Not content with staying in one place for very long off we popped to Nara, the old capital of Japan from 710 to 784AD, 45 mins on the train from Kyoto. They are revamping the train station so it took us 30 mins to find the bicycle hire place which turned out to be right out of the station instead of left. We intended to hire normal bikes but of course they had electric ones so who could resist?...
It is very very hot today. brought back memories of India & SE Asia, carrying our backpacks through searing sunshine. After our 3rd visit in as many days to Bakery Roti around the corner from J Hoppers, our favourite supplier of random bakery items, we struggled onto a packed tram with all the shoppers. Stares were a plenty as we blocked the narrow alleyways with our ugly luggage. It was a relief to get onto the cool air-conditioned Shinkansen to Kyoto....
After such a sobering morning we needed a lighter afternoon. A tram, train & ferry trip later and we were on Miyajima island, home of the Itsukushima Shrine, its famous floating torii gate and countless tame wild deer always looking for food. It’s a pretty little place with a coastal promenade and one street of cute little shops that even the deer fancied popping into for some retail therapy. At the end of the promenade you get a full view of the torii gate....
Spent the morning at the Peace Memorial Museum, a very modern building containing some of the most horrific sights I have ever seen. You are shown information about the lead-up to the day the A-bomb was dropped. Who made the bomb, who made the decisions on where and when to drop it and why. I am still shocked at how that was decision was made. It was an experiment. An unknown....
Guess what? It’s our penultimate Thursday. We took the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Otherwise known as the bullet train, it lives up to its reputation. It was on time and it was zippy. If you try to walk whilst it’s moving you feel like you’re floating and have no control over your core balance. It has a similar feel to a plane. Except with miles more legroom and much better food. We happened to miss the snack lady as she passed so I went up to purchase something from her and she waved me back to my seat....
It’s our penultimate Wednesday of the trip and we’re in Japan. We thought it would be difficult to work out anything as Matt knows zero Japanese and my night class at uni has all but disintegrated from my memory leaving hello, goodbye, my name is Karen and the numbers 1 to 4. We needn’t have worried (when I say we I mean I as Matt never worries about anything). Most things at the airport were in English as well as Japanese....
Hopped on the 9:20 train back to Sydney and at Central Station were planning on walking to the Harbour Bridge but made a rash decision to get another train leaving in 3 mins to Milson’s Point, the train station the other side of the Harbour bridge, or so we hoped. The train travelled underground to Town Hall, then to Wyndham and when the voice over the tannoy said “next stop Milson’s Point” and we started slowing down we were still in darkness....
We are on a roll. We caught the rush hour bus to town, managed to get the one that didn’t go near the station which led to us leaping from the bus at Hyde Park at 9am, legging it to Central Station, buying tickets in a flash (there was absolutely zero queue – what is that all about in the main station of a huge city?), skipping through the barriers and onto the top floor of the double-decker parked on platform 6 with 1 min to spare for the 9:09 to Katoomba....
We saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge today. So excited! It didn’t seem real that we were actually in Sydney until we saw them. And it still doesn’t seem real now. Stood looking the the Opera House for ages. The base of it is pretty ugly which consists of beige concrete and it is difficult to see the famous iconic shape of it from the bottom. But it doesn’t matter as you can get up close to the Swedish (?...
Another nice early start and we were at Cairns domestic airport at 5:30 queuing Easyjet-stylie at the Virgin Blue check-in desks. We had checked in online to “save time”. We stood in the “Bag Drop Off” line for 25mins whilst people arriving late for the Brisbane flight were called forward followed by whoever felt like it from any of the lines. I wasn’t the only one mumbling under my breath I can tell you....