Japan 2019 - Himeji

Himeji is famous for the World Cultural Heritage Site Himeji Castle, which is one of the few original castles from the Japanese feudal period, built in 1333. It miraculously survived fires, earthquakes and wars. It was left intact while the rest of the city was flattened during the second world war.
The castle has six floors and is entirely made of wood, supported by two giant pillars extending from the basement to the fifth floor (made of two >600 year-old Cypress Pines). The white colour is from a 3cm-thick layer of plaster made from lime, hemp, seaweed and ash. The roof tiles show the family logo of each past owner, which were lords, shoguns, governors, generals and emperors.
The latest renovations in 2015 kept 15,000 workers busy and cost 2.4 billion yen. The workmanship and details are amazing. A beautiful looking castle from every angle!
The surrounding gardens are gorgeous too, the Japanese excel at pruning techniques!

Japan 2019 - Osaka to Himeji

We stayed at the Swissotel Nankai Osaka, which is conveniently located above Namba train station, the end of the airport express line. Super convenient when you are travelling with a bike in a box and two panniers each! Dotonbori is the heart of Osaka nightlife.

I love these huge pedestrian crossings! Pedestrians and cyclists are definitely prioritized over cars.

Cyclists seem to be allowed to ride on the road or on the footpath. Riding out of Osaka was interesting, dodging thousands of pedestrians and other cyclists. Everybody is super aware and friendly. I have seen women on bikes carrying three kids and the shopping, old ladies with umbrellas, people talking on the phone or eating lunch while riding.

Kobe is one of Japan’s busiest ports and famous for the delicious Kobe beef. Definitely a must! We cooked our own in a tiny restaurant, full of locals. Hint: if there is a queue, it’s probably worth the wait!

The urban sprawl did not end until the southern end of Kobe where the mountains meet the sea.

A few impressions along the way: 

Beautiful sewer covers in Osaka....

A festival near Kobe, where people pull a mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine)...

A small gym, claiming to make champions....

Living (and riding) under the Shinkansen line ...

You really need to know the length of your driveway before you buy a car! 

Small local fish market....

Smoking booth on the beach ...

Lunch in a seaside restaurant (this was less than $20 and just delicious!)....

Our new favourite refreshment: grapefruit in juice (lucky we can’t read how much sugar has been added!)

 

Japan 2019 - Osaka

We are on another adventure with our bicycles and tent. This time: Japan! The plan is to cycle from Osaka to Fukuoka and back, through the islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. There are very few official bike trails, so we have downloaded and mapped GPX tracks from other cyclists and will have to adapt to conditions and traffic.

First impressions of Osaka (keep in mind that this is the golden week, the biggest Japanese holiday):

View from the hotel room 

Osaka castle before and now - check out the queue on the right to get in, which is the second one after you queue to buy the tickets!

 

Giant plastic food and hundreds of small ones....

Empty subway station (only in the morning!)

Onesie races....

First wildlife...

Possums in the Roof

This is not a travelling blog for once, but a feel-good story from home.

We have been living with Ringtail Possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) in our loft for about three years. While they rarely make a noise, they do make a mess and leave lots of smelly things behind. Once stains started to show on our bedroom ceiling, we decided enough was enough.

At least they were easy to find - exactly above the stain. They seem to love the white soft ceiling insulation to sleep in. Here is a mother with baby:

It is easy to see how they get in and out because there is a sticky trail between the nest and the exit.

I first decided to build them another home. It is made out of two hanging baskets from Bunnings, put together with cable ties, with some paper bark for extra darkness and some white ceiling insulation for bedding inside. I added some Lilli Pilli berries and peanut butter as temptation.

The new home is hanging in front of their entrance to the loft, underneath the eaves.

We left it for about two weeks, occasionally putting pieces of fruit inside. The possums kept eating the food but slept in the loft.

After about two weeks we decided to close the entrance to the loft (after checking that there were no possums left inside). And finally, for the first time, the possums decided that the new home was acceptable!
They did spend some time going back and forth between the blocked entrance to the loft and their new home though.

Below are photographs taken through an endoscopic camera that I installed in the new home. Definitely Ringtails living there!