Preparation

After losing our beloved Millie earlier this year we decided it was time to put our travel plans into motion. After much discussion Australia had been decided and that's where we are heading.
We wanted this trip to be a long one so lots of preparation had to be done for things to run smoothly.
Step one: was too organise our visa's for 6 months with the option to extend them if needed.
Step two: book flights, Malaysian Airlines fitted in with our dates and the price was good as well, September 22nd was decided on as it would have been Millie's birthday. 
Step three: the dreaded vaccinations, Rabies, Japanese Encephalitis and Hepatitis B. Might add these are for South-East Asia where we are hoping to travel on to.
Step four: arrange storage for the home as this is going to be rented out while we are away.
Step five: sell the cars but keeping my T5 "Molly"
Step six: travel insurance, YHA membership and Sydney accommodation for one week.

Now we are in the steps of buying a camper van to travel around in, seems to be lots of choice on Gumtree but I still think we will also find a mechanic.

We have also arranged a 3 week stay in Perth looking after a cat for a family away on holiday over the New Year period. Sounds a nice house close to the beach and their own swimming pool. They have also invited us for a BBQ on Boxing Day which will be different.
Hoping to get some more house sits on our way round Australia.

My Tips for Touring Japan

Buy a JR Pass before you leave for Japan, avaiable for 7, 14, or 21 days
Reserve your seats as much as possible
Most hostels supply you with shampoo and shower gel
Towels can be hired
Public toilets don't have driers so bring a flannel to dry your hands
When looking for accommodation do check local hotels as they can be as cheap
Always choose accommodation close to station
Most food stores have free samples so tuck in

Sleep in a pod for one night but mainly they are for men
Check out tourist centres as some give you free wi-fi cards that last 14 days
Get the ULMON pro citymaps2go app where you can view maps off line

Itinerary for Japan

Although this trip started off without an itinerary we quickly made one as we were finding accommodation harder to find at short notice.

Tokyo 4 nights

Khaosan Tokyo Ninja

Nagoya 3 nights

Ohsu Plaza Hotel

Nagasaki 2 nights 

International Hostel Akari

Hiroshima 2 nights Ferry to Miyajima 

Hana's Hostel

Kyoto 4 nights Train to Nara and Sara-Arashiyama 

Santiago Guesthouse

Mt.Fuji 2 nights

Mt.Fuji Hostel Michael's

Nagano 2 nights

Moritomiza Backpackers

Sapporo 3 nights

Best Western

Aomori 1 night

The Art Aomori Colour Hotel

Tokyo 3 nights Train to Nikko

Kinuya Honkan Hotel

Narita 1 night 

Nine Hours Capsule Hotel 

Tokyo Revisited

Our last bullet train journey to Tokyo, but we are here now and still lots to do. At our hotel which is more like a hostel where we have a lovely room but share the bathroom. The Kinuya Honkan Hotel was easy to find in the center of Ueno district in between the station and the park.

Bags in the room and we're off again to the Ginza shopping area where I wanted to see the Sony building and play with the new gadgets on the market, well recommended. From here we headed to the Shinjuka Station which happens to be the busiest in the world and if you want to see how many people can fit into a train carriage ride a train from this station. Walking around the Shinjuka area you realise it has the most sky scrapers in any one area and the metro government building has a viewing floor free of charge where I'm told you can see Mt.Fuji from. We were there at night so didn't.

Still wanting to get the most out of our JR Pass we headed for Nikko which was about 90 minutes from Ueno. It was a very cold day and kind of dead place with nothing open apart from all the shrines which all seemed very expensive to visit. There was even a charge to cross Shinkyo Bridge so we walked around to avoid paying. Once walking around the park area, which was quite nice we were cold and hungry so decided to leave and hopefully try and find a coffee shop. Found a great little cafe that did bottomless coffee refills and chips to die for. Once back in Ueno to the heavy rain we headed for some dinner and decided to splash out at TGI's, very nice.

We woke to a lovely sunny day and decided the park and zoo would be a good choice. Ueno Zoo is the oldest in Japan and some of the enclosures looked original. I don't like zoo's much as the animals are in such small cages and when you have seen them in the wild it's sad to see them locked up. It has a save the panda campaign going but not sure it's working as they only had two. The saddest animals there were the rhinos, hippos, elephants and polar bear all in pens far too small for their large size. That night we eat in a street market cafe and had chicken on a stick washed down with some beer. Very lively place and got chatting to some locals who couldn't speak any English.

Our last day in Japan was at the shops buying last minute gifts and items for ourselves, decided a new iPad was needed and with a £100 cheaper than the UK my mind was made up.

Now on the night train for the airport as we are booked into Nine Hours Capsule Hotel for the night ready for our flight home tomorrow. 

Well I highly recommend spending a night in a pod, can be a little noisey when guests arrive but on the whole a must for any visit to Japan.

Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo

Ueno Temple

Street meal

Sexy

9hrs capsule bed

Aomori

Woke up to it snowing and sad to leave Sapporo as I liked it here, but our 6 hours on the train is booked. Decided to spend the night in Aomori which is a costal town and it's where the bullet trains start which we will be catching the next day straight to Tokyo.

Horrible journey by train to Aomori seemed to take forever but we are here now and have a really nice hotel 10 minute walk from the station called Art Aomori Colour Hotel. As it was dark now we just went for a walk to the park and looked at the luminated bridge but it was nice just to get some fresh air. Had a nice meal of chichen and rice mmmmmmm my favourite washed down with a local beer. 

It's very cold here but no snow but I do recommend if you are travelling down from Sapporo do your stop over at Shin-Aomori as this is where the Shinkansen trains leave from.

Our last train journey

How beautiful is this

Sapporo

Our day started early as our first train out of Nagano was at 08.26, I started to notice how much colder it was getting and that it was now snowing. The first two trains were bullet trains so we covered a lot of ground but our third train is a local slow train but the most exciting as this one goes under the Tsugaru Straits. The Seikan Tunnel stretches 53.85km and its deepest is 240 meters an amazing tunnel but the picture on the back of the seat doesn't show any emergency escape tunnels. This is also the longest and deepest tunnel in the world.

Arrived at Sapporo Station dead on time and I think this is the biggest of them all with a massive underground network of shops and trains. Found our Best Western hotel easily as it was right outside the North exit of the station and very nice too. Lovely room, proper bed with real pillows and my own toilet and shower, what luxuries we get used to in life.

First full day here we headed for the Sapporo Brewery for a free tour all in Japanese of course but we understood when they offered us free samples of beer. I recommend Sapporo Black, it's lovely beer. After finishing our free beers we headed for the Sapporo Muesum for yet more beer but this time we had to pay 200 yen for a glass which is half the price than anywhere else. 

The Japanese love to shop and every street seems to have a complex of shops and places to eat, talk about shop until you drop here.

Day two here we went to Odori Park where the TV Tower is situated at one end, this is a replica of the Eiffel Tower in France. The tower stands at 90 meters with viewing deck to view all of Sapporo.

From there we walked to The Clock Tower which is the oldest standing building in Sapporo and it's been voted the biggest let down for tourist. I thought it was ok.

Some retail therpy and back to the hotel to do some washing and pack for another long train journey in the morning. We found a huge pet store just for cats and dogs but mainly dogs, they are all so cute and I wanted them all. Japanese dogs are so spoilt, they want for nothing in their pampered lives.  

Longest and deepest tunnel in the world

Sapporo Brewery

Sapporo Factory Shopping Center

Sapporo Beer Museum

TV Tower

View from tower

Clock Tower oldest building in Sapporo

Clock Tower

Well looked after puppies for sale

Please give me a loving home

Nagano

It took us 6 hours to get here at 7.30pm we arrived with 4 different trains but it's our own fault due to spending more time at Mt.Fuji. Found the hostel as it was 5 minutes from the station but it's abit of a dump and bloody freezing in the room with no heating, suppose you get what you pay for......

Up early for a hot shower thank god for that, we went back to the station to get the bus to Kanbayashi where we wanted to see the Jigokudani snow monkeys. Well worth the 2km walk to see them, it's the only place in the world to see monkeys in hot springs. I could stand and watch them all day, they are funny little things and didn't care that we were there. Until you watch monkeys for awhile you don't realise how many human mannerisms they have. Reluctantly we left to catch the bus back to Nagano where we are going the explore the city. 

Didn't have much time so went to the biggest tourist attraction they have and yes it's a temple. The Zenkoji Temple is huge and covers alot of ground with shrines everywhere. The same little shops and stalls line the street up to the temple with lots of samples of the food they sell.

Booked our tickets for our 10hr, 4 different trains up to Sapporo in the morning so a long day ahead. As we have roughed it lately we have booked 3 nights in a 4* hotel when we get to Sapporo, looking forward to that.

Baby snow monkey

Olympic City

Bathing in a hot spa on a very cold day