Our trip
Firstly, thank you again to you all for making this trip possible, we really did have a wonderful time. I have also put a few photos in the 'Galleria fotografica'
Japan
Our journey began with an overnight stop at Heathrow, in a very comfortable hotel next to the airport, as our flight to Tokyo was early the next morning. The 12 hour flight went very smoothly and we arrived in Japan just as the sun was coming up.
Japan is an amazing country, and we loved every minute. People are so kind and helpful, the food is delicious and everything is very clean and super organised although it can be confusing at times trying to find your way around. There are so many interesting and beautiful places to visit and the 12 days flew by.
The first night we were taken out to a restaurant by Francesco's Japanese associates, where we tried so many delicious things including sashimi, pickled vegetables, dried shark fin, a type of Japanese pizza amongst other things. We spent the next few days visiting the city - temples,the imperial palace, gardens, the fish market, the Sky tower, food markets or otherwise just soaking up the atmosphere.
One thing that continued to surprise us were the toilets! Not only were there always plenty of super clean public toilets, but each came with a selection of buttons, where you could choose to heat the seat, have flushing 'music', and even a choice of bidet. Some would flush as you stood up, some would lift the seat up as you opened the door! Another surprising thing we found was that you were not allowed to smoke anywhere outside except in designated areas, but there was no problem in restaurants and hotels!
Next stop was Hakone, which is very close to Mount Fuji. It was not really the best time of year to go and visit, since it is the monsoon season and so generally quite cloudy, we were told it would be highly unlikely that we would be able to see it at all. We decided to go anyway and booked ourselves a night in a Ryokan (a traditional Japanese Inn) with an Onsen (hot spring). First big difference when you arrive is that you don't have a bed and secondly you have a personal maid, who serves you dinner and breakfast in your room, and prepares your bed, a futon, which is stored in the cupboard during the day. We had a bathroom, but bathing is often done at the Onsen and comes with full list of etiquette. We went for a dip in the outside hot pool, which had fantastic views over the mountains. Dinner and breakfast were amazing, with many different dishes, most of which were very tasty, although I found it quite difficult to eat fish first thing in the morning.
In the evening we went out in search of beer, but only found one tiny bar that was open, yet noone in it except the owner. We decided to go in and after a short time, we were offered a small portable karaoke machine. Niether Francesco or I are good at singing or interested in Karaoke, however we found ourselves singing away to various songs only because they was absolutely no one around, just the poor owner who had to suffer!
The next day we went on a trip in the nearby area in the hope we would see a glimpse of Mount Fuji. It started with a train ride up the mountain then cable car acrossthe mountains down to a lake, then boat trip and after a short walk through the cedar forest back by bus. It was very beautiful and we were so lucky that the clouds cleared when we were on top of the mountain, that we were able to get a good view of Mount Fuji.
We arrived later than expected in Takayama, a small town in the Alps on the west side of Japan as unfortunately we got on the wrong train. It so happened that two trains were going to the same place from the same platform just 3 minutes apart. One was the fast train and the one we got of course was the slow train, which then caused us to miss our connection. It wouldn't have been much of a problem only that we'd arranged to stay with a Canadian couple through Airbnb and they were coming to pick us up at the station. We manged to get a message to them and in the end it wasn't a problem. We had a great stay in Takayama, which is a nice little town, full of old wooden buildings, interesting shops and sake breweries.
A trip to Japan is not complete without a visit to Kyoto, a place full of tradition where even the Japanese go to learn about their culture. There are a large number of temples, although we only went to visit two, both were very impressive, the first is one of the oldest temples and has two large dragons painted on the ceiling. The second is perched on a hillside surrounded by trees and a waterfall where people line up to drink the water that is believed to bring good health and long life.
Kyoto is the home of the 'Geiko and Maiko' or perhaps better known as Geisha. The first being fully qualified and the latter an aprentice. Geisha are highly skilled entertainers, they spend five years learning about traditional arts, including dance, singing and tea ceremony. All of which we were able to see at a cultural show, as actually being entertained by Geisha is very expensive.
Whilst in Kyoto we walked around a lot of the city, through the food market, which I found a bit disappointing as I had expected to be able to try more things. Often the food halls in big department stores are good places to try various bits and pieces, but again they weren't giving away much. We had been able to try many things in Tokyo and also Hakone. We wandered around the shops, which were overflowing with stuff, but actually little that I wanted to buy.
On our last night in Kyoto and our one month anniversary we decided to try and find a restaurant that our hotel had recommended to us. Two girls went out of their way to help us find the restaurant, then the young waitress spent half the evening at our table trying to translate the menu and also pratise her English. People were so friendly and kind.
Osaka was our final stop in Japan which is another very large city, where we got lost on a couple of occasions. We didn't have lots of time to visit the city but decided to go and see the 'floating garden' which is a little misleading because in fact there is no garden and it is not floating. There is a rather scary suspended escalator takes you up the final 4 floors to a kind of suspended ring on the 40th floor that you can walk around to get some good views of the city. We also went to visit the castle, which was very nice surrounded by lovely gardens and a large moat. We really had a fabulous time in Japan, but it was time for our next adventure..
NZ
We were certainly glad to arrive in Auckland, having had terrible turbulence in the last couple of hours of our 12 hour flight from Japan. Even though we knew that it was something normal and perfectly safe, it is not a pleasant experience being shaken up and down like crazy for an hour or so. Unfortunately the pilot couldn't do anything about it either because there was another plane in our flight path. It certainly was a relief to be on the ground. We arrived early in the morning having had no sleep but keen to make the most of our time in New Zealand, we hired a car and set off straight away. The weather was fantastic considering it was winter, 18 degrees and very sunny. Perfect as I hadn't brought many winter clothes.
We decided to go towards Waitomo about 2 hours south of Auckland. Along the way we stopped at a place where we could see the kiwis, they are endangered, nocturnal birds so there are few places where you can go and see them, and even then it's quite difficult as they like to sleep a least 20 hours a day! Once they're up and about they run around quite fast looking for something to eat with their long beak. They have tiny wings (they can't fly) and feathers that look like fur and very cute. We were also able to see various other native birds, before contining on to Waitomo, where you can see hundreds of glow worms that light up the caves like stars.
By the time we had done all that, it was about 4pm so thought that we could continue on our way to Rotorua perhaps stopping the night along the way. This was so that we could try and cram in as much as we could in three days before returning to Auckland. However there were two problems with the plan, one we were very tired having been 12 hours on a plane without sleep and the second I had forgotten how unpopulated New Zealand is. The road turned out to be a very windy road over the hills and through beautiful countryside, but all the 'towns' that were marked on the map were nothing more than a couple of houses. It started to get dark and we were desperate to stop for the night, yet it was just more hills, gorges and a lack of people. We decided to head towards a town that was marked in bold on the map, but when we arrived there we found a lot of houses, but the centre of town only had a supermarket and a takeaway shop.They directed us to hotel a few kms down the road which we found to be full. It was becoming a real problem and the only real solution was to continue on our way. The closest town was Taupo, in the middle of the North Island on a lake, also the place where I did my sky dive 13 years ago. We found a great motel which included a spa bath and lake view. We were given vouchers for a free drink at the nearby restaurant, although by the time we were ready to go over there at 8.45pm the kitchen had already closed! By this time it was quite chilly and didn't fancy the walk into the centre of town, but it was worth it as we had an excellent dinner and were given a free baileys to enjoy by the fire.
We were up fairly early to go for a walk along the lake and stopping in a couple of shops along the way. Next stop Rotorua, a town situated in a thermal area, full of hot springs, geysers and bubbling mud pools. Infact just driving along the road on our way there, you could see steam everywhere. It's also the place to see the Maori culture. We went to a small Maori village, which was built on a thermal area as they also make use of the steam and hot pools during their daily life, for washing, cooking and heating. Of course this comes with problems as houses sometimes collapse or holes open up in the ground. It was a very interesting visit and also saw the Maori dances including the famous war dance 'the Haka'.
At this point it started to rain, and then continued to rain on and off for the remainder of our stay, thankfully though we always seemed to miss it somehow.
We set off again to go towards Auckland where we were going to meet my good friend, Jess, who I have known since I was 10 years old. It was too far to get all the way back so we stopped in a large town by the sea called Tauranga. We had another excellent dinner and a few drinks at a bar with live music. The next day a quick walk around Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano by the sea.
Back in Auckland we met up with Jess and some her friends for drinks and a bite to eat. On our last day we went out with Jess to see some of NZ's native forest and wild beaches just north of Auckland, then a walk around the city. Of course time was too short in New Zealand, but we'll go back again some time in the future.
Samoa
The 3 hour flight went very smoothly apart from a fairly worrying moment when the pilot asked the cabin crew to abandon duties and take their seats. However the turbulence was just like a bumpy road compared with the rollercoaster ride we'd had on the previous flight.
We went to collect our bags and were welcomed by a group singing and playing some local music in the luggage claim area! The airport was about 30 minutes from Apia, so we jumped in a taxi and as the sun was setting we followed the road along the coast. The villages along the way were a hive of activity, mostly everyone was out playing rugby! We even saw the some of the police out dancing. Most of the house are made of wood, often completely open...not much crime here, I guess that's why the police were dancing – they didn't have anything to do!
Apia is the capital 'city' although barely bigger than a small town, with only a couple of buildings taller than two storeys. The centre has a few shops, a market and then at the far end there is the harbour where all the 'nightlife' is. However when we first arrived it was already dark, there were not a lot of street lights and not a lot of people, infact the whole place seemed deserted and it was only about 7pm in the capital city! We found a place to eat, and then a bar nearby for a drink after , but were surprised to find that everything closes at 10pm. This is because a couple of years ago they decided to change from driving on the right to driving on the left, so they had a temporary curfew while people got used to the change, but after everyone seemed quite happy with it so it just continued.
The next day we set off for the other side of the island to have some beach time and relaxation. We'd been moving so much and doing so much, we were looking forward to staying put for a couple of nights. The beach at Lalomanu is supposedly the best on the island, with white sandy beaches and palm trees, the typical postcard picture. Even though it was their busiest beach, there were only a couple of places to stay and a handful of tourists. There was the cheap place and the more expensive place, the cheap place was full so we stayed in the expensive place, in a nice fale (beach hut) about 10m from the beach. Most places both here and on the islands in Fiji, oblige you to have breakfast and dinner in their restaurant. This is mainly because there is actually nowhere else to eat. We all ate at the same time, then spent the evenings playing pool, chatting or reading.
On the last day here we went on a trip to see an extinct volcano (they are all extinct on Samoa), which didn't actually look much like a volcano, but a crater full with trees. Our guide told us various stories and explained how the village chief is still very important in Samoa, probably more so than the police. In Fiji it is similar as we found out the police had to ask permission to the village chief to take a man to the police station. After our walk we watched a guy climb a palm tree to collect the coconuts, he was up and down within just a couple of minutes, and we were able drink the fresh coconut water. Then it was our turn, it's certainly not as easy as it looks and none of us got more than a few feet off the ground. Coconuts are so important to people in Samoa, they say that if you want to survive in Samoa you must know how to climb a coconut tree!
It was a nice place but we wanted to move further down the coast to see a slightly different part of the country. Samoa is a small but beautiful country, with hills and jungle that cover most of it, and a few villages scattered along the fabulous coastline that is made up of white sandy beaches, clear blue sea, black volcanic rock and jungle, which makes quite a contrast. The small village that we moved to was in the place where the Tsunami hit in 2009, causing complete devastation. They have rebuilt so much and replanted trees, but you can still see some of the damage that it did, including the reef which is starting to recover. There is still a lot of sadness though, and a lot of people who escaped rebuilt their homes on top of the hill..I don't blame them, I 'm surprised they rebuilt anything by the sea, it must have been terrifying.
By this time the weather was starting to change, the wind had picked up, and the clouds were moving in. We were given a choice, we could stay in the very basic and flimsy fales, which actually look very nice and cosy considering they were made of a wooden frame and palm leaves for the roof and walls, although the very basic bathroom was over the road. The other option was to stay in a very basic concrete block with ensuite bathroom. Had it been hot and sunny the fale would've been great, but with a storm brewing, we opted for the more solid concrete block. It then began to pour with rain and basically didn't stop for three days, so we were quite pleased to have our ensuite bathroom and windproof walls.
The first night was not so peaceful though as during the night I was attacked...by large centipedes!!! I woke up to find four or five of them crawling over me and the bed! They had made their way under the door and then had marched straight up the sheet that was lying partly on the floor. I was careful each night after that to tuck the sheet into the bed, but I never saw another one in the room.
Thankfully the next day I didn't have anything much to do after a fairly sleepless night and it was still POURING with rain. We spent most of the day going from our balcony to the restaurant and back. We went for a short walk in the rain, when it was not pouring, just for something to do. Francesco found a coconut, although he didn't make use of his newly acquired skills and went for one that had already fallen on the ground. He then spent the next hour trying to pull the outer layer apart with his hands (we really didn't have very much to do) and when he finally succeeded the kind owner cut it open so that we could eat it.
That evening the local people put on a show, so we could see some of the traditional dances, including the Fiafia fire dance. It was a great evening and quite a lot of people came although I'm not sure from where as we were in a tiny village. We got talking to a number of people, including a Samaon lady who lives in America with a three grown up children, but decided to come over so that her eldest daughter could have her tattoos done. It is very important in Samoan culture and both men and women usually have a large amount of tattoos, often even on the face. The men are usually covered from the waist to the knees. It's often done (but not always now) with traditional tools, like bone and turtle shell, which is very painful and cause the tattoo to be bumpy, but to not finish them would bring shame to all the family.
The next day was Sunday and we awoke to more rain. After a good breakfast we were invited by the owners to go to church!! It is another very important part of Samoan life and they generally dress up in their Sunday best, women usually in white and a number wearing hats, men often in a shirt and lavalava, a type of sarong with pockets. The church was segregated with children at the front, men in the middle and women at the back. It was a nice, if somewhat long service, with some beautiful singing. After the church service it is typical to have a big Sunday lunch, so we went past the house of the owner's brother, where they had been cooking all morning, to pick up our lunch. It was a traditional Samoan lunch, with a delicious coconut cream wrapped in a leaf, tala which is like a large potato, a piece of fish, then some smashed up meat and bones mixed with a kind of cabbage.
By this time it was getting near the end of our trip in Samoa, so we had to think about returning to Apia for our flight to Fiji. The morning we were due to leave the sun came out and we decided to go to see 'the trench' which was about 10km down the road. It is basically two large holes in the ground surrounded by lovely gardens , that go down to sea level, one of which had water in the bottom and was connected underground to the sea. It was beautiful clear blue water that you could swim in.
In order to get to the trench it was suggested that we hitchhike, since there are only about two roads in Samoa, not a lot of traffic, buses few and far between and quite normal to do so. I have found this on other islands too. On our way there we got a lift within less than a minute, but having been sitting around for the previous two days because of the rain, we prefered to walk back. It was fairly hilly, passing through small villages where the young children would shout 'bye' every time we went past. It was interesting to see some of the village life, although it started to rain a bit, but after a few minutes it passed. A couple of cars passed by, but we continued to walk. Being a small island in the middle of the ocean, the weather changes quite rapidly, and before we knew it we were in one big grey cloud and it was POURING with rain again. We tried to shelter a little bit, only because we had the camera and all our documents with us. In the end we got absolutely drenched from head to toe, it took us a couple of hours to get back and just as we arrived back at our place the sun came out!
On our final day in Samoa, back in Apia, we hired a taxi for 3 hours who promised to take us to see some turtles, I'd got the impression that they'd be walking up the beach, but instead they were in a turtle pond. We also stopped to see a small museum, that was very informative with everything about Samoan flora and fauna, culture and history written in English. Then onto see Robert Louis Stevenson's house, he was the author of Treasure Island and Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde amongst others. He was Scottish but moved to Samoa and fell in love with the place. He was very well respected as he was the only European to support them when they wanted independence.
We had a great time in Samoa, even if the weather was quite as we had hoped. The people were really so friendly often coming up to us just to talk, some even thanking us for coming to visit their country.
Next stop Fiji...
Fiji was not quite as eventful as the other places we went to, partly because we had less time there, partly because we didn't want to do anything and partly because generally people go to Fiji to make the most of the beautiful small islands where there isn't actually much to do except sit on the beach. In fact Fiji is made up of hundreds of islands, which made choosing an island quite difficult. We found a fantastic place called Octopus resort on Waya island about 1.5hours by boat from the mainland and it was just what we needed after an amazing but exhausting trip up until this point. In most places we'd mostly spent only 1 or 2 nights, so we were looking forward to 4 days of complete relaxation.
After a night in Nadi, we took a bus, then boat that went directly to our resort, and we were welcomed by a group of locals who were singing and playing music, as we arrived on the beach we all had to shout out 'Bula!'
Waya island is a small island, but not tiny, as there are in fact four villages dotted around it, one of which was near to our resort, where most of the workers lived. We were told that we could not just wander around the island or visit the villages without special permission.
The Octopus resort was quite a big, luxurious and very organised place, and like in Samoa, meals were all included, the food was excellent and it was hard not to eat too much. Breakfast was a massive buffet of sausages, eggs, bacon, then cakes and pastries amongst other things. Lunch you could choose something from the menu, like salad or a burger, then dinner was whatever they decided to cook that night. It was served in the dining 'hall' where the floor was all sand. Tables were shared so it was easy to meet people, in fact we met a lot of people and made a number of new friends.
Apart from the dining hall and bar area, there was a pool table, a swimming pool and the 'coconut beach bar' which and the whole area was covered in decking, then scattered around it and along the beach there were a variety of small bungalows. Ours was directly on the beach, the room was decorated with flowers daily, and included an ensuite bathroom with open air shower, then on the terrace there was a couple of comfy chairs, and on the beach in front a hammock, sunbeds and a shade It was certainly very comfortable.
The beach of course was beautiful, another typical postcard picture. It was in a small bay, and the reef came practically to the beach, so when the tide went out all you could see all the coral. This made it great for snorkelling as you didn't have to go very far, in fact it was the only time that I have really felt comfortable going snorkelling, which we did a number of times. We saw some really amazing fish, and Francesco even got to swim with a turtle, unfortunately we didn't find Nemo!
Since there wasn't anything else apart from the beach and the resort, they also organised various activities to keep us entertained. Francesco went on a snorkelling trip to go and see the Manta Rays, but unfortunately he didn't see any at all, then he went on a fishing trip where they were more successful as they came back with a massive fish. In the meantime I tried some traditional weaving and spent the rest of the time taking it easy. Another time we did a very short cookery course, where we made just one dish, 'Kokoda' marinated fish and fresh coconut cream, delicious!
In the evening they also provided entertainment, on the first night we took part in a quiz and talent show. It was great fun, and we got to know a lot of people as we teamed up with people on our table, who were mixed nationalities, Irish, Kiwi, UK, Aussie. We did pretty well on the quiz, then to finish we had 15 minutes to think of and practise some kind of talent. Since we had a couple of kiwis on our table we decided to try doing the 'Haka' war dance that they usually do at the start of the rugby games. From out of nowhere someone gave us some of the traditional grass skirts, so Francesco and the guys dressed up in them and we tried to do something that resembled the original Haka. However, we lost to the Swedish team who did a very simple dance, but got everyone involved. It was all good fun though.
Then there was a Fijian night, where we started with a traditional dinner and then there was a show where the staff sang and danced. The singing was really amazing, the last couple of dances they got us all dancing around the pool. After we were able to go and drink some Kava, which is made froma root, tastes like muddy water and has a kind of an anaesthetic effect making your mouth numb.
On our last night in Fiji, we booked to have a lobster dinner on the beach, it was only really half a lobster dinner, because I had chicken, but it was great. They set up the table on the beach just outside our bungalow and then brought over each course. We had a great and much needed relaxing time in Fiji in preparation for our long journey home :-(
Hong Kong
We certainly had a long journey to reach Hong Kong, starting with a 1.5 hour boat journey over rough sea, 30 minute bus ride, 4 hours in the airport, 3 hours to New Zealand, 2 hours in the airport and then 12 hour flight to Hong Kong, (which was also four hours behind, making the day even longer) where we arrived first thing in the morning ready for a day of sightseeing!! We'd booked ourselves into a very comfortable 5 star hotel on Hong Kong island, which was much appreciated as we were able to get a fantastic night's sleep, before another day of sightseeing and a long journey home. It's always more difficult for me as I don't usually manage to sleep much on the plane.
The airport is about 40 minutes from the Hong Kong Island, and you have the option to either get the fast train or the bus. We decided to opt for the bus, which I would highly recommend as the journey is amazing. Hong Kong is made up of lots of hilly islands, covered in forest, which are then connected by a series of large suspension bridges, with numerous skyscrapers filling in every possible space. I have never seen so much shipping before, there were containers everywhere and hundreds of ships around the harbour. It was incredible.
After dropping off our stuff at the hotel and a quick shower we were ready to go out and see the city. We decided to go up to the highest point which meant taking the funicular tram up the very steep hill to the peak where we were able to get some excellent views over Hong Kong.
Another amazing thing about Hong Kong was the number of elevated walkways, in fact there was a huge network of them all over the city that went in and out of numerous shopping centres.You could practically walk from one end to the other without actually setting foot on the ground.
I had always regretted not seeing the pandas in China, and found that they had some other the other side of the island, in a kind of theme park, not ideal but I was still keen to see them. It was called Ocean park and it was quite an incredible place as it was built on two sides of a hill, which were connected by a fantastic cable car ride that gave great views over the South China sea . The park was packed with stuff to see and do, with every creature from the sea, sharks, dolphins, jelly fish etc, rollercoasters and animal parks including the panda enclosure.There were several pandas, although all asleep or hidden away inside. They certainly slept in what looked like some quite uncomfortable postions. Later on we went back and saw one eating some bamboo. We didn't have lots of time to see many things, but we stopped to see the jellyfish, a red panda (more like a fox) some monkeys and then it was about time to go to to the airport with a quick stop on the terrace of our hotel to have a drink while watching the sun go down.
We arrived at the train station, and were surprised to find that we could already check in our bags just as if we were at the airport. It seemed slightly strange, and a little concerned that they would actually arrive in time, but we had nothing to worry about, they are super organised. We had a long but smooth flight back and by this point pleased to be back home.
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