Nishi

Welcome back to another blog but I’m afraid I will disappoint some as there isn’t a huge amount to report really!

Day 12
Yesterday we had a fishing trip booked which we were really looking forward to but we woke up to torrential rain. I messaged the tour operator asking if it was still going ahead but got no reply so we took a bus and then a train to the meeting point for 1pm. It was then 1.10pm and then 1.30pm and our guide still hadn’t shown up. We went into a kiosk (like a small corner shop) in the station to get some breakfast and picked up a few sandwiches except they had mayo in so I couldn’t eat it! A very poor start to the day, no guide and no food. We walked to a nearby cafe to have a light bite before wondering around trying to find something to do. However, literally everything was shut because of the rain and the only things to do here are basically fish and hike. It got to about 3.30pm and we decided to throw in the towel and head back. We started the journey back and even though we thought the rain couldn’t get any worse the heavens opened and I discovered that my coat is not that waterproof and neither are my trousers. By the time we hobbled up to the bus stop with my trousers stuck to my legs and my coat dripping the bus driver gave us quite a look as we sat down with a bit of a squelch! Hanging all our stuff out to dry after trying to squeeze all the water out we hid in our room. It didn’t stop raining till about 6pm when we quickly headed to our nearest 7/11 to pick up some snacks and also pot noodles- very nutritious and managed to get back before the rain started again! So all in all a bit of an uneventful day.

Day 13
Despite there being little to do near where we are staying, for our last day in Shizuoka we decided to travel to Hamamatsu city and explore. It took us about 2 hours to get there and then we took a bus to the Hamamatsu flower park, this was very pretty with huge animals crafted out of flowers and greenhouses with massive palm trees and exotic plants. After wondering around the gardens and enjoying the fountains and sunshine we stumbled across Hamana lake. This is the 10th biggest lake in Japan and is known for its biodiversity as the mixture of salt water and fresh water create a unique habitat for many fish and other wildlife and is where the Japanese eel industry was born! Unfortunately, due to the wind we weren’t able to fish or kayak once again so we walked along the lake for a while before heading back to the station and then onwards to go back to our hotel room. We definitely had a little too long here but in a way it was good as it meant we had some down time which is always nice to take a little break from the busy sight seeing ! We are off to Kyoto next and I’m super excited as we have some really fun activities planned that I can’t wait to share with you all!Read more