We went from big to small, from modern day to Edo times, from fast paced to relaxed, from funky to spiritual in the space of 16 glorious vacation days!
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
TAKAYAMA...going back 100 years
TAKAYAMA...
A step back in time from the moment we walked into our family owned ryokan, Hotel Asunaro.. What a unique city, dating from the Edo period (1603-1868) and not destroyed in WW2 which has been so lovingly preserved and cared for. And so different from the other places we visited on this trip.
The old town goes on for blocks and stretches along a lovely boulder-filled rushing river filled with large koi and ducks and draped with weeping willows and Japanese maple trees which were just beginning to turn color. The old machiya houses located in the core, covered with bamboo sliding doors, slats and shades, now serve as shops, restaurants, sake breweries and miso factories. The historical significance of the buildings reminded me of how I feel in Charleston or Savannah looking at the old plantation style homes. Restored, but genuine and special.
On the streets, one can eat Hida beef served like sushi over rice or grilled on a stick, dango which is a smooth, gummy rice mixture shaped into small balls, brewed in soy sauce with five served on a stick like a lollipop, chewy warm buns filled with sweet bean paste or cooked shredded Hida beef, all sorts of soy and sesame crunchy snacks and unique Japanese desserts which aren't really sweet. The grocery stores are filled with prepackaged unusual pickled vegetables of all kinds, colors and shapes which you can sample. I saw antique and new kimono shops, shops that sell pieces of antique kimono fabric sometimes fashioned into small pouches or purses, and a shoe maker making handmade wooden Japanese sandals worn under kimono. I sampled miso soup, miso soy sauce, sake and a few unidentifiable pickled foods.
Each morning, there are two pop-up street markets selling an assortment of products from spices, to miniature bonsai trees, to fresh fruits and vegetables, yew wood carvings, octopus balls grilled in special metal tins like round mini muffin pans, fresh marshmallows and funky little red dolls with no face which is the region's mascot.
But it's not about the stores and restaurants because you can really enjoy the aged structures despite the tourists and dazzling colors of the food and goods. And as you get away from the core, the pace slows down a bit and the historical machiya buildings continue on as private homes and small artisan shops selling pottery, weaving and handmade paper. Everyone has potted plants outside, even the restored areas are stained in the same black stain colored with soot, and the entire effect is wonderful. Our ryokan had bikes available or you can hire a rickshaw to move you around, but it is totally a walkable city and walk we did for two days. And when you approach the post WW2 areas of town on the other side of the river, it looks like a charming shanty town with homes made of corrugated metal in some places. What would be a slum in the US is a charming Japanese cultural experience! Remember there is no garbage, no graffiti and very little crime, so the evils of a slum don't exist here. It's a simple life where people know their neighbors, use bikes to get around, live and eat clean, don't pollute and express gratitude daily at their shrines and temples.
We enjoyed a sukiyaki dinner of Hida beef and vegetables which we cooked at our table in sweet broth the first night at Maruaki which had a 30 wait due to its popularity, but the second night we ate at our ryokan, enjoying another traditional 10 course meal served in the ddining room with a few other guests. Sukiyaki, sushi, things stewed, grilled and pickled, raw and cooked, just delicious. Breakfast each day was also a multi-course Japanese meal, delicious and different each morning, presented beautifully with hot pots brewing mushrooms, greens and tofu, miso soup and rice, eggs and fresh fish and fruit, plus a salad with soy dressing. A western breakfast was available upon request and dinner was an optional add-on, with advance notice. Just a wonderful eating experience enjoyed in kimono and slippers, after bathing in the ryokan's small onsen. Prepare to splurge at a ryokan. Our bill here was 90,000 yen, just under $900 for 2 nights, 3 wonderful meals, access to the onsen and all the personal treatment we got at a family run in. At this onsen, we had 3 rooms separated by paper screens, including an area with a small fireplace for brewing tea and our bedding was already set up when we arrived. But, if you splurge every once and awhile, it is special and worth it, especially since we were conservative in Kyoto and Kanazawa.
On our last day, we toured a restored merchant's house and folk museum and then while walking back to our ryokan to get our stored luggage, found a beautiful dark stained pagoda with red Japanese maple leaves in front and what a sight. We had hoped to see more change of season on this trip, but the peak season is in November in Japan, not October like in the US, so it was special to come upon the sight in our final moments in Takayama.
We had booked reserved seats for 3 trains back to Narita Airport outside Tokyo. We took a shuttle from the train station to our hotel Nikko Narita which was very comfortable...15 minute wait and 10 minute drive, we enjoyed a surprisingly good final sushi dinner in the hotel and hopped on the morning shuttle back to Narita. Nikko Narita allowed us to use up the last bit of our yen as partial payment of the bill, too. We spent some of our Pasmo card balance in the duty free shops which did not accept credit cards, but did accept yen and US dollars.
And now I'm on the plane, "enjoying" the last hour of my Business class ticket Tokyo to Dallas. Didn't sleep a wink on this flight from 10:40am to 9:00pm Tokyo time although I was very comfortable. Unfortunately, it will be 8am Dallas time and we have a layover and flight to Ft Lauderdale, plus our drive home, so don't know how we will feel in a few hours! Getting home at 5pm Florida time will be 6am Tokyo time and that's a missed night's sleep.
A step back in time from the moment we walked into our family owned ryokan, Hotel Asunaro.. What a unique city, dating from the Edo period (1603-1868) and not destroyed in WW2 which has been so lovingly preserved and cared for. And so different from the other places we visited on this trip.
The old town goes on for blocks and stretches along a lovely boulder-filled rushing river filled with large koi and ducks and draped with weeping willows and Japanese maple trees which were just beginning to turn color. The old machiya houses located in the core, covered with bamboo sliding doors, slats and shades, now serve as shops, restaurants, sake breweries and miso factories. The historical significance of the buildings reminded me of how I feel in Charleston or Savannah looking at the old plantation style homes. Restored, but genuine and special.
On the streets, one can eat Hida beef served like sushi over rice or grilled on a stick, dango which is a smooth, gummy rice mixture shaped into small balls, brewed in soy sauce with five served on a stick like a lollipop, chewy warm buns filled with sweet bean paste or cooked shredded Hida beef, all sorts of soy and sesame crunchy snacks and unique Japanese desserts which aren't really sweet. The grocery stores are filled with prepackaged unusual pickled vegetables of all kinds, colors and shapes which you can sample. I saw antique and new kimono shops, shops that sell pieces of antique kimono fabric sometimes fashioned into small pouches or purses, and a shoe maker making handmade wooden Japanese sandals worn under kimono. I sampled miso soup, miso soy sauce, sake and a few unidentifiable pickled foods.
Each morning, there are two pop-up street markets selling an assortment of products from spices, to miniature bonsai trees, to fresh fruits and vegetables, yew wood carvings, octopus balls grilled in special metal tins like round mini muffin pans, fresh marshmallows and funky little red dolls with no face which is the region's mascot.
But it's not about the stores and restaurants because you can really enjoy the aged structures despite the tourists and dazzling colors of the food and goods. And as you get away from the core, the pace slows down a bit and the historical machiya buildings continue on as private homes and small artisan shops selling pottery, weaving and handmade paper. Everyone has potted plants outside, even the restored areas are stained in the same black stain colored with soot, and the entire effect is wonderful. Our ryokan had bikes available or you can hire a rickshaw to move you around, but it is totally a walkable city and walk we did for two days. And when you approach the post WW2 areas of town on the other side of the river, it looks like a charming shanty town with homes made of corrugated metal in some places. What would be a slum in the US is a charming Japanese cultural experience! Remember there is no garbage, no graffiti and very little crime, so the evils of a slum don't exist here. It's a simple life where people know their neighbors, use bikes to get around, live and eat clean, don't pollute and express gratitude daily at their shrines and temples.
We enjoyed a sukiyaki dinner of Hida beef and vegetables which we cooked at our table in sweet broth the first night at Maruaki which had a 30 wait due to its popularity, but the second night we ate at our ryokan, enjoying another traditional 10 course meal served in the ddining room with a few other guests. Sukiyaki, sushi, things stewed, grilled and pickled, raw and cooked, just delicious. Breakfast each day was also a multi-course Japanese meal, delicious and different each morning, presented beautifully with hot pots brewing mushrooms, greens and tofu, miso soup and rice, eggs and fresh fish and fruit, plus a salad with soy dressing. A western breakfast was available upon request and dinner was an optional add-on, with advance notice. Just a wonderful eating experience enjoyed in kimono and slippers, after bathing in the ryokan's small onsen. Prepare to splurge at a ryokan. Our bill here was 90,000 yen, just under $900 for 2 nights, 3 wonderful meals, access to the onsen and all the personal treatment we got at a family run in. At this onsen, we had 3 rooms separated by paper screens, including an area with a small fireplace for brewing tea and our bedding was already set up when we arrived. But, if you splurge every once and awhile, it is special and worth it, especially since we were conservative in Kyoto and Kanazawa.
On our last day, we toured a restored merchant's house and folk museum and then while walking back to our ryokan to get our stored luggage, found a beautiful dark stained pagoda with red Japanese maple leaves in front and what a sight. We had hoped to see more change of season on this trip, but the peak season is in November in Japan, not October like in the US, so it was special to come upon the sight in our final moments in Takayama.
We had booked reserved seats for 3 trains back to Narita Airport outside Tokyo. We took a shuttle from the train station to our hotel Nikko Narita which was very comfortable...15 minute wait and 10 minute drive, we enjoyed a surprisingly good final sushi dinner in the hotel and hopped on the morning shuttle back to Narita. Nikko Narita allowed us to use up the last bit of our yen as partial payment of the bill, too. We spent some of our Pasmo card balance in the duty free shops which did not accept credit cards, but did accept yen and US dollars.
And now I'm on the plane, "enjoying" the last hour of my Business class ticket Tokyo to Dallas. Didn't sleep a wink on this flight from 10:40am to 9:00pm Tokyo time although I was very comfortable. Unfortunately, it will be 8am Dallas time and we have a layover and flight to Ft Lauderdale, plus our drive home, so don't know how we will feel in a few hours! Getting home at 5pm Florida time will be 6am Tokyo time and that's a missed night's sleep.
KANAZAWA STOPOVER
Kanazawa is a one day stopover. We stayed two nights and enjoyed ourselves, but one night is enough. It is a fairly big city with a circular bus system located on the Sea of Japan, but doesn't have a coastal feel at all. We could not see Russia or the water from our front porch. It was very convenient to stay at the modern, clean Hotel Mystays on Hirooka Street, only a few blocks from the train station, and only $123 a night without meals. We could stop each night at the train station and pick up yogurt and a pastry for breakfast since we had a refrigerator.
Kanazawa has the most beautiful zen garden, Kenroku-en, especially seen late in the day with the sun filtering through the trees and stone lanterns, particularly the classic Japanese photo of the unique two-legged lantern. Spend a few hours there. The Omicho Market is also a wonder and you can wander for a few hours observing some unusual things like crabs that are still moving, baby red octopus on a stick, fish jerky, giant whole squid and every size of shrimp. The vibrant colors, the dazzling movement and constant banter of Japanese haggling was crazy! The fish mongers happily let us take pictures of everything, probably wondering why silly Americans would want to take pictures of food. We stopped and ate sushi at a joint inside where we sat at a bar that wrapped around the room right next to the sushi chef. We ordered from a picture and each piece of thick luscious sushi came out individually on little colored plates, each suggesting the price which was tabulated at the end. No one spoke English and yen only!
The second day we visited the restored samarai houses and gardens which was very interesting, showing how samarai warriors lived hundreds of years ago. We saw the geisha/Chaya entertainment district which is nothing at night and not much during the day after seeing Kyoto. We also went to the ninja museum, Ninja-dera, which has nothing to do with ninjas, but was a house built during the Edo period for defense of the ruling family. Reservations are required (go to the information booth at the train station, where you can also buy a one day pass for the buses which you will need unless you want to do a lot of walking). The $10 tour is in Japanese, with an English guidebook, and the house is filled with hidden stairs, trap doors, hidden rooms, secret passages and an underground tunnel to the castle...very interesting and worth a visit. The neighborhood nearby with shiny black tiled roofs certainly unique to this region was filled with small shrines and was fun to explore on foot, but can be missed if you are short on time. If vermillion is Kyoto's color, black and dark wood stained with soot is typical here. Different and very pretty.
We found finding food in the evenings a challenge, so think about this before you go because we walked a lot before finding restaurants both nights. Although we did find a wonderful udon noodle restaurant for lunch where the chef cooked the homemade noodles, fried the tempura, cracked the eggs and added the toppings right in front of us like a short order cook and that was fun to watch and delicious. Curry udon anyone?
FYI we could not get bus reservations to go to Shirakawago from Kanazawa...both days were fully booked, so think about this if you plan to go to Takayama via Shirakawago. We ended up going there by Shinkansan via Toyama and then by local train. We visited Shirakawago from Takayama so read about our great day there. It was a picturesque train ride as season change was just beginning...be sure to get your reserved tickets for both trains the night before to avoid early morning lines and risk the possibility of reserved seats being sold out. And then 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived in wonderful Takayama!
Kanazawa has the most beautiful zen garden, Kenroku-en, especially seen late in the day with the sun filtering through the trees and stone lanterns, particularly the classic Japanese photo of the unique two-legged lantern. Spend a few hours there. The Omicho Market is also a wonder and you can wander for a few hours observing some unusual things like crabs that are still moving, baby red octopus on a stick, fish jerky, giant whole squid and every size of shrimp. The vibrant colors, the dazzling movement and constant banter of Japanese haggling was crazy! The fish mongers happily let us take pictures of everything, probably wondering why silly Americans would want to take pictures of food. We stopped and ate sushi at a joint inside where we sat at a bar that wrapped around the room right next to the sushi chef. We ordered from a picture and each piece of thick luscious sushi came out individually on little colored plates, each suggesting the price which was tabulated at the end. No one spoke English and yen only!
The second day we visited the restored samarai houses and gardens which was very interesting, showing how samarai warriors lived hundreds of years ago. We saw the geisha/Chaya entertainment district which is nothing at night and not much during the day after seeing Kyoto. We also went to the ninja museum, Ninja-dera, which has nothing to do with ninjas, but was a house built during the Edo period for defense of the ruling family. Reservations are required (go to the information booth at the train station, where you can also buy a one day pass for the buses which you will need unless you want to do a lot of walking). The $10 tour is in Japanese, with an English guidebook, and the house is filled with hidden stairs, trap doors, hidden rooms, secret passages and an underground tunnel to the castle...very interesting and worth a visit. The neighborhood nearby with shiny black tiled roofs certainly unique to this region was filled with small shrines and was fun to explore on foot, but can be missed if you are short on time. If vermillion is Kyoto's color, black and dark wood stained with soot is typical here. Different and very pretty.
We found finding food in the evenings a challenge, so think about this before you go because we walked a lot before finding restaurants both nights. Although we did find a wonderful udon noodle restaurant for lunch where the chef cooked the homemade noodles, fried the tempura, cracked the eggs and added the toppings right in front of us like a short order cook and that was fun to watch and delicious. Curry udon anyone?
FYI we could not get bus reservations to go to Shirakawago from Kanazawa...both days were fully booked, so think about this if you plan to go to Takayama via Shirakawago. We ended up going there by Shinkansan via Toyama and then by local train. We visited Shirakawago from Takayama so read about our great day there. It was a picturesque train ride as season change was just beginning...be sure to get your reserved tickets for both trains the night before to avoid early morning lines and risk the possibility of reserved seats being sold out. And then 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived in wonderful Takayama!
SPIRITUAL KYOTO
KYOTO...
One of the best cities I have ever visited and writing about it just won't do it justice because it is such a visual and emotional extravaganza. Look at Frommer's for a travel guide to Kyoto.
It's hard to describe the feeling visiting endless shrines and temples, one as different as the next, with young girls dressed as geishas for the day, posing in front for selfies and feeling beautiful in that moment. What word can describe the joy of walking narrow Pontocho Alley at sunset as the colorful lanterns glow, beckoning you into 1 of a 1000 miniature restaurants, with hundreds of mingled scents wafting through the alley? And what luck when you catch sight of a mysterious geisha slipping into an unmarked tea house without a sideways glance as she tries to be anonymous. How can you describe the sensual taste of melt-in-your-mouth sushi at Sushi Tetsu while chatting with cool sushi chefs at the bar who don't speak English and serve your sushi on banana leaves? No words for how we enjoyed grilling Wagyu meat with vegetables with childhood friends at Hiro Korean barbecue...or simmering it in broth shabu-shabu style at Nikugoten...cooking food right at our table, family style. How do you describe the fun we had sitting at a small bar with only 10 stools watching a bustling crew chattering in Japanese, making dumplings the size of my fist, grilling yakitori with exotic dipping sauces and ladling noodle soups with crazy ingredients and flavors like spicy black sesame seed udon. (I wish Google Translate could convert the name of this fun restaurant to English...shout out to Mimasuya, too, for an excellent gourmet sushi meal). It's hard to differentiate in words whether shrines, temples and torii gates that are painted bright vermillion were prettier than the ones weathered over time. How many different water pavilions did we see, each with a different fountain spouting cleansing water? How many times did I watch someone bow twice, ring a gong, and clap twice before saying a prayer and bowing deeply? And why is it so mesmerizing to meander up and down narrow curved streets in Gion with charming, almost dilapidated, but yet beautiful, machiya houses hundreds of years old, saved from destruction (although you know the owners wish for larger closets and modern kitchens)?
Just give yourself enough time; we stayed five nights and that was not enough. Prepare for lots of walking, but also prepare for using the free JR train system, and the non-JR buses and subway...use a Pasmo or Suica card which you can buy and upload with cash at any convenient 7-11 or in the train stations if you can find an English speaking machine, or buy a one day transportation pass. And at night with no traffic, the taxis were very reasonable to get home fast. Just have your destination displayed on your cell in Japanese characters. We stayed at the economical, clean, modern Citidines Karsuma-Gojo suites (with a kitchenette) which was conveniently located along the subway, one stop from Kyoto Station and within walking distance of Gion, and only $170/night with no meals. A grocery store and 7-11 were a block away so it's easy to load your Pasmo card or buy provisions for breakfast each morning. The hotel offers a $5/per person breakfast, but we did not enjoy it the first morning.
Don't miss the tranquil bamboo forest, Arashiyama, and nearby Tenryuji Temple ($5) which had beautiful zen gardens, the Golden Pavillon Kinkaku ($5) and the Silver Pavillion Ginkaku ($5) with its serene Buddhist Zen garden, or the endless vermillion torii gates at Fushimi Inari-Taisha. Go early or late to try to avoid the endless Japanese school groups and when the light is glowing through the trees. Visit every temple you can, especially Kizomizu-dera with its bright vermillion Pagoda ($5), and then try to find the naturally-aged, coal black Yasaka Pagoda hidden down a nearby street in the ancient Gion district. We also saw Kodai-ji, Marayama Park, Heian Jingu, Shoren-In shrines. From the Silver Pavillion, walk back towards town via the Philosopher's Walk, stopping at every small temple and shrine along the way if you can and enjoy the small shops along the canal lined with such beautiful trees. Each shrine along the Walk has a unique quality and most are free. Be sure to spend time in the cemeteries, often adjacent to a temple. Notice the moss on the headstones and statuary and the wonderful scent of incense burning everywhere. And if you're wild and crazy, rent a kimono, and a Yukata for him, get your hair and make-up done, and wander to all the wonderful sights pretending you are Japanese too.
You can see I loved Kyoto...
One of the best cities I have ever visited and writing about it just won't do it justice because it is such a visual and emotional extravaganza. Look at Frommer's for a travel guide to Kyoto.
It's hard to describe the feeling visiting endless shrines and temples, one as different as the next, with young girls dressed as geishas for the day, posing in front for selfies and feeling beautiful in that moment. What word can describe the joy of walking narrow Pontocho Alley at sunset as the colorful lanterns glow, beckoning you into 1 of a 1000 miniature restaurants, with hundreds of mingled scents wafting through the alley? And what luck when you catch sight of a mysterious geisha slipping into an unmarked tea house without a sideways glance as she tries to be anonymous. How can you describe the sensual taste of melt-in-your-mouth sushi at Sushi Tetsu while chatting with cool sushi chefs at the bar who don't speak English and serve your sushi on banana leaves? No words for how we enjoyed grilling Wagyu meat with vegetables with childhood friends at Hiro Korean barbecue...or simmering it in broth shabu-shabu style at Nikugoten...cooking food right at our table, family style. How do you describe the fun we had sitting at a small bar with only 10 stools watching a bustling crew chattering in Japanese, making dumplings the size of my fist, grilling yakitori with exotic dipping sauces and ladling noodle soups with crazy ingredients and flavors like spicy black sesame seed udon. (I wish Google Translate could convert the name of this fun restaurant to English...shout out to Mimasuya, too, for an excellent gourmet sushi meal). It's hard to differentiate in words whether shrines, temples and torii gates that are painted bright vermillion were prettier than the ones weathered over time. How many different water pavilions did we see, each with a different fountain spouting cleansing water? How many times did I watch someone bow twice, ring a gong, and clap twice before saying a prayer and bowing deeply? And why is it so mesmerizing to meander up and down narrow curved streets in Gion with charming, almost dilapidated, but yet beautiful, machiya houses hundreds of years old, saved from destruction (although you know the owners wish for larger closets and modern kitchens)?
Just give yourself enough time; we stayed five nights and that was not enough. Prepare for lots of walking, but also prepare for using the free JR train system, and the non-JR buses and subway...use a Pasmo or Suica card which you can buy and upload with cash at any convenient 7-11 or in the train stations if you can find an English speaking machine, or buy a one day transportation pass. And at night with no traffic, the taxis were very reasonable to get home fast. Just have your destination displayed on your cell in Japanese characters. We stayed at the economical, clean, modern Citidines Karsuma-Gojo suites (with a kitchenette) which was conveniently located along the subway, one stop from Kyoto Station and within walking distance of Gion, and only $170/night with no meals. A grocery store and 7-11 were a block away so it's easy to load your Pasmo card or buy provisions for breakfast each morning. The hotel offers a $5/per person breakfast, but we did not enjoy it the first morning.
Don't miss the tranquil bamboo forest, Arashiyama, and nearby Tenryuji Temple ($5) which had beautiful zen gardens, the Golden Pavillon Kinkaku ($5) and the Silver Pavillion Ginkaku ($5) with its serene Buddhist Zen garden, or the endless vermillion torii gates at Fushimi Inari-Taisha. Go early or late to try to avoid the endless Japanese school groups and when the light is glowing through the trees. Visit every temple you can, especially Kizomizu-dera with its bright vermillion Pagoda ($5), and then try to find the naturally-aged, coal black Yasaka Pagoda hidden down a nearby street in the ancient Gion district. We also saw Kodai-ji, Marayama Park, Heian Jingu, Shoren-In shrines. From the Silver Pavillion, walk back towards town via the Philosopher's Walk, stopping at every small temple and shrine along the way if you can and enjoy the small shops along the canal lined with such beautiful trees. Each shrine along the Walk has a unique quality and most are free. Be sure to spend time in the cemeteries, often adjacent to a temple. Notice the moss on the headstones and statuary and the wonderful scent of incense burning everywhere. And if you're wild and crazy, rent a kimono, and a Yukata for him, get your hair and make-up done, and wander to all the wonderful sights pretending you are Japanese too.
You can see I loved Kyoto...
MT. FUJI...A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY, A LITTLE BIT ROCK AND ROLL
Mt. FUJI...a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll...
Our trip to Mt. Fuji started out easy and ended perfectly, but got a little rocky in the middle. We efficiently took the Shinkansan from Tokyo Station to Odawara Station. Most people visiting Mt. Fuji, often for day trips from Tokyo, go first to Odawara and then take a local train and/ or bus(es) to Hakone. From there, using the one or two day "Hakone free pass", one can visit the Mt. Fuji region and that's what I thought we were doing. Luckily before hopping on the Hakone train, we double checked with the information booth who looked at our ryokan location near one of the Five Lakes at the base of Mt. Fuji and gave us a different route, involving 2 local trains, a bus and a 2 1/2 hour route in the opposite direction from Hakone! (This was before we discovered how to use our Hyperdia app). Anyway, all's well that ends well, and despite the "twilight zone" of deserted train stations where absolutely no one spoke English and one girl practically jumped the tracks to try to help us since we looked so lost, we arrived at the Lake Kawaguckiko and our wonderful ryokan, Fujikawaguchiko Onsen Konaso for the most delicious experience.
Was it worth it? Yes. Yes. Yes. And if it was the right time of year, it would be worth it to stay another night and spend time hiking up or around Mt. Fuji! But we were ready for some relaxation after our transcontinental trip, jet lag and 5 grueling days in Tokyo (preceded by 3 days of Hurricane Matthew preparation right before we left), plus it was too late in the season to hike Mt. Fuji so we heard.
Spoiler alert...huge run-on sentence coming up...Aside from having a tatami bamboo mat room, with a porch that had a private volcano-water-fed hot tub, with a direct view of Mt. Fuji, we had our own "geisha butler" who made us tea and fed us a multi-course, over the top, delicious dinner in our room, while we wore kimonos, sitting on the floor at a low table in chairs without legs, following an hour of bathing in the ryokan's volcano-water-fed onsen, also with a direct view of Mt. Fuji. Whew! Did I forget to mention that sometimes people never see Mt. Fuji during an entire visit because of clouds and mist, and except for a few misty clouds at the base, we saw it the whole time we were there, including under a full moon!!! The traditional keiseki dinner consisted of at least 10 courses that included something raw, steamed, boiled, grilled, sweet, pickled, vinegared, meat, vegetables, fish etc. and took a few hours to eat and left us feeling quite full despite small bites of some things. The multi-colored small plates and hot pots were decorated with fresh leaves and flowers and the presentation and taste of everything was fantastic and left us giddy with happiness.
The spa made me giddy with happiness too. Of course, the spas are segregated by gender, you're naked and there could be other guests present, but you enter the baths from a changing area, with only a small washcloth, but not a towel. You go to an open shower area with small stools and buckets under each shower nozzle and many bath products to choose from, where you wash before entering the many hot, bubbling bathtubs. After bathing in the hot baths, you wash off, wash your hair, and attempt to dry off with your washcloth. LOL. The changing room has towels, combs and hair dryers and many lotions and cleansers to sample. Goat's milk lotion and a pomegranate/egg facial peel were my favorite, but they also had Sheishado grooming products as if they were ordinary. We did this twice the first day, including after dinner. When we returned to our room at night, the low table and chairs had been set aside and two padded mats had been set out, with sheets and a huge duvet comforter. Not as comfortable as a real bed, but a unique experience.
The next morning we bathed on our porch watching the sunrise before heading to the breakfast area where we had a delicious 100 course Japanese buffet breakfast. The staff was very helpful and gave us a written instructions for a better travel plan to Kyoto (so we didn't waste time and backtrack) and gave us a ride to the station. The instructions were given in English and in Japanese so we could ask for help which is very important. Luckily, seats were available on the bus (reservations may be required so think about this in season) and we began a 1 1/2 hour ride to the nearest Shinkansan station where we then got reserved seats (free with your JR pass, if available) on the next train to wonderful Kyoto.
Our trip to Mt. Fuji started out easy and ended perfectly, but got a little rocky in the middle. We efficiently took the Shinkansan from Tokyo Station to Odawara Station. Most people visiting Mt. Fuji, often for day trips from Tokyo, go first to Odawara and then take a local train and/ or bus(es) to Hakone. From there, using the one or two day "Hakone free pass", one can visit the Mt. Fuji region and that's what I thought we were doing. Luckily before hopping on the Hakone train, we double checked with the information booth who looked at our ryokan location near one of the Five Lakes at the base of Mt. Fuji and gave us a different route, involving 2 local trains, a bus and a 2 1/2 hour route in the opposite direction from Hakone! (This was before we discovered how to use our Hyperdia app). Anyway, all's well that ends well, and despite the "twilight zone" of deserted train stations where absolutely no one spoke English and one girl practically jumped the tracks to try to help us since we looked so lost, we arrived at the Lake Kawaguckiko and our wonderful ryokan, Fujikawaguchiko Onsen Konaso for the most delicious experience.
Was it worth it? Yes. Yes. Yes. And if it was the right time of year, it would be worth it to stay another night and spend time hiking up or around Mt. Fuji! But we were ready for some relaxation after our transcontinental trip, jet lag and 5 grueling days in Tokyo (preceded by 3 days of Hurricane Matthew preparation right before we left), plus it was too late in the season to hike Mt. Fuji so we heard.
Spoiler alert...huge run-on sentence coming up...Aside from having a tatami bamboo mat room, with a porch that had a private volcano-water-fed hot tub, with a direct view of Mt. Fuji, we had our own "geisha butler" who made us tea and fed us a multi-course, over the top, delicious dinner in our room, while we wore kimonos, sitting on the floor at a low table in chairs without legs, following an hour of bathing in the ryokan's volcano-water-fed onsen, also with a direct view of Mt. Fuji. Whew! Did I forget to mention that sometimes people never see Mt. Fuji during an entire visit because of clouds and mist, and except for a few misty clouds at the base, we saw it the whole time we were there, including under a full moon!!! The traditional keiseki dinner consisted of at least 10 courses that included something raw, steamed, boiled, grilled, sweet, pickled, vinegared, meat, vegetables, fish etc. and took a few hours to eat and left us feeling quite full despite small bites of some things. The multi-colored small plates and hot pots were decorated with fresh leaves and flowers and the presentation and taste of everything was fantastic and left us giddy with happiness.
The spa made me giddy with happiness too. Of course, the spas are segregated by gender, you're naked and there could be other guests present, but you enter the baths from a changing area, with only a small washcloth, but not a towel. You go to an open shower area with small stools and buckets under each shower nozzle and many bath products to choose from, where you wash before entering the many hot, bubbling bathtubs. After bathing in the hot baths, you wash off, wash your hair, and attempt to dry off with your washcloth. LOL. The changing room has towels, combs and hair dryers and many lotions and cleansers to sample. Goat's milk lotion and a pomegranate/egg facial peel were my favorite, but they also had Sheishado grooming products as if they were ordinary. We did this twice the first day, including after dinner. When we returned to our room at night, the low table and chairs had been set aside and two padded mats had been set out, with sheets and a huge duvet comforter. Not as comfortable as a real bed, but a unique experience.
The next morning we bathed on our porch watching the sunrise before heading to the breakfast area where we had a delicious 100 course Japanese buffet breakfast. The staff was very helpful and gave us a written instructions for a better travel plan to Kyoto (so we didn't waste time and backtrack) and gave us a ride to the station. The instructions were given in English and in Japanese so we could ask for help which is very important. Luckily, seats were available on the bus (reservations may be required so think about this in season) and we began a 1 1/2 hour ride to the nearest Shinkansan station where we then got reserved seats (free with your JR pass, if available) on the next train to wonderful Kyoto.
THE SHINKANSAN...and other train matters
Amazing bullet trains zipping through the country at up to 200 mph! With the JR pass, we can ride the Shinkansan and all JR transportation for free and even reserve free seats in special cars. It's possible to reserve seats right before you ride, but sometimes there are lines or availability issues, so we often stop at the train station ticket counter the night before to get printed seat assignments. Save the ticket with the seat reservation, as an attendant may ask to see and punch it. Look for the JR prominently displayed on signs and trains for JR transportation. If you don't reserve a seat, you can sit (or possibly be stuck standing) in non-reserved cars.
The Shinkansan trains are nicer and roomier and definitely cleaner than airplanes and no security check-in. Ample leg room to stretch out or store you luggage in front of you or you can use handy luggage racks. And the bathrooms are clean with Toto washlet toilets. When the Shinkansan train pulls into the station, janitors are standing at each door, nodding to departing travelers....they rush in and totally clean the cars, moving seats to clean and washing the windows. It is wonderful.
Before you leave for Japan, definitely get the (free for a month, then $2.99) Hyperdia app. Remember you need wifi for the app so also rent a pocket wifi. You get complete schedules for any trip you need, including train numbers and track numbers, by typing your start and finish destinations by hour. Everything is timed perfectly. Also, while little English is spoken, it is enough for the attendants to help you get reserved tickets and to direct you to appropriate tracks. Everyone is very polite and they all wear suits and ties and often white gloves. Attendants bow when they enter or leave a car. When you go through the station with your JR pass, you must show it to the gate attendant coming and going and of course, when you reserve seats. If you take a non-JR train, you can buy individual tickets which you insert in the turn style coming and going. With an IC card like Pasmo, you scan it coming and going. Fares on local trains and buses are approximately $2.30 for most destinations, although in the big cities you are charged by distance. Many towns also have day passes for the non-JR transportation, available at stations and 7-11 stores.
The Shinkansan trains are nicer and roomier and definitely cleaner than airplanes and no security check-in. Ample leg room to stretch out or store you luggage in front of you or you can use handy luggage racks. And the bathrooms are clean with Toto washlet toilets. When the Shinkansan train pulls into the station, janitors are standing at each door, nodding to departing travelers....they rush in and totally clean the cars, moving seats to clean and washing the windows. It is wonderful.
Before you leave for Japan, definitely get the (free for a month, then $2.99) Hyperdia app. Remember you need wifi for the app so also rent a pocket wifi. You get complete schedules for any trip you need, including train numbers and track numbers, by typing your start and finish destinations by hour. Everything is timed perfectly. Also, while little English is spoken, it is enough for the attendants to help you get reserved tickets and to direct you to appropriate tracks. Everyone is very polite and they all wear suits and ties and often white gloves. Attendants bow when they enter or leave a car. When you go through the station with your JR pass, you must show it to the gate attendant coming and going and of course, when you reserve seats. If you take a non-JR train, you can buy individual tickets which you insert in the turn style coming and going. With an IC card like Pasmo, you scan it coming and going. Fares on local trains and buses are approximately $2.30 for most destinations, although in the big cities you are charged by distance. Many towns also have day passes for the non-JR transportation, available at stations and 7-11 stores.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
TOKYO DAYZ
Arriving in Tokyo Narita airport at 3pm Tokyo time was 2am Florida time, but despite being exhausted, we were able to efficiently get our suitcases and go through customs and immigration before heading to the JR ticket office to cash in our 14 day JR pass vouchers (including starting it the next day) and also buying a one-way ticket from Narita to Tokyo Station. Wait time was about 1/2 hour for the train and you stand on the platform which corresponds to your car and seat assignment. The trains are very punctual. FYI...not all trains accept the JR pass, so look for the JR sign and show your JR pass coming and leaving to the agent. For the high speed bullet trains, Shinkansan, you will want to go to the JR ticket office to get actual reserved seat assignments. This doesn't cost more, and I hear the non-reserved cars are very crowded. The trip into Tokyo was about an hour and the walk to the Courtyard Marriott Tokyo Station was 2 blocks. We found this location very convenient to all things we wanted to see and assessable to the green JR Yamanote line which circles the city. FYI...Order the portable Wifi which was delivered to the hotel. Also get a battery charger as it drains the wifi and your cell and you'll need to recharge. Google Maps is very helpful to get around.
DAY ONE...The first night we slept poorly with the time difference, so we were up quite early. If you want to see the tuna auction at Tsukiji Fish Market before it moves in November, 2016, it was sold out by 3am, so get there early as only 250 tickets are available for the auctions at 5:30 or 6. We took a taxi to the market around 5 and watched the merchants getting morning deliveries and setting up shop. The market officially opens at 10 if you want to visit all the shops, but I hear if you arrive at 8am, you will also see them cutting the fish after the auction. We were lucky and did see a shopkeeper carving a tuna with large swords! It is interesting to see the market in operation, and we had a sushi breakfast before hopping on the Ginza line and heading to Asakusabashi to see wonderful shrines and a glorious park and markets. Lots to do and see here and it is traditional Japan! The free shrines were open early, but the stores start opening at 9:30. There was a certain pleasure in arriving early before the tourists and seeing the streets before opening as the metal gates covering the doors openings are all hand painted within unique Japanese street scenes. Make an offering at the shrine or shake the container and release a chopstick with a Japanese letters which you match with a corresponding drawer to get your fortune. If it is a bad fortune (mine was), tie the fortune on one of the racks you will see with little origami like papers tied to it for better luck. You can also buy a wooden plaque and write a message and tie it to another rack. You will see that each Shrine has a different picture on one side of the wooden plaques depending on what that shrine is devoted to. We especially enjoyed wandering in and out of the back streets in this area. Hopped on the subway to Ueno park which is filled with activity...we actually returned later in the week, but today we used it to access the Yanaka Cemetary nearby which was very interesting with all these notched sticks resembling skis that contain messages or blessings to the deceased. We also visited the markets under the trains near Ueno Station. Jet lag forced us home at this point for a good nights rest.
DAY TWO...spent the first part of the day trying to visit the grounds of the Imperial Palace....we missed the 9:30 tour (get in line by 8:30 as there are limited tickets) and unfortunately, the day we went, the east gardens were not assessable. Afterwards, we enjoyed wandering up the streets of the neighborhoods, Shibuya and around the Shibuya Crossing and station, and Harajuku and the beautiful Meiji Shrine, set in a forest in the city. We should have also gone to Shinjuki while we were nearby, but were tired and headed home and figured it was more for night life. We visited the main branch of one of the largest department stores Mitsukoshi, and spent an hour in the food court.
DAY THREE...headed back to Ueno Park and visited the main building of the National Museum with wood block prints, Samarai uniforms and swords, lacquerware and old kimono. A very nice overview. Then headed back into the park to see the beautiful Toshogu Shrine and lanterns and pagoda. There are Tori gates there near other shrines, the head of a giant Buddha, a zoo, bands playing, lots to do there. We walked to Akihabara to see the hightech area, stopping for lunch at a soba noodle restaurant and then headed to the Ginza district for exclusive 5th Ave like shopping.
DAY ONE...The first night we slept poorly with the time difference, so we were up quite early. If you want to see the tuna auction at Tsukiji Fish Market before it moves in November, 2016, it was sold out by 3am, so get there early as only 250 tickets are available for the auctions at 5:30 or 6. We took a taxi to the market around 5 and watched the merchants getting morning deliveries and setting up shop. The market officially opens at 10 if you want to visit all the shops, but I hear if you arrive at 8am, you will also see them cutting the fish after the auction. We were lucky and did see a shopkeeper carving a tuna with large swords! It is interesting to see the market in operation, and we had a sushi breakfast before hopping on the Ginza line and heading to Asakusabashi to see wonderful shrines and a glorious park and markets. Lots to do and see here and it is traditional Japan! The free shrines were open early, but the stores start opening at 9:30. There was a certain pleasure in arriving early before the tourists and seeing the streets before opening as the metal gates covering the doors openings are all hand painted within unique Japanese street scenes. Make an offering at the shrine or shake the container and release a chopstick with a Japanese letters which you match with a corresponding drawer to get your fortune. If it is a bad fortune (mine was), tie the fortune on one of the racks you will see with little origami like papers tied to it for better luck. You can also buy a wooden plaque and write a message and tie it to another rack. You will see that each Shrine has a different picture on one side of the wooden plaques depending on what that shrine is devoted to. We especially enjoyed wandering in and out of the back streets in this area. Hopped on the subway to Ueno park which is filled with activity...we actually returned later in the week, but today we used it to access the Yanaka Cemetary nearby which was very interesting with all these notched sticks resembling skis that contain messages or blessings to the deceased. We also visited the markets under the trains near Ueno Station. Jet lag forced us home at this point for a good nights rest.
DAY TWO...spent the first part of the day trying to visit the grounds of the Imperial Palace....we missed the 9:30 tour (get in line by 8:30 as there are limited tickets) and unfortunately, the day we went, the east gardens were not assessable. Afterwards, we enjoyed wandering up the streets of the neighborhoods, Shibuya and around the Shibuya Crossing and station, and Harajuku and the beautiful Meiji Shrine, set in a forest in the city. We should have also gone to Shinjuki while we were nearby, but were tired and headed home and figured it was more for night life. We visited the main branch of one of the largest department stores Mitsukoshi, and spent an hour in the food court.
DAY THREE...headed back to Ueno Park and visited the main building of the National Museum with wood block prints, Samarai uniforms and swords, lacquerware and old kimono. A very nice overview. Then headed back into the park to see the beautiful Toshogu Shrine and lanterns and pagoda. There are Tori gates there near other shrines, the head of a giant Buddha, a zoo, bands playing, lots to do there. We walked to Akihabara to see the hightech area, stopping for lunch at a soba noodle restaurant and then headed to the Ginza district for exclusive 5th Ave like shopping.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
JAPAN...SOME EARLY IMPRESSIONS
We've just enjoyed 3 very busy days in Tokyo and here's what I've learned so far...
Tokyo feels like New York, without the diversity, traffic, and mobs of tourists. Sure there are traditional and historic areas, but the very sprawling city itself with its tall buildings, taxis and subways, bright lights and busy atmosphere, where everyone is moving fast, seems like NYC. But cleaner! There are no garbage cans on the street, or piles of garbage bags lining the curbs ready for pick-up. No paper napkins on the tables or paper towels in the bathrooms, and everyone takes their litter on the street. Areas outside are designated for smoking, so people don't walk around smoking or dropping cigarette butts. Unlike China, there is no pollution and it smells good her, but it's been overcast because season is changing; weather about 70 in mid-October. I've never been to a foreign country with so many public toilets that are clean and with plenty of toilet paper and those wonderful Toto toilets that wash you off ( and the occasional hole in the floor Japanese toilet). People walk fast, but not to the right (like in the US) or to the left (like the UK and what you'd expect since they drive on the left), so it's a challenge to walk on the streets and especially in the train station which is an explosion of people. People don't necessarily smile as a greeting, but do nod their heads. Sometimes people are overly appreciative and apologetic. The trains are extremely punctual and the color coded signage and few English words make it intuitive to get around. We are able to use our JR pass for many of the trains, but can use our cash loaded Pasmo cards for others. You just swipe going through the entrance and exit gates. It is a cash society, with no tipping. Few speak English and our pronunciation of the words is different, but people go out of their way to help and point the direction, so we have managed to get around. The underground has shopping malls and eateries many levels deep and I suspect you can walk for miles underground. Everyone dresses well. Men wear dark suits and ties, even the taxi drivers with their lace covered seat covers. Some areas are themed or trendy, so you will see older women dressed like school girls or video characters, but the ladies dresses very classic and lots of suits, skirts and dress pants.....hardly any blue jeans. Women wear tights and anklets with heels and the colors are muted; beige, blues, whites and black. Few patterns and colors, no tee shirts or things with logos and no one looks sloppy. Everyone looks simple, stylish without effort, and of course, since no one is overweight, it all looks good. Lots of scarves and everyone seems to have a sense of style. The children are very well behaved and the school groups dress alike and the small children all wear the same cap from a particular school. The food is different here, particularly the sweets, and the large department stores have massive food courts on the lower levels like Harrods in London. Sushi was expensive in the Ginza district, but seems reasonablely priced everywhere else, but so far, not as good as what we've eaten in the US. We've eaten ramen noodle soup and soba noodle soup, as well. Well off to our ryokan in the Mt. Fuji area. Will post later about our days in Tokyo.
Tokyo feels like New York, without the diversity, traffic, and mobs of tourists. Sure there are traditional and historic areas, but the very sprawling city itself with its tall buildings, taxis and subways, bright lights and busy atmosphere, where everyone is moving fast, seems like NYC. But cleaner! There are no garbage cans on the street, or piles of garbage bags lining the curbs ready for pick-up. No paper napkins on the tables or paper towels in the bathrooms, and everyone takes their litter on the street. Areas outside are designated for smoking, so people don't walk around smoking or dropping cigarette butts. Unlike China, there is no pollution and it smells good her, but it's been overcast because season is changing; weather about 70 in mid-October. I've never been to a foreign country with so many public toilets that are clean and with plenty of toilet paper and those wonderful Toto toilets that wash you off ( and the occasional hole in the floor Japanese toilet). People walk fast, but not to the right (like in the US) or to the left (like the UK and what you'd expect since they drive on the left), so it's a challenge to walk on the streets and especially in the train station which is an explosion of people. People don't necessarily smile as a greeting, but do nod their heads. Sometimes people are overly appreciative and apologetic. The trains are extremely punctual and the color coded signage and few English words make it intuitive to get around. We are able to use our JR pass for many of the trains, but can use our cash loaded Pasmo cards for others. You just swipe going through the entrance and exit gates. It is a cash society, with no tipping. Few speak English and our pronunciation of the words is different, but people go out of their way to help and point the direction, so we have managed to get around. The underground has shopping malls and eateries many levels deep and I suspect you can walk for miles underground. Everyone dresses well. Men wear dark suits and ties, even the taxi drivers with their lace covered seat covers. Some areas are themed or trendy, so you will see older women dressed like school girls or video characters, but the ladies dresses very classic and lots of suits, skirts and dress pants.....hardly any blue jeans. Women wear tights and anklets with heels and the colors are muted; beige, blues, whites and black. Few patterns and colors, no tee shirts or things with logos and no one looks sloppy. Everyone looks simple, stylish without effort, and of course, since no one is overweight, it all looks good. Lots of scarves and everyone seems to have a sense of style. The children are very well behaved and the school groups dress alike and the small children all wear the same cap from a particular school. The food is different here, particularly the sweets, and the large department stores have massive food courts on the lower levels like Harrods in London. Sushi was expensive in the Ginza district, but seems reasonablely priced everywhere else, but so far, not as good as what we've eaten in the US. We've eaten ramen noodle soup and soba noodle soup, as well. Well off to our ryokan in the Mt. Fuji area. Will post later about our days in Tokyo.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Japan...how did we get here?
We knew absolutely nothing about Japan, or where to go, or what to see and since no one we knew really knew anything either, we started planning our trip by reading travel blogs we found on line and looking at Pinterest and reading Trip Advisor for hotel recommendations. I must admit, planning a trip for two with no guide, to such a remote place, where few speak our language and we couldn't comprehend theirs, was daunting and I was nervous until we got here and so far everything has seemed to work out.
Those of you who know me, know I always fly coach. I've traveled a lot, but I have sat cramped beside a sumo wrestler on a trip home from Hong Kong and next to basketball player on my recent flight home from Africa; I am not spoiled! But upon hearing that American Aadvantage was changing its award program and reduce the value of my miles, I cashed in 250,000 miles accumulated over a decade, and bought two first class tickets. And it was a treat...airport lounge access, the private capsule with "100 different seating/laying positions", the 3 gourmet meals and free alcohol, the full size TV with Bose earphones, and the little Cole Haan goodie bag with travel comforts! Too bad it was a daytime flight and I didn't sleep for one minute!
Before we left, there were a few things I did to make the trip better...
1. I used Booking.com to reserve all the accomodations and I could modify the dates and cancel, without any penalty, only days before reservation time; this made it very easy to tweek my schedule and I didn't worry about losing a deposit while dealing with a foreign host.
2. Since Japan is a cash based society, especially in the small towns, I ordered my Yen online directly from my bank, without any service fee....the Yen were delivered to the bank and I picked them up there. You will need a lot of Yen I hear.
3. Since we would be traveling around Japan on the high speed train, the Sinkansen, before I left, I ordered the 14 day Japan Rail (JR) pass. I used Japan Experience, but there are many agents online and you can buy 7-day, 21-day, etc passes. The vouchers were delivered by Courier a few days later. (When we arrived at Narita Airport, we exchanged the vouchers and activated the passes for the next day. It took a few minutes and it was easy to find the JR office. We also bought one way JR tickets from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station near our hotel (since our JR Pass started the next day) and that was also easy and efficient.). Many local trains also use the JR pass, too.
4. Pasmo cards are little credit cards you use for non-JR subways and in vending machines and in taxis if you don't want to use cash. You can buy them and download them with cash at machines in the train stations and pass them over a scanner to use the subways, both coming and going. (If it is a JR train, you show your JR pass to the attendant, both coming and going.). You can buy these in advance from Japan Experience and they are delivered with your JR vouchers.
5. I ordered a portable wifi from Japan Experience when I ordered my JR pass and it was delivered to the hotel. It was less than $100 for the 2 weeks I need it and it works. It allows us to use Google Maps to get around. I suggest also buying a portable charger as the portable wifi and your phone do lose battery power quickly. It's about the size of a cell phone and allows a few devices to connect to it.
6. Download Hyperdia for a free trial month immediately before you leave so you have train schedules. Also Google translate which allows you to speak or take a picture of words and it will translate into the appropriate language.
7. Print out or scan the Japanese name of your hotel destinations so you can hand the Japanese word to the taxi driver as Anglo words are meaningless. Google translate can help with this.
8. Make sure you use a credit card that doesn't have a foreign transaction fee to pay for any foreign transaction, including when you pay for your JR pass from Japan Experience (which might be based overseas).
And so we're here now, finally....I'll keep you posted on how it all works out.
Those of you who know me, know I always fly coach. I've traveled a lot, but I have sat cramped beside a sumo wrestler on a trip home from Hong Kong and next to basketball player on my recent flight home from Africa; I am not spoiled! But upon hearing that American Aadvantage was changing its award program and reduce the value of my miles, I cashed in 250,000 miles accumulated over a decade, and bought two first class tickets. And it was a treat...airport lounge access, the private capsule with "100 different seating/laying positions", the 3 gourmet meals and free alcohol, the full size TV with Bose earphones, and the little Cole Haan goodie bag with travel comforts! Too bad it was a daytime flight and I didn't sleep for one minute!
Before we left, there were a few things I did to make the trip better...
1. I used Booking.com to reserve all the accomodations and I could modify the dates and cancel, without any penalty, only days before reservation time; this made it very easy to tweek my schedule and I didn't worry about losing a deposit while dealing with a foreign host.
2. Since Japan is a cash based society, especially in the small towns, I ordered my Yen online directly from my bank, without any service fee....the Yen were delivered to the bank and I picked them up there. You will need a lot of Yen I hear.
3. Since we would be traveling around Japan on the high speed train, the Sinkansen, before I left, I ordered the 14 day Japan Rail (JR) pass. I used Japan Experience, but there are many agents online and you can buy 7-day, 21-day, etc passes. The vouchers were delivered by Courier a few days later. (When we arrived at Narita Airport, we exchanged the vouchers and activated the passes for the next day. It took a few minutes and it was easy to find the JR office. We also bought one way JR tickets from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station near our hotel (since our JR Pass started the next day) and that was also easy and efficient.). Many local trains also use the JR pass, too.
4. Pasmo cards are little credit cards you use for non-JR subways and in vending machines and in taxis if you don't want to use cash. You can buy them and download them with cash at machines in the train stations and pass them over a scanner to use the subways, both coming and going. (If it is a JR train, you show your JR pass to the attendant, both coming and going.). You can buy these in advance from Japan Experience and they are delivered with your JR vouchers.
5. I ordered a portable wifi from Japan Experience when I ordered my JR pass and it was delivered to the hotel. It was less than $100 for the 2 weeks I need it and it works. It allows us to use Google Maps to get around. I suggest also buying a portable charger as the portable wifi and your phone do lose battery power quickly. It's about the size of a cell phone and allows a few devices to connect to it.
6. Download Hyperdia for a free trial month immediately before you leave so you have train schedules. Also Google translate which allows you to speak or take a picture of words and it will translate into the appropriate language.
7. Print out or scan the Japanese name of your hotel destinations so you can hand the Japanese word to the taxi driver as Anglo words are meaningless. Google translate can help with this.
8. Make sure you use a credit card that doesn't have a foreign transaction fee to pay for any foreign transaction, including when you pay for your JR pass from Japan Experience (which might be based overseas).
And so we're here now, finally....I'll keep you posted on how it all works out.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
JAPAN for 15 days to celebrate 60 years!
Next Saturday October 8th, Chad and I set out on another big adventure, this time in celebration of our 60th birthdays! JAPAN! We have plenty of yen (since it's a cash society, especially in smaller towns), our 14 day Japan Rail Pass ready to be activated on the 11th and all our hotel reservations...and the rest we plan to figure out as we go along.
Our first night will actually be spent in the Dallas Airport Marriott so we will be closer to DFW airport for our Sunday morning 10:30 am direct flight into Tokyo's Narita Airport. We cashed in all our Aadvantage miles accumulated over years of flying and are traveling first class to Japan, which will be a huge thrill and huge relief to our aging joints LOL. We arrive at 2:30 pm Tokyo time on Monday October 10 after a 13-hour flight and by the time we get to the hotel after immigration/customs and the hour train ride into town, we'll probably be ready to crash. Especially since we're considering getting in line the next morning at 4:00 am to get tickets to see the early morning fish auction at Tsukiji Market and then have our first (of hopefully many) sushi breakfasts.
Our entire 15 days will be spent on the biggest island of Honshu. Get out your maps now and track our plan. We will spend the first 4 nights in Tokyo, before hopping on the bullet train Friday the 14th for the hour ride to Mt. Fuji where we'll spend the night in our first traditional ryokan, hoping to bathe in some natural thermal springs....and attempt to do some hiking around Mt. Fuji, weather permitting. On Saturday the 15th, we take the afternoon bullet train west to Kyoto where we'll spend 5 nights, taking side trips to Nara, Osaka and possibly Hiroshima. The next two nights are in the northern coastal town of Kanazawa and then we go into the mountains for 2 nights to stay at another ryokan in Takayama. Our final night, we travel back to Narita Airport to spend the night for our early morning flight back to Dallas and then back to Florida.
We will be traveling in autumn so we're hoping for perfect weather in the 60's and 70's and gorgeous trees in all shades of red, pink and purple in the gorgeous sculpted gardens and surrounding all the shrines.
Our first night will actually be spent in the Dallas Airport Marriott so we will be closer to DFW airport for our Sunday morning 10:30 am direct flight into Tokyo's Narita Airport. We cashed in all our Aadvantage miles accumulated over years of flying and are traveling first class to Japan, which will be a huge thrill and huge relief to our aging joints LOL. We arrive at 2:30 pm Tokyo time on Monday October 10 after a 13-hour flight and by the time we get to the hotel after immigration/customs and the hour train ride into town, we'll probably be ready to crash. Especially since we're considering getting in line the next morning at 4:00 am to get tickets to see the early morning fish auction at Tsukiji Market and then have our first (of hopefully many) sushi breakfasts.
Our entire 15 days will be spent on the biggest island of Honshu. Get out your maps now and track our plan. We will spend the first 4 nights in Tokyo, before hopping on the bullet train Friday the 14th for the hour ride to Mt. Fuji where we'll spend the night in our first traditional ryokan, hoping to bathe in some natural thermal springs....and attempt to do some hiking around Mt. Fuji, weather permitting. On Saturday the 15th, we take the afternoon bullet train west to Kyoto where we'll spend 5 nights, taking side trips to Nara, Osaka and possibly Hiroshima. The next two nights are in the northern coastal town of Kanazawa and then we go into the mountains for 2 nights to stay at another ryokan in Takayama. Our final night, we travel back to Narita Airport to spend the night for our early morning flight back to Dallas and then back to Florida.
We will be traveling in autumn so we're hoping for perfect weather in the 60's and 70's and gorgeous trees in all shades of red, pink and purple in the gorgeous sculpted gardens and surrounding all the shrines.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
What Rachele didn't know...
Before we left, I sent Rachele copies of our itinerary, pictures I saw online of places we'd visit, UTube videos of adventure packed drives we'd take and miraculous things we'd see in our three week New Zealand road trip.
She. didn't. look. at. anything. She knew about bungy jumping for her 23rd birthday. period.
She didn't know about high speed jetboating through narrow canyons, handgliding off mountaintops, or cruising through Milford Sound or The Bay of Islands or across the Cook Strait. She didn't know about crystal clear blue, turquoise and green water, the massive glaciers, snow capped mountains and the endless drives over twisty roads to see it all. It was a surprise for her to see waterfalls and bubbling mud, rainbow colored, mineral filled rivers and lakes, lava fields and sand dunes, cliffs over turbulent seas, glacial valleys, or rock filled glacial water fed estuaries. It was a surprise to kayak in the Sound, and the Bay, and the Sea. She didn't know about moss covered trees, rocks and pastures, about 6 foot tall silver ferns and tall redwoods and massive, old kauri trees. She didn't expect hundreds of hills and pastures filled with sheep, or meals of succulent lamb chops. She didn't know about tracks and tramps and Great Walks through misty, cool forests, or along rock scattered beaches, or above remnants of dormant volcanos and across volcanic craters. She didn't know about steaming geysers, sulfuric gases, dark caves, glow worms, hot springs and steamy waterfalls in hidden niches in rocks where we could bathe. She didn't know about Maoris and birds that can't fly and kiwi smash martinis. About the B&B's where we would meet wonderful hosts and eat fresh eggs and fruit harvested from garden trees. About the many picnics we would eat along streams, gorges and forests. But now she does. We all do. What a miracle of nature and what a joy to see.
New Zealand you are miraculous!
She. didn't. look. at. anything. She knew about bungy jumping for her 23rd birthday. period.
She didn't know about high speed jetboating through narrow canyons, handgliding off mountaintops, or cruising through Milford Sound or The Bay of Islands or across the Cook Strait. She didn't know about crystal clear blue, turquoise and green water, the massive glaciers, snow capped mountains and the endless drives over twisty roads to see it all. It was a surprise for her to see waterfalls and bubbling mud, rainbow colored, mineral filled rivers and lakes, lava fields and sand dunes, cliffs over turbulent seas, glacial valleys, or rock filled glacial water fed estuaries. It was a surprise to kayak in the Sound, and the Bay, and the Sea. She didn't know about moss covered trees, rocks and pastures, about 6 foot tall silver ferns and tall redwoods and massive, old kauri trees. She didn't expect hundreds of hills and pastures filled with sheep, or meals of succulent lamb chops. She didn't know about tracks and tramps and Great Walks through misty, cool forests, or along rock scattered beaches, or above remnants of dormant volcanos and across volcanic craters. She didn't know about steaming geysers, sulfuric gases, dark caves, glow worms, hot springs and steamy waterfalls in hidden niches in rocks where we could bathe. She didn't know about Maoris and birds that can't fly and kiwi smash martinis. About the B&B's where we would meet wonderful hosts and eat fresh eggs and fruit harvested from garden trees. About the many picnics we would eat along streams, gorges and forests. But now she does. We all do. What a miracle of nature and what a joy to see.
New Zealand you are miraculous!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
When in New Zealand...
What we noticed that is different here in NZ...
Driving curiosities...
Ok, the obvious, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right blah, blah, blah, but that's not all... I don't think we saw a stop light in the South Island for over a week and then we only saw a few when we hit Christchurch. Turning circles are everywhere and easy to maneuver because the signage is so good and because Rachele and I are the perfect back seat drivers! Most bridges in the rural areas are one way bridges, with one direction having the right of way, while the other side "gives way". This generally works! Big warning: you must drive under the speed limit! There is only a 4 km grace, strictly enforced on holidays, and we got a ticket for going 12 km (7 mph) above the speed limit...ouch! Set your cruise control for 99 km if the speed limit is 100 km, which really is the only speed limit in NZ except when you enter the towns. Oh and make sure you have plenty of gas for those rural areas because stations can be few and far between (especially in the middle of the South Island from Wanaka through Arthur's Pass). The car must be unlocked to open the tank and our chip cards don't seem to work at the pumps without a PIN, so pump, then pay inside. While they drive cars on the left on the highways, all boaters must comply with international boating standards so boaters drive on the right, and the wheels on the jetboats are on the left like our cars. Drive into hotels and parking centers from the first (left) entrance that you come to or you will be going in on the exit side...and don't turn on your windshield wipers every time you think you are hitting the turning signal with your left hand; yep use your right hand to signal. Got that?
Oh, remember some of the fun names to rent from other than Avis or Hertz...Wicked (for wilder travelers)!, Kiwi and Maui for campers, Jucy for cars, campers and vans, and Europecar. We had a full size car and it worked, but it had low sides and a lot of the roads we were on were rocks and bumpy and it's super easy to rub your low tires on the left when parallel parking...it would have been better to have a SUV. And remember it's easy to trade cars at the ferry if you don't want to pay to transport them. No extra fee, just arrange it beforehand per online instructions.
Bathroom/plumbing curiosities...
Free public toilets are in every city center and marked with a blue sign and usually have running water and toilet paper, except for that one time when we found a public toilet that looked like a giant round tube sitting by itself in a field...suggestion: always have TP in your car and wet wipes in your bag. It's very common to find sinks with separate hot and cold faucets like 1960's America and every toilet has two buttons to flush, for "small loads" and bigger ones. And in some places, toilets are art! We even came across a combination washer and dryer in one place we stayed...never saw that before.
Electricity curiosities...
Of course, bring your NZ adapter plug to charge, but also remember to turn on those small buttons next to the outlet to actually get electricity to the outlet. Because of this, those large modern multi-country adapters are usually impossible to use because they interfere with the on/off switch. Use those individual single country adapters. iPhones, cameras, etc usually don't need those heavy converters because they work with both 110 and 220 voltage.
Pronunciation curiosities...
Can't figure out them all, but the "e" seems to always be a long e like in "veer", so the word "very" is pronounced "veery". Lever is leever. This is very different sounding than United Kingdom accents. I think this is because everyone is from all over the United Kingdom and when you combine that with Maori, it is just different. I think "wh" sounds like an "f" (all the Maori words seem to start with wh) and "g" in the middle of the word sounds like "t". Paihia is pronounced like "Pie-here" so the "a" in NZ doesn't sound like what we think an "a" should sound like. The words therefore are impossible to pronounce and we have to listen with both ears to understand. Rachele pointed out that to them, we are the ones with the accent...LOL! Other than the funny pronunciation, it seems more like America here than any place we've traveled, definitely more so than the United Kingdom which does seem like a foreign country.
Food curiosities...
No surprise, lamb is about $7 US a pound and very fresh...that's what we're having for dinner on the porch tonight, grilled and covered in a fresh garlic and peach mango chutney. Everything else seems the same for the most part. I've talked about food in an earlier blog, but the shout out to the lamb's sacrifice bears a re-mention!
People curiosities...
Very little diversity here in NZ that we could tell. Most have English, Scottish or Irish roots (or Maori in the North Island) and it seems like a vibrant, youthful, healthy group of people. No obesity, not much smoking, seemingly stress free, extremely friendly. People recycle, compost and feed their farm animals all leftovers. The English feel very at home here and there are many transplants...similar roots and philosophies and much better weather. Other than Asian tourists in Queenstown and Rotorua, we've seen few Asians and can count on our hands the number of black residents/tourists we have seen. Most diversity is from Polynesian roots I would guess. Last but not least, to a Kiwi, America is not the center of the Universe...in fact, other than knowing that Trump may be the next GOP candidate, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in what we're doing, other than what they see of American TV. Too busy just living their lives and being happy to be doing it down here!
Driving curiosities...
Ok, the obvious, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right blah, blah, blah, but that's not all... I don't think we saw a stop light in the South Island for over a week and then we only saw a few when we hit Christchurch. Turning circles are everywhere and easy to maneuver because the signage is so good and because Rachele and I are the perfect back seat drivers! Most bridges in the rural areas are one way bridges, with one direction having the right of way, while the other side "gives way". This generally works! Big warning: you must drive under the speed limit! There is only a 4 km grace, strictly enforced on holidays, and we got a ticket for going 12 km (7 mph) above the speed limit...ouch! Set your cruise control for 99 km if the speed limit is 100 km, which really is the only speed limit in NZ except when you enter the towns. Oh and make sure you have plenty of gas for those rural areas because stations can be few and far between (especially in the middle of the South Island from Wanaka through Arthur's Pass). The car must be unlocked to open the tank and our chip cards don't seem to work at the pumps without a PIN, so pump, then pay inside. While they drive cars on the left on the highways, all boaters must comply with international boating standards so boaters drive on the right, and the wheels on the jetboats are on the left like our cars. Drive into hotels and parking centers from the first (left) entrance that you come to or you will be going in on the exit side...and don't turn on your windshield wipers every time you think you are hitting the turning signal with your left hand; yep use your right hand to signal. Got that?
Oh, remember some of the fun names to rent from other than Avis or Hertz...Wicked (for wilder travelers)!, Kiwi and Maui for campers, Jucy for cars, campers and vans, and Europecar. We had a full size car and it worked, but it had low sides and a lot of the roads we were on were rocks and bumpy and it's super easy to rub your low tires on the left when parallel parking...it would have been better to have a SUV. And remember it's easy to trade cars at the ferry if you don't want to pay to transport them. No extra fee, just arrange it beforehand per online instructions.
Bathroom/plumbing curiosities...
Free public toilets are in every city center and marked with a blue sign and usually have running water and toilet paper, except for that one time when we found a public toilet that looked like a giant round tube sitting by itself in a field...suggestion: always have TP in your car and wet wipes in your bag. It's very common to find sinks with separate hot and cold faucets like 1960's America and every toilet has two buttons to flush, for "small loads" and bigger ones. And in some places, toilets are art! We even came across a combination washer and dryer in one place we stayed...never saw that before.
Electricity curiosities...
Of course, bring your NZ adapter plug to charge, but also remember to turn on those small buttons next to the outlet to actually get electricity to the outlet. Because of this, those large modern multi-country adapters are usually impossible to use because they interfere with the on/off switch. Use those individual single country adapters. iPhones, cameras, etc usually don't need those heavy converters because they work with both 110 and 220 voltage.
Pronunciation curiosities...
Can't figure out them all, but the "e" seems to always be a long e like in "veer", so the word "very" is pronounced "veery". Lever is leever. This is very different sounding than United Kingdom accents. I think this is because everyone is from all over the United Kingdom and when you combine that with Maori, it is just different. I think "wh" sounds like an "f" (all the Maori words seem to start with wh) and "g" in the middle of the word sounds like "t". Paihia is pronounced like "Pie-here" so the "a" in NZ doesn't sound like what we think an "a" should sound like. The words therefore are impossible to pronounce and we have to listen with both ears to understand. Rachele pointed out that to them, we are the ones with the accent...LOL! Other than the funny pronunciation, it seems more like America here than any place we've traveled, definitely more so than the United Kingdom which does seem like a foreign country.
Food curiosities...
No surprise, lamb is about $7 US a pound and very fresh...that's what we're having for dinner on the porch tonight, grilled and covered in a fresh garlic and peach mango chutney. Everything else seems the same for the most part. I've talked about food in an earlier blog, but the shout out to the lamb's sacrifice bears a re-mention!
People curiosities...
Very little diversity here in NZ that we could tell. Most have English, Scottish or Irish roots (or Maori in the North Island) and it seems like a vibrant, youthful, healthy group of people. No obesity, not much smoking, seemingly stress free, extremely friendly. People recycle, compost and feed their farm animals all leftovers. The English feel very at home here and there are many transplants...similar roots and philosophies and much better weather. Other than Asian tourists in Queenstown and Rotorua, we've seen few Asians and can count on our hands the number of black residents/tourists we have seen. Most diversity is from Polynesian roots I would guess. Last but not least, to a Kiwi, America is not the center of the Universe...in fact, other than knowing that Trump may be the next GOP candidate, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in what we're doing, other than what they see of American TV. Too busy just living their lives and being happy to be doing it down here!
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Oops! And Wow!
Oops! we actually needed a reservation (in the middle of summer) to do black water rafting, repelling and small group viewing of glow worms unless we wanted to wait from 10 am until 3 pm. And we learned this after we drove about 1/2 hour south out of our way because we didn't believe the website. Our only option was to try to hop on one of the touristy boats that leave every half hour just to view glow worms and we decided we didn't want that experience, so sadly we left Waitomo and started to drive north towards Auckland. Make reservations for this activity a few days in advance!!!
I should mention that NZ was having a bit of a cyclone today and there was persistent rain and clouds all day, all over the North Island. We regrouped after our epic fail at Waitomo, but then had to forget all thoughts of stopping to see Bethel Beach on the west coast or hike nearby or visit Auckland's harbour for lunch or visit all the beautiful coves along the east coast and just kept driving north for hours. A 7 hour drive that was supposed to be spread out over 2 days happened in one day, in pouring rain, on often twisty roads or on an interstate through Auckland. Shout out to Chad for amazing driving under stress on the left side of the road! Yikes, passing trucks is terrifying on curves!
Anyway, we called ahead to our next lodging host, and to our great joy learned that our 2 day beach house at Paihia in the Bay of Islands was available if we arrived a night earlier, so we kept driving and arrived at a spectacular beach house with a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a laundry, 3 kayaks and situated towering over the beach on a steep bluff overlooking the beautiful bay. Joy! Good karma!
We booked a 4 hour ferry trip through the Bay of Islands with Explore and stopped at the town of Russell for the afternoon and took the passenger ferry back. (Update: don't waste any time stopping at Russell). This cruise visited Hole in the Rock and also stopped at one of the larger islands and we had a barbecue lunch, enjoyed sunbathing and hiking, stayed as long as we wanted and caught a later boat back to Paihia. Our last day in Paihia was a morning of kayaking and a glow worm cave vist and a drive through some Maori towns. On the way home we picked up some lamb chops at $7 a pound and grilled the chops on the porch and had a peaceful, delicious dinner on our porch...maybe one of the best meals in NZ. On Friday, we left Paihia for the west coast,visiting a gorgeous beach with sand dunes and a beautiful harbour, saw the largest Kauri tree in NZ 153 feet tall and 40 feet in girth, and saw the black sand beach at Bethel Beach at sunset. We found an efficient hotel in downtown, had a great dinner at a fun place,and spent a morning visiting Auckland's harbour and shopping before our 7:30 pm flight home Saturday night. Cheers!
I should mention that NZ was having a bit of a cyclone today and there was persistent rain and clouds all day, all over the North Island. We regrouped after our epic fail at Waitomo, but then had to forget all thoughts of stopping to see Bethel Beach on the west coast or hike nearby or visit Auckland's harbour for lunch or visit all the beautiful coves along the east coast and just kept driving north for hours. A 7 hour drive that was supposed to be spread out over 2 days happened in one day, in pouring rain, on often twisty roads or on an interstate through Auckland. Shout out to Chad for amazing driving under stress on the left side of the road! Yikes, passing trucks is terrifying on curves!
Anyway, we called ahead to our next lodging host, and to our great joy learned that our 2 day beach house at Paihia in the Bay of Islands was available if we arrived a night earlier, so we kept driving and arrived at a spectacular beach house with a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a laundry, 3 kayaks and situated towering over the beach on a steep bluff overlooking the beautiful bay. Joy! Good karma!
We booked a 4 hour ferry trip through the Bay of Islands with Explore and stopped at the town of Russell for the afternoon and took the passenger ferry back. (Update: don't waste any time stopping at Russell). This cruise visited Hole in the Rock and also stopped at one of the larger islands and we had a barbecue lunch, enjoyed sunbathing and hiking, stayed as long as we wanted and caught a later boat back to Paihia. Our last day in Paihia was a morning of kayaking and a glow worm cave vist and a drive through some Maori towns. On the way home we picked up some lamb chops at $7 a pound and grilled the chops on the porch and had a peaceful, delicious dinner on our porch...maybe one of the best meals in NZ. On Friday, we left Paihia for the west coast,visiting a gorgeous beach with sand dunes and a beautiful harbour, saw the largest Kauri tree in NZ 153 feet tall and 40 feet in girth, and saw the black sand beach at Bethel Beach at sunset. We found an efficient hotel in downtown, had a great dinner at a fun place,and spent a morning visiting Auckland's harbour and shopping before our 7:30 pm flight home Saturday night. Cheers!
Monday, January 11, 2016
The stinkier, the better! Rotorua and Waitomo...
After figuring out how to physically move again after our long tramp to Tongariro, we headed north towards Lake Taupo and the vast thermal region surrounding Rotorua. Our first stop scared us immediately upon arrival when men with flags directed us where to park, and we thought we were at the grand opening of an IKEA store or Disney NZ. We clearly had arrived at the top local tourist attraction Wai-o-taupo and strangely, we were not at all disappointed because the place was amazing! Sinkholes, blowholes, bubbling mud, steaming vapor and geysers (we missed the big one which goes off at 10:15am daily), silica terraces, and the most magnificent glowing colored mineral pools. Walkways and natural brush made this viewing seem as natural as possible given the crowd (which thinned out once we reached the 3-4th display). We spent about 2 hours walking and enjoying what I hope was the best example of a natural thermal phenomenom as there are many to choose from, some of which force you to also watch tattooed Maori men stick out their tongues, bulge their eyes and dance crazy dances in front of you. Oh, did I mention the smell? Let's just say Rachele and I have been craving egg salad sandwiches ever since. We stopped in the city center and actually had a pleasant, hearty lunch at Henneseys, an historic Irish Bar. Chad had lamb shanks and mashed potatoes and peas, Rachele had beef shepperds pie and I had lamb Irish stew, celebrating part of NZs roots!
We arrived mid-afternoon at our only farmstay at Lakeside B&B, set on a bluff overlooking Lake Rotatua, and we were blessed with a stunning day (which seemed to be the exception in the North Island this week). Chad and I enjoyed rounding the barnyard with our host Alan during the evening feeding, getting up close finally to 22 of the 4,000,000 sheep we've passed grazing on every hillside in NZ, plus 3 goats, 3 alpaca, 2 pigs, and a dozen hens and roosters. FYI we ate farm fresh free range eggs again for breakfast (as we usually do at B&Bs) which have yolks of cad yellow, plus fresh picked fruits from the garden. What we didn't finish is tomorrow's pig dinner.
For sunset we walked along the deepest spring in NZ just minutes from our lodging and through a 100 year old North American redwood forest. Black swans and ducks, massive tall redwood trees, gorgeous fern lined banks of a crystal clear, freezing cold spring and river. And the smell of a forest at sunset! No hills and just a pleasant evening stroll before heading into Rotorua for a (mediocre) late dinner at Pig and Whistle (seen in Trip advisor but highly overrated).
We woke up 6 times this morning to a rooster crowing. We booked a last minute expedition which turned out to be an absolutely wonderful and completely unique experience just south of Rotorua with NZ Riverjets and doing "the squeeze". (FYI...this place is very close to Wai-o-taupo south of Rotorua on the way from Taupo and Tongariro...departures were at 11 am and 2 pm and reservations are required, so if you can do both these adventures the same day, you would save driving time from Rotorua and better to do them coming from the south.) After changing into our "bathers", we boarded a jet boat with 6 other guests for a leisurely hour boat ride on the clear Waikato River, the longest in NZ, lined with so much towering, overflowing greenery that the entire River valley seemed to glow green. Another LOR site! Our driver stopped and gave informative information about the area from time to time. Along the river we passed steaming geysers on the banks and saw Maori burial sites in the limestone caves and cliffs lining the shores. We moored the boat and got out into lukewarm water and started walking through a narrow passage or gorge into the forest, squeezing our bodies between boulders in a narrow hidden pass. We ended up in a crystal clear, warm pool surrounded by boulders 2 stories high with 2 high volume hot waterfalls flowing into the pool. Omg! So powerful was the force it untied Racheles bather top. You will get wet! You might want to bring a towel, but not necessary in summer because the water and air are warm. We were able to relax in the warm pools for about 45 minutes and it seemed private since there were only 9 of us. Then we returned to the boat for a typical high speed, spinning jet boat ride back. The whole experience took 3 hours and got us on the water, exploring the volcanic backcountry, relaxing in thermal springs and falls and fun jet boating.
Headed back to Rotorua for an early dinner on "Eat Streat" at an Italian eatery Nuvo and had a very tasty pasta dinner. Now we're planning tomorrow...heading west to Waitomo Caves to visit the glow worm caves and maybe do some "black water rafting". FYI...we waited too long to make reservations for the blackwater rafting and repelling!!!! Popular companies seen on Trip Advisor like "Legendary Black Water Rafting" and "Kiwi Cave" and "Spellbound" were all booked until 3:00 pm and we learned that when we got to Waitomo and we had to get on our way! We decided not to just do a "mass produced" viewing with lots of other tourists and will wait to see glow worms near Paihia. Must make early reservations. Tomorrow night, we head north towards Auckland to find lodging on our way to Paihia in the Bay of Islands in the north. Hoping for wifi...
We arrived mid-afternoon at our only farmstay at Lakeside B&B, set on a bluff overlooking Lake Rotatua, and we were blessed with a stunning day (which seemed to be the exception in the North Island this week). Chad and I enjoyed rounding the barnyard with our host Alan during the evening feeding, getting up close finally to 22 of the 4,000,000 sheep we've passed grazing on every hillside in NZ, plus 3 goats, 3 alpaca, 2 pigs, and a dozen hens and roosters. FYI we ate farm fresh free range eggs again for breakfast (as we usually do at B&Bs) which have yolks of cad yellow, plus fresh picked fruits from the garden. What we didn't finish is tomorrow's pig dinner.
For sunset we walked along the deepest spring in NZ just minutes from our lodging and through a 100 year old North American redwood forest. Black swans and ducks, massive tall redwood trees, gorgeous fern lined banks of a crystal clear, freezing cold spring and river. And the smell of a forest at sunset! No hills and just a pleasant evening stroll before heading into Rotorua for a (mediocre) late dinner at Pig and Whistle (seen in Trip advisor but highly overrated).
We woke up 6 times this morning to a rooster crowing. We booked a last minute expedition which turned out to be an absolutely wonderful and completely unique experience just south of Rotorua with NZ Riverjets and doing "the squeeze". (FYI...this place is very close to Wai-o-taupo south of Rotorua on the way from Taupo and Tongariro...departures were at 11 am and 2 pm and reservations are required, so if you can do both these adventures the same day, you would save driving time from Rotorua and better to do them coming from the south.) After changing into our "bathers", we boarded a jet boat with 6 other guests for a leisurely hour boat ride on the clear Waikato River, the longest in NZ, lined with so much towering, overflowing greenery that the entire River valley seemed to glow green. Another LOR site! Our driver stopped and gave informative information about the area from time to time. Along the river we passed steaming geysers on the banks and saw Maori burial sites in the limestone caves and cliffs lining the shores. We moored the boat and got out into lukewarm water and started walking through a narrow passage or gorge into the forest, squeezing our bodies between boulders in a narrow hidden pass. We ended up in a crystal clear, warm pool surrounded by boulders 2 stories high with 2 high volume hot waterfalls flowing into the pool. Omg! So powerful was the force it untied Racheles bather top. You will get wet! You might want to bring a towel, but not necessary in summer because the water and air are warm. We were able to relax in the warm pools for about 45 minutes and it seemed private since there were only 9 of us. Then we returned to the boat for a typical high speed, spinning jet boat ride back. The whole experience took 3 hours and got us on the water, exploring the volcanic backcountry, relaxing in thermal springs and falls and fun jet boating.
Headed back to Rotorua for an early dinner on "Eat Streat" at an Italian eatery Nuvo and had a very tasty pasta dinner. Now we're planning tomorrow...heading west to Waitomo Caves to visit the glow worm caves and maybe do some "black water rafting". FYI...we waited too long to make reservations for the blackwater rafting and repelling!!!! Popular companies seen on Trip Advisor like "Legendary Black Water Rafting" and "Kiwi Cave" and "Spellbound" were all booked until 3:00 pm and we learned that when we got to Waitomo and we had to get on our way! We decided not to just do a "mass produced" viewing with lots of other tourists and will wait to see glow worms near Paihia. Must make early reservations. Tomorrow night, we head north towards Auckland to find lodging on our way to Paihia in the Bay of Islands in the north. Hoping for wifi...
Sunday, January 10, 2016
We've left the planet
We arrived at Tongariro in a rain storm, the 3 volcanos completely obscured from view by mist. Optimistic the next morning, we hopped on the shuttle bus at 5:30 am, only to be told our transport was cancelled due to high winds at the top. It took us awhile to regroup (although we should have gone into the small village to consider a different transport company), and then decided to go to the trailhead at the popular starting point, hike up until it got windy, and then turn around. It was a glorious day, sunny and clear and hundreds of people were beginning the ascent; every other transport company seemed to be operating. We started up and ended up doing the whole track! Luckily a shuttle service, driving back and forth to both trailhead parking lots, transported Chad back to our car for $30 and he returned to get us! 19 km, 11.4 miles, 8 hours, 3 people who could barely move at the end, but were extremely proud!
The track varied throughout...at times we were trekking up steep black lava rock steps; sometimes we crossed over flat moon-like craters, at the highest point we passed the red crater that recently erupted; we struggled down the sandy lava ash from the eruption (each of us falling it was so unstable and slippery). At the windy spot, we used thick wire ropes attached to the mountain to pull ourselves over rocks. Thank goodness for the trekking poles which most trekkers did not have. I thought my earrings would pull out of my ears from the wind. We descended from the peak over the lava ash to 4 glowing lakes in the distance; 3 were varying shades of brilliant, glowy, milky green and another bigger lake across the central flat crater was blue with wind whipping across it, trying to pull us in. The lakes are beautiful, but are toxic sulfuric acid. Steam is shooting out from blowholes and the area has a slight rotten egg smell. We still sat by one of the lakes in a moonlike setting and ate our lunch. The last (boring and tedious) part was the traverse down for nearly 3 hours across rocky (moonlike) terrain slowly making our way down, one lead foot at a time!
But were we ever proud! What a day! What an experience! It made our trip!
The track varied throughout...at times we were trekking up steep black lava rock steps; sometimes we crossed over flat moon-like craters, at the highest point we passed the red crater that recently erupted; we struggled down the sandy lava ash from the eruption (each of us falling it was so unstable and slippery). At the windy spot, we used thick wire ropes attached to the mountain to pull ourselves over rocks. Thank goodness for the trekking poles which most trekkers did not have. I thought my earrings would pull out of my ears from the wind. We descended from the peak over the lava ash to 4 glowing lakes in the distance; 3 were varying shades of brilliant, glowy, milky green and another bigger lake across the central flat crater was blue with wind whipping across it, trying to pull us in. The lakes are beautiful, but are toxic sulfuric acid. Steam is shooting out from blowholes and the area has a slight rotten egg smell. We still sat by one of the lakes in a moonlike setting and ate our lunch. The last (boring and tedious) part was the traverse down for nearly 3 hours across rocky (moonlike) terrain slowly making our way down, one lead foot at a time!
But were we ever proud! What a day! What an experience! It made our trip!
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Abel Tasman National Park and off to the North Island
We're on the 9:05am Interislander Ferry heading north on a 3.5 hour cruise through the Marlborough Sound and the Cook Strait after 2 nights in a tropical resort on the north shore and a layover in the port town of Picton. Just FYI, I booked the ferry tickets online and it was a breeze to return the rental car at the terminal, get our boarding tickets and check our luggage before settling in a giant space that looks like a cafeteria with big viewing windows (and free wifi...whoop whoop). Also FYI, when I rented the car online I rented from Queenstown to Auckland and then sent emails to the Avis NZ office to arrange drop off in the South and pick up of the new car in the North, although it is possible to take cars on the ferry. For future reference, don't forget to leave your key with the contract when you return the car on the south side because it's embarrassing to still have it in your pocket on the north side. It's quite a blustery day here in NZ...rainy, waves, gale force winds so it's good not to be on land hiking today. The crossing was a bit rough at times, the outer decks were closed and unfortunately, we had no views of the Sound. Let's hope the weather clears in time for our Tongariro hike in the morning (and our drive from Wellington to Tongariro this afternoon.). Update: weather never improved entire ferry ride or on drive to Tongariro!
The days at Abel Tasmen were quite pleasant. We arranged (through our hotel, but there are many outfitters offering a variety of water/land trips) for a water taxi to take us to a cove where we hiked 2 hours north to a beach where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and some sunbathing. The water is magnificent but freezing to our Florida standards! Another water taxi picked us up and we went south a bit to another cove where we boarded kayaks to begin a 2 hour sea kayak trip back to the main port. Saw a few seals resting on rocks along the way, but not much sea life, especially after seeing thousands of sea lions last year in the Galapagos. We wished we had inquired about Cleopatra Falls/sliding rock before we departed because we missed that. Had a yummy meal at the local/tourist favorite, The Fat Tui food truck, where we waited an hour for a hamburger covered in shredded salad, aoili, carmelized onions & relish. The night before we also had a yummy meal at Hookers, talking to the waitresses, having cocktails and lamb! Marahau is a beachy town and everyone is so laid back and friendly; our lodge hosts had moved their young family from London to live in this peaceful friendly environment. The Kiwis are so natural. Hard to describe people who just seem happy to be alive.. Our gracious hosts, Joce and Scott, the new owners of the Abel Tasman Marahau Lodge, had such pride in their newly renovated lodge, with most chalets updated with a clean look (we had a triple), a spacious, clean and well stocked community kitchen where we prepared breakfasts (and could have cooked a full dinner too) and large commercial laundry machines. Funky birds (black feathers, blue belly feathers, orange legs with big orange claws that looked like a chicken) woke us up with shrieks and pecking on our sliding doors.
AT has a lot of hikes if varying length, but generally a water taxi is needed to get you to a trailhead. The beaches and sea water were absolutely beautiful, but cold and windier than a Florida beach. A great tropical diversion, but by the 3rd day we were ready to head off towards Picton. After a quick beach hike to see Split Apple Rock, we drove through Nelson and the Marlborough Sound region, even heading up into one of the "fingers" extending up into the Sound, the Charlotte Track, a twisty road through tropical beauty, but could have easily head into wine country for a tour. We stopped in Haverlock for locally harvested green mussels and spent the night at Kippilaw House in Picton. Our host Margaret made us a multi course gourmet dinner with wine and a magnificent 3 course breakfast at 7am before we headed to the ferry.
The days at Abel Tasmen were quite pleasant. We arranged (through our hotel, but there are many outfitters offering a variety of water/land trips) for a water taxi to take us to a cove where we hiked 2 hours north to a beach where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and some sunbathing. The water is magnificent but freezing to our Florida standards! Another water taxi picked us up and we went south a bit to another cove where we boarded kayaks to begin a 2 hour sea kayak trip back to the main port. Saw a few seals resting on rocks along the way, but not much sea life, especially after seeing thousands of sea lions last year in the Galapagos. We wished we had inquired about Cleopatra Falls/sliding rock before we departed because we missed that. Had a yummy meal at the local/tourist favorite, The Fat Tui food truck, where we waited an hour for a hamburger covered in shredded salad, aoili, carmelized onions & relish. The night before we also had a yummy meal at Hookers, talking to the waitresses, having cocktails and lamb! Marahau is a beachy town and everyone is so laid back and friendly; our lodge hosts had moved their young family from London to live in this peaceful friendly environment. The Kiwis are so natural. Hard to describe people who just seem happy to be alive.. Our gracious hosts, Joce and Scott, the new owners of the Abel Tasman Marahau Lodge, had such pride in their newly renovated lodge, with most chalets updated with a clean look (we had a triple), a spacious, clean and well stocked community kitchen where we prepared breakfasts (and could have cooked a full dinner too) and large commercial laundry machines. Funky birds (black feathers, blue belly feathers, orange legs with big orange claws that looked like a chicken) woke us up with shrieks and pecking on our sliding doors.
AT has a lot of hikes if varying length, but generally a water taxi is needed to get you to a trailhead. The beaches and sea water were absolutely beautiful, but cold and windier than a Florida beach. A great tropical diversion, but by the 3rd day we were ready to head off towards Picton. After a quick beach hike to see Split Apple Rock, we drove through Nelson and the Marlborough Sound region, even heading up into one of the "fingers" extending up into the Sound, the Charlotte Track, a twisty road through tropical beauty, but could have easily head into wine country for a tour. We stopped in Haverlock for locally harvested green mussels and spent the night at Kippilaw House in Picton. Our host Margaret made us a multi course gourmet dinner with wine and a magnificent 3 course breakfast at 7am before we headed to the ferry.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Can you fall in love with a soda?
4,000,000 people in NZ; 20,000,000 sheep in NZ! They're everywhere grazing on hillsides. Some are furry, some sheared. They say only 200 professional shearers, shearing sheep by hand with large scissors, remain. Plenty of cows, including "Oreo cows" which are black on both ends with a white center LOL, also graze, and occasionally we see a herd of deer, cows and pigs. And dead possums on the side of the road; so prolific they are made into merino sweaters and scarves here. There are no other major mammals here, no predators, and therefore, the birds don't have to fly because they don't have to escape from anything. There are strange birds here...this morning at around 6:00 am, we heard repetitive shrieks and scratching on our porch sliding doors from a black bird with blue belly feathers, an orange beak, orange legs and large orange claws like a chicken. The large Kea parrots don't have to fly much, but are so clever, they figured out how to open the pest control boxes placed in the forests with a stick just for fun. (Officials know this because they set up video cameras just to figure out how these were opened and they weren't catching anything). And no snakes or poisonous creatures. It's a unique ecosystem, separated from the rest of the animal kingdom by water and so no migration.
Silver tree ferns...a national symbol. Can't explain the ferns which range in size and variety. Some the size of a nut, others towering over you. It's like Gullivers Travels where sometimes you feel large because the growth is so tiny and then you enter a forest with ferns that are 8-10 feet tall and with fronds as big as a Volkswagen, and you feel like a wee hobbit. Entrancing! It's also a national symbol of NZ.
We have discovered Bundaberg, an Australian family owned business, making the most delicious sparkling drinks. Pineapple & Coconut, Passionfruit, Lemon, Lime & Bitters, Black Current Cream, Ginger Beer, Blood Orange. Can't stop drinking them; almost as good as a cocktail! Anyone want to start an export company?
Whittakers Chocolates, made in NZ made in the most wonderful flavors...massive bars of chocolate that cost about $3 US. With wonderful names like Hawk's Bay Braeburn apple with vanilla or Marlborough Sea salt with caramel.
The rest of the food is common. We have eaten green mussels right out of the sea, salmon caught in the Sound, kiwi crush cocktails, flat corn cake sandwiches with bacon and tomato, and hamburgers with an entire salad, carmelized onions, pickled relish and aoili inside (and waited for an hour to eat it at a local institution, The Fat Tui food truck in Abel Tasmen; couldn't wait at the other local favorite, Fergburgers in Queenstown for that famous burger). The Marlborough Sound white wines are delicious and we have a bottle many days, as is some of the craft beers I've tasted. Lamb is yummy and cheap and if you can imagine, even eating the rump is tasty and tender here!
Good on you again for reading!
Silver tree ferns...a national symbol. Can't explain the ferns which range in size and variety. Some the size of a nut, others towering over you. It's like Gullivers Travels where sometimes you feel large because the growth is so tiny and then you enter a forest with ferns that are 8-10 feet tall and with fronds as big as a Volkswagen, and you feel like a wee hobbit. Entrancing! It's also a national symbol of NZ.
We have discovered Bundaberg, an Australian family owned business, making the most delicious sparkling drinks. Pineapple & Coconut, Passionfruit, Lemon, Lime & Bitters, Black Current Cream, Ginger Beer, Blood Orange. Can't stop drinking them; almost as good as a cocktail! Anyone want to start an export company?
Whittakers Chocolates, made in NZ made in the most wonderful flavors...massive bars of chocolate that cost about $3 US. With wonderful names like Hawk's Bay Braeburn apple with vanilla or Marlborough Sea salt with caramel.
The rest of the food is common. We have eaten green mussels right out of the sea, salmon caught in the Sound, kiwi crush cocktails, flat corn cake sandwiches with bacon and tomato, and hamburgers with an entire salad, carmelized onions, pickled relish and aoili inside (and waited for an hour to eat it at a local institution, The Fat Tui food truck in Abel Tasmen; couldn't wait at the other local favorite, Fergburgers in Queenstown for that famous burger). The Marlborough Sound white wines are delicious and we have a bottle many days, as is some of the craft beers I've tasted. Lamb is yummy and cheap and if you can imagine, even eating the rump is tasty and tender here!
Good on you again for reading!
Go west young(?)Americans...
This was our free day...no plan, no hotel room for the night, just a goal to make it closer to Arthur's Pass for our trek to the western coast. First, we had to head east in the general direction of Christchurch to rendezvous with the Pass to then head west. Our hope to enjoy beautiful blue Lake Tekapo and the Canterbury region (maybe see Mt. Sunday from LOR or do some rafting) were cut short by a day of cold rain, so we headed directly to Christchurch, where we knew we'd find a hotel room and grocery. (The Pass does connect further inland, west of Christchurch if we had wanted to stay inland and connect there.)
Unfortunately, Christchurch has not recovered from a devastating 2011 earthquake and is still rebuilding, suffers from a poor and inconsistent building development plan and doesn't take advantage of a magnificent location on the hills overlooking the gorgeous Pacific Coast. We took a drive to the coast in the rain, but coastal development is all industrial and unattractive, so all the surrounding housing seems low income and shoddy. A shame because Christchurch could have views like San Francisco and as the largest city in the South Island, it could be amazing, but simply is not a destination.
After a good nights' rest and a trip to the grocery to restock and to fill up at the gas station (which is always an issue in NZ backcountry), we began our trek west across Arthur's Pass which was a combination of California, Colorado, North Carolina and Hawaii. The temperatures ranged as much as the view changed and it is a highly recommended trip (although Haast Pass further south leading to the Fox and Joseph Franz Glaciers may be as amazing). In fact, the 4-hour TranzAlpine tourist train travels from Christchurch to Greymouth on the West Coast along the same path and apparently is an amazing trip. Along the way, we stopped at a grouping of massive boulders formed by tectonic activity and had a nice short hike and climb, and took an hour hike to a magnificent waterfall, the Devil's Punchbowl Falls. Another nearby track, the Arthur's Pass Walking Track was an option with a 3 hour return, including Bridel Veil Falls along the way.
We unfortunately, missed the short-cutoff to the Hokitika Gorge and beach which would have saved about 15 miles and is supposed to be beautiful, but did go to Hokitika anyway to see the driftwood formations on the black sand beach. (Interesting excursion, but if you miss the cutoff to the gorge and town, no reason to backtrack like we did once you reach the coast). AND WHAT A COAST IT IS! Limestone boulders, caves, cliffs and strange rock formations like Pancake Rocks and Blowholes line the turbulent shores of the Tasman Sea which is the most intense shade of blue green. We stayed at a small resort the Paparoa Park Motel at the entrance to Paparoa National Park in Punakaiki and enjoyed an evening of viewing the Pancake Rocks, had dinner at the local (only) tavern, explored a cave with dark rooms and dripping walls, and then watched the sunset over the Rocks at 9:30 pm. Had to bring in breakfast food, but had a comfortable triple room with a kitchenette and we were able to make a hot breakfast. It's surprising how an electric frypan and a mini fridge is all you need to survive!
The next morning, we took the 15 minute Truman Track, one of the best short hikes we've taken, which led through a coastal, tropical rainforest to a beach with magnificent layer limestone formations and a waterfall. Don't miss this short and magnificent hike just because it sounds too short! We decided to move on and did not take the 3 hour Porariri River Track following a limestone gorge along the river which sounded great, but we had a time issue. Kayaking the Porariri River was also an option here, as was caving to see glow worms, but we're saving that for the North Island.
Our drive north along the rocky, twisty coast was like driving the California coast and we ended up at the FoulWind lighthouse on a far western point for a walk with kiwis and amazing views, listening to Landslide by Stevie Nicks as we lay in the grass soaking up the sun. We drove northeast at this point through Buller Gorge, a roller coaster ride through a deciduous forest but a rushing river and gorge, but somehow missed the longest swing bridge in NZ. Bummer! If you go to this area, take the time to research because it is an unpopulated area of NZ with magnificent features according to a lot of pictures I've seen...we just didn't have the time to enjoy the region. Lunched along the river setting up another picnic, and drove on to Able Tasman National Park on a cove on the north side, staying at the Able Tasman Marahau Lodge for the next 2 nights...
Unfortunately, Christchurch has not recovered from a devastating 2011 earthquake and is still rebuilding, suffers from a poor and inconsistent building development plan and doesn't take advantage of a magnificent location on the hills overlooking the gorgeous Pacific Coast. We took a drive to the coast in the rain, but coastal development is all industrial and unattractive, so all the surrounding housing seems low income and shoddy. A shame because Christchurch could have views like San Francisco and as the largest city in the South Island, it could be amazing, but simply is not a destination.
After a good nights' rest and a trip to the grocery to restock and to fill up at the gas station (which is always an issue in NZ backcountry), we began our trek west across Arthur's Pass which was a combination of California, Colorado, North Carolina and Hawaii. The temperatures ranged as much as the view changed and it is a highly recommended trip (although Haast Pass further south leading to the Fox and Joseph Franz Glaciers may be as amazing). In fact, the 4-hour TranzAlpine tourist train travels from Christchurch to Greymouth on the West Coast along the same path and apparently is an amazing trip. Along the way, we stopped at a grouping of massive boulders formed by tectonic activity and had a nice short hike and climb, and took an hour hike to a magnificent waterfall, the Devil's Punchbowl Falls. Another nearby track, the Arthur's Pass Walking Track was an option with a 3 hour return, including Bridel Veil Falls along the way.
We unfortunately, missed the short-cutoff to the Hokitika Gorge and beach which would have saved about 15 miles and is supposed to be beautiful, but did go to Hokitika anyway to see the driftwood formations on the black sand beach. (Interesting excursion, but if you miss the cutoff to the gorge and town, no reason to backtrack like we did once you reach the coast). AND WHAT A COAST IT IS! Limestone boulders, caves, cliffs and strange rock formations like Pancake Rocks and Blowholes line the turbulent shores of the Tasman Sea which is the most intense shade of blue green. We stayed at a small resort the Paparoa Park Motel at the entrance to Paparoa National Park in Punakaiki and enjoyed an evening of viewing the Pancake Rocks, had dinner at the local (only) tavern, explored a cave with dark rooms and dripping walls, and then watched the sunset over the Rocks at 9:30 pm. Had to bring in breakfast food, but had a comfortable triple room with a kitchenette and we were able to make a hot breakfast. It's surprising how an electric frypan and a mini fridge is all you need to survive!
The next morning, we took the 15 minute Truman Track, one of the best short hikes we've taken, which led through a coastal, tropical rainforest to a beach with magnificent layer limestone formations and a waterfall. Don't miss this short and magnificent hike just because it sounds too short! We decided to move on and did not take the 3 hour Porariri River Track following a limestone gorge along the river which sounded great, but we had a time issue. Kayaking the Porariri River was also an option here, as was caving to see glow worms, but we're saving that for the North Island.
Our drive north along the rocky, twisty coast was like driving the California coast and we ended up at the FoulWind lighthouse on a far western point for a walk with kiwis and amazing views, listening to Landslide by Stevie Nicks as we lay in the grass soaking up the sun. We drove northeast at this point through Buller Gorge, a roller coaster ride through a deciduous forest but a rushing river and gorge, but somehow missed the longest swing bridge in NZ. Bummer! If you go to this area, take the time to research because it is an unpopulated area of NZ with magnificent features according to a lot of pictures I've seen...we just didn't have the time to enjoy the region. Lunched along the river setting up another picnic, and drove on to Able Tasman National Park on a cove on the north side, staying at the Able Tasman Marahau Lodge for the next 2 nights...
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Aoraki...a land of ice and glaciers
"Good on you" if you are still reading my blog! January 3, we headed northeast towards Mount Cook, aka Aoraki, spending the night in the secluded village, lucky to grab one of the few lodging accommodations available at the Aoraki Court Motel. Book early! Our room was actually a new and a nicely appointed triple, with a small kitchenette, available after 2 pm only, so we quickly changed our clothing and started our first tramp. The Hooker Valley Track, around 3 hours round trip, passed over the Hooker River 3 times over long suspension swing bridges, before ending at the glacial lake at the base of the Hooker Glacier coming off Mount Cook. The entire tramp was enjoyed in a light rain and all the mountains were shrouded in mist and although it was cool outside, we were hot from the challenge of a relatively easy hike and those plastic raincoat insulators. We never saw the top of Mount Cook, but had wonderful views of the Mueller Glacier to our left, including a small avalanche. The river is a roaring milky white and the milky white lake had a number of icebergs floating in it. When we returned to our room, we picniced on our usual salami cheese sandwiches and stayed in for the cold, wet, overcast night because we would have never seen the sunset on Mount Cook. If you can stay up and it's a clear night, the reflection off Cook is amazing (we saw pictures someone had taken the night before from the Kea Trail at about 9-10 pm). In the morning after eating our homemade breakfast we had to bring in because there is limited food in the Village, we decided to try the Red Tarns Track opposite the Hooker Valley Track. A 2-3 hour return, it was a steep 1200+ step+incline ascent to the summit to view 2 small red leaf covered lakes, with amazing views over the town and towards the Hooker Valley Trail. Again, we hiked in a misty light rain, with the mountains surrounding us shrouded in clouds, with a great view of the opposite side of the Mueller glacier. Before leaving the area, we took a side trip down the Tasman Valley with its milky white roaring river, greenish mountains rising from the valley floor, socked in with mist and clouds and an occasional waterfall. This area really looked like LOR country, but we decided not to take the short hike to the glacial lake at the end of the Tasman Glacier. (It also has icebergs floating in it and it is under an hour return). The rainy ride back to the main highway along a gorgeous light bluish turquoise lake was amazing (we didn't get a speeding ticket on the way out for going a whopping 6 mph over the posted speed limit like we did on the way in which sort of messed up our enjoyment of views of the lake coming in LOL...beware! On holidays there is only a 4km discrepancy allowed by the police which is 1mph over the speed limit! You have to drive just below the speed limit or you get a $60NZ ticket...ouch!). On our drive we also saw neighboring Lake Tekapo (like peekaboo), with its famous historic church where we had a quick lunch and replenished our gas for our drive in heavy rain and freezing temperatures through the center of the South Island to Christchurch for the night. Didn't plan on the long drive, but the weather was so bad, there wasn't much else to do except drive all the way to Christchurch. Not much to say about Christchurch except don't visit here! The city is still undergoing massive restoration after a destructive earthquake in 2011, the city plan is disorganized and unattractive and they totally missed the opportunity to develop one of the most beautiful harbors I have ever seen by building industrial buildings all along the entire harbor, totally destroying the view and property values. What a loss! We luckily found an inexpensive triple room near the central park, located the nearby gas station and grocery closest to the highway so we can stock up for supplies tomorrow before we head out to the west coast via Arthur's Pass.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Lake Wanaka...a rest before heading north
Today after a nice morning chat and yummy breakfast served by Liz and Terry, we headed back towards Queenstown, stopping in the old mining town of Arrowtown for some shopping, before heading up the steep and scenic winding road along the Crown Range to Lake Wanaka. We were upgraded to a 1 bedroom unit with a sleeper sofa and kitchenette at the Edgewater Resort. After a pleasant lunch on the lake, we lounged at the beach (which unfortunately had no beach chairs and is rocky) and spent the afternoon relaxing and catching up with technology. The Resort offers kayak and bike rental, there is paddle boarding and boat rental at the public beach, numerous hiking trails and wineries surround the area and it is a scenic site. We probably didn't appreciate Wanaka like the Kiwis do as the place was packed with travelers enjoying their holiday retreats, but we took advantage of the rest stop which moved us north 3 hours towards Mount Cook. This stop was scheduled to give us wiggle room so if we needed more time in either Te Anau or Queenstown area, we could fit it in with this layover. The Bungy jumping site is actually along the route to Wanaka so you could schedule that here. Pretty sure Chad and Rachele hoped I'd change my mind and do it along the way. Plus we got laundry done and had a nice sunset stroll along the lake. The town also seems to have a small center with shopping and bistros, and a young nightlife, but we opted to snack and share a bottle of wine in our suite. Also there was a small grocery, but we had replenished at a larger store closer to Queenstown.
If you go here, there are a lot of options: hike the Rob Roy Glacier, boating activities, bike rentals and there is a winery.
If you go here, there are a lot of options: hike the Rob Roy Glacier, boating activities, bike rentals and there is a winery.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Milford Sound and Beyond...
"Hello from the other side, we must have tramped a thousand miles" since Queenstown. On Wednesday we set out for Te Anau the gateway to the Milford Sound, one of 14 fiords in Fiordland on the Southwest coast of the South Island. Folklore says when the Maori God carved out his last fiord Milford, he had finally reached perfection and it really is a spectacular setting that is not easy to reach. I think Milford is the only fiord assessable by car, but the trip in and out is a real journey.
First, a shoutout to the charming B&B "Whitestones", where we had a comfortable, freshly updated 2 bedroom suite on a deer farm, surrounded by sheep farms, in the countryside of Te Anau with a wide view of the mountains and pastures during long daylight hours starting around 5am and ending after 10pm! Met with chocolate, pastries and wine, we settled in and then set out to explore a short portion of the Kepler Track, one of the great walks in NZ, and a multi-day overnighter for the hearty. For us weaklings, a 3 hour "return" (NZ for "round trip") to Brod's Bay passing through a dense, moss and fern covered forest, or along a massive stone covered beach on a clear blue lake with mountains and glaciers in the distance! We even saw a hobbit or two! Let's talk about the ferns! How to describe?...massive in size (3-5 feet tall) or sometimes "wee" fern barely the size of your hand, endless in number and variety. The same with the moss!... a foot thick, blanketing the ground, the trees, the rocks, often filled with 2 1/2 times their size in water and so many varieties of this wee plant. And the trees!...tall, knobby, so wide at the base that 6 people holding hands could wrap around a tree and did I mention, covered with fern and moss. And the cool air, and the earthly smell! We were in Middle Earth! (FYI... a great starter hike, but to challenge yourself, you can hire a water taxi across the lake to Brod's Bay, hike up as far as you'd like towards the first set of huts, turn around and then hike back to town along the trail we took.). But beware non-Kiwis of the definition of the phrase an "intermediate" hike in NZ...and also know that the phrase "it's just over there" does not mean "it's just around the corner", but rather that's it's just in the direction you are heading, but you're getting close.
We bought a small cooler and always have salami, cheese and crackers or bread, with dried fruits and snacks so we never starve and always find a memorable site for a quick meal and it's always so much fun shopping in foreign grocery stores. Thank goodness we brought our hiking boots and trekking poles back from Colorado! And just FYI, cerulean blue is a popular car color over here...you know, the color of the belt (or was it the sweater?) in "A Devil Wears Prada".
On Thursday after a massive homemade breakfast of poached eggs, asparagus, fresh fruit and yogurt and yummy bacon which is more like Canadian bacon or ham, we left at 6:30am for the 2 hour scenic drive to Milford Sound which, after a rain storm, is filled with hundreds and hundreds of waterfalls, cascading down the massive moss, fern, free covered granite cliffs towering over you on both sides of the road. The path itself is a twisty often one way road ending at a long lake leading out to the Tasmin Sea. We had booked online a 2-hour 9:45am cruise with Southern Discoveries, plus a 1 hour kayak and picnic lunch. (The company Juizy had space for walk-ins on their 9:15am 2 hour cruise if you're late in booking and want to take a chance.) Our day however was a perfect, sunny, blue sky, cloudless day, rather than the cold, rainy, misty day we anticipated, but it was a joyous day that Kiwis dream of, so I guess I'll have to go online to see endless waterfalls. It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen as we cruised past granite cliffs, mountains and glaciers, and also literally through a few waterfalls, similar to an Alaskan cruise out of Seward, and an experience we'd been waiting years to see. The kayak ride of 20 guests was in a deep turquoise peaceful cove (until the massive sea breeze kicked in at the end which we survived) in single kayaks led by a nature guide. We were lucky to see a 20+ pod of rare 2 meter (short) dusky dolphins and seals and birds. (If you go don't forget sunscreen and bug repellant for gnats near the harbour and we were lucky to avoid all the transport buses for the noon cruises which really affects traffic flow, so book early and book for a morning cruise.)
The drive out was just as beautiful. If the 4 hour drive in and out, the 2 hour cruise and the 1 hour kayak wasn't enough, we also decided to fit in a 3 hour return walk to Key Summit, at the opposite
end of the Routeburn Track that we tramped back in Glenorchy. The pictures say it all as it overlooked Fiordland and had a wonderful alpine breeze at the end. At one point on our drive back, we stopped in a multi-acre field of wild pink, purple, blue and lavender lupin flowers and sat on a grassy knoll in the middle of a rushing stream and ate a late salami, cheese and bread dinner. Arriving back to our B&B at 8pm on New Year's Eve, we were greeted by our hosts with snacks and champagne and wonderful conversation. Simply a glorious day. This morning after another delicious breakfast, we headed to the Lake District via Arrowtown, the Crown Range and a stay along Lake Wanaka.
First, a shoutout to the charming B&B "Whitestones", where we had a comfortable, freshly updated 2 bedroom suite on a deer farm, surrounded by sheep farms, in the countryside of Te Anau with a wide view of the mountains and pastures during long daylight hours starting around 5am and ending after 10pm! Met with chocolate, pastries and wine, we settled in and then set out to explore a short portion of the Kepler Track, one of the great walks in NZ, and a multi-day overnighter for the hearty. For us weaklings, a 3 hour "return" (NZ for "round trip") to Brod's Bay passing through a dense, moss and fern covered forest, or along a massive stone covered beach on a clear blue lake with mountains and glaciers in the distance! We even saw a hobbit or two! Let's talk about the ferns! How to describe?...massive in size (3-5 feet tall) or sometimes "wee" fern barely the size of your hand, endless in number and variety. The same with the moss!... a foot thick, blanketing the ground, the trees, the rocks, often filled with 2 1/2 times their size in water and so many varieties of this wee plant. And the trees!...tall, knobby, so wide at the base that 6 people holding hands could wrap around a tree and did I mention, covered with fern and moss. And the cool air, and the earthly smell! We were in Middle Earth! (FYI... a great starter hike, but to challenge yourself, you can hire a water taxi across the lake to Brod's Bay, hike up as far as you'd like towards the first set of huts, turn around and then hike back to town along the trail we took.). But beware non-Kiwis of the definition of the phrase an "intermediate" hike in NZ...and also know that the phrase "it's just over there" does not mean "it's just around the corner", but rather that's it's just in the direction you are heading, but you're getting close.
We bought a small cooler and always have salami, cheese and crackers or bread, with dried fruits and snacks so we never starve and always find a memorable site for a quick meal and it's always so much fun shopping in foreign grocery stores. Thank goodness we brought our hiking boots and trekking poles back from Colorado! And just FYI, cerulean blue is a popular car color over here...you know, the color of the belt (or was it the sweater?) in "A Devil Wears Prada".
On Thursday after a massive homemade breakfast of poached eggs, asparagus, fresh fruit and yogurt and yummy bacon which is more like Canadian bacon or ham, we left at 6:30am for the 2 hour scenic drive to Milford Sound which, after a rain storm, is filled with hundreds and hundreds of waterfalls, cascading down the massive moss, fern, free covered granite cliffs towering over you on both sides of the road. The path itself is a twisty often one way road ending at a long lake leading out to the Tasmin Sea. We had booked online a 2-hour 9:45am cruise with Southern Discoveries, plus a 1 hour kayak and picnic lunch. (The company Juizy had space for walk-ins on their 9:15am 2 hour cruise if you're late in booking and want to take a chance.) Our day however was a perfect, sunny, blue sky, cloudless day, rather than the cold, rainy, misty day we anticipated, but it was a joyous day that Kiwis dream of, so I guess I'll have to go online to see endless waterfalls. It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen as we cruised past granite cliffs, mountains and glaciers, and also literally through a few waterfalls, similar to an Alaskan cruise out of Seward, and an experience we'd been waiting years to see. The kayak ride of 20 guests was in a deep turquoise peaceful cove (until the massive sea breeze kicked in at the end which we survived) in single kayaks led by a nature guide. We were lucky to see a 20+ pod of rare 2 meter (short) dusky dolphins and seals and birds. (If you go don't forget sunscreen and bug repellant for gnats near the harbour and we were lucky to avoid all the transport buses for the noon cruises which really affects traffic flow, so book early and book for a morning cruise.)
The drive out was just as beautiful. If the 4 hour drive in and out, the 2 hour cruise and the 1 hour kayak wasn't enough, we also decided to fit in a 3 hour return walk to Key Summit, at the opposite
end of the Routeburn Track that we tramped back in Glenorchy. The pictures say it all as it overlooked Fiordland and had a wonderful alpine breeze at the end. At one point on our drive back, we stopped in a multi-acre field of wild pink, purple, blue and lavender lupin flowers and sat on a grassy knoll in the middle of a rushing stream and ate a late salami, cheese and bread dinner. Arriving back to our B&B at 8pm on New Year's Eve, we were greeted by our hosts with snacks and champagne and wonderful conversation. Simply a glorious day. This morning after another delicious breakfast, we headed to the Lake District via Arrowtown, the Crown Range and a stay along Lake Wanaka.
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