Back so soon!

Day 168 - Saturday 28 June 2008

Nobody panic! I don't mean back in that way - I just mean blogging again after a relatively short space of time - I've just about planned the rest of my journeying around Japan and who knows when my internet access will be this good and this easy!

I'm currently sat in the Zenko-ji Temple Inn and so I'm staying in my very first Buddhist premises - a hard bed, lukewarm shower and strange monk-type innkeeper and it's all a little strange and a gentle reminder to me that I'm travelling not touristing - I guess I've been lured in by such comfortable ryokans (that have lured me back in after tomorrow night!)

So I left Nara having named Wagstafflson the latest blog prize winner and landed in Himeji - a small city (but bloody huge again by British standards) coveting another of this country's National Treasures - namely Himeji-jo (or castle!)

Himeji-jo was built and then expanded at various times between the 1300s and 1600s - it always served as a power base for various shogun - and sits on a very high mound dominating the city and surrounding countryside (that's made up of rolling pine forested hills like much of Japan)

Architecturally it's up there and even surpasses Macchu Picchu - it's spectacularly beautiful with the curved wooden lines luring the eye from kinshachi to kinshachi - these weird things are tiger-headed fish and protect the buildings that they adorn from fire!

Modern tourist-ready Himeji-jo is big and took me over 3 hours to fully absorb - but it was even bigger back in it's day - a whole city of samurai protecting their shogun lords lived in buildings inside and outside the now green and a bit stagnant moat!

It's white colour and place high against the (monotonously grey) sky gives it the nickname 'The White Heron' and deservedly it's been used in many movies - most notably You Only Live Twice (a Connery Japan based Bond) and Cruise's The Last Samurai was filmed nearby but they cling to that as well - needlessly in my opinion - it's awesome enough as just Himeji-jo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himeji_Castle

But that wasn't the end of my day in Hiemji - after a quick trip to the gardens of Koko-en (that were full of oldies and carp) I headed off to the Hyogo Prefectural Museum - not for their display of model Japanese castles (the attention to detail of the Japanese is what makes them so ace) and not even for their cool mirrored wall that reflected Himeji-jo back the viewer below - but why, who's that fierce looking character - just take a closer look at his eyes (if you can see them)

Yes samurai fans - the chance to dress up in 25kg of battle regalia had me hoping that I'd be the only one who turned up on a Thursday afternoon wanting to play - you see the whole deal takes about 60 minutes so they only have time for one person - and it didn't really help my cause when a classful of older kids with Down syndrome turned up - honestly! - I used my best Japanese to offer them the chance ahead of me but was told by my helpers that they only wanted to watch - so I was in!

I almost slipped up right away when two beautifully helpful young female staff members, Ree and Yakuri, told me to take my top off - 'you're sure?!' I suggested knowing it was about 25 degrees C INSIDE and this is a conservative culture - no sooner was my athletic physique half out than they were retracting their request, covering their eyes and putting layers of clothing and armour ON TOP of my Mountain Hard Wear shirt!

Ha! How ace a time did I have! That stuff is soooo heavy and what an enormous helmet (insert your own punch line Viz fans!) - how did those small guys (the shin guards were about half sized on me and the shoes were stamped down at the back!) fight in that - when the girls put the shoulder guards on it was like carrying a mattress on your back - although a mattress that would repel the sharpest sword slash - I felt very Hiro from the end of Season 1 of Heroes (or the start of Season 2 that I guess everyone except me has seen now - I can't wait!) - a big thanks to Ree and Yakuri who got one of my cards to say 'keep in touch' - and for the record - Ree's already emailed me and said how much fun it was - and how she wants to be a world traveller like me - I just told her to save up and follow her dreams - and she too could look like this!

Himeji also treated me to 2 hours of normality when I went to see Prince Caspian that was playing in English (and Japanese sub-titles) - I thought it was another good job from the Kiwi, Andrew Adamson, and really liked the casting of the Prince - pretty much gave me the romp I wanted although I just can't help thinking that CS Lewis was more boring and kid-friendly than his bloody great mate and fellow Inkling (look it up book fans!) JRR Tolkein - but again Jez - 'you're not a kind anymore'

Bu that was all back in Kansai and I've jumped on a couple of shinkansen to head north-east and end up here in the Japanese Alps kicking back in Takayama

Which is why I should discuss the merits of the Japanese rail system - it's basically better than everything you've ever heard about it - and here's why!

It goes everywhere
I set my watch by the clock on the first Japanese train I used from Narita Airport into Tokyo and they all arrive and leave exactly by my watch!
It moves so quickly it makes you weirdly a bit travel sick if you stare out of the window for too long!
It's built to move lots of people around quickly to central places (so it's not ace for seeing Japan - tunnels, high buildings, city centre power lines, etc)
It's in and out of stations so quick it barely stops (which is why it keeps time)
It's very space shuttle conical at either end and never turns around - just goes backwards and forwards
It feels like you're floating
It's got supremely helpful signage and announcements in both Japanese and English all across the country (not just in Tokyo like many people suggest)
It's a tad worn 'cos it's used so much (when it's this fast and on time you'd never need an internal flight in Japan)
It makes onward travel and accommodation arrival plans a cinch - you just know you'll be there at the said time
It's had zero fatalities - ever!

Right - shinkansen (or trains really 'cos shinkansen is just the fast ones) - sorted!

Back to Takayama - this place is another of Japan's highlights and bucketloads of people come to stroll the oldy-worldy streets of old Japan - the mountains here are cool to look at because (like the previously mentioned hills) they're all covered in pine forests - from top to bottom - or at least at this elevation of about 1000 masl - I'm off to Kamikochi tomorrow and expecting a bit more ruggedness - if I can see it - I've just been told it's going to rain!

But today I checked out one of the shogunate's government buildings where they ruled the Hida Prefecture from - called Takayama-jinja it's surprisingly big, pleasant on the eye and enough tatami to sort my new house out millions of times over - it also has a horrid torture area where they cross-examined civilians for various things (including Christianity at one time) and is　right on the front next to the street (I guess that was to scare anyone else thinking street (I guess that was to scare anyone else outside thinking of crossing the shogunate

In the afternoon I headed over to Hida-no-Sato where they've relocated a load of 1600s-1800s merchants, farmers and priests homes from around the locality - very stylishly presented in a hilly, alpine setting - very Huey Lewis (back in time!) - and I enjoyed it - by the way - the thatched roofs (or rooves?!) are heavily steeped like that so they don't collect the annual 2m of snowfall that they have here each Winter - clever huh!

But today's been old stuff - and my faves are ancient - 'what's that Marion?' - 'an OLD teapot Indy' - 'whatever' - I'm not really that flippant - and I did get to ring a huge bell - that was probably pretty ancient!

What an embrassment of riches (and this is a prize blog so get reading!)

Day 163 - Monday 23 June 2008

You know the reason Japan was always going to be on this trip was because of Tokyo - I'd heard so much about it, interpreted how stylish it would be through Blade Runner and wanted to soak up a country that's made the best video games on the planet - but I never, ever expected it to deliver on the Indiana Jones 'exploring ancient Buddhist ruins' front like this - and there's soooo many they should feel emabarassed - only that would be too British - they're rightly proud!

I'm fresh off an incredible day in Nara getting damp and soggy (the rainy season is now seriously living up to it's name) in which I've stared in wonder at both the world's largest wooden building (it's called the Daibatsu-den Hall and stands at 48.74 metres tall and 50.48 metres deep) and the world's largest cast bronze Buddha, Daibutsu, (Vairocona in Sanskrit standing at 18.03 metres tall including it's lotus-petal base) - just re-read that and try and imagine how huge it is compared to the person sat next to you - unless you're Donna in which case Growbag isn't far off that to be fair (he's a man mountain!) - actually, you won't have to imagine when I finally reach an internet point where I can download pictures - I now have!

Both of these sights were truly majestic (although you do have to accept that they come with hoards of Japanese school kids wanting to say hello and have their picture taken with you) and would have been a top day in themselves but ...

You take a short walk uphill to the east and you're transported into an ancient Japanese town nestling on the side of a forested hill that's just full of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines resplendent in all their original glory and looking like one of the historical Empresses from the Imperial family will pop out of a doorway at any minute - we're talking streams running down the side of the streets, row after row of cobbled stairways sized for the little feet of Buddhist monks (you know the ones where you're not sure whether it's two at once or tow feet onto each one), cemeteries of falling down tombs to dead priests where the smell of incense wafts on what little breeze there is amongst the humidity and stone lanterns so covered in moss that they can't have moved one inch since they were first carved and lit back in the 8th century - and that's not even mentioning the 1200 deer who've roamed the area for all time and who Buddhist monks in the 6th Century believed were sacred (they're now a National Treasure and unbelievably tame - you can stroke them, feed them deer biscuits and stare in awe as they try to eat plastic bags - bloody commercialism - we should have just let them carry on eating grass - but sugar's sugar I guess!)

And that's how old we're talking here - centuries and centuries - Nara was the very first capital of Japan established in 710 although it was then known as Heijokyo - line after line of Japanese Emperors and Empresses had/have links to here - sadly their capital status lasted just 75 years when it was shifted to Kyoto away from the influences of Nara's clergy who almost usurped the throne (cool huh?!) - by the way it stayed in Kyoto from 785 to 1868 when it shifted again to Edo (Tokyo's then name)

Here are some links to the top temples and shrines that are so ace for exploring and have helped launch Nara into my favourite places in the world list (you may remember Frisco in Colorado, Ollantaytambo in Peru and I won't spoil the rest but they'll be in my final blogs!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigatsu-dō

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasuga_Taisha

So Kyoto's had easily the longest period of any of the three capitals and for that reason it's big and absolutely covered in historically/culturally important places - while Nara has 8 sites on UNESCO's World Heritage list (a top effort considering you can walk to most of them from the JR Train Station!) Kyoto has 17 and is why Lonely Planet talks of it as one of the four 'see before you die' cities in the world along with New York, London and Paris - it's not bad from the top of the Kyoto Tower at sunset when the old blend with the new quite majestically!

And while I remember I was checking out UNESCO's all time list again last week and if you're into travelling and ever need inspiration use it - it's linked down the right hand side of my blog and is the ULTIMATE line up - there's been loads of 7 Wonders stuff but now I'm not sure where I stand with them - is it natural, is it ancient or is it modern - well who knows - just use this one instead - and get saving - there's a lot - and I'm smugly ticking them off rapidly right now!

I had a cracking 5 days in Kyoto last week and loved my Ryokan 'Rakucho' - these things have certainly turned me off western hotels right now and forever if only that were possible! - more lovely smelling tatami, superb air conditioning/heater units and endless supplies of toiletries in the mixed communal baths (although I sadly saw no sexy women while I was bathing!) that kept my skin in beak condition despite the midge bites that itch like buggery (those silent, invisible gits!)

Kyoto is rightly deserving of Lonely Planet's recommendation and it certainly makes you realise what an incredible society the Japanese have had for, well basically, ever!

The entire country was unified under firstly and currently an Imperial family of an Emperor and Empress - and in between it was brought together by a feudal government (the shogunate) - yes there were disagreements amongst the people and yes they fought - but they didn't destroy each other and with it their heritage - even the firearm (that swept through the New Zealand Maoris) was rejected by the samurai as too crude - consequently, the buildings stayed up (when they weren't burning down having been struck by lightning) and so they remain to this day in Nara and Kyoto for us all to enjoy and wonder at the skill of the ancient craftsmen and architects - I guess considering the USA flattened Tokyo, Hiroshima et al during World War 2 we should also realise that war planes do, often, hit their intended targets and leave places of huge value to humanity untouched

Kyoto, for me, was a long list of temples, shrines and castles - you have to be careful that you don't try to cover too many, too quickly or they all become a bit same-y - I managed to keep the number just right and can still remember the stand outs!

Easily Nijo-jo - the Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawra shogun Ieyasu - a castle - the most ornate tatami matted rooms you might ever see - all linked by 'nightingale' floorboards - these floorboards are special - they're raised on metal hinges that are designed to compress when a foot hits them - when they compress they squeak or 'sing like a nightingale' - now 'big deal Jez' you may say - but you'll also go 'cooool' when I tell you it was so that samurai could hear ninja stealthily moving around the castle trying to assassinate sleeping shogun ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijō_Castle

I saw the iconic Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) and just about got a shot of myself at it albeit gate-crashed by more Japanese schoolkids (I love their cheery personalities really but I haven't stuck the shot in the blog - I'll show you all when I get back!) - instead here's some great reflection photography even if I say so myself!

(See - jo = castle - ji = temple and jingu = shrine - you've learned something today - jeez - I'm starting to sound like a teacher!)

My fave temple was Sanjusangen-do - which should be a ji because it's definitely Buddhist - lesson over?! - the reason I so clearly state it's Buddhist is because I paid my standard 500 yen and crept in just before closing - I'd entered the main temple and was hit by a feeling of 'I'm adventuring now' as a musty smell entered my nostrils from 1001 gold leaf covered, wooden statues of the Buddha/attendant Bodhisattvas - now I've visited many museums in my time that I've loved (including lately the Kyoto and Nara National Museums) but this is how ancient (and impossibly valuable) artifacts should be seen - in their natural living/resting space - where they're allowed to get covered in dust and cobwebs - and are prayed to regularly by Buddhist monks with shaved heads and a diet of rice and not much else - just add a big rolling ball, a bag of sand and I was ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjusangen-do

But if you go Kyoto just make sure you get out to Arashiyama where the city blends into the countryside - temples, shrines and paddy fields all blend into one and it's simply explicit - I love the footprints in this shot!

Kyoto saw my very first feelings of 'wow, a year's a really long time' and 'seeing Macchu Picchu shouldn't feel this normal' and I guess it's my first experience of 'sensory overload' - yet - today's been one of the best again - a day when my senses should have been stretched to breaking point - I'm just hoping that my brain's re-set itself to absorb even more that this wild, wonderful and extraordinary world (and year) is sending my way - please - if it's this good - just keep it coming!

And to the quiz! Japan's the best place in the world for trinkets so I have a prize ready and waiting for the first person to either post on the blog or email me the answer to the following question (Sally and Swifty are fast so get in quick!)

'What well known brand of shower gel/soap did I use at Ryokan Rakucho in Kyoto?' - the clue's back in the blog - and it is a bit of an old gag so - no more clues - good luck!

Love to everyone who posted after the 'Konnichiwa kids!' blog - I've just replied to them - and given Nick a bit of stick - so if you want to go and read my comments please enjoy - only joking Nick - great to have you posting again!

Konnichiwa kids!

Day 156 -Monday 16 June 2008

Here I am Sally! And well done the Vanster - the best use of a Crackberry is checking out your mate's blog from court side - forget that work my friend - loving your style - and sorry everyone but there'll be 'pictures speak a thousand words' at a later date!

It's an amazing thing how the thrill of a new city can easily overcome any feelings of sleep deprivation - I pulled another all nighter to arrive here in Tokyo from Sydney getting the sum total of 53 minutes sleep thanks to an Armenian kid behind me coughing his lungs up all night to the point of hurling at least twice - nice - I always seem to attract the crack pots on planes - in fact I also sat next to a member of the Australian frisbee golf team who was heading to Tokyo for their latest grand slam event - I mean please - hello - geek alert - it's fun for the afternoon but what's wrong with the real thing!

But it all seems like light years away because Tokyo and Japan are proving incredible and I've been living in a real life Disneyland this past week

Tokyo has got everything I expected and way more - it's a pure cacophony of sights, sounds, smells and other stimuli - all wrapped up in a city so big it's daunting to comprehend - I've been to the top of many viewing platforms on this trip in some of the world's biggest cities - but this is the first one where the urban sprawl 200m below you goes to the horizon in every single direction without a break in it's connectivity - I'll jump into the middle of the week and immediately tell you I went to the top of the Mori Tower in chic Roppongi Hills for dusk on a cloudless, hot and sunny day - now this was the first viewing platform I've been to that's outside and I slowly but surely watched the sun set and the lights/neon come on in Tokyo - all the while enjoying the cool of night creep up on me and relax my tired explorers body - it was a feeling I'll always remember and one of the highlights of this trip - seeing the video screens in Shinjuku and the striking Kanji script everywhere put me right in the middle of real life Blade Runner - though sadly there were no replicants to seek out ... (bloody good job 'cos you'd never find them in a place this big!)

Not sure why I'm looking quite so weird in this picture ...















Maybe it's because this view was just blowing my mind ...
















My early days in Tokyo were spent getting stuck into the culture of this city and country (while soaking up the shock of sipping green tea and slurping noodle soup) then enjoying the manic 21st Century iconography of modern Tokyo - namely Akihabara and the electronics/manga district

Akihabara is a boys toys pleasure ground - I easily lost a day wandering from enormous video games store to manga comic store (where there's a surprising amount of open-ness about sukebe - look it up if you're not easily offended) to acrylic toy store - and this is the very first time when I really feel that I wish this was an in and out travel job - I now understand how you got such a huge collection over the years Rich - I could easily have filled a suitcase with all of the above (maybe not so much sukebe!) and traipsed it back to GB - but that's not why I'm travelling - though I have to confess to attaining an Indiana Jones action figure mascot and a sexy female train attendant figure (I know - I'm not sure why either - but that's what Tokyo does to you!)

I'm also really loving the sense of history here having been to two relatively new countries (well sort of 'cos the aborigines are just about the world's oldest at 5000 years but I didn't see tons of them) - I checked out the Tokyo National Museum which awesomely presents the history of this fine country in separate sections according to items - the samurai warrior's section grabbed my attention and their armour is unbelievably intricate and shows off the finest attention to detail that is present all around modern day Japan - the samurai were a warrior class who served to protect the shogunate who were a martial government from 1192 until they were overthrown in 1868 - this overthrow came to a head at Ueno-koen which is a hill/public park I wandered and easily pictured the samurai fighting to the death amidst the seclusion of the trees - they even hid in the Buddhist temple - it's also got a great statue of one such samurai who is just out of a shot I'll post taken by a random schoolkid and his mates after they practised their English on me - genius - and when you see it you need to know that the Japanese love the v sign for peace made so famous in GB by Sir Winston Churchill - though the Japanese put it the other way around!











For the first time since I left London it's Summer on my travels and what a joy that's it not dark at 1730! I'm making the most of the opportunity to hang out later and seem to be visiting either Buddhist temples of Shinto shrines at dusk (when I'm not atop tall buildings!) - by the way - many Japanese believe in both religions using the former for their afterlife and the latter for their current life - a weird concept to us westerners huh?!

Senso-Ji in Askakusa is big, red, urban and Buddhist so all good in my book - I practised the complete ritual of washing my hands and mouth, making an offering, clapping my hands, saying a prayer and getting (then tieing to the temple) a fortune (that was full of strange and random things to cover all bases - so it seems like Russell Grant's not the only one at it!)

But Meiji-Jingu in Harajuku is stunning - I've been there twice (the second time to see their Treasure Museum) - it's Shinto and built to commemorate the life of Emperor Meiji who was　the Emperor put back into power when　the imperialists out-fought　the shogunate - and he's a proper legend in Japan - it's an enormous dark wood structure set in the middle of a big forest that provides peace and tranquility in this huge city - I also got one of my best shots yet of this trip (I'm definitely getting better) so be patient - when I went at dusk it was a sunny evening after a day of heavy rain (it is rainy season here although it's Summer) and it was eerily deserted - and special because of it - my second trip was a sunny Sunday and horribly busy!




















Now this is real 'out there' travel because everything is so different - but it's OK - at least in Tokyo - not that many people speak English but my Japanese phrasebook has enabled me to buy a baseball ticket and a train ticket in Japanese and romanji (one of Japan's 4 scripts enabling them to access the influences from the west) - again - I'm enjoying being out of my comfort zone although my last shop purchase went so smoothly I feel now like I'll always survive and my comfort zone is totally different

Yesterday and today have been classic Lonely Planet Tokyo experiences - yesterday was Yoyogi -koen where all the young 18 year old kids come out to play - literally their instruments - they pour out of the Tokyo School of Music and do sound clashes all along one side of the park - the kids from Fame in Japanese - some where very, very good - and some were deluded - now that may sound harsh but some teachers in that school need to be more honest with them - Simon Cowell would set them straight - mind you - great, quirky, Japanese fun - for free - by the way Japan's not half as expensive as you'd think - there's a ton of stuff for free here in Tokyo (like there seems to be in all top cities and this may just be my fave of them all!) - and museum entries are typically 500 yen (2 quid!)













And to get right up to date today was the crazy Tsujiki Fish Market - this is the biggest fish market in the world and feels like it - the best time to visit is at 0500 for the auction straight out of　the back of the trawlers - but I wasn't into it that much - I rocked up at 0830 and was met with a tumultuous crescendo of people buzzing around and getting the fish out to the masses - they were either cutting up enoooormous tuna, pickling octopus legs, icing eels, having a fag or scooting around in motorised vehicles like they'd just taken a wrong turn on the Star Wars set - it all generally conspires to make you feel like you want to run away 'cos you're in someone else's world and you don't belong - but a few deep breaths and some acclimatisation time later it's all just wondrous - and left me feeling like maybe I should have got out of bed a bit earlier - although if I did I wouldn't have had the energy to swing a baseball bat this afternoon in what can only be described as a driving range for baseball batters - all green bays of astroturf, a home plate and kids (plus Jez) swinging sweatily (it's 28 degrees C today) at balls being wanged at you by a mechanical arm - England and the world needs these - they're ace!

Just a few very sharp and long knives then ...




















Batter up ...

But that's Tokyo - for now at least - I'm off to Kyoto tomorrow for my first bullet train experience - the capital of Japan has been just incredible and I have the Yakult Swallows match to anticipate in early July when I head back here having looped around Japan (or Honshu at least) - I also have to try and track down a capsule hotel that's not tooooo seedy - I'm off to another ryokan that are comfortably my fave type of accommodation in the whole world - if life goes as I'd like in the next couple of years my house will be decked out like one - just check them out ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryokan_(Japanese_inn)

And here's a few more Tokyo sights that just can't be missed off the blog!

The Japanese adore their brollies and Metal Gear Solid that came out on Playstation 3 when I was in Tokyo and is the huuuge image on the right of this building in Shibuya (the famous crossroads were the most people you will ever see in one place surge forwards when the lights change!)














A classic piece of Tokyo neon in Ikebukuro where I stayed when I arrived














And I'll leave this blog with the future of mobile/cell phones fresh from the Sony Building in Ginza, Tokyo - get ready to carry around your phone, 5MP camera, top MP3 player and now TV (can you spot the aerial?!) in the one device you'll need in your pocket - oh - and don't worry - you'll be able to get it in pink Nev!

China says no!

Day 147 - Sunday 8 July 2008

Now Sydney's been a surprise because I've been very generously hosted by Ash and Carly who I met in Peru (why I do now say this stuff like it's normal!) - they live (and so have I for a week) in Bondi Junction (ish!) nestled between the CBD of Sydney and Bondi Beach (from where I sit and type!)

Here the lucky blighters are - but not in Bondi (you'll hear why later) - don't they set Lake Titicaca off beautifully!



















Now the reason this clearly isn't Sydney is because of the missing factor - solid, heavy rain - it's been wazzing down all week - not quite what I expected but a small price to pay for being in the Rockies in January and the Himalalyas in September - it has to be Winter somewhere right! - I've definitely not been put off and have just got wet - in some ways it's fun - we normally spend all our lives diving under cover and hopping from indoor spot to indoor spot when it rains - so we can turn up to another pointless meeting looking presentable - but no one cares what you look like when you're on the road - it's refreshing!

But you have to look around for indoor things sometimes (to dry off at least temporarily) - and when you're at Sydney Opera House what else to do but see some opera - well - I tried - but there was none on this week - so instead I dived right into the best the SOH had to offer - and spent a very cultured afternoon seeing the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antoin Dutoit (who also does the Royal Philharmonic) perform the Jupiter and Alpine Symphonies (Mozart's Symphony No. 41 in C and R Strauss' An Alpine Symphony) - now to hear over 100 musicians all in full flow at, arguably, the best place in the world for music literally made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up (and there were quite a few 'cos I really needed a haircut - which is sorted and extra short to keep me going through hot and steamy Asia) - guys - get some tickets and treat your girls - dress smartly and soak it all up - as I put in my Moleskine - 'an afternoon of maestros, endless polite clapping, hot cellists, no cameras, comfy seats and light, emotionally uplifting Mozart' - I'm loving the big M and hoping for some more in Europe - my fave composer by a streak!

You can get a good shot if you're a rule breaker (see how I've changed!) or, more accurately, if they don't make it clear until they TELL you not to take shots - this was when they were tunning up I might add and I'd never take a shot during the performance - but why not snap now - how can this be their Intellectual Property - or put them off - it's not a sound file!

This shot above was when I took the ferry across to Kirribilli and walked back across the Sydney Harbour Bridge - I passed on the whole bridge walk Dad - the visibility's just been terrible - and you actually get an incredible view of the CBD and Sydney Harbour/Port Jackson from foot level - it just didn't make 100 quid's worth of sense - see!

Now - this shot above and the following (taken late afternoon from the best vantage point for iconic shots of Sydney at Mrs Macquarries Point) are my faves of the last few weeks and maybe the entire adventure - I've just bought and am digesting Lonely Planet's 'Travel Photography - A Guide to Taking Better Pictures' - maybe it's working - if subliminally - I'm wading through the jargon and technical section at the start!

Now Sydney's a lot older than I expected - I guess I'd been led along by the Olympics stuff and what that brings to a city (I'm thinking of Barcelona's 'beach') - The Rocks sits under the CBD end of Sydney Harbour Bridge next to Circular Quay and looking across to Sydney Opera House (if you can't find it now you never will!) - it's the oldest part of Sydney and has really retained the old port feel - the Rocks Discovery Museum made me feel like a drunken, 19th Century sailor - but as recently as 1973 there were plans to destroy this history and replace it with modern developments - the Green Bans soon stopped it and people power won out - thankfully!

So it's been a week of urban living including: the State of New South Wales Library and the World Press Photo 08 exhibition, Hogarth Art Galleries, St James' Cathedral, Govindas for watching Be Kind Rewind horizontally (even better second time around), Hurricanes awesooome BBQ ribs and the Museum for Contemporary Art

But Sydney is very clearly one of the world's greatest cities because a stone's throw from all these urban joys is this ...

I'm so glad my one sunny day here coincided with a trip to Bondi Beach - it's everything it should be and you'd expect - huge surf (even on crap days, like this one that Ash passed on surfing 'cos it wasn't good enough, it's better than Cornwall) and it's a stunning cove (quite different to Santa Monica's miles and miles long stretch of sand) - probably the best beach I've ever seen - and it was helped that during my Bronte to Bondi cliff top walk I saw my first ever whale - a beautiful humpback lolling around just metres from the cliffs but miles from the beach - I didn't jump into the ocean and follow it but I did swim in the pool at Bondi Icebergs in this shot - you'll see that the Pacific Ocean crashes into the pool here and so it's the freshest salt water swimming you can buy for $4.50! - I obviously stood on the surround and enjoyed trying not to get washed onto the rocks below by the waves!

And Bondi has such a hippy, urban vibe to it - I think it reckons it's edgy - but it's not - for that go to Iquique in Chile - there's also too many other nationalities for that to be the case - and so it's not REAL Australian beach life - it does have some very talented graff artists though - which I love - this is top, free art!

And before I knew it my country number 6 was over and I'd sampled Australia from a home base - and sampled is what I've done - so take these summary thoughts and views of Australia - as thoughts and views of Melbourne, Sydney and some of the space around them - it's way too huge for these views to be generalised across the rest of it - from my Moleskine notes Australia's ...

Enormous with most roads 4 lanes
Got a lovely lack of a class system and everyone seems equal
Has a work/life balance and can fill a Sydney movie showing at 1900 hours (why army speak Jez?!)
Pretty wet at times in Winter!!!
Chocolate is very, very expensive (a quid for a Cadbury's bar)
Healthy and outdoorsy (probably fat tax on that chocolate!)
Like New Zealand in it's obsession with flat whites
Aboriginal style of art with spots and lines is simple yet very effective

Real estate market gives you lots of house for your money

Awesome at teaching kids emergency information from a young age (contact numbers, names of parents, parents mobile numbers, etc - or Jo Rouse is anyway!)

Got the best animal in the world in the kangaroo

Golf rough is worse than Open hay to escape from - it's mega-dusty and if you get a fraction behind it you duff it - 'well out!'

Covered in pointless tagging but next to some awesome graff!

Cherry Ripe chocolate is heaven

Orange soil when you get inland is mesmerising

Slang is a joy to behold - 'got your budgie smugglers on mate?!'

Thank you so much to my friends for putting me up here and 'do I love Australia?!' - maybe but not really - it is lovely and I do love my friends who live there - but it's too familiar and easy for this point of my journey - I'm craving a more adventurous Indiana Jones feeling again - well brace yourself Jez - how's your Japanese?!

(Footnote: China wouldn't let me go to Beijing - under their new rules they finally confirmed that I can only apply for a visa back in the UK - well I'm just not ready to head back to England yet - so the Great Wall of China will have to wait - and I have a reason to go travelling again - yep - let's trek it Rich - in the meantime - I hope the Olympics goes ... horribly - only joking - I wish them no ill - they've just reminded me to 'control the controllables' as Robbie Jackson would say - there's nothing I can do - so it's not worth worrying about - Qantas have re-routed me from Tokyo to Hong Kong - a part of China that needs no visa - go figure!)

Langwarrin ... it's not in Wales

Day 147 - Sunday 8 June 2008 (Double posting day again kids!)

So my time is all but up here in Australia so it's time to get the blog bang up to date and fly to Japan tomorrow and what will probably feel like a lifetime of rice!

So here's a load of stuff to tell - and what a blast - homely time - I've had here in Australia

The time after I last blogged from Rousey's was 'boys at play' because Jo, Ashley and Chloe had gone to see the 'relos' in Tasmania (and bless you Jo for saying such kind words about my stay - I'm already looking forward to seeing Rousey's girls again)

The Great Ocean Road called us south west of Melbourne and along Australia's most gorgeous coastline (camper vans were back a la New Zealand styleeee)

One of the main reasons to go was to play our final round of golf together (for now) at Anglesea Golf Club (go Wales!) - the reason this course is played so heavily (and kept in such awesome condition with greens approaching Wentworth pace that just killed my short game) was because of a unique factor

As the bespectacled Antipodean genius Rolf Harris would say ... 'can you guess what it is yet?!'

James 'Crocodile Dundee' Rouse ...

Docking alongside one ...

This one gave me a strange stirring in a Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit way ... (I know but I swear it was batting it's eyelids at me!)

I just love these boinging little buggers (my new favourite animal) and at one point I was forced to pitch over a few to reach the green - they added a really camera sharpening edge to golf and clearly put me off - because for the record Rousey completed his demolition of me and took our series 3-0 - in my defence I'm not at my best when duffing chips and whacking putts having spent the last 5 months climbing mountains!

Here's a shot taken on my camera's delay function shortly before Rousey nailed a drive round the corner of the dogleg, nestled a wedge on the green and rolled his lag putt up to kick in distance - now off 26 he's pretty formidable - this boy could beat Richie Statham - I just wish he didn't put my tips into such great use against ME - by the way - the ocean's just behind us (you could see it if the camera wasn't placed on a railway sleeper) - and leafy Anglesea was a joy - I'm also not that great at golf in one of Rousey's borrowed, tight polo shirts!

It was even better to drink beer, chat about old times, soak up the view and get this kind of incredible sunset that you can only get in these huuuuge countries where the land mass stretches forever and the weather gets a chance to stabilise - it was of course followed by yet another look at the Milky Way (of everything beautiful that I'm seeing it's always the best)

The next day we were up and at 'em winding (literally and puky feeling) our way down the Great Ocean Road to Fairhaven, Lorne and Apollo Bay - crashing surf, thick rainforest, koala bears (Tracker Rouse did it again Swifty), mind the kangaroo road signs and dirt, unsealed roads - Rousey was a real legend in driving me round so much of his adopted patch (cheers pal) - the highlight of the day had to be seeing the legendary Bells Beach - this place is a mecca for surfers (of which we saw some Surf Foxes) and sits at the end of a bumpy road shaped like a cove (as all great Australian beaches seem to be) - no Starbucks, no Quiksilver shop, no toilets even - just the ocean and it's followers - this beach was the one at the end of Point Break when Patrick Swayze's Bodie paddles out never to come back having bailed on some enormous wave - remember it? - the truth is - that was Hawaii - but this was even more cool!

I commuted for a day into Melbourne just before Rousey and I headed south and had a fantastic time checking out another top city - so much to see and do - I saw Ned Kelly's armour in the most atmospheric Victoria State Library (the best except New York's) - Ned Kelly was one of Australia's bushmen that did the same kind of bad stuff as USA's Billy the Kid dudes (I've been in Australia too long clearly) - not the cleanest club in the bag, Ned Kelly covered his head, body and arms in armour and walked out towards the good guys - who promptly shot him in the legs (doh!), strolled over, picked him up and hanged him!














Melbourne's very cosmo as I'm sure the last blog pointed out - so cosmo in fact that while I was there it hosted the Game On exhibition at the Australian Museum of the Moving Image - this exhibition was a collaboration between the AMMI and The Barbican in London - it showcased (and let you play) all the video games since they began - I had the best time discovering new, old games (Rez on Playstation 2 comes to mind) and playing classics (Goldeneye on Nintendo 64) - Mario nestled in nicely alongside Melbourne's architecture ...




















And before I knew it two weeks were up, love was passed to the family Rouse (that's pronounced Roose to be perfectly correct) and I was on train headed inland past Canberra (but not to it) and ended a long day (brilliantly serviced by Countrylink) in Sydney ...