Sadly my time in Japan has come to an end, I can't believe how quickly the time flew, but then I have only spent a week here as opposed to several weeks like in OZ and NZ. On Wednesday I spent most of the day updating this and going to the cinema, a theraptic day! I did also go to an archade where I played Mario Kart and took silly pictures of myself - sooo fun. Yesteday however was a bit more active! Holly had another day off so we went to Spa World! It was kind of a mix between spas I've been to in England, the ones in NZ and the baths in Sweden. For a start you had to be naked and segregated like in Sweden. Holly and I were there together 3 ... read more

Monday was a day trip with Holly, as it was her day off. We went to the famous Fushimi-inari tiasha, famous not by name perhaps, but the place is iconic and I recognised it as soon as I saw it. It's a hill/mountain, full of shrines, with walk ways lined with hundreds of red gates - torii, very very cool! We took lots of very touristy pictures. We both felt very old when our legs trembled at the effort of climbing all the steps, awesome anyway... In the evening we went to a Mexican restaurant, very japanese... I love Mexican though so I'll eat it anywhere!... read more

On my second day in Japan I headed out of the city to Himeji. However, for the entire hour's journey I didn't see a single patch of non-city, every single square inch was built up! Japan's population is over double that of the UK's, but I don't think they have double the space, so you can understand why it is so packed!. I think it also has something to do with the amount of inhospitable land full of mountains, people have to live in the flat parts. Himeji however was lovely, be it completely built up. The walk to its castle was a straight line from the station, which was easy enough. However, I was looking for a restaurant recomended in my guide book, so I scanned the streets for a sign saying "Me-n-me," forgetting that ... read more

So I got the kiwi bus to Auckland and met up with Nemo from the Lemmings - great to see a friendly familiar face! On Monday I got the bus up to Paihia, which is a beautiful little sea side town, but not as we know it. One evening I celebrated Australia Day on the beach with a camp fire! I walked up to the house where the Treaty of Waitangi, which is where a happy friendly agreement was signed between the Maori people and the Brits, Not much else to report though as I spent much of the time doing little jobs I had to do and going to the doctors and hospitals!　I'm fine, but still had to get some stuff sorted! Time for Japan...... read more

Rotorua is known for geothermal activity, i.e. geysers, bubbling mud, hot springs, quite unlike anything I have ever seen! Due to all this activity there is a lot of sulphur in the air, which means that the town stinks of fart. Seriously, it's quite disgusting, quite often a gust of wind will blow it right into your face. Jokes welcome. Some of the hotels use the hot pools etc to power their hotels, very interesting! With a friend, I went out to Waimangu Volcanic Valley. We took a boat trip around an Lake Rotomahana, which is made up of several craters formed in eruptions a hundred or so years ago. We then took a walk, with some hike aspects. through the rest of the volcanic landscape. There were disgusting looking white and yellow bubbling mud pools, ... read more