Week 19 - South Africa - Kenton on Sea to Cape Town

On Monday morning we headed back to Grahamstown via a public access road through a private game reserve. We saw some beautiful nyala, impala, water buck and warthogs. On the way back to Grahamstown we passed a large paddock where there was a donkey and a zebra who are known locally for being inseparable. At Grahamstown, we dropped off our luggage and the dogs at the house and then headed to Rhodes University for the Arts Festival where we had lunch and spent a pleasant afternoon visiting the art exhibitions.

On Tuesday morning we walked in the rain into town past some Central African crafts stalls to Avis to collect our rental car. Then we headed off on the next stage of our adventure to Storms River Mouth where we checked into a chalet which had a lovely verandah facing the beach. We saw a vervet monkey, a blue duiker and dassies on the way in. We walked past the restaurant along a path with spectacular views to the suspension bridge across the river mouth.

The next morning we woke up at 7.30 am and drew the curtains on to the verandah so that we could enjoy the view of the beach. We saw some dassies on the grass and the rocks and Keith went outside to get a closer look. He crumbled a slice of bread which made them all rush over to the patch of grass in front of our verandah. After breakfast we packed up the car. At first we drove back towards Storms River to get another look at the view from the Storms River Bridge. On the way we stopped at The Big Tree – a 36 metre tall Outeniqua Yellowood. We walked on to the Storms River Bridge with great views from both sides of the bridge but it was really windy, and we were glad to head back to the car.

We turned the car around and headed towards Sedgefield, past Plettenberg Bay and we stopped at Knysna for lunch. After lunch we decided to take a walk to the waterfront. To do this we had to walk through the car parks of some of the shopping centres next to the local minibus stand. There were a few local stalls there and a few Rastafarian-style black males loitering around. We saw a couple of them smoking marijuana through a hollowed out carrot! We walked along the waterfront looking at the shops. It was only a short drive to Sedgefield after that and we found the corner cottages (purchased by Grandpa Hockly in the eighties) easily. After we checked into Wagtail Cottage we drove to the beach where we had a short walk around the headlands.

On Thursday morning, the alarm went off at 6.30 am and we drove to the Giant Kingfisher walk at the Ebb and Flow National Park. We saw Knysna Turaco Loeries in numbers, a kingfisher, and cormorants on our way up the river to the waterfall. We crossed the river on a pontoon at one stage. We arrived back at about 11.00 am and drove along the N2 and then the N12 past George and up the Outeniqua Pass, after waiting for a truck accident to clear, to Oudtshoorn. We walked up the main road looking at the old sandstone buildings and shops. We saw great (expensive) ostrich products and mounted animal heads and skins. After lunch we looked through the excellent CP Nel Oudtshoorn Museum with its history of the Ostrich booms and busts, and reconstructions of a pharmacy, general store, bank, dining room, bedroom and the old Jewish synagogue. There were also displays containing magnificent Ostrich feather costumes, firearms, mounted heads, fine porcelain and china, and musical instruments. Then we walked down to Le Roux Town House as the best example of a "feather palace" with amazing furniture and fittings. We drove back to Sedgefield with a beautiful Little Karoo sunset behind us.

On Friday morning we had another early start. We checked out of Sedgefield and headed down the N2 and made great time until the turn off at Heidelberg. There was heaps of mist which was really spectacular but a bit daunting to drive through. There were lots of beautiful green pastures filled with grazing sheep and cows and Keith took some photos of ostriches in the mist. As recommended by Keith's dad, we took a scenic detour off the N2 to Barrydale through a pass in the mountains, and then the wine country towns of Montagu, Ashton, Bonnievale, and Swellendam where we stopped for lunch. We arrived in Cape Town around 3.30 pm and settled into Paul and Robyn's (Keith's cousin) house at Mowbray.

The next morning we drove to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and parked in the secure car park. It was a beautiful sunny day but extremely windy. Table Mountain was swathed in cloud – known locally as the "tablecloth". We went to the craft markets first and then wandered around the Waterfront admiring the views of the dry dock, Table Mountain and the shops, but we only saw a solitary seal swimming through the docks. Then we walked into town and up St George's Mall and then Green Market Square. We walked through the Company Gardens which was the Dutch East India Company vegetable patch, where we saw some very tame giant squirrels and Egyptian geese with their goslings. Then we went into the Iziko SA National Art Gallery which we found disappointing (because we don't appreciate modern art) except for some great black and white photos of South African life in the past. We walked back down Long Street admiring many old buildings which have now been converted to lively bars and backpackers' hostels before reaching the car and driving home to Mowbray. We saw a Turkish bath at the top of Long Street and were accosted by many beggars.

Keith's cousin Teresa came over on Sunday morning and following Teresa's instructions, we drove to the start of the Platteklip Gorge trail up Table Mountain. We had expected it to be cold and windy and had prepared accordingly, but instead there was no wind and it was a clear and sunny day. The walk was a mainly vertical slog up steep rough-hewn stone steps and as we climbed we got very hot and sweaty. The views of Cape Town from the top were spectacular and we were entertained by a large group of fat happy dassies basking in the sun and munching on the greenery. After walking around the top, we ate our lunch, admired a peregrine falcon floating in the air, and then began the long climb back down the mountain. We were really glad that we had climbed up earlier in the day as by this time most of the trail was exposed to direct sun.

Then we went to Allie and Ann's (Teresa's parents) place via a scenic drive along the coast. We drove past Camps Bay and stopped at the wharf at Hout Bay where we saw seals frolicking near the pier. We drove inland to Constantia Nek and stopped at the Groot Constantia Vineyard for a quick look at the main house and cellar shop which featured beautiful whitewashed Cape Dutch gables. We had a lovely barbecue (braai) with steak, pork chops and three types of boerewors cooked on an open wood fire. After dinner we drove back to Paul and Robyn's place and to our relief we managed to find our way home easily.

Week 18 - South Africa – Johannesburg to Kenton on Sea

We landed an hour early on Monday morning at Johannesburg Airport feeling pretty good. The airport was really new and impressive. The atmosphere was really festive as there were a lot of World Cup spectators arriving wearing supporter shirts, hats and blowing vuvuzelas. After collecting our bags, we walked to the domestic terminal. We caught our flight to Port Elizabeth (PE) and met Lester and Toosie (Keith's second cousin) at the airport. We went back to their home for lunch before going for a drive around PE to see the beaches and some historic buildings, like the town hall and the pyramid dedicated to Lady Elizabeth Donkin. We saw hadeda ibises outside their home, the library, the university where Lester teaches and the pretty gorge where the river enters the sea. It was windy and a lot colder than we expected!

We woke to a cold rainy Tuesday morning in PE. After breakfast Toosie dropped us off at Walmer Park shopping centre where we bought biltong and drywors for Keith, undies for Suzie, warm clothing and wine. We caught a taxi (clapped out minibus used by the local coloureds and blacks) back to Lester and Toosie's. We helped Toosie prepare vegetables to have with Karoo lamb for dinner followed by apple crumble Toosie style. We drank the two bottles of wine that we bought – a cab sav and a pinotage. Glen and Hilary (Toosie's cousin) joined us and we had a great night only getting to bed after midnight.

On Wednesday, we went for a drive to the beach (Sardinia Bay). At the beach there were some huge sand dunes which had covered over the road and a car park so we had to park the car. We climbed up the dunes for a walk and while we were there, we saw a couple of guys wearing wetsuits carrying large bags. As we watched they unpacked large canvas sails and boards. They started pumping up what looked like a rib on one side of the sail. It turned out that they were kite surfers and were taking advantage of the wind. We watched them for a while and took a few photos and then rushed back to the car to get out of the cold wind.

The next morning, we woke up to a lovely warm sunny day which was a wonderful change from the last two days. After breakfast Toosie dropped us off at St George's Park. We walked through the park past a memorial to the fallen in the Anglo-Boer, Transkei, Basutholand and Bechuanaland wars. We walked behind the Fan stadium past some little food stalls and some reed and lily filled ponds. We talked to some mounted police who had been involved in transporting dolphins from PE to Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Then we went to meet Toosie who dropped us off on the promenade at the beach. We had a lovely walk along the promenade past a little craft market where there were some wonderful painted ostrich eggs, wood carvings, stone carvings, carved ivory tusks, wooden masks, copper masks, bead and wire sculptures, paintings, cushion covers, placemats and jewellery. One of the most unusual pieces was a mask made from a tortoise shell. An hour later, Lester picked us up and we went back to the house for lunch. Tibby (Keith's aunt) arrived just as we finished lunch and joined us for dessert. We said our goodbyes to Lester and Toosie and then headed for Grahamstown with Tibby. On the way we drove past a couple of game farms and we saw a lovely giraffe. On the way into Grahamstown, Tibby drove us past the Settlers' Monument to a vantage point from which we could see the whole of Grahamstown and Rhodes University. At Tibby and Geoff's rambling 1902 house we were greeted enthusiastically by Hector the bull mastiff and Pippin the dachshund.

We spent Friday morning in Grahamstown where we saw some magnificent buildings, confirmed our car hire at Avis and went to Pick n Pay where we bought some supplies to take to Kenton on Sea. Geoff returned from work after lunch and after he packed his case we all jumped in the combi for the forty minute drive to their house at Kenton on Sea. On the way we saw zebra, impala, wildebeest, blesbok, giraffe, ostriches and vervet monkeys. We arrived at Geoff & Tibby's beautiful house Windwoods, which had a panoramic view of the beach with a separate little "flat" containing a bedroom and a small toilet, bathroom and washstand for us. We went for a walk with the dogs along the coast overlooking rock pools.

Our alarm went off at 6.30 am on Saturday morning and we got up, showered and closed up our backpacks. We closed up our little flat and joined Tibby and Geoff in their kitchen for a cup of tea and a rusk. Then we said goodbye to the sad dogs and headed off to Addo Elephant Park. An hour later, we arrived at Nanaga Farm Stall where we stopped for a hearty breakfast. We saw quite a bit of game on the way to Addo – monkeys, eland, kudu, hartebeest and zebras. At Addo we saw grazing kudu and warthog, a jackal feeding on the carcass of a small antelope and various groups of elephants. One group of elephants had a very small baby in tow which they were protecting. We saw another elephant uprooting shrubs to eat the roots. We went back to the main entrance and reception area and had a look at the souvenir shop and a display which included the stuffed head of Hapoor (a large bad tempered bull elephant). After a late lunch in the picnic area, Geoff drove us to The Colonial B&B just outside Addo town. We were each given a lovely bedroom with a large sitting room and bathroom.

On Sunday morning we had a fantastic breakfast at the Colonial B & B, then we drove back to Kenton in beautiful weather to drop off our gear before heading out to Stanley's restaurant with views over the Kariega River to join Buzz, Marion, Bruce, Pippa, Angus and Caro for lunch. We had a wonderful lunch washed down with Chocolate Block (Shiraz, Grenache, Cab Sauv, Cinsaut, Viognier) red wine. We got some shots of a couple of Crowned Hornbills and headed off to Buzz Bowker's (related to Keith through his great grandmother) home for liqueurs including a memorable Irish Mist. We drove back to Windwoods and went for a walk on the beach with the dogs.

Week 17 - Japan - Mt Fuji to Hong Kong - Kowloon

On Monday morning we walked from the hostel to the railway station and dropped our backpacks in the left luggage office. Then we caught a bus from the railway station to the the fifth station of Mount Fuji. From the fifth station, we climbed almost to the seventh station before we decided to return. We got some good views of the summit, slopes and the surrounding countryside. We ate lunch at a restaurant with views of Mount Fuji and finished just in time to catch the bus back to Kawaguchiko where we collected our backpacks and caught the bus to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. From there we caught a train to Narita (near the airport) and checked into the Mercure Hotel.

The next morning we had a fantastic final buffet breakfast at the Mercure and then caught the free hotel shuttle to Narita Airport and caught our flight to Hong Kong. We arrived at Hong Kong at a little after 2.30 pm and checked into the Ramada Kowloon for 5 nights. We had a lovely first evening in Hong Kong. We walked around Nathan Road, Suzie had a haircut to repair the damage from the Indian haircut and had some Chinese food.

We spent the next few days walking around Hong Kong eating, shopping and catching up with our Hong Kong friends Willy and Anita and their family.

On Saturday morning we walked to the China Ferry Terminal and on the way we saw a little schnauzer wearing shoes being taken for a walk. We got there just in time to buy a ticket, go through customs and rush onto the 10.00 am ferry to Macau. The journey to Macau took 90 minutes. We sailed out of the Hong Kong Port past container loading cranes, container ships, fishing vessels and small islands. Unfortunately the visibility was poor because of the high humidity producing mist. It was very atmospheric though, cruising past islands and ships in the mist. We arrived and caught a bus to the centre of Macau where we saw the Praca de Senado. It could have been straight out of Lisbon with the small Portuguese paving cobbles except for the pond in the centre filled with flowering lotuses. We walked around admiring the restored buildings dwarfed by the new casino monsters. We picked up some Pasteis de Natas (Portugese egg tarts) on the way to St Paul's Ruins which was all that remained of the Mater Dei church. The church had burnt down but a striking facade of stone remained. We headed up to the adjacent fortress mount and wandered around admiring the excellent views down onto Macau. We took some photos of giant cicadas and kept walking to Parca de Camoes. We walked back into the centre and saw the old library which reminded us of Coimbra University in Portugal. We walked past a renovated pawnbroker's shop front – which had been set up as a museum with a secure storage tower behind the shop for storing all of the pawned items. Above the pawnshop was a gift shop containing exquisite teapots, teacups and bamboo tea scoops. We walked out of the old centre and checked out one of the giant casinos, the Grand Lisboa, with its many levels of gambling, entertainment, bars, restaurants and priceless art (bronze Qing dynasty horse head) and jewels (diamond and emerald) in the foyer. We walked past more old Portuguese walls and towers and caught the ferry back to Hong Kong.

On Sunday morning, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We walked along Nathan Road and walked around Chungking Mansions which are five high rise buildings with filled with cheap guest houses, dodgy Indian tailors, Indian restaurants, foreign exchange shops and electronics shops with spruikers on every corner. After that we walked along the Promenade at Tsim Sha Tsui East where we had a panoramic view of the Hong Kong Island skyline shrouded in mist. The Promenade was also home to the Avenue of Stars which is a tribute to the Hong Kong film and TV industry with Hollywood style handprints, plaques and sculptures. It started raining at this point so we decided to take a lunch break. We went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art after lunch and spent quite a bit of time in the museum shop. We looked at the special exhibition of Chinese gold jewellery and accessories on the first floor and then we went to the Fine Art collection which consisted mainly of porcelain and pottery. We went back to the hotel to meet Willy in the hotel lobby at 6.00 pm. Willy took us in a taxi to the Goldfish Market at Mong Kok where we saw lots of shops selling goldfish and other exotic fishes, reptiles, aquarium supplies, pet food and rabbits. From there it was a short taxi ride to the location of the old airport where we walked past some florists before heading to a restaurant in the basement of a shopping centre. There we met Anita, her parents and the children and started off by choosing a fish for dinner. To our surprise, Willy chose the most lacklustre "doongy" fish in the tank – it turned out later that he got a special deal on it because it was on its way out. The meal was wonderful – roasted corn-fed chicken with a red fermented soy sauce, green vegetables, silken tofu in soy sauce, lobster mornay with egg noodles, pork spare ribs in a light black bean sauce, the doongy fish (which tasted delicious) with ginger and shallots and large braised Pacific oyster with roast pork. This was all washed down with chrysanthemum tea. After dinner Willy rushed us back to Tsim Sha Tsui in a taxi to collect our bags and catch the Airbus to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg. The flight was full of English football fans!

Week 16 - Japan - Hiroshima to Mt Fuji

On Monday we had planned to do a day trip to Miyajima. After breakfast, we walked to the station to catch the train to Miyajima-guchi. At Miyajima-guchi we caught the JR Ferry for the ten minute ride past some oyster beds to Miyajima Island. Miyajima is an island in the Western part of the Inland Sea of Japan and it's famous for the Itsukishima Shrine. When we arrived it was high tide and the bottom of the torii (gate) at the Itsukishima shrine was surrounded by water, which made it look like it was floating on the sea. At the ferry terminal we were greeted by hungry deer looking for handouts. Keith has decided that deer are basically like goats as they seemed to eat anything! We walked through the Omotosando Shopping Arcade which sold the usual tourist souvenirs and large grilled oysters. The highest point of Miyajima is Mt Misen – which can be accessed by a few paths and a Ropeway (cable car). We chose to take the Momijidani course which was the shortest path at 2.7 kms – but it still took us a good hour or so to reach the top of Mt Misen. At the top we were rewarded with gorgeous views of Miyajima Island and the other little islands dotted around the inland sea. We chose to take the longer path (Omoto Course) back down to the pier so that we could see the other side of the island. This turned out to be a little more challenging as the path was not as good. When we arrived at the pier, it was low tide and the torii was now surrounded by mud and people with buckets collecting shellfish. Back at the Shopping Arcade, Suzie tried a couple of oysters and then we caught the ferry back to Miyajima-guchi. We were pretty hungry by then so on the way to the station we stopped in at the 7-11 where we purchased a couple of bento box salads to eat on the train. Keith had a little accident with the salad dressing on the train. As he tore open the sachet the ponzu dressing squirted out – onto the skirt and handbag of the unfortunate little Japanese girl who was sitting opposite him!! She was really sweet about it though – and even offered us the use of her flannel to clean ourselves! Keith was mortified and wanted to say sorry in Japanese but the only words he could think of were "arigato gozaimus" which he kept repeating until he remembered that it meant "thank you very much".

On Tuesday after a leisurely breakfast, we checked out of the hostel and walked to the station to catch the Shinkansen for the first leg of our journey to Tsuwano. At Shin-Yamaguchi we transferred to a local train with a single carriage and began the steady climb to Tsuwano. We had woken up to a beautiful day in Hiroshima but when we arrived at Tsuwano it was raining. Keiko from Hoshi Ryokan met us at the station with umbrellas and we walked around the corner to the minshuku (family guest house). We elected to take the room with dinner and breakfast included and Keiku agreed to have dinner ready for us at 7.00 pm. We went to the cafe next door to have lunch. After lunch we went back to the minshuku to drink Tsuwano tea and work out how best to spend a cold and rainy afternoon in Tsuwano. We decided to walk through Tsuwano town to the local onsen - Nagomi no Sato. We walked with umbrellas past carp ponds and mountains rising on both sides with mist swirling down. On top of one mountain were the remaining walls of Tsuwano castle. By the time we reached the onsen the rain had stopped. Onsens are natural hot springs and generally consist of public bathing/soaking facilities with indoor and outdoor pools. Onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content. The onsen we went to had several different baths, saunas and an outdoor bath. After about an hour, we met outside and walked home just in time for dinner.

The dinner was an absolute feast of white flesh fish sashimi with soy and wasabi, seaweed soup with crunchy bamboo shoot, small shellfish which we removed from the shell and ate with rice, a fine seaweed with cucumber in a vinegar sauce, cold soba noodles with toasted seaweed in a soy dressing, pickles and strawberries. While we ate our way through these courses a claypot nabe was cooking away on the table. Inside the pot were wombok cabbage, green water cress, onion, enoki mushroom, beef, and a prawn. We removed these from the claypot with chopsticks and dipped them into a ponzu sauce before eating with rice. We drank the stock at the end of the meal and also had green tea to drink. It was the best meal we have had in Japan!

The next morning, we woke up to sunny blue skies and went downstairs to another feast for breakfast: rice, miso soup, toasted seaweed, pickles, fried egg with lettuce and cabbage, a mini wiener cooked with potato and cabbage, some sort of white tofu looking gel, beans and honeydew melon washed down with green tea. After breakfast we packed up and checked out. Then we walked through town and up some stone stairs through multiple red toriis to the Indari shrine, and then up the path to the castle, passing a large brown snake on the way. We stopped at the castle keep thinking it was the castle. Later we realised and walked the extra 300 metres to the castle ruins where there were great views over the valley. We walked down back into town, admired the carp in the ponds and went to the station to catch our train to Asoeki at the base of Mount Aso.

On Thursday morning we caught the first bus to Mount Aso. The bus wound up beautiful green grassed hillsides towards the mountain peaks. We stopped on the way to admire twin lakes in front of a small peak. We got off at the final stop and walked a small distance up to the crater edge. You could see green molten material bubbling away in the bottom and white steam clouds rising from the liquid. Around it was a large crater of stone with no vegetation at all. We walked away from the crater and along a path until we reached the base of a peak and started climbing up the steep track marked with yellow painted arrows. A nimble elderly group of Japanese passed us on the way up! Once we reached the top it was a lot easier and we traipsed along the mountain edge admiring the changing views. There was ground cover growing in most places and many insects flying around. We stopped and had lunch of apple and nuts/cracker snacks by the side of the track. We continued on and on the southern side was a dense cover of low shrubs which the track ran through like a tunnel. From a distance it looked like an undulating green blanket. By now we were very high and looking over the cliff edges was quite scary. We decided not to take the steep track down to a parking station and took the longer but gentler route. By the time we made it to the parking station for the closed ropeway it was 4pm and we were quite tired. We had come down a different route so we had to walk down the mountain further to Miyaji railway station and catch the train back to Aso. Luckily a Japanese couple in a light van picked us up and drove us to Miyaji station, for which we were thoroughly grateful. We grabbed a sultana bun from the bakery next to the station and jumped on the train to Aso. Back at Aso we headed off to the onsen to soak our weary legs.

On Friday went to Fukuoka – the capital of Kyushu island. We checked into the Hakata Riverside Hotel which was in a covered shopping arcade. Fukuoka is famous for Tonkotsu (pork bone) Ramen so at the recommendation of the hotel we went to the nearby Canal City Shopping Centre where they had a Ramen Stadium. This contained half a dozen ramen shops. We had a fantastic bowl of ramen and then headed out to Tenji District to walk around the inner city. We saw the Akarenga Cultural Centre which was a European style building with a copper roof and the former prefectural office. We walked through the red light district and along some pretty canals lined with weeping willows.

On Saturday we caught the Shinkansen to Himeji – this time it was only one train. We checked in and dropped our luggage off at Toyoko Inn and then walked to Himeji-jo Castle. Himeji castle was surrounded by a moat and had tall stone foundations and white washed walls. Unlike other castles in Japan, Himeji (also called Shirasagijo - White Heron Castle - due to its white outer walls) was never destroyed by earthquakes, fires or wars so it is in its original state. We followed the tour route which seemed to spiral towards the main castle keep. We walked along the West Bailey building which had a long pine floored corridor with several stone dropping holes at strategic points. We saw samples of "family crest" circle tiles on the eaves and the oil wall (a wall made of clay and sand and boiled rice water). Unfortunately the main castle keep was closed for renovation so we were unable to visit it.

After leaving the castle we went next door to visit the Koko-en garden. This was a series of small ornamental Japanese gardens with waterfalls, carp-infested ponds, a bamboo garden, a pine tree garden, a flower garden and a tea ceremony house. These were all immaculately maintained. We walked back to the hotel for a rest before dinner.

This morning we went to the station to catch the first of our trains Kawaguchiko at the base of Mount Fuji. Today was our last day with the Japan Rail Pass. At Otsuki we had to change to the Fujikyuko line to catch the Fuji Express to Kawaguchiko. The train turned out to be a special tourist train with a beautiful wooden interior, lounge-like seating and big windows that gave us a panoramic view of Mount Fuji. When we arrived at Kawaguchiko, we were collected from the station by a van from K's House – which saved us a 1 km walk to the hostel. After we checked in, we walked around Lake Kawaguchi where Keith took some photos of Mt Fuji. As it was a cloudy day, we could only see the top of the mountain surrounded by cloud which made it look like it was floating in the sky. Much to Keith's excitement we saw a monkey – our first in Japan!

We walked to the Kosaku restaurant for dinner where we tried horse sashimi!!