Across Oceans

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Across the Oceans

I have travelled across oceans

leaving home at 9am

I arrived at my destination

at 3pm the following day

I took three flights

and spent 12 hours

in the air

leaving 32 C at home

and 99% humidity

I am enjoying 

a cool 25C

Where am I?

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The Nakasendo Way * Part 8

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The Nakasendo Way ~ Rest, Recovery, Recuperation...

Less than an hour away from Tokyo
on the speedy shinkansen
is the little town of Hakone,
sitting quietly on the shores of Lake Ashi.

It is here at a very comfortable hotel that I have decided
to pamper you with R,R&R. ~ Rest recovery and recuperation,
after the long and busy twelve days of walking the Nakasendo Way.

Firstly you can enjoy a hot sand bath
followed by a lounge in the hot springs outdoor spa
under the starry night, and then we will
listen to Pachelbel in the Garden and
look for Mt Fuji, well hidden in the mist

If you are feeling up to it we can take the ancient
Cryptomeria walk from Moto Hakone to Hakone-machi.
Here the trees are aged over 360 years.

Near the huge torii at the entrance to town
we will watch over the tops of our steaming soba bowls
as the town and lake disappear into the mist.

Gateless gate
Through morning mists
and murmurs from the sea
Emerges - one vermillion torii

Kinkaku

On our last morning we take a walk around the edge
of Lake Ashi one final time and there from between
the fir trees on the shore I spy the shy face of Mt Fuji,
her crown still draped in snow.

The Pilgrim
Without a word of warning look, alone
above the clouds, Mt Fuji's cone

Onitsura

The view of Mt Fuji was a perfectly appropriate ending
to our walk in Japan.

It was here at Hakone that I learned that fuji means wisteria.

The wind from Mt Fuji
I put it on the fan
Here, the souvenir from Edo

Basho

If you now find yourself interested in walking Japan or learning more about this Edo period and the Nakasendo history I suggest you take a look at www.walkjapan.com and www.nakasendoway.com, both of which are researched and created by Dick Irving and Tom Stanley the founding partners of Walk Japan.






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Delwyn's Mistake

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Hi ~ it's great to be back ~ in the warmth, in my home and in my own bed!
I have missed all my blogging buddies and thank you for the comments left in my absence. I will attempt to reply via email to some of your questions.


Now I have to thank my pal Alden from Whangarei, New Zealand, who was, way back in time, my Teachers' College buddie in Christchurch.

Alden has quite correctly identified Delwyn's Mistake, in the post where I showed the photograph of a rainbow over Sumner and labelled it as Clifton Hill. It is of course Taylor's Mistake Hill and to show that I am convinced by Alden's eagle eye I have found a photo of me taken in 1973 on the spit at Brighton with my back to the hill that I originally wanted - Clifton Hill, showing the brown house we lived in.

And here is another photo, with troublesome hair,
that shows the hill Alden named Taylor's Mistake.

And here is my dear Beloved, just a boy... with his back to both hills.
So Alden there is no doubt that you are correct. Thank you.

P.S. Aren't the 1973 yellow jeans just simply "cool, man..."


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Homeward Bound

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Photo by Christian Heeb found at totaltravel.co.nz

Hot Air Ballooning on the Canterbury Plains
with the Southern Alps in the background.

Up up and away...
I'll be home today
Hurrah Hurrah






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Christchurch, Banks Peninsula

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This great shot of repairs being undertaken on the space station over the South Island of New Zealand show Banks Peninsula in the bottom left corner.

Banks Peninsula was named after the botanist, Joseph Banks, on Captain James Cook's ship The Endeavour on its voyage to the great southern lands in 1769-70.

http://www.nasa.gov/images/...

The city of Christchurch lies between the Waimakariri River
(famous for jet boating) in the North and Banks Peninsula in the South.

The major inlet at the top of Banks Peninsula is Lyttleton Harbour.
The early settlers, the Pilgrims, arrived in Lyttleton and climbed over the hills
to the Canterbury Plains with their belongings. The heavier luggage was taken
by small boat around to the estuary and floated up the Avon River.

The track they walked is called the Bridle Path and it is a formidable climb.
In addition they were dressed for an English winter,
no-one had told them to expect a warmer climate.

A tunnel through the Port Hills was built when I was a child.

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Sumner, Christchurch

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Photo by Christian Heeb and found at totaltravel.co.nz

I lived in Christchurch until I was married and moved to the North Island, and later from there to Australia in 1977.

This photo of the beachside town of Sumner shows, at sea level a large volcanic rock called Shag Rock where my mother would take us occasionally, in school holidays, for a day's outing.
Sumner is at the Northern edge of Bank's Peninsula about eight miles from the city centre.

If you look closely (or enlarge the photo by clicking) you will see two brown houses at the left of the first tier of homes. It was in the top brown house that I lived whilst studying at Christchurch Teachers' College and the University of Canterbury.


I will take my mother for a drive out to Sumner when I am in Christchurch because she lived there as a child and grew up there, and has many happy stories to tell from that time.



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Christchurch City

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The Christchurch Cathedral is found in The Square
at the heart of the city of Christchurch.

Through the city centre runs the Avon River an attractive tourist
drawcard and a place for office workers to relax at lunchtime.

Another interesting activity for tourists is to take the tram
around the inner city streets.

At the moment it has stopped outside the Art's Centre
which holds regular art and craft markets.
The Arts Centre buildings were originally part of
The University of Canterbury
before it moved out to the suburb of Ilam
near my family home.



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Christchurch New Zealand

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The last time that I visited Christchurch, New Zealand it was spring - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr










This time it will be autumn - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I have a special set of clothing that I dig out of storage for my trips to my home town. Living in the sub tropics has no call for fleecy wool lined jackets, jumpers and thick tights.

Photo by Christian Heeb and found at totaltravel.co.nz

I will be in Christchurch for an extended weekend visiting my elderly parents. I will be posting - but not commenting and will look forward to catching up with you upon my return.

Happy Days

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The Nakasendo Way * Part 7

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The Nakasendo Way ~ Coming down from the mountains

At the Shinchaya Teahouse lodgings we were able to demonstrate
our prowess in geta, the traditional Japanese outdoor shoe.
We ran fearlessly up and down the cobbled road, in the dark,
imitating the floating world geisha of the Edo period.

Hiroshige - Fukaya Geisha

However I am sure those geisha would have walked
with a lot less noise and considerably more decorum.

The town of Narai, in the Kiso valley, won my accolades for
the most authentically preserved functioning post town
along the Nakasendo.


Hiroshige- Narai


The post towns along the Naksendo Way were conveniently
spaced so as to allow the weary traveller to dine, bathe, and rest.
He could also change horses, porters or palanquin.



Each town had a duty to supply hospitality to official travellers
at the town's own expense, and to provide a hospitality service
to other paying clientelle.



Not far from Narai at Kiso Hirasawa we visit a renown lacquer
ware artisan who demonstrates his skill on the lathe and with
the application of lacquer. I learned that lacquer is a resin and
many many coats are applied to a wooden vessel with much
sanding in between, by using little coarse rocks of varying
grittiness, in order to produce an article of high quality.

Moving higher into the Kiso valley we see fast
moving rivers and waterfalls.

We find evidence of logging: derelict mills and disused railway
lines that once transported timber down from the mountains.

Photo from Walk Japan

In samurai days it was forbidden to chop down any of the
five highly sought after trees used in construction.
The punishment for cutting down trees was one head per tree.

We stopped for a night in the town of Kiso Fukushima, a winter ski
town that had once hosted the Olympics, and with the advent of
plummeting temperatures enjoyed the hot spring baths.

At 1180m above sea level high on the Usui Pass we had
spectacular views of the Kanto Plain toward Tokyo. But it was
another five hours of rugged descent before we reached the
local train at Sakamoto which would take us to our bullet train
connection and through to the city.

In an extremely rare example of things not running to schedule
in Japan our shinkansen ( bullet train) had been delayed due to
signalling issues. For a country that prides itself on efficiency
and punctuality this incident was an embarrassment large enough
to make major headlines the next day. A cold Asahi and the
remnants of the French pastries we had hastily bought that morning
in Karuizawa before our unanticipated eight hour climb up the
Usui pass and harrowing scamper down the other side,
eased our wait for the train.

All along the Nakasendo Way we had encountered statues of the god Jizo whose role it is to protect both travellers and children. Jizo is the bodhisattva who plunges fearlessly into any place or situation to help those in need. For anyone who has lost a child Jizo is a powerful image of hope and solace. Jizo's qualities include unflagging optimism, fearlessness and gentleness.
Jizo is usually portrayed as a monk child often carrying a pilgrim's staff with six rings that jingle to warn animals of his approach and prevent mutual harm.


The little figure in the top left corner of my home blog page is a simple but evocative statue of Jizo.



As we have reached Tokyo we now stand at the end of the Nakasendo Way.
Tonight we will share our final evening meal together and tomorrow our little group of walkers will disband.

Let us choose something from the memu for dinner
and finish with some pocky.

As you have now walked well over 200 km I have a treat for you.
Next time we are going to indulge in some therapeutic R&R.
I have arranged for us to visit a very special place not far from Tokyo
where we will do some soaking and unwinding...
Until then...






~My haiku of thanks to John~

Our dear walk leader
has earned our utmost respect
venerated guide



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The Nakasendo Way * Part 5

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The Nakasendo Way - Walking in the countryside






As we move deeper into the countryside you will notice that the village homes become larger and the surroundings more pleasant. In each village there were carp ponds, vegetable plots and on the outskirts, rice fields.






When I was walking the Nakasendo it was the second half of September - harvest time.
I was told that small groups of farmers would collectively own and operate a harvesting machine, such as this one, and working as a unit they would move from farm to farm until all the rice had been cut and either threshed on the spot as this mini machine is doing or hung to dry on stands.

The stalks are also hung to dry and are put to many uses.

Six geese and shadows - Koson Ohara

The Nakasendo walkers at the big marker rock.

Gaijin walkers trudge
through history and culture
Nakasendo way

In Japan you inevitably find examples of the misuse or misappropriation of the English language which serve to illustrate how difficult it is to learn English as a second language.







High in the hills near this tea plantation, just before the town of Hosokute, we stop at 'Le Province" (sic) herb cafe for a delicious coffee and exquisite little French cake baked on site.

It is a rather unfortunate stop because for the next hour or more as it quickly darkens we walk through a torrential thundering downpour with wild flashes of lightning illuminating our path which has turned into a running stream.
By the time we reach the main road it is very dark and we emerge from the forest like mythical Japanese ghosts, in our sodden ponchos and parkas, and wait for the gentleman who owns the Daikokuya Inn to come and rescue us.

Rain at Omiya - Kawase Hasui

Morning Glory and frog - Hokusai

As we set out each morning from the village inn I notice the well designed and kept Japanese gardens, the vegetable plots, some of which are screened in mesh to keep out bands of marauding monkeys which, I am told, have a predilection for onions. Some larger gardens even have electric fencing.

And all along the way the many different many wildflowers.

Tea time - Sarah Brayer

In addition to monkeys we keep our eyes peeled for snakes and bears. At some stages of the walk John will tie a tinkling bell to his waist to give any bears in the vicinity advance notice of our coming. It seems to work.

Ando Hiroshige - Cherry Tree

A spring scene of rice paddies newly planted.

The rice fields spread
their flooding terracing of mirrors
segments in a beetle's wing

HoO

The small farm plots in rural Japan are owned and farmed by an aging population the children of whom have moved to the cities and have no interest in following their parents' footsteps or in maintaining a time honoured tradition. This is posing a big problem for the Japanese government. Rural land is relatively inexpensive.

In my old home
which I forsook
the cherries are in blossom

Issa

Cherry Blossom of Omuro - Tomikichiro Tokuriki

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