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9 months Sabbatical

September 2019 - March 2020
September - October 2019 Read more
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  • 9 months Sabbatical
    2
    Day 15

    Happy Birthday Hannah

    October 14, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Managed to prise myself out of bed early to go fetch some fresh coffee and breakfast in bed for Hannah's birthday. Unfortunately no use of the surfboard prezzie as it is back in Guernsey.
    Hired a car and got some locals tips of where to go for the best sushi. After about 1.5 hours driving we arrived in a gorgeous set of islands linked 5 bridges, including a gold one.
    Found a nice area, but no sushi. Finally found a spot which was highly rated on google. It had a 20 mins wait to be seated. Must be good!
    The food arrived to which Hannah said 'it doesn't look like the sushi from home'. I think she is used to cooked sushi. This was freshly uncooked 100% authentic stuff, which was (to Hannah's surprise) actually very tasty.
    Drove to the viewing point at the top of the island. They have huge colourful spiders here. Was going to take the jungle route, but with the number of webs crossing the path we took the more trodden path.
    Epic views all round.
    Driving back to the hotel in Kumamoto we stopped at a few scenic points for sunset. As we pulled into the city, we took a detour to a temple on the hill.
    Full moon over the night city scape, so took some photos till the camera died.
    Finally parked up the car and had a beer and pizza before heading back to the hotel.

    Learning points from holiday so far:
    1) Buy a data sim card on day 1, doing stuff between wifi points is a faff.
    2) Pack less stuff. Pack what you think you need, then half it. After walking for 1km, 18kg gets heavy.
    3) Hire a car early, as you can get out and about seeing the countryside faster.
    4) Hannah's point. 9 months is gonna be a looooong time.
    5) Japan is awsome. Lots of things are in English. The locals are super friendly and smiley. They will always try to help. There is not much of a culture shock and it is very easy to navigate and get around.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    Day 16

    Exploring garden’s and an active volcano

    October 15, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After a lovely birthday (thank you for all the birthday love!) this morning we visited suizenji jojuen, a Japanese garden. It was tranquil and quiet and a lovely place for a stroll.
    We then headed further out of Kumamoto and towards Mount Aso, an active volcano. Unfortunately there is currently a 1km restriction zone due to the activity of the volcano so we were unable to see the crater. But had a walk up to the nearest highest point,
    We then drove to a Shrine but this had limited access due to the damage done in the earthquake in 2016.
    Finally we made our way to new accommodation for the night (a recommendation from friends) and ate some traditionally cooked food nearby.
    Now we’re back at the accommodation with a glass of wine (aka me relaxing while Louis is on his laptop video editing) 🤣.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1
    Day 17

    Onsen in the morning

    October 16, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    An Onsen is a Japanese hot bath. Due to the volcanic earth, there are thousands of hot springs all over the country. When I went for a shower this morning I discovered our guest house had one 😁.
    Had a chill in the hot water to start the day. The owner gave us some suggestions of what to do for the day including visiting a local spring and an underground river with lights. We went to both.
    The spring you can drink directly from, so I went back to the car to collect the water bottles and filled up. Highlight for me was at the underground tunnel, where some cool strobe tech made the water look like it was flowing back into the tap.
    Found a forest shrine about 10 mins away so walked to the top of the hill. There was a huge window in the rock which you could walk through and see the views beyond.
    Drove away from Mount Aso area down hill in search of blueberry icecream and fresh bread, again both recommended by the owner. Not easy to find from his hand drawn map, but after asking a few locals for directions we found them both. This holiday seems to be about continual food grazing so far.
    Checked into our new accommodation for the evening which has epic views over a deep gorge and out onto hills in the distance.
    Finished the evening off at 8pm with a traditional Japanese dance show.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    31
    Day 18

    'Gorge'ous walk

    October 17, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Started the day with a hearty breakfast from the owner of the B and B in Takachiho.
    The local guide leaflet said there was a 5-6 hour walking loop which would take in all the local sites. We needed to finish fairly quickly as our latest checkin time for our accommodation on the coast was 5pm. We went to the to tourist office to get a map of the route and set off. They have made walking trails super easy to follow by attaching blue and pink ribbons to trees every 50m or so.
    This took us past a shrine, along the Takachiho gorge and up into the hills past a tea plantation. Stunning views all around. Started to rain in the last 200m of the 8mile loop and got into the car as it started to properly rain. Good timing! Finished in under 4 hours so plenty of time to get to checkin.
    Drove for about 1.5 hours down to the east coast, across loads of bridges and through tunnels with steep sided valleys everywhere. You can see why the Geography books say 66% is mountainous forest.
    Arrived at the coast with some pumping surf. Posters everywhere saying it is the world series competition at the local beach this week, so guess that makes that our plan for tomorrow.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    Day 19

    Rainy day, so sit in a hot bath.

    October 18, 2019 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Pouring with rain when we woke up this morning. The kind where you run to your car and you are drenched.
    Couldn't see much on trip advisor to do on a rainy day, so went to the local Onsen. This was our first experience of a same gender only bathing area. There is strict etiquette of what you need to do, and thanks to google translate on the sign outside the entrance, we more or less figured it out. The Onsen had a view out to sea!
    My experience was a sit down shower, overheat slightly from sitting in the pool for too long watching the crashing waves, then spending 10 mins trying to cool down again in a cold shower. Ohh and the pools are 100% naked only, you can wear a towel on your head whilst in the water, but it must not touch the water, you must wash fully before going into the pool.
    Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes.
    The rain stopped and we started to drive north to where the next set of rugby games are being held.
    Briefly stopped to see a world surf competition, but the waves were a bit messy so it hadn't kicked off yet.
    After a 1hr30 mins drive we made it into the town of Usuki. Had great difficulty trying to find the accommodation and had to park the car (as I forgot to drop a pin before setting off 😫), then wander the street to find some free WIFI. My guess of where it was on google was about 30metres way from where we parked. So when I eventually did find some internet we were nice and close.
    Met with our host Hyuga, who was very welcoming and spoke fluent English. She took us to a local restaurant and had some tasty fried chicken dishes - something that eat alot of in this area.
    Back to the cafe to try some Saki, chat about Japanese culture and bed.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    Day 20

    England vs Australia

    October 19, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Highlight of the day today was obviously watching England smash Australia in the rugby #rwc2019.
    The morning started with a walk round Usuki old town to the tourist centre. Here they have free bikes which you can use for the day. We cycled down to the stone buddha, which caused controversy between locals a few years back. His head fell off ages ago, and some people wanted to replace the head. They did replace his head, but now all the school books have got an inaccurate photo with the head on the floor.
    The town put on a free bus for tourists to get to the stadium. We hopped on this with another 20 english fans to get to the stadium. Outside the stadium we had a few 9% cocktails (Hannah didn't realise they were so alcoholic), got chatting to a very nice local man who gave us some of his favourite local food to try. The culture here is so friendly!
    The match was epic and England put on a great performance.
    On the bus ride home we got chatting to some other English fans who it turned out were also from Devon and knew some people Hannah knew. Small world.
    The lady had a little too much Saki and announced "I know you are all talking, but I have no idea what about." That signaled the short walk home for us all.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1
    Day 21

    Wales vs France

    October 20, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Similar day to yesterday. Small bit of culture, big bit of rugby.
    Wondered through Usuki in the morning, looking at a few shrines and a ruined castle. On the bus and off to watch Wales play France.
    A very close match, with Wales narrowly winning.
    Managed to get the bus back in time for the second half of the Japan match. Loads of us packed into an old hall. Unfortunately Japan didn't make it through.
    Tomorrow will be a long travelling day!    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    11
    Day 22

    An expensive travelling day

    October 21, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Top tip, dont take the toll roads in Japan. 1) Their speed limits are super slow. 2) They cost a fortune.
    Up and out early to get the car back to Kumamoto by 10am. Google had suggested crossing through the center of the Island, but car sat nav said a different way. Should have trusted Google. The sat nav trip cost us 40 quid in toll fees and took the same amount of time. Dowh!
    We sat down in the train station to decide the best route. Bus didn't seem viable. The two train options were a) bullet train for £100 which took 1hr 45, or b) using 'local trains' which would cost about £50 each but take 8 hours. We have still in holiday rather than travelling mode so took the faster more expensive route to Hiroshima.
    Upon arriving in Hiroshima we walked with our packs for 20 mins to the hotel. Stupidly I had booked it for the wrong date, with our checkin meaning to be the night before. Kindly they changed it for free.
    With only a few hours of light left we strolled to the Hiroshima castle and watched the sunset from the top. We both tried on some heavy Japanese armour and wielded a samurai. Keeeeya.
    Classy dinner of 'pot noodle' and screw top red time back in the room.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    Day 23

    Hiroshima

    October 22, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    In 1945 the USA bombed the town of Hiroshima. It was the first ever use of a nuclear weapon in war.

    Hiroshima is a relatively small place and you can see most of the main sights on foot. But we started the day with a run so we thought we would treat ourselves to the city tour sightseeing bus. This initially took us away from the places we wanted to see but looped back after going via the train station. Frustrating when we arrived at the train station, the driver said it was his break time, so everyone had to get off and wait for the next bus. The line for the next bus was at least 3 buses deep 😫. So we made the decision to walk insted, a bit of a waste of an hour and 800 yen.
    The walk took us over some rivers and through the city. Our Lonely Planet guide suggested we eat these cabbage based savory pancakes for lunch (the Hiroshima speciality), so we took its advice. Had the food made right in front of us by the chefs. A bit too much cabbage for my taste.
    We came to the Hiroshima war memorial, a large building which tells the story of the A Bomb, the devastation it caused and the lives it affected for years afterwards. Quite a harrowing experience.
    In the gardens afterwards there is a flame which will keep burning until the last nuclear weapon is destroyed, lets hope it can extinguished at some point.
    Only a few buildings survived the blast, one directly below where the bomb went off remained standing. It has got a famous dome on top and will be kept as ruins as a reminder.
    If you find yourself in Japan, this is all well worth a visit.
    We finished the day by trying to get our money's worth by getting back on the sight seeing bus. Turns out we had seen everything.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1
    Day 24

    Hiroshima to Osaka

    October 23, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The major cities in Japan are connected via the bullet train or highway buses. Today, we saved a bit of cash and took the 6hr bus.
    Learning point, think before you leave a place, is anything interesting going to happen in the next 30 mins. If so, stay around.

    We got to the station and onto the bus. 6 hours free time to start getting my video editing going. Yes! As I am so far behind at the moment. But, no power 😫. So only managed a few hours before the laptop battery gave out. Ugh.

    We arrived in Osaka below a famous landmark building. A massive structure with a hollow circle at the top. How people manage to build these things, I have no idea. As we had our bags I went to find out if we were allowed to the top without them. I made it all the way to the top to find no definitive answer.
    Collected Hannah and we went to the top via a glass lift and glass elevator. Scary high! Fantastic views of the city, which sprawls off for miles in all directions, but broken up nicely with a few rivers.

    Our accommodation was unfortunately an hour and 15 away, so we had to walk and take the busy tube to the hotel. Body was totally knackered by the time we arrived.

    After a short recovery we walked to the local market which is adjacent to a river. Neon lights and people selling little squid balls. We tried a few of these and luckily purchased a beer to wash it down with. Hannah quite enjoyed them. Me not as much.

    Did a zig zag wonder back through the lights to get home.    Read more

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