Having decided to stay at the beach near Shima again, we were both woken in the middle of the night by the roar of the sea, which seemed to have been whipped up by a wind. We had been watching the weather forecasts closely, as strong winds, and heavy rain & seas were predicted for … More Day 37 – Outrunning the storm & a homecoming
This morning started early, as we wanted to get to our next stop, as we had planned a bike ride there. The drive took us along the mountainous East coast of the Kii Peninsula, and we felt a little like moles, as the road seemed to spend more tie going through mountains, than between them. … More Day 35 – Cycling and a Shrine to a white fox
It would be fair to say that the Maruyama Rice Terraces were stunning, and last night’s park-up, overlooking the paddy-fields was perhaps our favourite of the trip, so far. And we’ve stayed in some incredible places. We slept, with the sound of the waterwheel, and the baleful cries of the Raccoon Dogs (which we now … More Day 34 – A warm-hearted start to the day & a Demon Pirate King
After yesterday’s soaking, and last night’s rainbow, we hoped that today would be brighter, and by just after 6am, it was clear that it was going to be a lovely day. The sunrise across the bay was stunning, And we took out mats out to do our morning stretches, overlooking the bay. Simply a perfect … More Day 33 – Perfect day from sunrise to sunset
Last night was wet, very wet and we woke to the sound of rain drumming on the roof of the van, before 6 this morning. It may have been soggy, but we still planned to do the walk we had found that would take us along a short section of the Kumano Kodo Pilgimage Trail, … More Day 32 – Following in ancient footsteps
After such a lovely, but wet day yesterday, we woke today to expect more of the same. But the rain had stopped and there were even a few scraps of blue sky, amongst the grey. But, it felt as if the season had changed on a sixpence. It was chilly in the van, for the … More Day 29 – Along the Skyline
Last night’s park-up was just a joy. It was incredibly peaceful, with just the eerie howls of the Raccoon Dogs to disturb our slumber. That, and the rain, which started pounding on the roof in the early hours and hasn’t stopped yet. We had a slow start, and after breakfast, pulled our wet-weather clothes on … More Day 28 – A stunning insight into Shingon Buddhism
Today was another early start, as I think everyone up on the camp ground at the Shikoku Karst was up early, hoping to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a ray of sunshine in sight, but we found ourselves on an island above a sea of cloud that filled the valleys to the north. It … More Day 25 – A ‘Gorge-ous’ Day
Our little parking spot, at the entrance to Kanba Falls worked really well last night, and we had a peaceful night’s sleep, with the mountain stream running behind us. We even managed to find the holy grail of vanlife in Japan – a rubbish bin! We woke this morning, and had breakfast, before walking up … More Day 19 – Visiting the Cat Lord
When we looked at the dates for this holiday, we looked at all the information we could find, doing what we could to avoid typhoon season and the main holiday periods in Japan, such as Golden Week at the end of April into May. But, we somehow missed that we would be here for the … More Day 18 – It’s Sports’ Day Weekend.
Vaucluse Dreamer 