travelling allrite

Modern transportation museum SCMAGLEV and railway park Two museums high on my list to visit when next in Japan!

This year marked our ninth trip to Japan. It's difficult to remember that there was once a time when we weren't in love with this second home of ours. B's brother was in love with everything Japanese. He'd dated a Japanese girl, been over there a couple of times and his comments encouraged us to do the same. I had also studied Japanese at junior high school, B during a summer course at university. So when we found ourselves in the second half of 2003 having saved up enough for an overseas trip, but not enough for our preferred destination of Europe, Japan suggested itself as a possibility. B applied for her visa, getting lost in Australia Square in the process. The Sydney office of the Japan National Tourist Office was a useful resource and continues to be so. But at the end of it I really wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that I wasn't impressed with modern Japanese architecture - boxy and plain - and the appearance of their trains, other than some of the ...

It's time to return to another of our past trips overseas, this time to New Zealand's South Island in January of 2003. Our wonderful honeymoon in Paris had instilled in both of us a desire to see more of the world outside of Australia. However, we had a new house to move into, furniture to buy and many other expenses, making 2002 the only year of no overseas travel since our wedding. With the dawn of 2003 our savings were not yet high, but the desire was strong. So we picked somewhere nearby to Australia, yet very different scenically. Somewhere with no language difficulties (or so we thought) that would provide an easy holiday. No doubt also guided by a certain trilogy of movies, the first two of which had been released by the end of 2002. This was the first trip where we had our own digital camera, a Canon IXY200 2.1 megapixel device, a wedding present imported from Japan. Arrival at Christchurch I found it amusing that we were departing Australia on Australia Day, m...