We were at the jetty right on time, having sussed out where it was the day before. After the mandatory safety briefing we headed out to sea! We took this opportunity to nap for there wasn't much to see but blue, blue ocean! Starting at the place they call the hotspot we spotted blows mere minutes after dropping into the canyon. One of the orcas broke water’s surface with their dorsal while the other hung low, their blows sweeping over the shallow swell lines. We waited patiently while they ducked below the waves maintaining a consistent 3-minute dive interval before resurfacing again. At first, we noticed just 3 then 4, then 10 and finally 12 individuals. The others must have been hiding underneath when we first saw the blows. The large pod had 3 young males ... read more

Tuesday 18th September 2018 By 9am we were on the road again, on our way home, but via Yorke, and probably Eyre, Peninsulas, spending about a week on each one. It was good to be on the road again, and by lunchtime we reached Port Clinton, the first town going south on the east coast of Yorke Peninsula. This looked like a good place for a family holiday with it's sheltered beach and shallow water but we continued on to Port Vincent, stopping at Ardrossan on the way. The caravan park we chose to stay at was right on the water's edge at Port Vincent, and only a short walk to the main street (aptly named Main Street) where there are a few shops and a hotel. As Judy has a lot of marking coming in ... read more

Friday 31st March Just after 0900hrs we were on the train headed for Narita, where we will spend our last 2 nights in Japan before heading home. We have become 'experts' using the train system and after only two transfers we covered about 750kms and arrived at our hotel at about 1500hrs. The Japan Rail Pass has certainly paid for itself over the last 3 weeks and we would recommend it to all travellers coming here. We had a booking at the Hedistar Hotel, the room here not as nice as the one we left in Aomori but ok for what we needed. One thing that was very lacking was the efficiency and pleasantness of the reception staff. There was only one person on duty, she was busy with another couple but didn't even acknowledge that ... read more

Wednesday 22nd March We had some time to kill before checking out of our little home so we visited Kyoto Towers, just around the corner. This is Kyoto's tallest structure, standing 131 metres tall with an observation deck at 100 metres. It was built in 1964 to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics, on top of another building and from here were views all over Kyoto. It was quite clear when we were up there but still the cloud and smog did affect the distance one could see. From the viewing area the size of the train terminal could really be appreciated. After being up there for about 15 minutes Rags could feel movement in the building, probably due to wind. Even though he knew this, he couldn't get the thought of an earthquake out of his ... read more

Thursday 16th March Kurume was chosen as our base town as it was in the most convenient spot to travel north, south or west. Getting here from Hiroshima was not without a few delays. After breakfast and the tidying of our BnB we made our way to the railway station where we said farewell to David and Helen, they are heading north before flying home. It was a little sad; we had a great time with them over the last 4 days. We made our way to where we thought our train was leaving for Kurume but the departure board made no mention of our train or the line it was running from. We were told in the past that Japan Rail never ran late but today they must have had a serious problem as trains, ... read more