Whirlwind trip to Aus...

お久しぶりです!

Greetings loyal readers! Hope all the residents of the Northern Hemisphere are keeping toasty warm as the weather cools down and the snow piles up. Lin and I had been planning and plotting and scheming since last year to make this super secret surprise visit happen. I saved up my pennies last year and got myself ready to *finally* make my way down to Brisbane to visits my Laheys. 8 years in the making, this trip was. Can you imagine how excited I was? Maybe. Haha.

Sunrise as viewed from the back deck of Lahey Lodge

I started making my way southward via shinkansen on October 31st, figguring I'd get down there early enough do a little sight seeing before having to catch my evening flight. As it was the end of ROctober, I dressed accordingly, leggings, jeans, heat-tech undershirt, tshirt, and hoody. Nearly forgot my shades, so I ended up returning home for a mo' and driving down to the station. (I was pretty glad to have my car with me when I got back and had groceries and 16 kg on my back). Caught the early train and was on my waaaaaaay~!.

I decided to venture to Harajuku station and check that area out before making my way to Narita. First I went to the Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) and the surrounding park. I love going to these parks and not being able to see the surrounding city anymore. There were some super cute kids all dressed up in traditional threads getting their pictures taken. わ～! Little girls in little kimonos are soooo cuuuuute! After exploring the park, I made my way to Takeshite street to grab some grub and hopefully catch some kids who were dressed up for Hallowe'en. Seemed like a good spot given that the kids like to wear their fanciest duds and go there to be seen. Saw a few cool costumes and treated myself to a "freshness burger" (whose bun to patty ratio was *way* off... plus the bun was more like a cupcake/...all sweet and puffy. Japan just doesn't understand bread) and managed to snap a couple pics of them in passing.

Instead of taking the subway for one stop to Shibuya and changing trains, I opted to just walk a couple of blocks and catch the express. As I made my way, I spied Tower Records in all its 7 storied glory. "Just a quick peak, then I'll catch my train...". I manged to get in and out with only purchasing 2 CDs (Arctic Monkeys's AM w/ Japanese bonus track and Grinderman 2 RMX). Success!  Time to book it to the airport!

Flight was uneventful, I think I might have nodded off for about 10 minutes or so. Yippie! Landed in Cairns where the leggings and undershirt I was still wearing were rendered unnecessary. The sun was shining, the humidity was up and there were PALM TREES! Helloooooo Australia, you sexy beast, you.

Quick flight to Brisbane airport and Lin met me as I came out of the gate. She assured me that Sandra remained completely unaware of our plot. Mwahahahahahaha~! After a quick stop at Lahey Lodge and gathering Sandramana (surprised her ass in the parking lot at the mall where we went to pick her up), we all went out to Allan and Anna's (Sandra's bro and sis-in-law) farm to help with the avocado harvest.

It was a solid day's work, though I must admit when we first set out and there were about 4 of us working on it, I was a little leery that we wouldn't get it all done. Thankfully lots of folks turned out and the kids that came were really good at climbing trees, so there wasn't too much for the cherry picker/ladder folks to get at the end. I hadn't realized that I was going to be going out to the farm to work, so I hadn't packed accordingly, but, I managed not to get terribly burnt, not fall out of the trees and put in a decent day's work out in the orchard. There was So. Much. Food. It was all home made and delicious, too. I wanted to eat it ALLLLL! I had my first Aussie BBQ out there, and it was delicious.

As for the rest of my time there, well, I don't want to give away everything or I'll have nothing to talk about when I actually see folks in person. Haha. Went into Brisbane twice, once with Sandra and once alone. I managed to find a fellow Canuck while I was in a pub waiting for the sun to set so I could enjoy the city all lit up in the evening. Some of the sights I took in during my time there were the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane City Hall (even got to see the end of a free concert in there, and after choosing the wrong lift twice eventually made it up to the museum on the 3rd floor and up to the clock tower). Had a bite of lunch and an espresso martini (omgyum!) in King George's Square during the Melbourne Cup (didn't place a bet, but I *did* enjoy seeing all the gents dressed up and the ladies dolled up with their jaunty fascinators perched upon their heads (fascinating!).

Lin's friend Ken took us for a boat ride near his home on Bribie Island and we could see the Glasshouse Mountains off in the distance. Afterwards, he dropped us off on the surf side of the island where we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the lovely white sand beach. I got my very first November sunburn. San and I split a delicious 'Roo Burger. Crikey it was good. There was also a tarot card reading, much needed haircut, birthday dinner and a visit to the flea market thrown in there for fun. We spent my last Sunday in Aus at the Australia Zoo and the ladies were kind enough to take me to a scenic spot where I could see the glasshouse mountains more closely.

Frightening beer cozies... O.O

This visit was far too short, so, I will have to go back and plan to WWOOF my way down (or up) the coast and do a more thorough job of visiting this beautiful country full of fantastically friendly people.





Instead of my usual rush job of going back to Shichinohe right after I arrive in Japan, I had booked myself a night at Wakamatsu Honten Ryokan Narita (ryokan = Japanese Style Inn). It was quite lovely, located across the street from Naritasan Shinshō-ji Temple. Since I wasn't in a big rush to return north (facebook was all a-buzz about snow fall), I spent the morning relaxing in the inn's onsen, had a huge breakfast and then explored the Temple grounds. The adjoining wooded area was so lovely and managed to block out all signs of the surrounding city.