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Another few trips in a bus and train found us at the stunning Himeji Castle.

It’s  recently been refurbished & painted so its even more spectacular than usual.

You get to walk through the grounds and paths up to the castle, then inside, up the 6 floors!

The layout of the paths leading up to the castle are deliberately  confusing so enemies would be slowed down so arrows could be shot at them and rocks dropped on them too!

Another lovely day done & dusted!

Time for bed for me!

Cheers

Us at the front for scale and even though the whole castle isn’t  shown, the size is still impressive looking!

 Hello!

We did a day in Nara yesterday and it was quite a long day… I think we were all in bed before 9pm and dead to the world!

Nara is my favourite city… I used to live close by and also it was the first place I knew when starting to travel and live in Japan. So for me it is a very comfortable and familiar place.

Our first stop was to a little Japanese garden. Not so well known by tourists but really beautiful. It was nice to go in and stroll around and enjoy the beauty and peace.

 

The autumn colours are starting to show.

Next stop was to brave the crowds and deer and walk up on into Nara Park where I wanted to show my parents Todaiji… the amazing building housing the large seated Buddha.

Its a stunning building…even more amazing that it was rebuilt at only two thirds its original size!

The lanturn is from the original 8th century building

And this has always been my favourite guardian… he has a wonderfully angry face – like he really takes his job seriously. Also the workmanship is superb!

Well… thats a bit of our day in Nara!

Hope your day was great too

Cheers!

 

Hello! I have found my way back to my blog! Somehow I just couldnt make it work after my initial post… most annoying, but honestly was a bit cross-eyed-tired to try to sort it at the end of each day!

Anyway… having a lovely time here with my folks showing them around. Tourism has grown hugely since our last trip. Seems Japan got really popular!

Today’s excursion was to Fushimi Inari. It’s a fab place to check out… literally thousands of tori line the pathways making stunning vermillion tunnels through the green of the mountainside.

Once we started climbing a little further up, the crowds of selfie-taking hoardes thinned a bit which was nice.

Some of the smaller shrines are so very old and worn

I liked finding smaller paths and stone stairways to detour to.

I am glad Jeff is snapping away on his tablet… so now I have my act together at least I have some photos to share

Hundreds of tiny folded cranes

Anyway I hope everyone is doing well and I hope I will be able to return more frequently to annoy you all!

Cheers!

Well hello from Japan!

After a very very looooong day of travel (that started at 4am and you all know how much I LOVE early mornings! Haha ) we made it to Japan, then across to Kyoto where we have our accommodation for the two weeks my parents are here.

I figured it was easier for them to be settled in one spot and take day trips. So much to see in the Kansai area, which includes Kyoto, Osaka, Nara & Kobe.

We all shaped up pretty well today and opted for a bit of sightseeing this afternoon. Since we are fairly close to the Golden Pavillion, I thought it would be a great start. Pretty popular and touristy but a must see if in Kyoto

(By the way all photos courtesy of Jeff via his tablet)

Its a lovely walk into the moss gardens to see the temple floating (sort of) on the pond.

Its a busy place where you jostle with plenty of people armed with cameras and selfie sticks, but just looking over the gardens gives you a peaceful feeling (as you fall over someone…)

Other old unadorned shrines are in the area with beautiful wooden details and surrounding gardens are there to be admired

 

After leaving the crowds we walked back to our bus stop to find we had a 40 minute wait, so we slipped into a gorgeous peaceful shrine called Wara Tenjin Shrine

Nobody else was in here so it was a wonderful place to rest and enjoy.

 

Anyway, I think I have fought with Jeffs tablet enough for one night… It doesnt behave like my pc!

Hope everyone has had a fabulous week!

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all…

I am still at Norwich House and up to the point of testing how to log into my blog and find all the buttons before I leave the country!

Be prepared for lots of typos and much less of my blah blah blah…

All this just hoping I can show & tell a little bit of our adventure as its happening

I will get back to my recal computer tonight to say hello andgoodbye in theproper manner!

Xxx

Hello… sorry I have neglected you somewhat!
I have been doing too many domestics, and had a lovely long day in the sunshine with friends sightseeing and catching up.
Totally ready to face-plant my pillow!
Hope your weekends are just as magnificent!

Cheers!

The other day when our friends were here I took them over to Dip Falls for a bit of a look. With all the rain, there was plenty of water falling over the rocks, which made it all look pretty spectacular.

Its the first time I have been back since they put in the new staircase and viewing platform.
While I like the sturdy stairs – a big improvement on the poor old other ones – I am NOT a fan of the viewing platform that does not sit kindly in the environment. (Well, at any rate, I don’t think so)

Now rather than going down onto the little rocky platform at the base of the falls among the man-ferns, you are taken up over it all – again, an observer not a participant.
People liked swimming here in summer – will be a more dangerous scramble over the railings to get to the water. The platform moves with every step or move a person takes (which is fine unless you are trying to do some proper photography) And from the bottom if you went down, the wide view is obstructed by this steel contraption!

Sometimes these structures are necessary to limit impact on the environment from excessive visitors. I don’t think this place fell into that category! haha

Anyway – its there. Its staying. The falls are still lovely.

 

As ever- going back up stairs is a decent lot of calories lost!

A quick drive down the track to say hello to the Big Tree

This browntop stringybark is around 400 years old (according to the mostly scratched out information panel!)

She has a lovely big bottom

It was a nice day for a drive with minimal rain – a great little spot to take visitors!
Hope you have had a lovely day!

Cheers!

Hello! Its tulip season around this area. Table Cape has a few out but no fields close to the road like last year. This yellow burst of sunshine is one of Margies, happily growing in a pot at her house!

It turned wet and cold today. I spent a good deal of it getting more things ready for Japan. I purchased the JR Rail passes for my parents and us – so another tick of the list. Sections of our planned travels will work out better with a rail pass. The internet makes things so easy – I can just go and compare the prices of each trip to the overall cost of the pass. Was clear the pass was the most economical way for us to go. We can use the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) for the longer journey’s which will cut travel times down considerably!

Pip seems to be doing ok. (I am tentatively optimistic) He has a new diet and pills to be taken twice daily – and we seem to have gotten the hang of flinging them down his screech with minimum fuss. An achievement we are quite proud of. (Anyone who has had to give a cat a pill before will understand!) We will pop into the vet tomorrow to chat and get the last of the results of tests that were done.

My Russian Black tomatoes are a really nice size now. I was able to pinch three nice laterals off them to start the process of getting some new plants.

I haven’t looked at what the weather is meant to do tomorrow – so its a mystery what I might get up to!
Right now, its time to curl up with a book before turning the light out

Hope your weekend has been fabulous!
Cheers!

 

Hello – sorry for the neglect. Been a bit busy & haven’t found time to sit and sort photos to write.
We had a lovely day sightseeing locally with friends. But in tandem slightly traumatic for me as Pip had to go into the vets to sort a problematic digestion issue (so we got them to do his teeth, worm him, xray, two lots of lab tests etc etc)
You know how we get with our chooks when they are poorly… OK – So I REALLY don’t do well with kitty-issues.
Pip is back and eating like a horse (has new special food) and seems to forgiven me for abandoning him to strangers. (so far… I suspect he is plotting to wee in my boots)
Anyway… I will sleep well tonight

Will be back tomorrow  with photos and stories
Hope you are all travelling well and safely through this first week of October!

Cheers

Look at that!! A perfect spring day!
And what did I do? Up to my elbows in dirt? Nope. Housework!
I need my head read. haha
Actually I have visitors arriving Wednesday and its no point me doing the housework too early before people arrive because a) the fire just makes everything dusty with little chips that fall when you bring in the wood. and b) I am domestically challenged so the less time I have to mess things up the better.

Still… its more motivating doing anything when its lovely and sunny!
Today I made strawberry ice cream. We don’t have much in the way of fresh produce to impress guests at the moment, so maybe I can woo them with my ice cream?

Strawberries cooking = house smelling amazing

Looking forward to scoffing that!
I also made the chooks a cake too – they were loving the sun!

I jumped the back fence to go and pinch some more daffodils, but they were mostly finished and looking sad

I added some of our own that were left and some onionweed!

It wasn’t quite doing it for me, so I stepped back out and snicked off a few fennel stalks

Over the next month we should be enjoying a lot of lovely new blooms – I love being able to pick lots of colour for the house, yet leaving plenty outside to see as well!

Tomorrow will be much the same for me (probably with rain though) as I have a list of other rooms to clean & cooking to do.

Hope your day was lovely!

Cheers