Tag: travel

Our Tokyo Adventure

We arrived in Tokyo at the break of dawn after two flights and a layover, a long day. After taking the train into the city, we dropped our bags at a hotel (not our hotel, but close enough), and started exploring. Our Tokyo adventure began with a free walking tour and continued with lots of fun in Japan’s sprawling capital city. Our introduction to Japan, Tokyo is overwhelming and enchanting and we loved it.

About Tokyo

Tokyo is so big that all the neighborhoods are their own cities. It is massive, both physically and population-wise. In fact, Tokyo has the largest population of any city, with 37 million people. I have lived in big cities, including NYC, and Tokyo still overwhelmed me. It’s bigger and busier and electric. The good news is, it is very safe. If we got lost, we found help, and if we lost something, it was returned to us.

Overview of Our Tokyo Adventure

We had five days and nights for Tokyo, and we did a lot but also barely scraped the surface. Since we planned it so last minute while waiting on our boat insurance, we didn’t book any of the big attractions in advance. Our Toyko adventure was more about experiencing the city.

Free Walking Tour

We arrived in Japan early in the morning, so after dropping off our luggage and fueling up with much needed coffee, we took a free walking tour. The three hour tour hit a couple of neighborhoods, including Akihabara and Ueno Park. Still, the guide gave us some great tips and we got some exercise after our long trip from Australia.

Continue reading “Our Tokyo Adventure”

Our Japan Itinerary

In addition to lots of exploring in Australia, we found time between boat jobs to visit Japan. It’s much closer than from North America, meaning no jet lag, so we took the opportunity to explore Japan. As is becoming our norm, we booked this trip last minute. Even with little advance planning, we liked our two week Japan itinerary. We got a taste of what a wonderful country it is.

Getting There

Port Macquarie in New South Wales only has a domestic airport, so we flew to Sydney, and then to Tokyo. It’s a one hour flight to Sydney with a 2.5 hour layover. Our 8 hour overnight flight arrived in Haneda early the next morning. Like 5:30am early.

Tokyo Haneda Airport Japan Itinerary
Planes at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport

We flew into Haneda Airport, which is definitely the preferred airport for easy access to the city. Arrivals took a long time. We had to wait in a few different lines and fill out forms for each one after we got to the terminal. It took at least an hour to do that, and then we needed to buy Suica cards, for use on all Japanese transport. Then we took the train to Tokyo.

When We Visited

Continue reading “Our Japan Itinerary”

A Week in The Red Centre

After months of exploring Australian coastal cities and towns, we flew to Alice Springs for a week in the Red Centre. Adjusting to the moisture sucking air and miles of emptiness took some effort, but visiting the Outback in Australia’s Northern Territory was a good adventure.

Outsiders’ visions of Australia include mobs of kangaroos galloping across the plains, red rocks rising from the desert, and rednecks in bars crushing crocodiles. We have been in the country for a year without seeing the desert, so when we learned we had to wait two more weeks before Go’s haulout, we booked flights to Alice Springs. A week in the Red Centre was on our wish list, and we’re so glad we made the trip.

About The Red Centre

We’ve been learning Australia’s detailed terminology for their geography. The majority of people live along the coasts, where the big cities and towns are. Moving inland from there are the Hinterlands, mere miles from the coasts but still quite different. Beyond the Hinterlands is the bush, and then comes The Outback, the most remote lands in Australia.

Continue reading “A Week in The Red Centre”