2019 in review

After a few quieter years, 2019 saw us strike out for some new destinations and experiences.

January

Our first trip to Scandinavia and the Nordic countries as we flew to Denmark, Sweden and Finland via Osaka on Jetstar and Finnair. We were very impressed with Finnair and their A350-900, our first time on the aircraft. In Denmark we explored Copenhagen by leg and visited the amazing Lego House. Unfortunately, the Cabinn accommodation wasn't so pleasant, so we left early for Sweden, where we enjoyed Malmo, before taking the train up to Stockholm. Along the way we stopped by the Ikea Museum.

In Stockholm we walked the Gamla Stan and visited the Vasa, ABBA and Tekniska Museums, each with their own charms. Then we caught the overnight ship to Helsinki in Finland, my first experience of a cruise. From Helsinki we travelled up by train to Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle and were chilled and thrilled on a dog sled and other activities at the Santa Village. Then back down on the overnight train to Helsinki where Alex enjoyed sledding.

We flew back to spend a few days in Osaka on the return, cycling and speedboating in Amano-Hashidate, Himeji Castle and getting snowed on at the Kyoto Railway Museum.

April

No more travel until the school holidays and feeling the financial pinch of the Scandinavian trip we decided on a cheap drive up to the Gold Coast. I never want to head north on Good Friday again with the terrible traffic jams. However, Coffs Harbour was fun, Byron Bay partying and the Gold Coast relaxing. Port Macquarie, on the drive back, was also quite pretty and the fish tacos were so nice. It was the most driving I've ever done myself.

July

B's desire to eat durian lead to us booking flights to Singapore. We road along the East Coast on bikes, then crossed over into Malaysia for a stay on the Desaru Coast. There wasn't much to do there, but we found plenty to eat back in Johor Bahru, before heading back into Singapore to admire the amazing Changi Jewel.

October

The October school holidays only featured a short stay in nearby Canberra, visiting the Mint, the Dreamworks Exhibition at the National Museum of Australia and walk around Floriade. I also took a ride along the entire length of the new light rail system!

November

More driving! Instead of flying down to Melbourne to watch Return of the Jedi in Concert, I drove by myself. Down one day, back the next. All by myself.

December

Just a couple of day trips to end the travelling year, a ferry ride up the Parramatta River and a first and last trip along the Carlingford Line before it closes for conversion into light rail. It was a quiet end to a year that began with a bang.

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The Kamioka mines: from silver to supernovas

Part of the Kamioka zinc mining and smelter complex Just after posting about the Kamioka Railway another photo from that 2006 set piqued my interest. Up there in the mountains the landscape looked blasted not just by winter but by something more. It was the kind of lonely place where you would not expect to find major industry, so this sight was quite surprising. Even more surprising is the history associated with this photo. According to some sources mining and refining of ores in Kamioka dates back to 710 AD and only closed in 2001. Undoubtedly the mine was a major reason for the existence of the Kamioka Railway. Refining of zinc still continues to this day under the parent Mitsui Kenzoku zaibatsu . Gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead were all dug out of the rock here. Unfortunately, the process released cadmium into the river, which, when taken up by the rice that was grown in the river, caused the terrible itai-itai disease - meaning "It hurts! It hurts". Cadm...

Down the Oito Line

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...

Asagaya and heading home

How can I be happy? I am about to return to a country where the toilets have at most two buttons and no seat warmers. But the tickets are booked and there are no cyclones, typhoons or other disasters standing in our way. It's almost time to go back to my first home. First B wants to do some "local shopping". So we catch the Chuo Line up a few stations to Asagaya, a residential area with a number of Shotengai, covered and uncovered arcades leading away from the station and narrow alleys lined with bars. It is an interesting area for a wander around. We are mainly looking, do some shopping for toothbrushes and sweets from Seiyu, a Wal-Mart owned supermarket/minor department store. We skipped breakfast and lunch is ramen and gyoza at a small restaurant near the entrance to the Pearl Centre shotengai. With the help of a staff member, I manage to purchase tickets at a branch of Lawson to the Ghibli Museum for a friend travelling to Japan in May. There are some...

travelling allrite

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