Sunday, 29 July 2012
Anya in a Yukata
Messing around with instagram, here is a nice photo of Anya in a yukata from last week's trip to Lake Biwa. Here is my instagram feed (via extragram): http://extragr.am/ibiologystephen
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Some Sam moments
He was in a good mood after his bath, so we wanted to try to record some of the funny things he does:
1. Singing Game of Thrones theme tune
2. Smacking Daddy's cheeks
3. Penguin kissing (we saw it on Animal Planet).
4. Singing "Who let the willy out?"
5. Peeing on Mummy.
The words are starting to come thick and fast now, but we can't always get them on video!
1. Singing Game of Thrones theme tune
2. Smacking Daddy's cheeks
3. Penguin kissing (we saw it on Animal Planet).
4. Singing "Who let the willy out?"
5. Peeing on Mummy.
The words are starting to come thick and fast now, but we can't always get them on video!
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Camping: Take Two (Lake Biwa)
Last week we decided to give camping another go while we still had the use of a car. Having lost the lovely orange tent to a monster storm, we had to get a new one and picked a family tent up from Sports Depo.
So, car packed, GoogleMaps set and off we went in search of lakeside camping at Biwa, up beyond Kyoto. After a couple of hours we arrived at Maiami Beach (Maiami Hima), which is an excellent campsite. We'd originally planned to use a basic bay for ¥5,000 a night, but saw they were pretty hot and exposed. Instead we opted for the A-type bays, which have trees for shade and their own hot shower for ¥7,000. The difference was worth it. Hardcore camping!
It should have been easy, but wasn't.
In our haste, I had neglected to check the new tent (it's new, from Sports Depo, what can go wrong?). As it turns out, we had been given a returned tent with a broken pole elastic. It took ages to fix, and once we got the tent up, the aluminium join between the pole sections split apart and the tent collapsed. Wonderful. Luckily the campsite were pros in dealing with halfwits and lent us a spare set of poles which just about fit the tent. Phew.
The evening was clear and warm, so we hit the lake, cooked out and went to bed. We woke up to some sun but some ominous clouds, then a lot of rain. Luckily we found the Lake Biwa Museum online by accident and it was close to the site. So back in the car and off we went. It is the best freshwater aquarium we have come across and was really good value. We were there all day.
By the time we got back to the campsite, the weather was fine, the air had cooled and we slept well.
The next morning, we had plans to find a big park for the family. We hopped in the car and ended up driving into.... more rain!
It was so wet we ended up in a newly-built mall, with a US Land play area, which kept the kids busy for a couple of hours.
And again, once we returned to the tent, the weather cleared up, so we hit the lake:
During the day, the campsite had gone from being our private place by the lake to a jumping party venue, with loads of pro car-campers and their gear:
Sam was knackered:
The final day, Sunday, was hot and sunny, so we found another park with a pool and hung out on the way home. A good little holiday - all only two hours from Kobe!
We'd chosen good days to go up to Lake Biwa. It is now the Japanese school holidays and the traffic we saw on the way there as we were heading back was nuts. It will be too busy (and hot) for trips like this in the next few weeks, but hopefully we can get up here again in the October break, typhoon-season permitting.
On the way back we stopped in Sports Depo with the cacked-up tent. In exchange for our knackered and dirty tent, we were given a new, nicely-packed one. Result!
So, car packed, GoogleMaps set and off we went in search of lakeside camping at Biwa, up beyond Kyoto. After a couple of hours we arrived at Maiami Beach (Maiami Hima), which is an excellent campsite. We'd originally planned to use a basic bay for ¥5,000 a night, but saw they were pretty hot and exposed. Instead we opted for the A-type bays, which have trees for shade and their own hot shower for ¥7,000. The difference was worth it. Hardcore camping!
It should have been easy, but wasn't.
In our haste, I had neglected to check the new tent (it's new, from Sports Depo, what can go wrong?). As it turns out, we had been given a returned tent with a broken pole elastic. It took ages to fix, and once we got the tent up, the aluminium join between the pole sections split apart and the tent collapsed. Wonderful. Luckily the campsite were pros in dealing with halfwits and lent us a spare set of poles which just about fit the tent. Phew.
 |
| Finally got it up! (oo-er) |
 |
| This tent is bigger and more fun for the kids. |
By the time we got back to the campsite, the weather was fine, the air had cooled and we slept well.
The next morning, we had plans to find a big park for the family. We hopped in the car and ended up driving into.... more rain!
It was so wet we ended up in a newly-built mall, with a US Land play area, which kept the kids busy for a couple of hours.
And again, once we returned to the tent, the weather cleared up, so we hit the lake:
During the day, the campsite had gone from being our private place by the lake to a jumping party venue, with loads of pro car-campers and their gear:
Sam was knackered:
The final day, Sunday, was hot and sunny, so we found another park with a pool and hung out on the way home. A good little holiday - all only two hours from Kobe!
 |
| Bye-bye Lake Biwa! |
On the way back we stopped in Sports Depo with the cacked-up tent. In exchange for our knackered and dirty tent, we were given a new, nicely-packed one. Result!
Ikumi Beach: Surf and Fun
After the Great Camping Misadventure we were happy to arrive in Ikumi Beach, having booked a room at Ten's Minshuku. We got a big (8-tatami) family room, for about ¥10,000 a night, not including breakfast. Ten had boards to rent and borrow, and Ikumi Beach has a couple of nice little cafe's nearby.
Here's Sam singing the Game of Thrones tune in the room:
The weather had improved and the beach was excellent. Ikumi is basically a very small surf town, which gets some good swells. The days we were there it was pretty small, though good enough for some fun and for Anya to do some bodyboarding.
We would definitely come back here again - it is about 5 hours from Rokko Island, but an easy drive.
On the way back we stopped in the big park at Awaji, to have a go on the roller slide without any crowds:
 |
| Happy to have somewhere dry to stay! |
The weather had improved and the beach was excellent. Ikumi is basically a very small surf town, which gets some good swells. The days we were there it was pretty small, though good enough for some fun and for Anya to do some bodyboarding.
 |
| The surf here gets pretty busy, but it' s a friendly crowd. |
 |
| Even Daddy got some sessions. |
We would definitely come back here again - it is about 5 hours from Rokko Island, but an easy drive.
On the way back we stopped in the big park at Awaji, to have a go on the roller slide without any crowds:
The Great Camping (Mis)Adventure
Our first attempt at camping was a bit of a disaster. It's been pretty wet here recently, but we thought we'd get a few good days and decided to head through Awaji, camp overnight and then move on to Ikumi Beach, on Shikoku. We got stocked up, packed the car and headed off. When we arrived at the Keino Matsubara campsite (thanks to some classy navigation by Hesty and GoogleMaps), it was a perfect evening and we had the site and the long white beach to ourselves:
Then Daddy and Anya went to sit by the beach to give Sam some peace with Mummy to get to sleep. As we were sitting there, Anya said "this is wonderful," and talked about what a good time she was having.
After a while we saw some lightning a long way off shore. It was a good opportunity to learn about counting the time between the lightning and the thunder to estimate how far the storm was. We had been expecting a bit of rain, but nothing too bad.
We soon realised that this storm was heading our way, and went back to the tent to stay out of the rain. Sam had fallen asleep, but when the storm hit it was ferocious - howling winds, lightning striking near then tent and flying debris. Part of the tent collapsed and water filled it up pretty quickly. Something hit Hesty and me; she got a pretty impressive bruise on the arm. Anya was terrified and Sam remained asleep, though clinging to me.
Once the worst was over, I went outside to try to put the tent back together (it was a quick-erection job, so I figured the poles had come unlocked). Next to the tent lay lengths of wood and sheets of corrugated aluminium were wrapped around the tree above the tent, as well as the cart we'd used to move our stuff. The wind had destroyed some of the beach cook-out shelters. An electric cable was flapping around, having come down from the pole; luckily the campsite wasn't due to officially open for another week so their power was off. I didn't get any photos.
I sent Hesty and the kids to car, about 100m away, while I gathered up as much as I could of our belongings before the next round came in off the sea. We got everything except the tent, which was pretty wrecked and too hard to pack up in the dark. It is still there.
By this time it was nearly 10pm as we decided to move on. We drove off soaked, looking for a hotel. After a couple of hours driving around Awaji looking for somewhere, we gave up and drove on to Naruto, on Shikoku island. We found a decent-enough travel hotel and got some sleep, before driving on to Ikumi Beach in the morning.
Phew.
 |
| Idyllic, eh? |
After playing in the sea and on the beach until the sun went down, we cooked out and messed around in the tent:
Then Daddy and Anya went to sit by the beach to give Sam some peace with Mummy to get to sleep. As we were sitting there, Anya said "this is wonderful," and talked about what a good time she was having.
After a while we saw some lightning a long way off shore. It was a good opportunity to learn about counting the time between the lightning and the thunder to estimate how far the storm was. We had been expecting a bit of rain, but nothing too bad.
We soon realised that this storm was heading our way, and went back to the tent to stay out of the rain. Sam had fallen asleep, but when the storm hit it was ferocious - howling winds, lightning striking near then tent and flying debris. Part of the tent collapsed and water filled it up pretty quickly. Something hit Hesty and me; she got a pretty impressive bruise on the arm. Anya was terrified and Sam remained asleep, though clinging to me.
Once the worst was over, I went outside to try to put the tent back together (it was a quick-erection job, so I figured the poles had come unlocked). Next to the tent lay lengths of wood and sheets of corrugated aluminium were wrapped around the tree above the tent, as well as the cart we'd used to move our stuff. The wind had destroyed some of the beach cook-out shelters. An electric cable was flapping around, having come down from the pole; luckily the campsite wasn't due to officially open for another week so their power was off. I didn't get any photos.
I sent Hesty and the kids to car, about 100m away, while I gathered up as much as I could of our belongings before the next round came in off the sea. We got everything except the tent, which was pretty wrecked and too hard to pack up in the dark. It is still there.
By this time it was nearly 10pm as we decided to move on. We drove off soaked, looking for a hotel. After a couple of hours driving around Awaji looking for somewhere, we gave up and drove on to Naruto, on Shikoku island. We found a decent-enough travel hotel and got some sleep, before driving on to Ikumi Beach in the morning.
Phew.
Summer Fun!
Wow, It's been a couple of months since an update. We've been on summer break for a while, and have been up to all sorts here in Japan. I'll do a couple of individual posts after this, but here is an album of photos from the break:
Sunday, 13 May 2012
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