Dunkeld to Warrnambool

We were up and on the way out of town by about 6.45, reluctantly forgoing the no doubt delicious buffet breakfast offered by the hotel which would have delayed our departure. It was lovely being out in the cool of the morning. We passed a young Australian Shepherd puppy, about 6 months old, having a great time herding a flock of worried looking wood ducks across the road.  He was doing a great job, and though he was initially a bit suspicious of the recumbent, he came up for a pat.  A nice farewell from Dunkeld.  It was a lovely ride through the quiet country back roads, undulating through stands of fir trees, with magnificent views across to Mt Eccles and back to Mt Stapylton. The view from the recumbent seat was like this for a lot of the day, Jess vanishing over the rise as I cranked along, hoping to catch up on the descent on the other side.

We followed Google maps suggested route, which landed us on a dirt road for about 6 kilometers - a teeth rattling experience but very pretty and quiet.  And so nice to get back on the tarmac.

Coming over one of the ridges, we could feel cooler air, and there was a visible line of sea mist along the coast line ahead. We arrived at Woolsthorpe about 11.30 and stopped for some health food - a can of coke and a chocolate milk at the general store. The lady in the store said the temperature was currently 26, and their forecast top was 38. We could feel the gusts of wind getting hotter by the minute. There is a picnic table under a beautiful golden elm tree outside the store, but they had a creepy full sized santa on the verandah of the store which played a repertoire of four christmas carols. Over and over again. Perhaps intended like the musak that shopping centres play in carparks to drive off loitering youths.  It sure worked for us.

The road got busier and the shoulder on the road varied from good to disgraceful as we got closer to Warrnambool.  A strong southerly headwind started up, which was good for keeping us cool, but sometimes hard to peddle into. After a few days of friendly drivers waving to us, and giving us an extra wide berth as they passed, the traffic in Warrnambool was particularly aggressive, and the inhabitants of three separate cars yelled something at us.  They probably thought it was terribly witty, and it might have been (though I doubt it), but to us, thanks to the doppler effect, it sounded like "ooraahhhroo" or something. Anyway, hills, headwind, dickhead drivers, tired legs, the last bit wasn't a huge amount of fun, but we hit the station, changed the booking, had a wash and changed our clothes, and headed out for lunch by 2.  After we headed down to the local library, and enjoyed the guilty pleasure of recharging our phones in a bank of powerpoints under a sign which prohibited recharging any device but a laptop. (Why, one wonders ...? )  We were grateful of the quiet space and relaxed until about 5 when we headed off to get our bikes on the train. A nice trip except for the lady a few seats back with the loud voice and the mobile on speaker phone who called various apparently deaf relatives.  "Hello Auntie Beryl.  How are you?" "What?""How.Are.You?" "What?" "HOW. ARE. YOU?" ... Thanks heavens for earphones. The train dropped us in Melbourne at 9.20 and after retrieving the bikes, trying to get the station lift to work and a bit of stress getting to our platform on time, we got onto our local train, and home by 10.

All in all it was a good trip, though not quite what we planned. Temperatures today around 40 degrees, so we are glad to be home and cool.  Note to self: plan future trips with more of an eye to the weather.

Halls Gap to Dunkeld.

Another hot day forecast so we set the alarm for 10 to 6. I slept pretty well despite having a kangaroo munching grass right next to the tent, a few centremetres from my head. The stars from the valley at Halls Gap seem extra bright and the dawn extra dramatic. We watched the east facing cliffs go a spectacular golden red colour as we munched our breakfasts in the camp kitchen. We were packed and on the road by 7.

As bike rides go this has to be one of the most scenic, with the mighty rocky outcrops lining the valley and the dense bush shading the road. The first phase of the ride is a long climb up over the great divide. Nice to get that out of the way early while the day is cool

We made fairly good time and really enjoyed the long sweeping down hill on the other side. We were encouraged by a Google maps profile which seemed to suggest it was mostly dkwn all the way into Dunkeld,  but we discovered afterwards that was a different route, one which avoided the energy sapping climb up over the ominously named mount abrupt. It was hot when we got there and it was a struggle to keep on going. But not a lot of options and we made it over and down into Dunkeld a bit before 1 by which time it was baking. Our tires were sinking into melting tarmac and we were seriously tired. We stopped at the caravan park but the prospect of spending the afternoon in that heat wasn't very appealing, so we booked into the very nice Royal Mail hotel, with aircon, fluffy white towels and a swimming pool for a bit of restoration. The forecasts are dire for the next few days so we plan to ride to Warrnambool tomorrow and see if we can shift our booking to go back tomorrow night. Means as 100 k ride though - a while since I've put one of those in on a loaded bike. But hopefully it gets cooler as we get near the coast.

Ararat to Halls Gap

We booked tickets on the 8.17 to Ararat, and headed out early to beat the commuter rush with our loaded bikes. Last night I found that the bike I was planning on taking had a problem with getting into low gear, so at the last minute I swapped the panniers over to the greenspeed trike, which I've never taken on a tour before. It certainly was interesting weaving through the commuter crowds at knee height, it wouldn't fit through the door of the train without being lifted and turned on its side, and it didn't fit in the bike storage rack on the train. But despite logistical challenges we got to Ararat and on the road by 11, just as the day was heating up. There is a good hill on the road out of town and we ground up that, followed by some steep down hills where I set a new max speed. We encouraged ourselves on the first hard up and down stretch with the prospect of a cold coke at the Moyston general store, but when we got there it was clear it had closed long ago. So after a rest we headed off into the increasing heat. I was crawling along at about 11 ks per hour, despite my best efforts. I was beginning to think I must have blown a gasket, but discovered after a few slow k that I had forgotten to release the park brake after our last stop. Instant doubling of speed helped us do the next stretch to Pomonal, with an open general store, in around an hour, but it was mighty hot and the heat radiating back from the road made it challenging. Coming into Halls Gap on the lovely bike path we had a nice encounter with a local, John, who had seen us resting at Pomonal and who had ridden out in his electric powered greenspeed trike to say hello.

We hit the campground set up our tents had a shower and started some serious rehydration. It is a lovely place, with inquisitive cockatoos and very relaxed kangaroos. Here is Jess testing the greenspeed as a camp chair, with a couple of kangas hanging out nearby.

We had a very good dinner at the pub over the road, and did a bit of planning. We hadn't counted on it getting so hot and we are both felling a bit weary. We will try leaving early tomorrow to see if we can get to Dunkeld before it gets too hot. Weather forecast for the next few days is pretty scary - a 40 day on Saturday.  Maybe a shorter route to Warrnambool than we planned. See how we go tomorrow.

Tokyo last day

Last full day today and we thought we'd take it easy today - low and slow as the Tamotsu dudes might say. We headed off for a wander round Asakusa, which is a late riser like us, lots of the little shops and stalls either shut or in the process of opening. But the closer to Sensoji you get, the denser the crowd, and the temple itself had a long queue, and the incense burner was pouring out clouds of incense from the sticks lit by the visitors.

It is a colourful lively place but a bit frenetic with phalanxes of school groups and seniors groups marching relentlessly into the fray. We visited the little Inari shrine round the side for a bit of quiet, and admired again the expressiveness that the sculptor managed to get into the figures.

Next stop was Asakusa station, Ginza Line, and a quick trip to Ueno, where we headed through the park to the Tokyo National Museum. There was a special exhibition of Bvgari jewellery which Anne headed off to, and enjoyed immensely, while I took in some of the main collection on the first floor.. We met up, then visited the archaeology building which had a collection of pottery figures from Japan's Kofun period, about 500 Ad.

We had a very civilised lunch on the terrace of the Museum's Café, admired the garden, then headed back for a sweep through the second floor. The capacity of the Japanese artists  to capture nature, birds, water, and landscape is marvellous to behold up close. I wanted to take this one home.

But they wouldn't let me, so we headed off, for a last Stoll down one of the magnificent tree lined boulevards of Ueno park, golden in the afternoon sun of a lovely day.

 

 

Back in Asakusa we sussed out where our train to the airport leaves from, timed the walk back to the hotel, then hunkered down for a rest and reorganize ready to go early tomorrow. 

Kamakura

We were a bit stunned this morning but managed to get out the door and onto the train from Asakusa by 9.30, the first leg of our journey to Kamakura. Hyperdia is a great application for planning Japanese rail journeys, but our trip today seemed to have narrower margins than usual. We had to scoot up and down elevators and make sure we didn't make a wrong turn, and we just squeaked in the connections, bot it all worked as planned, and we were tucking into a very welcome crepe and cup of coffee near Hase station by 11.00. We made our visit to the Diabutsu which has been a special experience every time we've visited.The impact of the statue, sitting serenely in its amphitheatre of mountains, as it has done for more than a thousand years,  with the clouds floating by behind, is profound. You can feel that streams of people have been coming here for a very long time. There is something striking about the peaceful serenity of the massive statue, that seems to accept but sail serenely above the stream of people milling about taking selfies and posing for photos and generally milling about in an ant like fashion.

After our visit, we headed off along the Kuzuharooka/Daibutsu hiking trail that climbs up to then follows a ridge through some relatively wild areas. There were lots of steep ups and downs to give our knees a good workout.

 

We stopped at the wonderfully civilized Itzuki Terrace Café , which is located 50 metres off the trail and perfectly located just when you need a rest and some sustenance, for a delicious lunch, then headed on to a Shinto Shrine, Zeniaraibenzaiten Shrine (say that three times quickly). The Shrine, according to the sign out the front, was founded by Minamoto  Yoritomo, who in 1185 was told in a dream "In a valley to the Northwest there is a miraculous spring that gushes out of the rocks. Go there and worship the gods of Shinto, and peace will come to the people." The shrine is located in  deep gully, with steep cliffs surrounding it, and access is via a tunnel cut through the rock. It is believed that money washed in the water of the miraculous spring will return manifold to the owner. There was a huge gaggle of excited school kids earnestly washing their 10 and 50yen pieces in the water.

It is a very atmospheric place but unfortunately well down a very steep hill from the trail, and it was a bit of a slog to work our way back up again, but worth it because further along we encountered Kuzuharaoakajinja Shrine, with splendid turtles in the pond out the front, and a fine Inari shrine within. We've come to like the Inari shrines with their fierce looking foxes.
This Shrine had a particularly fine pair.

We were getting a bit tired now, but had enough energy to visit Jochi-ji, established in 1281, 'considered on of Kamakura's five great Zen temples'. It was a very beautiful and peaceful place, with its three statues representing past present and future, and its touching statues located in small caves carved into the cliff face. It wa a nice end to our walk, and we were soon back on a train heading us back for Tokyo rush hour. Which I'd have to say is considerably less squeezy than Melbourne trains at the same time in the afternoon. We know our way now, and after a quick visit to the local 7eleven we are back with a couple of small bottles of Californian Chardonnay and having a well eared ha'py hour after a good day.

Back to Tokyo

We set off bright and early this morning, retracing our steps back to Takamatsu Station. It marks the beginning of our journey home, and we are glad to be heading homewards.  Takamatsu station was a nice place to be - the ladies in the Willie Waffles kiosk there make the best cinnamon buns, and we munched on a couple and enjoyed a coffee in the sun waiting for our train. In the corner of the platforms there is a beautiful arrangement of flowers and vegetables. It says quite a lot about the place I think.

The Marine Liner, the train that runs between Okayama and Takamatsu, is a double Decker, and unfortunately our reserved seats were on the lower deck, so as the train passed over the magnificent bridges that hop from island to island, we had a view of concrete slab. But there are large sections where you can see, and there are magnificent views of little islands, sparkling blue sea and rugged coast.

We had around twenty minutes wait for our Shinkansen from Okayama, just enough time to buy some supplies for the long trip to Tokyo. The station bento boxes are great.

But the novelty of being on the train does wear a little thin after a few hours. We caught a glimpse of Hemeji Castle flashing by, and could only see the base of Mt Fuji as it was shroudēd in low cloud.

So, after eating everything and drinking everything and listening to a couple of "Short History of Japan" podcasts we hit Tokyo in time for afternoon rush hour. We were very glad we'd sent our bags on, as we had to catch another two busy  trains and navigate down what seemed like an extraordinary number of escalators. Once again Google maps tried to send us to the wrong hotel - it seems to struggle with Japanese hotels, or perhaps it only gives directions to hotels that pay? Whatever, I was cursing and struggling with the phone, while Anne looked up and saw our hotel a couple of blocks away. The hotel appears to be in a rather shady part of Asakusa, but it is very comfortable and convenient. We had dinner in an Indian restaurant round the corner, which was ok.

Tomorrow we want to visit Kamakura and the great Buddha there, and walk one of the hiking trails.

Takamatsu

We wanted to have a low key day, and to be honest we were feeling a little seedy, perhaps cumulative tiredness, or more likely one too many glasses of Zoave last night. Took a while to get into gear, and we spent a fruitless half hour looking for a Tourist Information Centre shown on our map but which does not seem to exist on the ground. We've worked out the ticket machines for the local trains, and we caught one down to Tamamo Park and the ruins of Takamatsu castle. The main castle has gone, but the moats, bridge, stone work, and two of the turrets on the perimeter walls remain. It has a nice enough garden but nowhere near as nice as Ritsurin.

But it was a nice place to spend a sunny Tuesday morning. Anne was feeling like a rest, so we headed back to the hotel, then I set off to see how far I could get on the 88 temple pilgrimage. The short answer is, not very far at all.

I caught a train to Kotoden-Yashima station, as I had read that there was a bus from there up the mountain. There was a sign in English confirming this, but the bus time table was in Japanese and I couldn't work out what time the next bus might be. It was a fairly cheerless location and the sun was blazing down, so I thought I'd walk. I headed off up a road heading towards the mountain, which led to an abandoned JR Funicular railway, with the carriages slowly decaying away in the overgrown foliage. There was some inviting looking stairs, so I headed up those, but they led to a shrine with no further access up the mountain that I could see. Thwarted I resorted to the map, and chose a conservative approach of walking back towards the station before, hoping I might hit some signage for a pathway up the mountain. From my Camino experience, the pilgrimage path there is liberally marked with yellow arrows and shell symbols. Surely the 88 Temple Pilgrimage path would be clearly marked?

Well, not this bit. I walked up the road I thought from the map would lead to the walking trail but totally missed this sticker which was the only signifier that this was indeed the right way - only noticed it on the way down. Eventually I came to a collection of walking sticks left to help people up the mountain, which was a pretty clear sign I was on the right track. The pathway climbs up steeply but thoughtfully there are seats every few hundred metres. I started to encounter people going down, including some pilgrims in the trademark white cotton jackets. I think my age was a good ten years younger than the average age of people I encountered going up and down. The older Japanese people are extraordinarily fit.

It was a pretty walk up Mt Yashima and eventually I arrived at #84, Yoshimi temple. It is home to an ancient carved statue, the Senju Kannon or thousand armed goddess of mercy, but it was nowhere visible. In fact the place had a sort of shut up feeling. It is also home to a shrine to the Yashima Toshaburo Badger, "considered to be a monogamist and is respected as a god of peaceful families, marriages and the restaurant business." I paid my respects to this one.

Around the corner, coaches were pulling in filled with bus borne pilgrims. They all collected their sticks as they got off the bus for the 200 metre slog from the bus park to the temple.

The top of the mountain has splendid views across the inland sea and back inland, and is an important historical site. I managed to see rather more of the mountain than I intended, as there are few English signs, and I managed to misunderstand the maps.

Eventually I found the path I had come in on, and retraced my steps back to the station, and back to the hotel. We hit the Spanish Italian grill again for dinner, and went easier on the Zoave this time. It started raining while we were eating - no doubt because I put my rain coat in my bag which I sen on to Tokyo. But tomorrow we will be on trains most of the time, so should be ok. We are looking forward to getting back to Tokyo.