Aug 2007

The first thing you notice about Tokyo is the humidity, the second... oh, I've done that line already. OK it's cooler now, so I can stop whinging and shower less. About 20 years ago a friend of mine complained that he could not practice his Japanese in Japan, because everyone he met wanted to practice their English. These people have moved away since then. I am a stranger in a strange land. The strange thing is that there is English all around, in advertising, on T shirts, in restaurants, it's just that hardly anyone speaks or understands it. Luckily the Japanese seem a friendly and tolerant people, and so far I have got by with pointing and miming. I am also surprised by the lack of foreign tourists here. Walking down a busy street, or on a crowded train, I am often the only caucasian face in the crowd. It is only when you go to a really touristy place that you will find a few more westerners. The plus side of all this is that Japan hasn't had it's culture destroyed by globalisation. Yes McDonalds is here, but it is far outnumbered by traditional food outlets (even if I have no idea what they are selling). My overall impression of Tokyo is that although it is a modern brash city, in it's details it is still quite sweet. The manhole covers have pretty pictures on them, schoolchildren dress like schoolchildren, even in KFC they bow as they hand you a tray of crap. Think how great it would be if I could actually communicate with someone

I think that it is fair to say that my planning for Australia would not exactly constitute a masterclass. However, by sheer luck I landed on my feet on Magnetic Island. It was virtually my only choice of destination after Port Macquarie (which, following accusations of whinging from my wife, I will gloss over), but it turned out to be a little slice of paradise. The accommodation was as good and well-priced as anywhere, there was a restaurant on site which served good reasonably priced food, and a bar with a happy hour. You could walk five minutes down the road to the main beach, or take a half hour hike to one of two secluded bays (see photo gallery). The only downside was that the dawn chorus was earsplitting and started at 6:00am, as I discovered after crawling into bed at 3:00am on my first night there. I also finally realised my dream (maybe that's too strong a term) of seeing a wild Koala. It was about a hundred yards off and consequently looked like a ball of grey fur in a tree, but it was definately a wild Koala. If you find yourself on Magnetic Island go to Bungalow Bay, it's way better than Arcadia.

The $10 minibus ride from the airport was scary, and misleading. Scary because the little chinese lady driving was a maniac, and misleading because it seemed that we drove miles from the centre of Sydney before arriving at the hostel. I was a bit taken aback to find that the hostel was in King's Cross, a district with a reputation similar to it's namesake in London. However, apart from a few strip clubs and adult shops, King's Cross seems quite a respectable area. I'd certainly rather walk alone around there in the small hours than I would most parts of London. Once I'd got the hang of the layout of Sydney I realised that the hostel was in walking distance of all of the sights, indeed the central part of Sydney is all easily walkable.
Sydney is a very pleasant, laid back city and whilst I was there the weather was perfect. There's no one trying to hustle you on the streets, and it's not an expensive place either. In short probably the nicest city I've visited on this trip. I did all the tourist sights, but decided to forgo the opportunity to walk across the top of the bridge for a mere $180.
I seem to have made a bit of a cock-up by choosing to travel by train here, as the services are very infrequent and don't seem to go to the places I want to go to. Never mind, I'll know next time. Eventually I found somewhere that the train stops and I can afford the accommodation, so Port Macquarie here I come.

What a fabulous place New Zealand is, no wonder they put it so far away. If it was any nearer the place would be overrun. It's got mountains, Keas, snow, beaches, fjords, whales, seals, rivers, bungy jumping, jumping off anything, rainbows, sea, basically everything. It hasn't got traffic, a huge population. The country is so set up for touring, it's hard to go wrong. I must have made some kind of faustian pact about the weather for this trip, because despite the season it has been great while I've been here. I had one day where it rained all day, but most were sunny, and several were T-shirt days.
There's too much to see, and definately too much to do, but I have managed a complete circuit of the South Island in the 19 days I've had here. So that just leaves all the interior and the North Island for next time.
Off to the airport now to catch a flight to Sydney, I can only hope it's half as good.