Day 5.
Today was a rest day for me. Heading out to the slopes was not going to do my stomach any good so I headed back to yesterday's lunch spot for a coffee and some food with Rossana and Estelle. They had booked themselves in for some back to back massages at the nearby hotel (Forest I think it was called..??).
While Rossana attended her session, Estelle and I looked through all the souvenir shops and laughed at some of the zany items that had on for sale. Rob, our tour guide even had his own brand of goats cheese on sale in the Visitor Centre shop. When it was time for Estelle's massage, we headed back to the hotel and waited in the bar for Rossana. I sat and read the paper and how about 90 people in Tokyo had been admitted to hospital with injuries from falling on ice on the sidewalk. Apparently the night before there had been a freak weather pattern across Japan which saw 10cm of snow dump where the others were headed, and also a major drop in temperature overnight in the capital. A 67yo woman had broken a wrist and an 80yo man had broken a leg. Ouch.
When all the others got back, we went our for dinner at an okonomyaki joint. There was lots of Japanese pancake making and gyoza eating all around and someone made a paper aeroplane which landed in Amelia's beanie.
Arigato,
Simon.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Day 4. Let's just forget about day 3. I did.
Day 4.
I don't know where Day 3 went but I think it involved most of the same as day 2.
We had the opportunity to book the Fire Festival in the local village of Nozawa later today, so we only had a half day of skiiing. We decided to take it easy with skiing so Jules, Amelia and I headed to Happo-One on foot later in the morning and take the green runs while the others had already gone to the harder runs straight after breakfast earlier that day.
I got to take some footage with the Sony Action cam I had packed and Jules and I also took one of the easy cat trails to get used to the powedery surface that had accumulated.
We all met back at Hakuba House around 1pm and headed to lunch at Hakuba70, a small lodge that also has a dining area.
The food was great and there was a very relaxing atmosphere, only broken when May kicked the heater and we all thought we might get blown up in a gas fire. Luckily the nice lady who was serving us came out and fixed it for us.
After lunch we headed to the Visitor Centre where the tour bus was picking us up.
Our tour guide, Rob, is a goat herder originally from Australia, and had been living in Japan for 15 years, 6 of which were in Hakuba. We got the feeling that Rob wasn't very comfortable in his Tour Guide role and kept treating us like children. I wasn't too bothered but it rubbed some of us the wrong way.
It was about this time when the bus rolled out of Wadano that I realised something was terribly wrong with my stomach. I had some severe pains shooting through the lower portions of me and I had a great need to 'relieve some pressure'.
Thankfully we stopped off after about an hour for a toilet break and I was able to make the rest of the journey. I was still in quite a bit of discomfort for most of the tour so a lot of it went by unnoticed but dinner was a fantastic meal with lots of soups and veggies which seemed to knock my stomach back into order.
The fire festival itself began after dinner and the streets were a clamour of activity. People running about and setting up sake stands on the side of the street. We made our way to the main site for the fire in the frigid wind and waited.
The fire festival is a 150 year old tradition and sees all the men in the village of 'evil/unlucky' age taking part in the ceremony. The older 42 year old men would get blind drunk and sit at the top of a 3 story pyre that had been built by all the men over the past few weeks. They would throw sticks down to the rest of the villagers who would then light the sticks and try and use those to set fire to the pyre.
The source of the flame is a separate fire started by the 25 year old men who first have to run through town taking sake shots from all the locals, then heading up the pyre getting sake shots from the men there and as they request the flame. Once the source fire is lit, these men then have to defend the base of the pyre (and hence the older men atop) from the rest of the town trying to burn them. At this point they have all had about 3 litres of sake each, running about 15-17% alcohol content.
We watched from the freezing cold hill overlooking the pyre as the young village men successfully protected the singing drunks atop the pyre. Once all the old village men had gotten down from the pyre, they proceeded to light the pyre but our bus was leving so we never got to see it burn to it's fullest. When we got back, the bus didn't drop us back near out lodge so we had to walk. It was pretty cold and miserable, but at least we had a lot of fun.
Day 5 and 6 will be combined in the next update as I was recovering from Day 4 and hence not doing much.
I don't know where Day 3 went but I think it involved most of the same as day 2.
We had the opportunity to book the Fire Festival in the local village of Nozawa later today, so we only had a half day of skiiing. We decided to take it easy with skiing so Jules, Amelia and I headed to Happo-One on foot later in the morning and take the green runs while the others had already gone to the harder runs straight after breakfast earlier that day.
I got to take some footage with the Sony Action cam I had packed and Jules and I also took one of the easy cat trails to get used to the powedery surface that had accumulated.
We all met back at Hakuba House around 1pm and headed to lunch at Hakuba70, a small lodge that also has a dining area.
The food was great and there was a very relaxing atmosphere, only broken when May kicked the heater and we all thought we might get blown up in a gas fire. Luckily the nice lady who was serving us came out and fixed it for us.
After lunch we headed to the Visitor Centre where the tour bus was picking us up.
Our tour guide, Rob, is a goat herder originally from Australia, and had been living in Japan for 15 years, 6 of which were in Hakuba. We got the feeling that Rob wasn't very comfortable in his Tour Guide role and kept treating us like children. I wasn't too bothered but it rubbed some of us the wrong way.
It was about this time when the bus rolled out of Wadano that I realised something was terribly wrong with my stomach. I had some severe pains shooting through the lower portions of me and I had a great need to 'relieve some pressure'.
Thankfully we stopped off after about an hour for a toilet break and I was able to make the rest of the journey. I was still in quite a bit of discomfort for most of the tour so a lot of it went by unnoticed but dinner was a fantastic meal with lots of soups and veggies which seemed to knock my stomach back into order.
The fire festival itself began after dinner and the streets were a clamour of activity. People running about and setting up sake stands on the side of the street. We made our way to the main site for the fire in the frigid wind and waited.
The fire festival is a 150 year old tradition and sees all the men in the village of 'evil/unlucky' age taking part in the ceremony. The older 42 year old men would get blind drunk and sit at the top of a 3 story pyre that had been built by all the men over the past few weeks. They would throw sticks down to the rest of the villagers who would then light the sticks and try and use those to set fire to the pyre.
The source of the flame is a separate fire started by the 25 year old men who first have to run through town taking sake shots from all the locals, then heading up the pyre getting sake shots from the men there and as they request the flame. Once the source fire is lit, these men then have to defend the base of the pyre (and hence the older men atop) from the rest of the town trying to burn them. At this point they have all had about 3 litres of sake each, running about 15-17% alcohol content.
We watched from the freezing cold hill overlooking the pyre as the young village men successfully protected the singing drunks atop the pyre. Once all the old village men had gotten down from the pyre, they proceeded to light the pyre but our bus was leving so we never got to see it burn to it's fullest. When we got back, the bus didn't drop us back near out lodge so we had to walk. It was pretty cold and miserable, but at least we had a lot of fun.
Day 5 and 6 will be combined in the next update as I was recovering from Day 4 and hence not doing much.
Monday, 14 January 2013
Day 2. Simon nails a rail. Rail nails Simon.
Day 2.
Today, like yesterday, started with being woken up by little hyperactive kids. Some of us were ready to kill them, myself included.
After breakfast we headed back to Imori Goryou and split up once again. Lucky us, Greg was again our instructor but this time we were joined by a very young, very small, very quiet, Japanese girl named Leyla. It's apparent from the first 5 minutes that she is ten times better than any of us. At one point Greg was giving pointers to Amelia and I had stopped a little further down waiting for them to catch up, when Leyla slid up next to me. I asked her if she heard Greg tell us to keep going or to wait. Leyla looked at me for a few seconds, then just continued down the mountain. Epic burn.
Lunch was ramen again. I don't know what it is, but ramen and skiing just go together.
At lunch I was getting praised for my turning by Amelia and Jules. This turned out to be my downfall as the rest of the guys thought it would be a good idea for me to follow them up the mountain to where they were snowboarding. Little did I know that where they had been boarding was from right up at the summit. I only found this out along the way, once we were on the gondola to the peak.
Apart from being steeper, the surface was much more varied. Some hard packed areas with lots of loose powder over the top. I was able to turn on it, but then I'd lose control and either fall over, or crap myself as I shot down the mountainside. I was able to get some pointers from Dwayne which helped me get down the mountain, but I was still falling over and getting powder up my back, and just before meeting up with the others I managed to take out some lady's legs. Thank goodness she was quite forgiving about it all.
What should have taken 20 minutes blew out to almost an hour and my legs were about to give way.
Just before reaching our meeting point at the base of the mountain, I managed to avoid a skier but that pointed me directly at a rail. I desperately didn't want to go over the rail, and I literally voiced that out loud. Still, as with mountain biking, the more you stare at something, the more likely you are to crash into it.
So there I was, traveling backwards across a rail, freaking out. I got about a meter along before I toppled over and landed on my backside onto hard, flat wood. Not the way I imagined the last 200 meters of my torturous ski day would end up. When we got back to the lodge, our friend Chris 'Besty' Best was there to greet us.
Onsen was on again. This time, we took our modesty towel with us and managed to procure some cans of 'biru' before entering the water.
We had neglected to book dinner reservations so we tried our luck at Penke Bar. It's a little unnerving traveling 1/4 way around the globe to Asia to end up eating buffalo wings, served by Australian staff, and sharing the room at the bar with Irish people.
The last thing I remember was skolling my beer and stumbling back to the lodge. I'm pretty sure the moment has been beautifully preserved in someone's camera.
That rounds up day 2. Stick around for Day 3 coming soon.
Kampai!
-Simon.
Today, like yesterday, started with being woken up by little hyperactive kids. Some of us were ready to kill them, myself included.
After breakfast we headed back to Imori Goryou and split up once again. Lucky us, Greg was again our instructor but this time we were joined by a very young, very small, very quiet, Japanese girl named Leyla. It's apparent from the first 5 minutes that she is ten times better than any of us. At one point Greg was giving pointers to Amelia and I had stopped a little further down waiting for them to catch up, when Leyla slid up next to me. I asked her if she heard Greg tell us to keep going or to wait. Leyla looked at me for a few seconds, then just continued down the mountain. Epic burn.
Lunch was ramen again. I don't know what it is, but ramen and skiing just go together.
At lunch I was getting praised for my turning by Amelia and Jules. This turned out to be my downfall as the rest of the guys thought it would be a good idea for me to follow them up the mountain to where they were snowboarding. Little did I know that where they had been boarding was from right up at the summit. I only found this out along the way, once we were on the gondola to the peak.
Apart from being steeper, the surface was much more varied. Some hard packed areas with lots of loose powder over the top. I was able to turn on it, but then I'd lose control and either fall over, or crap myself as I shot down the mountainside. I was able to get some pointers from Dwayne which helped me get down the mountain, but I was still falling over and getting powder up my back, and just before meeting up with the others I managed to take out some lady's legs. Thank goodness she was quite forgiving about it all.
What should have taken 20 minutes blew out to almost an hour and my legs were about to give way.
Just before reaching our meeting point at the base of the mountain, I managed to avoid a skier but that pointed me directly at a rail. I desperately didn't want to go over the rail, and I literally voiced that out loud. Still, as with mountain biking, the more you stare at something, the more likely you are to crash into it.
So there I was, traveling backwards across a rail, freaking out. I got about a meter along before I toppled over and landed on my backside onto hard, flat wood. Not the way I imagined the last 200 meters of my torturous ski day would end up. When we got back to the lodge, our friend Chris 'Besty' Best was there to greet us.
Onsen was on again. This time, we took our modesty towel with us and managed to procure some cans of 'biru' before entering the water.
We had neglected to book dinner reservations so we tried our luck at Penke Bar. It's a little unnerving traveling 1/4 way around the globe to Asia to end up eating buffalo wings, served by Australian staff, and sharing the room at the bar with Irish people.
The last thing I remember was skolling my beer and stumbling back to the lodge. I'm pretty sure the moment has been beautifully preserved in someone's camera.
That rounds up day 2. Stick around for Day 3 coming soon.
Kampai!
-Simon.
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Day 1. First day of snowboarding.
Day 1.
Today started early just before 7AM thanks to the hyperactive British kids in the lodge. They have basically take over the place and cause all sorts of mischief, and they are nothing like the kids in Harry Potter at all.
My room also doesn't have a toilet or shower in it so we have to use the communal ones, which, like most swords, is a double-edged sword and probably a good thing.
Breakfast is noisy thanks to the poms, and there aren't enough seats.
Our first stop for the day: Gear.
We graciously get a lift in the mini van from Hayden at Hakuba House down to the rental shop and I get fitted out for a board, boots, jacket and pants. I'm using Dwayne's old gloves and Chris' old goggles.
After that we ride back up to the lodge and wait for the shuttle bus to Imori Goryou for our first ski. Being n00bs, Amelia, Jules and I meet up with Greg who will be our instructor. No other people turn up so we've basically got a private lesson. Score.
He's a fellow Aussie so no language barrier, and readily points out the cultural differences and what that equates to on the slopes in terms of manners.
We learn basic board control and how to get down the mountain safely. Safely does not equal easy. By the end of it, my quads are toasted. Time to break for lunch so we meet up with the others.
My first ramen in the snow. Almost as good as my first ramen in Japan 5 years ago. Unsurprisingly, coupled with a beer. The exchange rate is sitting at about 94 yen to the AU dollar, so much better than the 56 or so last trip.
We get out there again and practice what we've learned for another few hours. We're all starting to get a little sore so when the bus arrives we head back. The bar in our lodge was doing mulled wine so we all had a glass and some beer.
There's apparently an onsen in the hotel down the road from where we're staying so we head down there before dinner. As we enter the main bathing area we find the four Finnish guys staying at the lodge, in their board shorts, drinking beer, both of which aren't supposed to be brought into the water. Slightly awkward to say the least but once we're submerged it's your standard brofest.
With all the alcohol and lack of fluid intake during the day, I don't last long and have to get out or pass out. I'm not the only one and we head back to Hakuba House. It's not long before the others are back and we are thinking about dinner. Pete recommends Kikyou-ya, a traditional Japanese BBQ restaurant, so we get another lift in the minivan into Hakuba proper.
The restaurant is a 'sit on a cushion on a raised floor' affair which doesn't agree with most of our muscle aches but we push through and are rewarded with some of the best food we've ever had.
Tuna that melts on your tongue, perfectly grilled eel in sweet sauce, tempura vegetables with ginger dipping sauce and fish miso soup, all of which is excellent, not to mention some of the freshest sashimi I've ever had. I accompany my meal with a cold sake and most of the others have a (giant) beer.
Halfway through the meal we get a surprise when the Finns from our lodge arrive. Hmm..slightly awkward again.
A few hours later most of us are all lying on our backs unable to move. A truly great dining experience and all the staff were lovely. The chef Masuo Ohta even came out and once he heard we were Australian waved us goodbye with a hearty "Thanks mate!".
As we have another lesson the following day we all get to bed ready for another big day.
Coming soon, Day 2.
(p.s.: Apologies for the quality of the writing above. I'm actually writing this 2 days after the events took place and I'm really sore and tired from all the skiing and lack of sleep due to little kids.
It's also quite hard to get the wifi here to be steady and this netbook I'm writing on is so underpowered I can't even open up my photo editor.)
Here, have a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD7UkBuFKS8
Today started early just before 7AM thanks to the hyperactive British kids in the lodge. They have basically take over the place and cause all sorts of mischief, and they are nothing like the kids in Harry Potter at all.
My room also doesn't have a toilet or shower in it so we have to use the communal ones, which, like most swords, is a double-edged sword and probably a good thing.Breakfast is noisy thanks to the poms, and there aren't enough seats.
Our first stop for the day: Gear.
We graciously get a lift in the mini van from Hayden at Hakuba House down to the rental shop and I get fitted out for a board, boots, jacket and pants. I'm using Dwayne's old gloves and Chris' old goggles.
After that we ride back up to the lodge and wait for the shuttle bus to Imori Goryou for our first ski. Being n00bs, Amelia, Jules and I meet up with Greg who will be our instructor. No other people turn up so we've basically got a private lesson. Score.
He's a fellow Aussie so no language barrier, and readily points out the cultural differences and what that equates to on the slopes in terms of manners.
We learn basic board control and how to get down the mountain safely. Safely does not equal easy. By the end of it, my quads are toasted. Time to break for lunch so we meet up with the others.
We get out there again and practice what we've learned for another few hours. We're all starting to get a little sore so when the bus arrives we head back. The bar in our lodge was doing mulled wine so we all had a glass and some beer.
There's apparently an onsen in the hotel down the road from where we're staying so we head down there before dinner. As we enter the main bathing area we find the four Finnish guys staying at the lodge, in their board shorts, drinking beer, both of which aren't supposed to be brought into the water. Slightly awkward to say the least but once we're submerged it's your standard brofest.
With all the alcohol and lack of fluid intake during the day, I don't last long and have to get out or pass out. I'm not the only one and we head back to Hakuba House. It's not long before the others are back and we are thinking about dinner. Pete recommends Kikyou-ya, a traditional Japanese BBQ restaurant, so we get another lift in the minivan into Hakuba proper.
The restaurant is a 'sit on a cushion on a raised floor' affair which doesn't agree with most of our muscle aches but we push through and are rewarded with some of the best food we've ever had.
Tuna that melts on your tongue, perfectly grilled eel in sweet sauce, tempura vegetables with ginger dipping sauce and fish miso soup, all of which is excellent, not to mention some of the freshest sashimi I've ever had. I accompany my meal with a cold sake and most of the others have a (giant) beer.Halfway through the meal we get a surprise when the Finns from our lodge arrive. Hmm..slightly awkward again.
A few hours later most of us are all lying on our backs unable to move. A truly great dining experience and all the staff were lovely. The chef Masuo Ohta even came out and once he heard we were Australian waved us goodbye with a hearty "Thanks mate!".
As we have another lesson the following day we all get to bed ready for another big day.
Coming soon, Day 2.
(p.s.: Apologies for the quality of the writing above. I'm actually writing this 2 days after the events took place and I'm really sore and tired from all the skiing and lack of sleep due to little kids.
It's also quite hard to get the wifi here to be steady and this netbook I'm writing on is so underpowered I can't even open up my photo editor.)
Here, have a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD7UkBuFKS8
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Day 0. Arriving in Japan.
Day 0
Well, I have to say things have certainly gotten off to a less than smooth start. I've forgotten to pack a number of non-essential things like the Lonely Planet that I borrowed, which I was to return to Amelia and Jules once in Japan.
I also forgot my Panda Bear hat, which means a less than comical affair for future happy snaps. No doubt I'll be able to procure one of equal photobombesque stature while in Japan. Thursday night saw my stomach try and (successfully) prevent me from getting a wink of sleep. Waking up at 3:30am on Friday morning was made even more confusing when we emerged from the house to find not one, not two, not three..wait, actually it was three. Three maxi taxi vans. Eventually we figured out what was going on. We proceeded to pick up Dwayne, Sana and Estelle and hauled ourselves to the airport.
At the check in desk, all the seating arrangements appeared to have been stuffed as they had changed the plane size on us. Sneaky bastardos. Although for some reason they called us to the gate desk because they didn't know we had already changed our tickets over to the new seats.
The seats we got were the ones right at the back of the plane and thank goodness none of the other seats had the ability to recline or we were in big trouble. On the plus side, once the plane was airborne we were able to move to more accommodating seats.
This still didn't improve the sleep situation though. I think at this point it's been 24 hours and I still haven't come close to nodding off.
The landing was quite noteworthy. Very smooth. I thanked the pilot on the way out.
For the domestic flight we made great time getting to Cairns early. Too bad this doesn't make a difference as we needed to get out bags and check in for the international leg. The line is huge.
We sit here for about an hour. I take a quick glance to see if more people have joined the line. Sweet Jesus, the line behind us is longer than the line in front. In hindsight, getting there early was a godsend.
(hmmm...maybe too many religeus references in that paragraph.
The stint through Cairns security is uneventful (in a good way) and we find ourselves at the food court. From the prices on the menu, it's obvious to us now that the whole flights and tourism thing are just a loss leader for the ridiculous killing they make on these tiny pastries.
There also doesn't seem to be any waiting facilities at the gate. Another mechanism to get us to sit in the foot court and spend more money. I eat a muesli bar, quietly sticking it to the man.
I use this time to visit the TRS counter and claim back the GST on my Sony Action cam. Sweet. Once again, take that The Man.
Since there's no point in getting on the plane first and waiting for the rest of the schlubs to board we wait for everyone else to get on first. Now we only have to wait a few minutes. Genius. That is, until they realise some passengers have issues with their passport and we have to wait another 20 minutes for their bags to be removed from the cargo hold.
Oooh, first time I've been in a plane with a screen in the seat in front.
We takeoff and hit cruising altitude before too long.
At this point I still haven't been able to get any sleep.
Maybe this in-flight entertainment will help.
No.
Flight to Narita is smooth with no issues.
Everything in Japan is smooth. Even the carts that you use to wheel your luggage has no squeaks. Amazing!
We get on our private mini bus to Hakuba House in Nagano with 2 stops for dinner and break along the way.
Our driver Sakahuechi is an absolute hero pointing out all the important bits along the way.
We arrive at Hakuba House around midnight and proceed to crash.
Day 1 coming soon.
- Simon.
Well, I have to say things have certainly gotten off to a less than smooth start. I've forgotten to pack a number of non-essential things like the Lonely Planet that I borrowed, which I was to return to Amelia and Jules once in Japan.
I also forgot my Panda Bear hat, which means a less than comical affair for future happy snaps. No doubt I'll be able to procure one of equal photobombesque stature while in Japan. Thursday night saw my stomach try and (successfully) prevent me from getting a wink of sleep. Waking up at 3:30am on Friday morning was made even more confusing when we emerged from the house to find not one, not two, not three..wait, actually it was three. Three maxi taxi vans. Eventually we figured out what was going on. We proceeded to pick up Dwayne, Sana and Estelle and hauled ourselves to the airport.
At the check in desk, all the seating arrangements appeared to have been stuffed as they had changed the plane size on us. Sneaky bastardos. Although for some reason they called us to the gate desk because they didn't know we had already changed our tickets over to the new seats.
The seats we got were the ones right at the back of the plane and thank goodness none of the other seats had the ability to recline or we were in big trouble. On the plus side, once the plane was airborne we were able to move to more accommodating seats.
This still didn't improve the sleep situation though. I think at this point it's been 24 hours and I still haven't come close to nodding off.
The landing was quite noteworthy. Very smooth. I thanked the pilot on the way out.
For the domestic flight we made great time getting to Cairns early. Too bad this doesn't make a difference as we needed to get out bags and check in for the international leg. The line is huge.
We sit here for about an hour. I take a quick glance to see if more people have joined the line. Sweet Jesus, the line behind us is longer than the line in front. In hindsight, getting there early was a godsend.
(hmmm...maybe too many religeus references in that paragraph.
The stint through Cairns security is uneventful (in a good way) and we find ourselves at the food court. From the prices on the menu, it's obvious to us now that the whole flights and tourism thing are just a loss leader for the ridiculous killing they make on these tiny pastries.
There also doesn't seem to be any waiting facilities at the gate. Another mechanism to get us to sit in the foot court and spend more money. I eat a muesli bar, quietly sticking it to the man.
I use this time to visit the TRS counter and claim back the GST on my Sony Action cam. Sweet. Once again, take that The Man.
Since there's no point in getting on the plane first and waiting for the rest of the schlubs to board we wait for everyone else to get on first. Now we only have to wait a few minutes. Genius. That is, until they realise some passengers have issues with their passport and we have to wait another 20 minutes for their bags to be removed from the cargo hold.
Oooh, first time I've been in a plane with a screen in the seat in front.
We takeoff and hit cruising altitude before too long.
At this point I still haven't been able to get any sleep.
Maybe this in-flight entertainment will help.
No.
Flight to Narita is smooth with no issues.
Everything in Japan is smooth. Even the carts that you use to wheel your luggage has no squeaks. Amazing!
We get on our private mini bus to Hakuba House in Nagano with 2 stops for dinner and break along the way.
We arrive at Hakuba House around midnight and proceed to crash.
Day 1 coming soon.
- Simon.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Introduction.
Hi everyone,
This is a quickly put together blog for my January 2013 trip to Japan. Hopefully I'll be able to update this whenever possible although I'm not sure what kind of connectivity to expect during the parts of the trip outside Tokyo.
This post is being written while I'm still in Melbourne. I'm almost completely packed and basically ready to go. While I won't be moving around much in the first half of the trip, I might be doing quite a bit of hopping about in the latter leg, so I've tried to pack as little as possible, although that has proved quite difficult
Getting to Japan will first require a domestic flight from Tullamarine to Cairns.
From there it's about a 7 and a half hour flight to Narita,..
..followed by a 5 hour shuttle ride to Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture where we will be staying for the Ski leg of the journey.
If all goes well we should arrive at our lodging late in the evening where we will most likely hit the hay straight away so we're up early and ready for some snowboardaction! lessons.
That's it for now. I'll write some more once we get to Hakuba.
乾杯
-Simon.
This is a quickly put together blog for my January 2013 trip to Japan. Hopefully I'll be able to update this whenever possible although I'm not sure what kind of connectivity to expect during the parts of the trip outside Tokyo.
This post is being written while I'm still in Melbourne. I'm almost completely packed and basically ready to go. While I won't be moving around much in the first half of the trip, I might be doing quite a bit of hopping about in the latter leg, so I've tried to pack as little as possible, although that has proved quite difficult
Getting to Japan will first require a domestic flight from Tullamarine to Cairns.
From there it's about a 7 and a half hour flight to Narita,.. ..followed by a 5 hour shuttle ride to Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture where we will be staying for the Ski leg of the journey.
If all goes well we should arrive at our lodging late in the evening where we will most likely hit the hay straight away so we're up early and ready for some snowboard
That's it for now. I'll write some more once we get to Hakuba.
乾杯
-Simon.
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