Friday morning we left the hotel to make our way to Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, which to be honest, I only knew had a geyser and that was it. Turns out, it was a whole park dedicated to the natural hot pools formed by the volcanic activity prevalent in the area. One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the country was in Taupō, not far from here, and where we would later have lunch.

Earliest morning of them all, we had to be outside our hotel for pickup at 05:40. We met our Cheeky Kiwi guide, and made our rounds to other nearby hotels to grab the rest of our two-day travel family. It was us, a couple from LA that became our travel friends, four neighbours from Switzerland (originally from Portugal, Brazil, and Italy), one from Hong Kong, and one from the Philippines. So quite the eclectic little group.

Another early morning, up at six so we could grab brekkie in the hotel restaurant when it opened and then onto the ferry at half seven. And I thought I might get a chance to sleep in whilst on holiday.

Tuesday morning, and I’m feeling the repercussions of not listening about the sunscreen. After a quick breakfast we head out to a local grocery store so I can buy some, because we will absolutely need it today.

Today was our first real day here. Our flight from Brisbane to Auckland yesterday was delayed a bit, so by the time we got to AKL, it was closer to 18:00* local time. But then we had to make our way through immigration, collect luggage, and then proceed through customs and bio-screening to make sure we weren’t bringing anything harmful into the country and local ecology, and they’re pretty serious about it. Bringing in an undeclared banana could cost you $400.

Currently in the Vancouver airport waiting for the long flight. Our journey started today at 16:15* when our taxi picked us up and dropped us off at the airport. I had the day off, which was a good thing since I had a few last minute things to take care of, including boarding Lizzy. I’m going to try and not be a nervous cat dad sending his kid off to camp for the first time, but I felt so bad leaving her there.

Today was my last full day in Japan. I can’t believe I’ve been here this long, it feels like ages ago that I arrived. But time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. All in all I’m glad I came, I’m glad for the experiences I had despite the weather, and I’m excited to visit again some day in the future.

Not much to say about the hotel this morning. Woke up, made my way upstairs to the chaos that was a large free-for-all buffet, finished packing up, and made my way to the lobby to check out by ten for my train at 10:44.

This morning I woke up and had breakfast, much as usual. Check-out wasn’t until ten and the tour group had a pre-arranged taxi for me at 10:20, so after breakfast I wanted to have another soak in the rotenburo. Though as I was getting ready, the front desk called. It had started raining last night and continued into today. I didn’t think anything of it since I would be taking the taxi to the train station and then onwards. But since we were in a remote section of the island in the mountains, whenever there are heavy rains, they cancel the local services due to landslides. And that included my train that I had purchased yesterday.

This morning was a relaxing morning. Which I needed. My calves were surprisingly stiff yesterday. Surprising because they weren’t stiff the day before after I hiked up the 900m. Either it skipped a day, or because last night was the first night my accommodations didn’t have an onsen. Maybe they really are magical… at least in the making your body feel good kind of way.

While I’ve enjoyed my time in Japanese-style inns, sleeping on a tatami mat and partaking in the communal baths, there was a very large part of me that was happy to find I was staying in a Western-style hotel tonight.

Today I thought I was going to die. Not literally, and not in a heat stress kind-of-way. I was under tree-cover almost the entire walk which made the temperature somewhat bearable, though no less humid.

This morning was a much needed rest. I had breakfast, packed my bags, and relaxed until my taxi came. Because this is an abridged tour, and I don’t have time to visit all 88 temples, the tour group had already arranged for a taxi to jump me to the next trailhead. But because of my call yesterday, this taxi made a brief stop at the next temple on my list so I could pay my respects and get my nokyo shuin. From there we continued the remainder of the 45 minutes to the next day’s accommodation, the Kamiyama Onsen Hotel.

N.B. I was in a mood when I wrote this, so it will differ from the rest of my posts somewhat. Additionally, some of the more interesting photos would have been within the temple grounds. But as those are active places of worship, it is rude to take photos. So I’ve tried to make due with what interesting sights I could outside of the temples themselves.

As I embark on a long journey from Osaka to Bando via four different trains and multiple hours of travel time, I can’t help but be reminded of this poignant quote. Gazing out the window at the rural Japanese countryside flying by, it becomes abundantly clear how Hayao Miyazaki* found his inspiration for his films. In this moment, if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.

Due to the time zones and international date line, I lost a day. I left home Friday morning and arrived Saturday night. After getting out of customs and into the airport, I was amazed at just how hot and humid it was. The place is massive and so it took a bit to find where to buy tickets because there were a lot of different options. Google gave me a plethora of ways to get to the hotel, and after skipping Friday and not sleeping and how bloody hot it was I just went with the advice from Walk Japan to take the Haruko Limited Express to Shin-Osaka. I found that ticket machine and then had no idea how to go about buying it because that wasn’t exactly straight forward… Or maybe it was and I was just addled. Thankfully a really nice attendant, who spoke English perfectly offered to help me. I mention she spoke perfect English only because while I’m good at the “we don’t speak the same language let’s try to communicate anyway” shuffle, see previous comment about the weather and my likely delirious state.

As I sit here at PDX, waiting for my flight to Vancouver, BC (YVR), and thence to Osaka (KIX) I can’t help but feel a mix of anticipation and anxiety. My initial flight out of Portland was delayed, which has thrown a wrench into my carefully planned itinerary. However, the new times should still give me enough time to make my connection - if everything goes smoothly.