I recall our family on a winter’s evening sitting around the open fire, and when the soot in the back of the fireplace sparkled as it caught fire, we were always told it was the Japs and Germans fighting.

Decades later a longed-for encounter with modern Japan, with its Mt Fuji, Cherry Blossoms and the Shinkansen (Bullet train), somehow found a place on my bucket list. And Teddy’s fascination with Japan also stretches back many years.

Every year he visits Japan Day on the Auckland waterfront, so the decision to visit Tokyo for a game of Super rugby between The Auckland Blues  and the Japanese Sunwolves in the 2018 season was a no-brainer.

After leaving Hong Kong for our second week of our Asian adventure, we arrived at Narita Airport, about an hour’s shuttle away from downtown Tokyo. My first thoughts as we travelled towards the city was the enormity of the expansive roading network. I envisioned Auckland’s Spaghetti Junction on a ginormous dose of concrete and steel steroids!

Our travel agent had booked us into the  Shibuya Tokyu REI Hotel which we were pleased to find was only a five minute walk to Shibuya Station. (We did find out quite soon that the trains in Tokyo are a breeze to navigate!)

But I never realised that I would be so fascinated with a pedestrian crossing. Shibuya is a trendy shopping district in Tokyo and plonk in the middle and in front of the Shibuya Station is reportedly the world’s busiest intersection, the Shibuya Crossing.

We joined the throngs navigating the crossing a number of times as we headed off on our many train and subway journeys.  

Sensoji Temple – Asakusa

The day we arrived we ventured out on our first train excursion. It was a dwarfing experience negotiating the vast Shibuya Station, most of which covered several blocks of underground Shibuya, but we eventually found the Ginza Line and were transported to Asakusa Station where we’d been told we would find the Sensoji Temple.

We were feeling really travel-brave by this time!  

The Kaminarimon Gate offers a welcome to the Nakamise shopping street filled with shops offering an extensive range of Japanese craft items, food stalls and street food. The street frames the Sensoji Buddhist Temple in the distance. 

The atmosphere surrounding the Temple oozed its own character with the smoke filled Jokoro, a large earthenware incense burner, where visitors embrace the smoke’s healing powers; learning your fortune or Omikuji which is written on a rolled up strip of paper; flowering cherry blossom trees; groups of Japanese ladies clad in traditional dress; and the never-ending throng of tourists with their cameras, clicking, posing, and basking in the ambience of the moment in time.

Mt Fuji

The top of our list of things to do in Japan was to visit Mt Fuji. A two hour bus trip saw us journey through the countryside and head towards the majestic mountain. In my mind I felt the warmth of the sun warming my face while breathing the rarified mountain air, and observing a view to behold.

But nope, not at all.

The mountain was covered from top to treeline in dense cloud with a snow storm raging at the summit. We shrugged off our bitter disappointment with a short cruise on nearby Lake Ashi, and a ride on the Mt Komagatake Ropeway which spoiled us with sweeping views across the Haukone National Park.

The journey back to Tokyo fulfilled one of my greatest wishes; the chance to travel on the Shinkansen (bullet train).

The train was luxurious, quiet and very very fast.

Disneyland Tokyo

If there is a Disneyland, Teddy has to go.

Thursday was our opportunity to compare Disneyland Tokyo with the real McCoy in California. We’d been to Annaheim in 2009 so there was a nine year gap from one to the other.

Now confident in our well honed navigating skills, finding our way to our destination was a breeze.  I was struck immediately with physical presentation of the complex, fresh in appearance, the Japanese quest for perfection flooded from every building, every street, every garden. Although Tokyo Disneyland has been operating since 1983, it oozed a certain sparkle of polished perfection. 

The Imperial Family’s Gardens

The next day was our chance to visit the centre of Tokyo and explore the expansive East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. With just a ten minute stroll from the Tokyo Station, the gardens offered a degree of serenity and tradition against a backdrop of high rise cityscape.

The Imperial Palace itself, which is surrounded by moats and massive stone walls, is not open to the public as it remains the residence of Japan’s Imperial family. But there is full access to the historic grounds of the East Gardens.

It felt surreal as I wandered around the magical gardens filled with Cherry Blossoms, Japanese Maples, and a raft of other colourful and well maintained vegetation.

It was a tiring afternoon but well worth the visit and all the walking that we did.

The Rugby finale – Blues vs Sunwolves

After a week of tripping and trekking, walking  and clicking, we gathered our cameras, flags, Blues attire and boarded the train on the Ginza line and started our journey from Shibuya to Gaienmae. Our destination, Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.

Walking along the street to the stadium, Teddy and I melded with a crowd of Sunwolves supporters making their way to the game. Dressed in our own supporters gear, we were a wavelet of “blue” in a giant sea of “red”.

We were immediately struck by the friendliness of the Sunwolves supporters. We felt a bit like Rock Stars with all the smiles and waves aimed at us.

Even in the stadium, we proudly waved the New Zealand flag as our Blues ground out an eventual win.

Homeward Bound

Our holiday was soon over. We had both fulfilled a secret wish to visit Japan and would spend many hours reflecting on the experience.

As we departed Narita Airport and headed homewards, Teddy pointed towards the window of the plane. I looked below to see the summit of Mt Fuji peeping through a bed of cloud. I felt that the mountain was trying to bid us farewell but I’m sure I also sensed its call for us to return again one day.

  END

…and that’s not the only thing going up.

The mercury’s inching up and that summer feeling is certainly in the air. And, the biggie…Christmas is just around the corner.

It’s time to brush off the barbie, lock in a stock of Christmas cheer and prepare to relegate 2017 to the rear view mirror.

It also means it’s time to climb on board the holiday travel train. To join the hordes of holiday makers heading to the beaches for their annual fix of summer sun.

Popular tourist hang-outs will be overrun with jandal-footed, scantily clad bodies. And the smell of a hundred SPF 50’s will clog your nostrils for weeks to come. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. And just maybe you don’t have any annual holidays left to let you escape for a week or two.

Often it can be better to plan the odd day trip or overnighter, from your base at home.  It doesn’t have to be to places that are high-traffic tourist locations.

Every year I make a point of visiting at least one new location, and that can be either at home here in New Zealand or to some overseas destination.

So, now I’ll share a few of the more out-of-the-way places that Teddy and I have visited over the years. Places that have provided us with a wider lens from which to view this beautiful country. And it’s not always in the popular touristy places where you find these precious gems.

Our challenge to you is to find just one little treasure of your own and let us know back here on this post; where it was, what you did and how you can encourage others to visit that place.  On the other hand, if you already have a trove of “special” destinations in your travel pack, let us know where they are, then share the post with your friends and family.

To help you on your way, I’ve complied a short list of just a few of the “out of the way” places that Teddy or I, or both of us have visited over the years.

At the time of our visits, some of the places seemed very isolated and today with advances in infrastructure and communications, it may not be the case now. But the value we find in visiting remote locations, is that it gives us the chance to see for ourselves, the treasures that our beautiful country has to offer.

So, are you wondering what to do over the holiday break? Then maybe this will give you enough of that “holiday feeling” to get yourself, your family and friends together and climb  on board your own starship Enterprise and go “where no man has gone before”.

Well, maybe not quite that remote. There will be a reasonably well trodden path to many of these locations, but it is great to have that feeling that you’re a little bit “off the grid” when travelling to remote places.

Teddy and I have still got a few places to explore and we’ll be trying our darnedest to get there some time in the not too distant future.

Here is our own starter pack of remote(ish) places to visit. We’ll start in the Far North and head south:

1. Cape Reinga and Ninety Mile Beach – Far North

It’s a powerful feeling to stand at the top of the country and gaze out to the blue horizon. It must have been around twenty years ago when I visited the lighthouse at Cape Reinga. This is New Zealand’s (almost) northern most point where you can watch as the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean merge with the warmer waters of the Tasman Sea.

In fact Cape Reinga is second only to the Surville Cliffs, 30 kilometres further east as taking the trophy for the country’s most northern point. Nevertheless, its a great feeling to stand at the lighthouse and watch in awe as the two oceans come together. Sometimes the waters are calm and the merging of the two bodies is gentle and serene. At other times the water and waves swirl and agitate as if powered by a giant underwater washing machine.

To get there, one option is to self-drive, preferably in a 4WD so you can travel the return journey along the sands of ninety mile beach. 

Alternatively, full-day coach tours leave daily from Paihia and Kerikeri. This was the option I chose so I could sit back and be guided though the region. The driver/guide provides a great historic commentary as you pass through kauri forests, dunes and beaches. The full day-trip takes about 11 hours from pick-up to drop-off.  

2. Waitomo Caves – “Wai” – Water; “Tomo” – Entrance or Hole – Southern Waikato

You may wonder why anyone would want to venture underground to go hunting little worms. Well that’s not quite what you find once you’ve descended into what seems like the bowels of the Earth. Teddy and I both, at different times in our lives, have visited the famous glowworms caves in South Waikato.

Generally the beauty of this country is found above the ground in it’s mountains, lakes and beaches, but the Waitomo Caves present the opportunity to see that the land is more than skin deep. Its subterranean landscape of unique limestone formations and cave systems is like another world. And the ultimate goal is to get close up and personal with those “glowing little worms“. 

To get there, is an easy hour long drive south from Hamilton. Several tour companies operate coach tours out of Rotorua, Hamilton and Auckland. If you leave from Auckland, the full day trip is about 8 hours long.

3. Cape Kidnappers – Hawkes Bay

Back in the 1960’s I went on a school trip to Cape Kidnappers to visit the remote gannet colony. At the time I knew very little about the gannets and the significance of that particular colony.

The colony consists of the Australasian gannet (Takapu) which is one of three species of gannet belonging to the booby family.  Over 20,000 gannets at peak time, are spread over four main nesting sites. And these sites now form four separate colonies: The Plateau, Saddle, Whalebone Reef and Black Reef colonies.

Although gannets are found in other areas of New Zealand and around the world, Cape Kidnappers is the largest mainland nesting site in the world.

Our school group travelled to Hastings by bus and then on to the beachside settlement of Clifton. This is the starting point of the 8 kilometre  walking track along the picturesque coastline to Cape Kidnappers.

It’s recommended to start the walk, 3 hours after high tide and for the return journey, no more that an hour and a half after low tide. I remember that long walk along the beach and at one stage we had to clamber over some rocks to avoid the lapping tide below.

At that time, the beach walk was the only way to reach the gannet colony. Now there is the additional option of a tractor safari operating every day (except the occasional days when the tides are not playing ball). Each tractor excursion lasts approximately 4 hours.

There is also the slightly more up-market (more expensive) 4WD overland safari departing twice daily. 

Apart from the extremely chaffed inner thighs (which cleared up in a couple of days) suffered from the six-hour trek through sand and salt water, the fun and learning experience has stayed with me for decades. 

4. Cape Palliser and Lighthouse – Wairarapa

A favourite place for our holidays in the 60’s and 70’s was the tiny oceanside settlement of Lake Ferry which lies at the mouth of Lake Onoke on the southern Wairarapa coast.

From the camping ground at Lake Ferry, we’d travel the 50 kilometer drive along the rugged coastline to the Cape Palliser Lighthouse.

The journey was amazing and the views, breathtaking. I remember Dad taking my sister and I on the journey and I was captivated by the ruggedness, and windswept outlook towards the Cook Strait. 

Along the way, we stopped off at a seal colony to watch the adult and young seals, lazing on the warm rocks. I remember during my early writing career, I wrote a travel article in which I focused on the memorial gravesite of a group of seafarers from the Zuleika, a ship that ran aground in Palliser Bay in April 1897.

Of the 21 sailors on board, 12 perished. Of the dead, 8 were buried in the grave, one was taken to Port Chalmers to be buried in a family plot, and the remaining three bodies were never found. For some reason, the memory of visiting that grave site has stayed with me. 

I’d like to go back along that piece of coastline one day, but in the meantime, there’s a lot more places to go, people to see and things to do.

To get there, head south from Martinborough and follow the signs to direct you to Palliser Bay. Tour companies currently operate coach excursions from Martinborough and Wellington. 

5. Moeraki Boulders – Otago

I found these boulders fascinating. 

The Moeraki Boulders are large spherical stones that have fallen away from the hillside as the bank recedes. Some of these “little stones” weigh up to several tons and are over 2 metres in diameter. 

Aside from the pure pleasure of wandering along the beach and seeing and touching these huge monsters, I’ve since spent many hours researching the various theories surrounding their existence. 

There is much folklore surrounding their origin and many theories have been suggested as to how the boulders were formed. From Maori legends of washed up remains of calabashes and kumera, to theories of being alien eggs or giant egg shells of sea-born dragons and on to a raft of scientific theories on their creation some 60 million years ago. 

Regardless of where they came from, I was fascinated to see such huge boulders lying across the beach, being partially covered by the incoming tides, and then fully exposed during the receding tides.  They now have legal protection and it is no longer permitted to damage, graffiti or remove them.

To get to the Moeraki Boulders, travel south from Oamaru along SH1 for about 20 minutes and the turnoff to the beach, café and carpark are well signposted. 

6. Stewart Island – Southland and Beyond.

As a teenager, Teddy travelled with Mum and Dad down to the country’s southern-most point; Stewart Island. Our Dad, a worker on the railways during those years, and would make the most of his annual “free rail pass” to cart the family around the country.

I recall both Mum and Dad telling me what a great experience it was to see so much of the countryside that they’d never seen before. It also helped that some  “rellie” would somehow come out of the woodwork on the journey, either an “uncle” who worked on the Cook Strait Ferry and give them access to a few extra perks than they’d be afforded as regular travellers.  Occasionally it would be some “old town boy” who used to know someone who was related to someone. And so it went on.

Teddy clearly remembers the day back in the summer of ’65 (a tad early than Bryan Adams Summer of 69), and their cruise across the Foveaux Strait on the ferry from Bluff to Oban, the major township of the Island. The population of the island still sits around the 400 mark and has seen little movement in population for the last few decades.

This has to be one of my bucket list entries in the future.

 Flights and Ferry Services run regularly every day. Ferries sail between Bluff and Oban (Stewart Island) and travel time is 1 hour each way. Flights operate between Invercargill Airport and Oban and flight time is 20 minutes.

As I have said, I still have some places that I want to visit. Neither of us have travelled the South Island’s West Coast, and that is high on both of our lists. I plan to visit Bluff one day and maybe too, take the trip across the Strait to Stewart Island. 

End.

Remember, let us know of any of your special “out of the way places” that you have visited and maybe we will add them to our bucket list as well. 

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