From the hot sun and beaches of Botany Bay to the chill waters of Lake Jindabyne overlooked by snow capped mountains. Along the way we had lunch at Ikea in Canberra, sat behind slow cars and saw many police. Finding dinner in Jindabyne was difficult with almost everywhere booked out. Ended up with Thai takeaway hastily eaten in the cold outside. Tomorrow we head into the mountains.
Riding the length of the Oito Line from Itoigawa to Shinjuku (well, Matsumoto, really, but you might as well go the whole way) has long been a dream of mine. It suddenly gained urgency when I read that the last length of it between Itoigawa to Minami-Otari would be closed once the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa and Toyama opens by next year. Now, as mentioned last time, B and Alex are among those that would much rather catch the very fast Shinkansen, but in the end she decided to follow me, despite the very early morning. We rode the Hokuetsu Express from Toyama to Itoigawa, completing a little more of that West Coast for me. Though the coastal stretch was short there were some nice views at times. I should like to see more of Itoigawa one day, explore its geology. But now we had to quickly cross over the platform bridge to catch our train to Minami-Otari. To my great delight it was a KiHa 120 railcar, my favourite. I felt a degree of sadness standing up at the front...
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