I’ve just gone through the photos from this morning’s hike around Karuizawa before we left and I’m so disappointed I wasn’t able to capture the beauty of the place. This is, without doubt, one of the real special places we have visited..ever. Took off at 8 am with thermals on and bumped into a little café/bar 5 minutes in. The owner Sue wasn’t quite ready but invited us in. She cooked up some toast and coffee and turns out she lived in Sydney for 8 years and her son lives there and happens to be a lawyer and CPA if you don’t mind. She proudly showed us the wedding photos in Sydney where he married a Japanese Aussie girl and the second traditional wedding they had back in Karuizawa.

She even had Vegemite and Capilano Honey for us! She and her husband had spent a lot of time in Tokyo and Sydney working but now are semi-retired in Karuizawa. They love it there and Sue mentioned that there was a hotel we will walk near that John Lennon and Yoko used to stay at a couple of times a year. John and Yoko had planned to settle in Karuizawa before he was shot and you can see why. Apparently, the barman that used to look after John when he stayed is still there and enjoys sharing his insights into his time with John.

Sue was so nice and typical of the treatment that has endeared us this entire trip.

So off we went for about a 7km walk through a landscape dominated by huge pine trees, frozen rivers, and beautiful warm looking homes tucked away discreetly. We came across a frozen part of a river, a first for me, and then set about throwing rocks at it trying to break the ice. Lynda scored the biggest rock and smashed it on to what looked like a really thick part and it let out a mighty CRACK and scared the bejeezus out of me as I wasn’t looking and there has been a history of earthquakes in Japan just quietly!!

So now come the crap photos that don’t do it justice but take it from me, if you come here for a holiday, don’t miss it. It is a ski resort but Sue says the population doubles in summer from 20,000 to 40,000. The enormous shopping centre with factory outlets also draws the Tokyo-ites there because it’s only about an hour and a quarter on the bullet train.

What I also loved about the houses was that there was no need for mowing. The ground is a combination of leaves, pine needles and moss compressed! Beautiful! No mowers, whipper snippers or leaf blowers! May we all rest in peace! Now if we can just ban jet skis!

So it was farewell to this stunning little town that we will definitely call on again one day. Back on the bullet train and off to Tokyo. I must say it was still nice to get back to Tokyo and the controlled chaos that is Tokyo Station. We navigated the subway like it was an old friend and found our last hotel which is in the Tokyo Dome district. The Dome is the home of the Tokyo Giants baseball team and holds about 60,000 fans. Right next to the stadium is a cracking roller coaster and other amusements such as a Tokyo “Eye” like London. This rollercoaster has the scariest vertical drop off you’ve ever seen! We were packing our undies just watching these lunatics go up then drop over the edge!

From there we headed one last time to the Ginza district to try and find a ring for Lynda. We had a look at a few places but we were both getting tired and ring shopping isn’t fun for either of us. Suddenly this brightly lit shop appeared in a back street and we were greeted by the nicest young bloke who treated us like we were the last people on earth. To cut a long story short we found something that’s perfect and they even got us a nice cuppa in heart-shaped cups with heart-shaped sugar cubes! Lashings of cheese! That’s just the way we like it! He was a beautiful guy and he kept bowing as we left virtually till we were out of sight. Amazing service. God help the first person I meet when I get home who serves me and says, “You right?” I can feel a fatality coming on.

Well that’s it! I might do a final “tips for Japan” finale on the plane and add some quirky photos that didn’t make the final cut. I do hope you get an opportunity to see Japan. A big thanks to Amelia for planting the seed and it has certainly exceeded all expectations.

The writing of this journal is a labour of love and apart from providing some insights for anyone who’s interested in travelling here, it helps me commit the experiences to memory. I have an unnatural tendency to remember inane and pointless things from 40 years ago and not remember what happened yesterday!

Finally a big thanks to Lynda for her patience and humour. Also, her organization skills when it comes to flights, accommodation etc are only what you would expect from a lifetime of sorting kids out. We’ve pissed ourselves laughing so much and we share the love of travel, so who knows next year? It’s so tempting to come back to Japan and head to the wild north of Hokkaido. Anyway, we feel privileged to have had this opportunity. Looking forward to seeing my daughters again…um..the names have escaped me just for a second…just kidding girls!

I think the measure of a great holiday will be on Monday morning when I see my leadership team of Drew, Mal and Charis again and I will ask one question, “what is it I do again?”

Cheers all, Willow & Lynda