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FROM ARRIVAL TO KYOTO

Japan

day one

Ohayo my friends and welcome to our first day in Japan. I’m travelling with one of my best friends, Géraldine. If you follow my blog or Instagram, you would’ve seen a couple of photos she’s in. This is just a small video of our arrival, train trip to Kyoto and afternoon visit of the city.

Because of the language barrier, I thought we were going to have problems getting around. I couldn’t have been more wrong. From the moment you land to the time you leave the airport, you are guided and helped. We exchanged our JR Passes with no difficulty and they even reserved seats for the Narita Express train to Tokyo and also for our bullet train (Shinkansen) onward to Kyoto. I highly recommend the JR Pass if your trip to Japan involves a lot of train travels between cities. We bought the 14 day pass for our 10 day trip and calculated we saved between 40-50% on tickets. It’s even valid on some local trains, ferries and buses.

Not only did we get to see Mount Fuji from the plan on our approach to Narita Airport but also from the Shinkansen to Kyoto. We were pleasantly surprise on our first day in. Another surprise was how delicious the food on the Shinkansen was. My best mate, Marcin, told me to try it out if we ever got the chance to. Not all Shinkansen have the food carts onboard but this one did and it was lunchtime. The bento boxes were fresh and oh so delicious. They even sell beer. What more can a man ask for?

I was amazed at how huge Kyoto Station was. The number of tracks, the boutiques, cafes, restaurants… didn’t think it was so big nor that Kyoto was such a large city either. As soon as you walk out of the station, you see Kyoto Tower. I was looking forward to get up there.

We made our way through little alleyways to get to our hotel, the Karasuma Rokujo Hotel. We did have the help of an extremely nice lady, who went out of her way to walk us to the front door of the hotel. She was actually heading in the opposite direction. We were a little bothered but greatly appreciated her act of kindness. We found the hotel very well placed in Kyoto. Only a ten minute walk from Kyoto Station and Kyoto Tower. And not even five minutes from the grand Higashi Honganji Temple. Yet located in a very quiet area. We were very pleased with the Karasuma Rokujo Hotel.

We literally dropped our baggages and headed back out. We visited the wonderful Higashi Honganji Temple. I thought I was amazed at the entrance to the temple but when I saw the interiors of the founder’s and Amida Halls, I was literally in awe. These halls are stunning from the ground up. The structures, the tatamis, the decorations, the amount of gold… the beauty and wonder of it all really struck me. Unfortunately, we were not permitted to photograph nor film the interior of the halls but you can see some photos on their website.

Our next stop was Kyoto Tower to checkout the view for potential photos at blue hour. Unfortunately, as we approached the tower, police arrived and stopped everyone from entering. The policewoman that stopped us, later approached us with a translation on her phone saying there was a bomb scare and to move away of the area. So we went for a walk around Kyoto. Saw the torii (gateway) of the Fushimi Inari Taisha Otabisho and a couple of Geisha or Maiko, or just a couple of women dressed in Kimonos, I don’t know. We did head back to the tower in hopes it was all over but it got a little more serious. The police had moved across the road from the tower and men in black were now positioned at all entrances. We ended up taking photos from the Kyoto Station side and was pleasantly surprised by a small water, light and music display.

After blue hour we looked around little for a place to eat and stopped at Saikatei restaurant. We ordered sashimi, dumplings and a few other things, and a couple of Japanese beers. Service was quick, food was delicious and quite cheap for the quality of the food and service.

Well that’s it my friends. Thank you for joining me on our first day in Japan and I hope you will join me for day 2. In the meantime, head over to my website or Instagram to see photos of the trip. Oyasuminasai.

MUSIC : Zen Garden from Adrikm (YouTube)

AUCKLAND - NEW ZEALAND

AUCKLAND

I’m sad to say that these are the last photos of our camper-van trip around the north Island of New Zealand. They include the day we left Waitomo and the two full days in Auckland before heading back home to New Caledonia. Not much to show unfortunately as we were quite busy running around shopping for specific things. Alain and I anyway. If you like to see a little more of what we were up to for these three days, check out the videos of these last days.

So we woke up on a beautiful, fresh morning. Alain and I went for a stroll around the Roselands Restaurant’s green surroundings. We got a closer look at our friends the donkey and the cattle. Once the beautiful golden hour light appeared through the clouds we took a couple of photos and on the way back to the scamper-van I took another of a different field. The light was so beautiful. These photos are some of my favourites of the trip.

After breakfast it was time to make our way back to Auckland. We had a quick stopover in Hamilton, just to grab a couple things. Once back in Auckland we cleaned out and refilled the waters in the camper-van before returning it. It was our first time traveling in a camper-van and all agreed that we didn’t feel cramped at any time. Yes it’s small but we managed not to step on each other’s feet. A great way to explore New Zealand. A lot freedom to move when ever you like but not stay wherever you’d like, though. Worth doing at least once in a life time.

I got up early one morning in hopes of going to Mount Eden for a couple of photos but it was grey and overcast and raining. I changed my mind and decided to head over to another park I saw on our first day here. It led up to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. A beautiful building with gorgeous surroundings. Check out the video to see a bit of the park. About an hour after sunrise the sun broke through the clouds and I started to regret my decision to come here. Oh well. I took a few photos and headed back to the hotel.

One morning we had a delicious breakfast at Al’s Deli and in the toilet they had a riddle “There’s two twins that live either side of a bridge, and sometimes they cry. What are they?”. Do you know the answer?

Alain and I went to Takapuna on the North Shore to check out a shop. We didn’t find what we were after so we walked around a little and found the Takapuna Beach. It started raining pretty heavy so we quickly took a photo then cover. We headed back into the city to join the girls after that.

Alain took a couple of photos of The Guardian building which I found interesting. I wanted to include them in the blog so I edited them and oh man do I like these photos. I have no idea when he took them but i’m glad he did. For me it’s the Kiwi version of The Daily Planet in Superman. He also took another photo that I really like, the Skytower amongst cranes. Excellent shot.

On the eve of our departure, friends arrived to start their camper-van holiday. After we all had dinner together, the teenagers of both parties wanted to checkout the nightlife but weren’t too confident going out on their own. So we decided to accompany them. I mentioned in the video that the teens were surprised we knew the music. Not much of a surprised since it was old tunes remixed. I don’t know if they believed us. We did feel slightly out of place being the only over 30s in the joint. Well there was one other bloke just hitting his 30s, who came up to us and said “Man, I thought I was the oldest guy here but you guys… f**k!”. Boy didn’t we feel old all of a sudden. Little p***k. Nonetheless we had a great time.

An early morning departure meant we couldn’t have an all-nighter. Not at our age anyway hihihi. Got to the airport early. Checked-in and had breakfast. And that is that, my friends.

That’s it for our little trip around the north Island of New Zealand. I apologise for the bad video quality, I promise I’ll try to improve on that. I hope these videos have helped you in some way or at least entertained you. One more time, a huge thank you to Alain for the use of his photos and videos to help me tell a better story. And to Manu and Paloma for an unforgettable trip. Last but not least, thank you to all of you for watching. Goodnight.

p.s. I haven’t mentioned it before, only because I hadn’t realised, but all the links I provide in my blog posts are NOT affiliate, commercial or sponsored links. I DON’T make any money from these links. I provide them as quick access to extra information, that’s it. If that ever changes, in any way, in the future, I will let you know. Promise.

UN VOLS TROISGROS

My best friend's step-father got his pilote license at the end of last year and proposed a flight from Noumea to Boulouparis, Thio, Yate and back to Noumea. I could say no to that. This was back in March and only now had to chance to edit the photos. I'm not very happy with the quality of the photos but the flight was fantastic. My fault for the photos not turning out right. My settings were off. I hope you enjoy these photos. I've got a few more to share later on.