The weekend back in Wellington

Hi,

Last Auckland airport selfie - with Iona's finger.  I look like I have been travelling for 35 hours!

An iced coffee at Auckland airport

Wow - my boys are amazing.  After meeting me at Wellington airport and whooshing me home, I discovered they had organised a professional cleaner to come in and completely clean the house.  It was like stepping into a new house.  They are both marvellous.

I unpacked my dirty, messy stuff and presented a few wee presents to Toby from my Japan visit.  He got some Halloween stuff as it was just gearing up fro Halloween there.  And some weird food - Death Sauce chips being one of the things.  Yikes!

Mike started my laundry and we looked at photos and I chatted non stop.  I had missed them both a lot.

We had a yummy dinner and then went grocery shopping together.  When we got home, Mike and I had a bath together and then I climbed into bed.  What a weird feeling after being away on two weeks.  The bed felt really soft and spongy.  And my flat pillow was like heaven after the lumpy Japanese ones.

I was asleep in seconds.  I knew I would be - as my head hit the pillow I knew I couldn't even read.  I snuggled up to Mike and next thing it was morning!

Mike has scheduled more Japan blog posts to come out over the next few days.  And I haven't quite finished the whole account yet.

But, let's just say Japan is a must see destination and I can't wait to take Mike and Toby there.  My travelling companions were so much fun.  Iona and Col - I would go anywhere with you.  The country was beautiful, with charming people and lovely scenery.  The guides on our tour were great ambassadors for their country.  The food was fabulous.  There were no low points at all.

Thank you to Mike and Toby for letting me go and play for 2 weeks.  :-)  Love you.

Now - time to read my emails and catch up with events at work.  Enjoy your week!

My monitor at work was decorated with "Welcome back".  Chuffed!

Love,
Angela

Cycling in Japan 2016 - Gorillas in the mist

5 Sep - We rode from our hotel and immediately hit the uphill section. The uphill section lasted for quite a while. Kilometers of 'quite a while'. There were some avalanche tunnels earlier on, lower down the hill. Iona, Col and I got into a rhythm and we tackled the hill together.

Avalanche tunnels

It soon turned into misty sauna weather. Very warm. Unfortunately for Iona and Col, I was in fine singing form. Equally unfortunately, I can barely remember any lyrics. So at one stop, I grabbed my portable Bluetooth speaker and popped it in Col's bike bag. Then on my phone I played the music I had been subjecting them both to with my raucous, breathless music.

Like a sauna

As we ventured further up the hill, it got mistier. At one stage I was a bit ahead and singing away to a song at the top of my lungs when I heard men laughing at me. In the mist on the opposite side of the road squatted three men. They were obviously commenting on my fabulous singing voice. In a few metres I passed their car, with a damaged fender. No idea what had happened or why their car wasn't drivable.

Anyway, not long after that we got to the top. Dai had some food set up. We got jackets on and used the toilet. There were signs about bears in there. Not about bears,actually in the,toilets but the signs were there....a ripped off stall door  propped against a wall, battered fixtures: clear bear signs. No views from the top due to the mist. Headed off pretty quickly on the downhill on the other side. A few kms down the hill we rode into brilliant, hot sunshine. Crazy place.

The downhill took us to the Shiretoko visitors centre. We walked to a waterfall and spectacular sea view before having lunch. I ate a venison burger. Not bad.

Another optional extra saw us riding past our accommodation for five kms to the Shiretoko five lakes. Well, the first one anyway. The others need guides. It was a scorching ride uphill to that car park. A raised boardwalk took us to the first lake. 800m of boardwalk. With an electric fence to keep bears off. Although the sign warned about the electric hedge.

There were lilies growing in the lake which formed millennia ago in the dirt  wash off and landslides from the volcanoes. The land was largely untouched by the Ainu and was then farmed, by the Japanese colonists in the early 1800s, with the resulting tracts of weedy land covered in a low growing bamboo that prevents native species growth.

Shiretoko Five Lakes

Rode back to our accommodation. No Wi-Fi there. Not even cell service. The last 200m was steep! But extremely pretty in a mountain stream kind of way.

This was a traditional Japanese room. No bed but all the makings in a cupboard. I threw wee mattresses on the floor and it was so hot I just put sheets on it. I showered and lay there reading before popping into Iona and Col's room for a cup of tea, a photo in the futon cupboard and a visit to the onsen.

Back to get dressed for dinner and headed off to see what was for tea. Turns out it was a banquet. A feast. Courses kept coming. And this place had bottomless drinks. I found a lemon fizzy drink that I liked. Col tried the beer and maybe even a whiskey.

Banquet!

We ate all manner of things. Crabs. Prawns. Barbecued steak and corn. Soup. Sashimi. Egg sacs. I can't even remember them all.

When I got back to my room, the staff had made my bed, with a duvet. I threw it off and grabbed another sheet. Far too hot for a duvet.

But what a great day. A contrast of weather and topography crossing from one coast of the peninsula to the other. Fantastic.

Cycling in Japan 2016 - 112 km to Shiretoko national park

4 Sep - Wow, what a day. Let's see if I can remember the stuff we did.

We were away from our Nakashibetsu hotel by 8.30 a.m. Today's terrain was far easier than the previous cycling days. Just undulating really. We had morning tea on a bridge over the Churui river. Home of salmon fishing. Then a few more kms under our belt saw us hit the coast. The rest of the day was coastal cycling, and very nice it was too.

We had a mission for the day. A selfie with a local. Iona and Col won hands down by morning tea with a selfie with a fire fighter.   Well done. I got a photo with a chap on a Kawasaki ninja motorcycle. He was mystified and his mates laughed at him.

Lunch was fantastic. I had salmon sashimi and a seaweed rice thing equivalent to a hamburger. Inside was salmon and salmon fish eggs. Scrumptious.

Then off on the optional 50 km ride up to the road end in the national park. So lovely. I saw salmon heading upriver by the hundreds. Some even tried leaping up a wee waterfall. I feel like my life has somehow become even more complete. Salmon in the Leith. And salmon in Shiretoko.

The natural onsen at the road end had been damaged in the recent typhoon and there were no longer any barricades between men and women. Wasn't going to happen. Iona and I decided to ride back and we stopped for the photos we missed on the way up. The headwind made for a slightly tougher ride back to the hotel.

I finished a brilliant day with a fit of the giggles while eating my way through ten dollars (U.S.) of junk food. Ok. I didn't quite finish it all. Some is for the next day when we're away from shops and I need something to distract any bears. Throw the Snickers bar at them and run while they chase the chocolate.

The giggles happened because Iona mused out loud about a career change for her, as an interpreter on Japanese cycle tours. She intends to invent things and resort to charades. She thinks this is a sustainable business model. My insides hurt after hearing that and falling about laughing. Fortunately I was on a chair with no legs, so it wasn't far to fall.

Dinner was a feast. I can't name everything. However, after gamely eating my allotment of salmon forehead (and by this I mean the parts of a salmon forehead that is not flesh, but some weird gelatinous substance that is slightly like cartilage) I turned away for a moment and my bowl mysteriously sprouted two more pieces of salmon forehead. And one looked a bit chewed.

Iona has this ability to put this angelic look on her face. Col has learned to read through it. I'm learning too. And I know Iona doesn't enjoy some fishy things. Two and two almost always makes four.

Tomorrow is short, but a gradual long ride up a pass. Should be a great downhill on the other side. No Wi-Fi for at least 2 days though. See you back in Abashiri.

Cycling in Japan 2016 - Lake Kussharo to Nakashibetsu

3 Sep - Wow, that was a huge day.  95 kilometres!

We started with a big Pension Papilio breakfast.  Our guides Dai and Tats arrived from their accommodation and we were soon off.

A few km down the road, we stopped at a natural spring with a sulphorous smell designed for pampering your feet. Oddly, it was a lot like something similar in New Zealand but the Japanese had built picnic tables smack dab in the middle of the spring. So you can eat your lunch and wriggle your toes in hot water.

A few more kms up the road was Iozan volcano with its vents surrounded by sulphur and wee bubbling pools of water. Fascinating. I found out afterwards that the gift shop sold fresh eggs so you could cook them in a boiling pool. I totally would have tried that!

After these touristy activities, the climb for the day started. 10 km up, but with switchbacks. So your cadence changed with the gradient and it was hard to establish a rhythm. But after an hour we were at the top and looking into a gorgeous emerald lake.  Stunning. The mists parted and we got a decent glimpse.

From here, it was a lovely downhill. Tats said we had to stay together and I tried. I really tried. But they went so slow and my bike wanted to go so fast. So I let it. And I hooned down. Scaring massive birds of prey (kites, we think) off the lampposts on the road side as I passed.

We popped into a dairy farm and had lunch. I got this lovely pork rice ball thing wrapped in some sort of leaf. It was yummy. I also had a mango meal. Which wasn't quite so pleasant. Lumpy mango in a bag with a straw. As Col put it, if you ignored the consistency, it was ok. Yep.

I did finish lunch off with an ice-cream with coffee jelly. I was almost expecting more disappointment along the lines of lumpy mango, but coffee jelly was actually good.

Off again covering rolling hills. Some I could get a decent head of steam up and hurtle up. Others needed more effort.

I saw a dead fox on the side of the road. And a few km further a live fox ventured out onto the road in front of me. Toby will be pleased to hear I made the sound of a fox at this point. Yap, yap, yap.  Gave the fox a huge fright and he turned and looked at me and fled back the way he'd come. I burst out laughing.

My left shoulder was giving me grief by this stage. When I stopped for afternoon tea Dai changed the configuration of my handlebars. After that, my riding seemed much easier. Or was it the little red pill Iona gave me (Voltaren)? Whatever it was, I felt much better riding the last 30 km.

Yep. 95 km today. It was cloudy all day, so never too warm. More of the same tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a short day. 65 km. But with an optional 50 km side trip. And the side trip looks totally worth it. I'm doing that for sure.  So another long day tomorrow. But no massive climbs.


Our accommodation is big tonight. And my bed is on a mat on the floor. The onsen was busy. And with no showers in the room, that was where we had to get clean from the ride. I was in the hot water a bit too long and felt very faint when I got out. Oops. Better watch that and drink lots before I go.

Dinner was superb. Set menu with yummy things. Fish. Prawns. Miso. Tofu. Bacon. Lettuce. Tomatoes. Too many things to remember. And Dai gave us Japanese lessons afterwards. Woot!

Right. Time to sleep. Up early tomorrow for an early start.

Cycling in Japan 2016 - Abashiri to Lake Kussharo

2 Sep - I woke up super early at 5.30 after a restless night and headed out for a short run before the day's big cycling effort.

I headed back to my room to get ready to check out after breakfast and met Iona and Col.  We had another yummy Dormy Inn breakfast.

Our gear was piled into our van and we headed out of town towards the South. The day was 80 km long, with a ten kilometre climb at the halfway mark.

The first 45 km was through rolling farmland. No traffic again to speak of. We passed a sign cautioning against the smog. We stopped not long after that for morning tea.

From here it was about ten km to the climb. As we approached the hills, the sun broke through the clouds and it turned into a scorcher.

The climb was fairly easy. No need for low gear. But it was relentless in its length. The gradient was pretty consistent. But fortunately the view from the top was visible (it's often cloudy) and we had a great lunch at the roadside restaurant. I had squid on rice. Mmmm. And gyoza.

I'm eating a lot on this holiday!

After lunch, it was close to ten kilometres of superb downhill. No wind. No traffic. Smooth roads. And I only had to pedal when I wanted to go even faster. Which I did. Loved it! My road bike was made for that road.

We stopped at a great Ainu museum at about 73 km and they turned on a video for us. Twenty minutes in a seat that wasn't my bike seat was heavenly and the man taking on the video should sell his voice to recordings for insomniacs. I nearly fell asleep in my chair listening to him speak.

The exhibits were good too. Loads of archaeological artefacts on display. After checking it all out, we wandered to the river where a natural onsen stood. But from a distance I saw a naked man so I didn't get any closer. Dai and Tats went to chat while I took photos much further away.

Then it was back on the bikes and off to the hot water sand beach. I have no need to visit hot water beach in the Coromandel anymore. I've done the same thing in Japan on the shores of lake Kussharo.

We only stayed half an hour, then we rode to our night's accommodation. When we checked in we found out the guides had no room. Oops. They went further to find a room. We'll meet them after breakfast tomorrow.

Iona and Col and I went into the onsen and relaxed in the water. We managed twenty minutes before we were far too hot. Chilled out before dinner.

Dinner was weird. The menu was in Japanese English. One thing was completely unidentifiable. We made Iona try it and she swore bad words at us when she really wanted to spit it out.

We got through dinner and I googled the menu item and discovered it really was a thing - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascidiacea is what we ate.  It wasn't really very nice.

Anyway, we tried desperately to find something to watch on television but gave up. The Xian entombed warriors reenactment almost kept us entertained.

But I was super sleepy and stumbled off to bed. Zzzzzz.

Tomorrow has another climb. A zig zag one. Bring it on!

The Thursday with Sickness

Toby and I were sick yesterday.  I had a migraine and Toby has got my cough.  Hopefully just a touch of it but he slept most of yesterday and is off again today.  He seems happy enough when he emerges though.

Because of this, dinner was not our finest effort.

Toby did have an apple as well though, for vitamins.

OK, time to start the day.  Two days' work in one.  So much for a relaxed Friday!  Bring it on!!

Cycling in Japan 2016 - our first cycling day

1 Sep - The day dawned with anticipation making me hurtle out of bed, ready to tackle the day. Breakfast was amazing. Tiny toasted bread. Croissants. Eggs. Fish. Pickled eggplant. Goodness knows how I piled it all away. Mmmm.

By 8.30 we were all ready and on our bikes. Turns out Japan has a road rule that makes all cyclists do hook turns when they turn right. We had a quick explanation of that, but my Melbourne background meant I understood it.

Then we were off! And 5 km layer we stopped at a Shinto shrine. We were taught how to purify ourselves before ringing a bell and saying a prayer. We learned stuff about Shinto. Read some prayers people had requested. Then off again.

My bike is superb. I have a road bike with SPD pedals and it goes pretty fast. We rode along the sea coast before heading inland slightly, and uphill slightly.  Saw some kites (bird of prey variety) circling high above. Like buzzards. Maybe I looked like potential roadkill.

Anyway, I got to a right hand turn to the lighthouse at Cape Notoro and pulled off to the left as instructed. Despite there being hardly any road traffic, there was one car behind me as I did this. And they confusingly stopped in the middle of the road and ushered me out of the gutter and into the right hand road. So I did. And they continued on. Weird. This is a new bike law, and I suspect confusion reigns.

But all the drivers were considerate. Respectful, just like they are in customer services too.  We got to the lighthouse and had morning tea. I ate so much fruit. Mmmmm.

Back onto the main road and through a road tunnel on the footpath before riding around the edge of a lake. Had a yummy lunch of chicken and egg on rice. The name in Japanese translates to "parent and child on rice". Chicken and egg. That made me laugh.

Completely stuffed once more with food, we set off for the last 15 km back into town. Most of it was on a bike path. Great riding although the recent storms have left wee branches all over the path and my road bike was less tolerant than the hybrids others rode. Still, it was no bother.

Once back at the hotel, the guides offered to drive us to the Museum of Northern Peoples. So glad they did. It was hot, the clouds had burnt off and it was a steep climb. The museum was fantastic. Y550 to get in with free audio in English. I found it fascinating. Really worth seeing. It covered all northern people. Ainu from Hokkaido. Sami from Lapland. North American natives, including Inuit and the Pacific coast people. And from Sakhalin island. Yep, I loved it. Well set out.

I love a good museum.

Back to the hotel to check out the local fancy supermarket. I bought three different kinds of iced coffees. Back to Iona and Col's room to eat junk food before psyching ourselves up for an onsen visit.

I went back to my room to shower and thought I had 45 minutes to get my head into the right space for getting naked with strangers. But it turns out my watch was thirty minutes slow. Iona and Col knocked on my door way earlier than I thought. In hindsight, not having any time to dwell on what I was about to do was probably for the best.

We stepped into the onsen, prepared by our guides on the correct etiquette. Stripped off, grabbed the tiny modesty towel (It is misnamed - unless you use it to blindfold yourself and pretend if you can't see anything, they can't see you) and stepped into the onsen room. Trying to act nonchalant.

Anyway, we were the only ones in there and we enjoyed the hot pool with the windows looking out over Abashiri from the lofty heights of the ninth floor. Tried the outside pool. It was a bit hot. Tried the cold pool. It was a bit cold. Back to the hot pool and then two Japanese women joined us.

By this stage I was getting really hot. And not inclined to lounge around the outside of the pool cooling down with this mere wisp of a towel. Seriously, it was incapable of hiding anything I wanted to hide. More like a face cloth. Hence the blindfold observation...

But we've done it now. So perhaps other more traditional onsen along our cycle tour might be less challenging now.

Dinner was incredible. After eating like mad all day, I was intending to eat hardly anything. WRONG! It was a set menu and featured a lot of seafood. Mmmmm. Sushi. Prawns. Octopus. Pork. More sushi. Dessert. I'm so full.

That was the first proper cycling day. A wonderful mix of hot sweaty riding in 30C with humidity thrown in for good measure. Sunscreen was a necessity. It made all the road grime adhere to my legs really well. I probably should have drank more water during my ride. Made up for it at lunch and dinner though.

Tomorrow is 80 km with a 10 km climb in the middle. Woot! Bring it on.

Note:  whole cycling trip is around 460km.