A few weeks ago I went with Span on a cycling trip from Macquarie to Kiama.
This is a great trip, you catch the train to Macquarie for the start then ride through beautiful rolling hills to the Robertson Hotel for the night. Actually those hills tended to roll far more up than down, but it meant dinner was really appreciated!
On the weekend I joined up with a photographic shoot with the Sydney photography forum group on Cockatoo Island. The island has been used for various ship-building and convict activities since around 1850 and there was lots of equipment in various states of rust and disrepair and interesting building. For some reason, I find aging metal has the most beautiful colours. The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is in the process of restoring it. In the meantime it has just been reopened, things aren’t yet fenced off so it is the perfect time to have a look.
Saturday brought a trip to Manly, first to have a look at the Food and Wine Festival, then to meet up with some friends from Span and off to North Head for the moonrise.
The perfect way to start the afternoon, with a wine or two…
Today was the day for the Sydney Half Marathon, even though this was by far my best training I had a lousy race….
The weather was absolutely perfect, could not be better, around 16 degrees and clear. The start was more crowded than I remember and I really couldn’t get my rhythm. The same kept happening for most of the next hour, I always have a dead patch between around 55 and 65 minutes, today was no different. I had to have my first gel at only around 40 minutes!
(more…)On the plane on the final leg back to Sydney. As I think everyone does, I always have mixed feelings coming home. A bit of sadness for the trip being…
Back to how it must have felt a couple of centuries ago, Kyoto... Probably everyone knows this, but if not, Kyoto was the capitol before Tokyo, and there are many…
Today we took an old single track train up into the hills behind Kyoto to Arishiyam. The old narrow guage railway is a nice way up to the mountains Flickr…
Back to 'civilisation' for a night in Chinatown followed by Karaoke. When in Rome.....Yokohama feels great, much nicer than Tokyo where everyone tries to not stand out. On Yokohama it…
Hot springs in a mountain forest, need I say more... This one is green tea! While Tokyo is as built up as you would expect, an hour and a half…
I am back to liking Japan again, lots of colour , smiles, people enjoying themselves - Shibuya is fun! Masako was keen to make the most of the clothes shopping…
Off to Tokyo on the Shinkansen, the Bullet Train. Fairly empty streets These trains are fantastic, the seats are really comfortable , the ride is really smooth. Despite how fast…
I didn't have much time, but the castle seemed a beautiful place to look at, so I was off with my newly acquired subway pass... Part of many rock gardens…