Japan Holiday – Brisbane to Tokyo – 3-5 January 2016

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Japan Holiday – Brisbane to Tokyo – 3-5 January 2016



We were so excited about going on our first holiday as a family for many years. It was so good to have Kerrie and Adam take 3 weeks out of their work time. Gemma, now 7 ½ is a fantastic age to take her to yet another new country. Kerrie has been so good at providing Gemma with so many new experiences. At her tender young age, Gemma has been to Fiji, the UK, France, Italy and many states of Australia. Now it’s Japan.



We left home at 7.00am. Kerrie & Gemma slept at our place and bought her cat and 2 guinea pigs for our house sitter to look after in addition to Adam’s 2 cats. Our Qantas flight left on time at 9.45am direct to Tokyo. It was a fantastic flight because we were travelling during the day arriving at 6.00pm local time (7.00pm Brisbane time).



On arrival to the very large Narita Airport, we boarded the executive bus to the doorstep of our Hotel Metropolitan in Ikebukuro. It was about 9.00pm when we arrived at the hotel. Gemma in particular didn’t take too long to go to sleep.



This was my birthday so what a birthday, one that I won’t forget for a very long time, thanks to my family. Over the last couple of days, I had phone calls and texts from all my family as well as great friends. Even though birthdays don’t mean as much as they used to after having 64 of them, it was lovely to hear from everyone, despite the fact that we were travelling. What a way to spend ones birthday.



The next day was our day to Mt Fiji. This was a day we have been waiting for. After a reasonably complex set of train trip, after having to wait for the opening of the office to swap our Japanese Rail (JR) Pass voucher for a weekly ticket, we travelled to Lake Kawaguchiko which is one of the 5 lakes in the region which is SW of Tokyo. Fujigoko is known as a lake resort area, where hiking, camping, fishing and snow sports are among the popular outdoor activities that can be enjoyed. There are also plenty of hot springs and museums found in the area, along with Fuji Q Highlands, one of Japan's most popular amusement parks with record breaking roller coasters. We saw this park alost at the end of our journey.



Among the lakes, Lake Kawaguchiko is the easiest to access and offers the most things to see and do, including viewing Mt Fuji.



It was great to have Adam with us as this was the 3^rd time he has been to Japan and he has been teaching himself to speak Japanese…and he is not too bad at it either. Adam and Kerrie worked out which trains to take so Tom and I sat back and followed. I liked it!!!! We used the JP Pass through to the last leg where we hopped onto a private rail system. While on this last leg we got our first glimpse of Mt Fuji. HOW SPECTACULAR WAS THAT.



It was a clear day, and the temperature was quite mild (12 degrees apparently). Many times we felt over dressed as we all had our winter coats. We saw this highest mountain peak, with its top covered in snow, peaking up above the flat plains which surrounded the mountain.



We arrived in Fujigoko at the end of our train journey. A Japanese man had befriended Tom and was very keen to help us with our plans. We chose the Red Line bus which took us to where we were wanting to go….with the help of our new-best-Japanese friend!



We decided to have lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant. It was fun ordering (with Adam’s help) our different dishes. It was back to the chop sticks which we were all pretty efficient at…including Gemma. The meal was interesting, and tasty…..noodles of course were a part of the menu.



We had no problems finding the Kachi Kachi Ropeway station. After a 30 minute wait we boarded the sky carriage. The Kachi Kachi Ropeway ascends to an observation point near the summit of Mount Tenjo, from where Lake Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji can be seen. The ropeway is one end point of the popular day hike to Mount Mitsutoge. We were not intending to hike at this time of the year.



The activities that were up the top of the base of Mt Tenjo were Kawarake throwing (for good luck), ringing the bell while looking at Mt Fiji, rubbing the rabbits foot for strong legs, and its head to increase your wiseness and visiting the Usagi shrine (where the rabbits are).



We had an incredible view of Mt Fuji from the top. We were so lucky with such a clear day. Gemma and Kerrie bought Tanuca (raccoon) dumplings with soya sauce and pork buns for all of us to try. Our intentions for this trip is to try as many Japanese flavours as possible.



After we had finished all that we wanted to do, we descended the mountain by Ropeway, jumped on the Red Line bus to go to the northern shore of Lake Kawaguchiko for an even better view of Mt Fuji. It was about 4.30pm by this stage.



We also visited the local cookie factory where we saw them baking the biscuits, most of which were in the shape of My Fuji. Very cool!!!!



We came to a spot where we thought could be a great viewing site and we were right. The sun was setting which made it even more spectacular. Many fantastic photos were taken including some taken by our very smart photographer Kerrie who asked Gemma and Adam to move in and out of her camera’s view while she took a panorama shot. Incredible!



And then suddenly Adam announced he felt like doing a hand stand in front of the view of Mt Fuji ….. which is what he did! Another incredible moment. Great photography by Kerrie again. Tom & I could see we were going to have many different experiences with having our adult children with us this trip, and we were really looking forward to it.



The sun was setting and Mt Fuji was changing by the minute. It was like visiting Ayres Rock in central Australia after seeing photos of it for years. It is always very different when you are actually there in real life.



In the dark we caught the bus back to the railway station and made the 2-hour train journey back to our hotel. We arrived at 9.00pm. Even though we promised ourselves that we wanted to try as many Japanese menus as possible, at this late stage we spotted a McDonalds and decided to go for it!!!!! It was quick, not bad and Gemma thought it was pretty good. We were back at the Hotel Metropolitan by 9.30m with a bottle of red wine in hand.



Tuesday 5 January 2016



It was a very relaxed morning which included catching a train to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It was beautiful. It took us several hours to wander through admiring the traditional Japanese garden section as well as the Bald Cyprus Forest which included aerial roots. We even saw a traditional tea house.



We then headed back to our hotel, having lunch at a traditional restaurant first before picking our bags up and catching the Bullet Train to Nagano and Yudanaka.

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