'Basements, Buckets and Bites!'-The Izu Peninsula

Weekend of August 14th-15th, 2010.

With the prediction of yet another hot weekend, to follow the continuously hot, hot weather we've had for 10 weeks, we decided to head off to the beach again. The weather has been unrelenting; heat, humidity and more heat! Some days the air, so thick with the humidity, makes it difficult to breathe.  Heat exhaustion has claimed 132 lives in Japan this summer, with 31,579 people hospitalized since May 31 as an intense heat wave has engulfed the country.

Steve loaded the 'people mover' with everything we kept pushing into his arms, complaining each time he returned about the amount of crap we were taking. Finally we headed off,  making sure Sophie got to push the elevator button thus avoiding a 3 year old 'tantie'!!! At the last minute I returned to the apartment for some forgotten item, so everyone went on ahead.

Back in the elevator I pushed B3... at B3 I rushed out  through the security door into the underground car park....proceeded to the car.... it wasn't there. Damn!! Wrong level...the car's on B2.... I raced to the door. Double damn!! Locked and no key to get in. I tried ringing...no telephone reception...I walked up a level on the exit route and got to a grille... triple damn (actually a bit worse than that)... locked...I needed the remote control.....back down to the door....tried the emergency bell...no response. Down in the bowels of the car park it was bl....y hot! Back up to the grille....tried calling out this time...no good...back down to the door in case someone was looking for me. Negative...so back up to the grille...Yes!!..someone driving in...another 'Lost in Translation' moment but finally I'm released from my prison.... hot, stressed and close to tears and we haven't even left home!!

 
We found our way out of Yokohama, with the assistance of the GPS, which has Japanese maps but talks in English,  and were soon on the tollway. Our destination was the Izu Peninsula via Lake Hakone. The Izu Peninsula juts out in to the Pacific Ocean, with Sagami Bay on its east and Suruga Bay on the west. With its rolling green hills, numerous hot springs and sunny seaside resorts it is a popular year round tourist area.

We had booked accommodation for Saturday night at a traditional Japanese ryokan in Toi. Unlike the weekend before, when everyone had visited Lake Hakone while I was climbing the icon, this weekend was windy and overcast and Mt Fuji could not be seen. We stopped for a quick walk and something to eat before moving on. Travelling with a three year old you also tend to become quite familiar with every toilet block along the way, Western style or squat she's not fussy!

The difference in weather conditions can be clearly seen in the photos. Sunny and clear.....grey, windy and overcast (still warm though).

From Lake Hakone we moved on down the west coast of the Peninsula, passing through some beautiful countryside.....beautiful treed mountains, rice paddies and towns with traditional housing. The photo below was taken the weekend before
 
We checked out where our bed (actually futon) for the night was as we passed through Toi, just in case we were late returning. Our next mission was to find somewhere to swim. We decided that the beach at Dogashima looked ok so we found a place to park the car, not always easy, and trekked off through narrow streets for a swim.
 
The beach was in a little bay with a collection of small islands at the opening, very pretty indeed. As is the norm, the sand was black and the beach was quite busy!

We erected our new beach shelter and blew up the beach toys before heading for the water.

Hang on....beach toys!!! "Steve, where are the new things I bought for the girls? They were in the plastic bag I passed to you this morning." After the initial denials that no bag had been passed to him....there was the sudden realization that he had thought the bag contained rubbish and had disposed of it in the bin. Good one...another 'Lost in Translation' incident! The initial excitement of going for a swim was quickly dampened when Sophie, who was floating around in her beach ring, began screaming and tearing at her body. As we brought her ashore she continued to scream and rip at her skin. A local life guard joined us as we examined her arms and torso. 

She had been stung by a small, unidentified jellyfish with long tentacles. Unable to communicate with anyone, the only thing we understood was if she was allergic we should take her to a hospital. My goodness, sometimes you just need to be able to ask questions. Sophie screamed and cried for half an hour and her arm became red and inflamed. I ran off in search of ice (later research indicated this was the wrong choice) and then went off again in search of a distraction...a new beach bucket and spade. It sort of did the trick but we all decided we didn't need another swim!! Within hours the marks on her arms looked like burns and by the next day we realized, as the wounds got deeper, she would probably be left with scars. In true Sophie style though, she moved on and only used the incident to earn 'sympathy votes' when needed!! As the pain subsided she quickly returned to her normal self and disappeared, unannounced, in search of a shower. Before we could retrieve her, she appeared at the head of the stairs to the beach..... completely naked with a spear gun in each hand. Certainly this patient was suffering no long term effects... it takes a lot to subdue some!! Harriet thought the 'spear gun trick' was a great joke!!

Before returning to Toi for the night, we continued south along the picturesque coast passing through many pretty coastal towns.

The scenery was beautiful and the views quite stunning...such a stark contrast to the 'concrete jungles' of Tokyo and Yokohama.

Our accommodation for the night was a traditional ryokan where the owners lived downstairs and guests stayed in the three rooms available on the second floor. The charge per adult was 6,000yen, which included dinner and breakfast. We opted for breakfast only so the tariff was reduced by 900 yen. As it turns out we were the only guests for the night, quite surprising as it was a long weekend and many places had been fully booked out.

The room was quite large but, as is the norm had very thin walls and paper window blinds, which are a little delicate with boisterous toddlers around. We rolled out the futons and laid out the quilts then started to think about our next meal.

Sophie by this stage had investigated every nook and cranny and went off playing with the young Japanese residents. Unable to communicate verbally she still loved the company of other children, something she missed most whilst on holidays. Tea was the normal chaotic affair but the walk around town in the warm balmy evening was very pleasant. We massaged our feet on a reflexology footpath (more like a torture path) then enjoyed soaking them in a hot spring.

After such a busy day we all fell into bed, that is, after we had enjoyed our indoor onsen at the ryokan. The water was actually too hot to bathe in, but that didn't stop Soph or Steve.
Breakfast in the morning was quite amazing and I was able to give most of the offerings a go. Our hostess had prepared a real feast to satisfy most taste buds.

A quick walk around the streets and an early morning 'wake up' gong for all and we were off.

The day before Sarah had noticed a cave set into a cliff as we had been driving along the coast. We decided to find that first off. Naturally each of us had our own beliefs as to its location. We managed to avoid a major battle in the car and gave a collective sigh of relief  when 'himself' was wrong and we were right. Oh the joys of travelling with a car full of females, what hope did he have?? We parked the car and walked along the road to the spot we had spied. We ascended the steep stairs to the entrance. The first section of the 'cave' held work tools. We passed through and into an outdoor garden. It was here that another building was located.

 

Within what we believe was a temple we were intrigued to find individual shrines enclosed in cubicles. Each shrine had a collection of offerings. It felt like a very sacred area. Feeling like intruders in such a special place we had a quick look and departed, afraid we may be trespassing. Well done though Sarah for sticking to your guns, it was a special find.

 

After a snack in one of the coastal towns we headed inland to the 'Seven Falls of Kawazu', a series of waterfalls in the rapids of the Kawazu River. The drive through the traditional villages and forested, hilly country was beautiful. It has been lovely to finally find the more traditional type buildings that we tend to associate Japan with. The Kawazu Loop Bridge was impressive. It is a double spiral loop which links two different mountains with sides so steep it was impossible to build a road at the same elevation on either side. 

Never ones to  miss an opportunity, Sophie and I quickly dunked our feet in this drain full of water. Anything to cool down!!

A lovely walk along a bush path took us past each of the seven waterfalls. We then headed for home. After a couple of hours we finally headed in to Yokohama and successfully navigated our way back to our apartment. Thank goodness for the GPS and thank you again Japan for sharing the beauties of your country with us.

We are indeed privileged 'temporary residents' to be experiencing this wonderful place!!

'My New Wheels.'

When I first moved to Japan and was living in Shinagawa, Tokyo I introduced my first new set of wheels, the wondrous bike. My bike has given me excellent service and allowed me to explore many parts of Tokyo and Yokohama.

It has allowed me to cart the grandchildren around in the heat, Sophie on the back and Harriet on the front. Its design features are still a little dubious and it's still a wobbly piece of work. I have carted groceries, brooms, mops and all sorts of things with it. I actually love my daggy bike with its basket and upright handlebars.

Recently we purchased a car, a silver Honda Odyssey. It gives us the freedom to explore the greater Japanese countryside, those parts of Japan that are not all accessible by train services. A real 'people mover' with enough seats to carry six comfortably, so plenty of room for alien visitors. In Japan you are not allowed to buy a car unless you can prove you have a secured car parking space for it and also an alien registration card. We met those criteria. Currently it is decked out with child car seat and booster seat. Guess where nanny sits?? Yep, that's right! Right up the back!! Lucky nanny.

It is not these sets of wheels I am talking about though. These are the wheels I am talking about! Doesn't look like wheels does it??

They're pretty cool if you ask me.

It has become increasingly difficult to lug all the groceries back from the supermarkets, one is near the station and another one is about 2km's away,  so now I can use this. I can either drag it along behind me or attach it to my bike's pack rack with okky straps.

I now have my own set of 'Granny Wheels'. Very upmarket, that's for sure!!!
A very practical solution and really..... who cares how daggy these wheels are?? Like my bike they do the job.

I climbed Fuji-san!!!

'Team building'- a 'catch cry' term familiar to many of us. It is indeed, a wonderful thing when living in a foreign country on an overseas posting!!  Even better when, technically, you're not even part of the team, except in a support role. It has meant many dinners out and lots of fun activities, including beach parties and Hash running at an unofficial level. With a visit to Japan from a major team leader an event, which involved climbing Mt Fuji, was organised.

Steve had put both our names down but, unfortunately, his knee ultimately prevented him from participating. Disappointingly Steve had withdrawn our names. Initially I thought, 'Oh well, that's it!' and then I thought why not? With encouragement from work mates, at a team dinner in Yokohama on the Wednesday night, I decided to join the group of thirty-five people, mostly unknown to me, and climb the iconic Japanese mountain. At the dinner, Moses was 'over the top' explaining where the summit is....up here....at the top!!!

I was a late entry on the Thursday and the walk was on the Friday!!  The group included people from, not only Steve's team, but the Japan based company as well. The plan was to meet at Shinagawa station by 7.30am to catch the bus. I left home by about 6.20am which gave me plenty of time to catch a train to Yokohama then another one to Shinagawa. Each hiker had received a complimentary hiking jacket, hydration pack and head lamp complete with the project logo. Obviously all transport, food and accommodation costs had been covered. I had bought my pack etc from Australia so I was well equipped. The day before I had got some new wick dry leggings and bought a few nibbles. All participants had undertaken an orientation program except me. Steve had completed it on my behalf. As a bit of an outsider I naturally was a little nervous joining the group.  This nervousness was magnified when, much to my horror, the sole suddenly fell off my hiking boot as I was approaching the bus. I felt like an unprepared fool arriving with the boot in my hand.

A tearful phone call to Steve left me no closer to a solution. Shops don't open until 10am in Japan and I was told quite clearly the bus would not be stopping on the way. I decided to go anyway, not prepared to give up at this stage. If I didn't find a solution I could stay with the base team at a Fitness Resort.

The trip to our starting point, the 5th  Station, took about 4 hours. Four hours spent pondering my predicament. I was sitting with Moses, the work mate of Steve's who had encouraged me to join, who comes from Borneo. Moses kindly offered me his new Nike hiking boots and said because he was from Borneo he could walk barefoot...as if!!! As it turns out, over the weekend, he was the man!!!....regularly carrying packs for others in his group when they were flagging. No.....he didn't carry mine! He was in a different group.

As soon as we arrived at our destination I raced to the closest shop. There was about half an hour before the hike started. Much to my surprise I found a pair of Chinese runners. They were 2 sizes too big and naturally poor quality. I parted with 1700 yen, very cheap, and decided I would just wear an extra pair of socks and see how it panned out. As I was returning to the group I noticed some other shops. What the heck.... you never know!! One shop only sold food but in the next shop I found another pair of daggy runners, still a bit big, that I purchased for 2800 yen as back up. As I was leaving the shop, imagine my excitement when, I saw proper walking boots for sale. They were way too small but I managed to communicate my desire for a larger pair. The shopkeeper hurried off and came back with another pair. Quickly I tried them on. They seemed to fit quite well, so with the 'thumbs up' signal I kept them on, got a refund for the runners I had just bought and ran back to the group. Not the ideal way to buy such an important piece of equipment but what choice did I have? My newly acquired Goretex boots, Mont-Bell's, turned out to be a creditable brand that did not let me down.No blisters, no pressure points...amazing!

Climbing Mt Fuji is a unique experience that only 1% of the Japanese ever experience. There is an old saying about Mt Fuji- "If you never climb Mt Fuji you are a fool, and if you climb it more than once you are a fool". Others have been known to say '"Fuji-san is a mountain only for looking at; not a mountain for climbing". Obviously people who say this are part of the 99%. Mt Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan (3776 meters) and is an active volcano. It is said that about 300,000 people climb it every year, many of these foreigners.

The ascent does not pose any major difficulties which require specialised climbing skills, but the terrain is rocky and steep. Many sections are chained and the scree can be very unstable. Warning signs alert you to sudden rock falls and wind gusts. The main challenge of the climb is the fact that it is very strenuous and the air gets notably thinner as you gain altitude. Lots of bike riding, hash running and walking ensured my physical fitness level was good.

After a briefing with the guides, the customary group photos and warm up session two groups took off. Everyone had purchased their official Fuji-san staff to assist in the climb and to also have stamped at every station.

We started in very warm weather and as lightly clad as possible. The initial part of the track was fairly flat and very busy because of school holidays. Many of the outfits of the seemingly hundreds, if not thousands, of climbers were a constant source of entertainment. For a mere 12,000 yen ($160.00)  you could even get carried on horseback for the first little bit. Surely this service is only for people out on a day trip. If you needed horseback assistance here you wouldn't bother continuing.

The climb to the top is broken into ten stations with most people starting at Station 5. There are many mountain huts located between 5th station and the summit. Drinks and food are sold in the huts, but they are expensive. As we got higher the price of food and water increased. In my opinion, a small price to pay if you don't have to carry all the required water.  

It usually costs about 5,000 yen to 7,000 yen ($65.00-$90.00) to spend a night in a mountain hut. They get extremely crowded and it's recommended to make a reservation. Most of mountain huts at Mt. Fuji are open only during the official climbing season (July-August). A short break at each station allows the body to adjust to the increasing altitude and time to purchase the stamps, which are burned on the staffs. The cost of each stamp is 200 yen ($2.60) and some stations had two stamps available. Pretty good turnover during the climbing season, if 300,000 people climb each year.

I had purchased my staff for 1200 yen and had proudly bought about ten stamps, when in typical 'Jenny fashion' I accidentally left mine behind at the 7th Station. Realizing too far up the track I was not allowed to return. An expensive stick to lose, I say (3200 yen or $43.00AUD)!! One of the lovely girls in our team, Juri,  gave me hers in spite of my protestations. So many times in this life I really make myself cross!

As we ascended the temperature gradually dropped and, of course, the light began to fade. We had left the 5th Station at 1.30pm and our progress was very slow. Often we had to wait for the hordes of people ahead of us. The steep and rocky terrain further slowed the pace.

By the time you had a toilet stop (which cost 200 yen each time), had your staff stamp burned on and bought water (300 yen at the lower altitudes  to 450 yen at the higher stations) your rest time at each station was soon over. The official guides led each group and the back leader, as we call them at school, was a person from the team who had Fuji experience. Our guide was on his 18th Fuji climb for the season, a season only 5 weeks old. My climbing buddy was Akinori, a delightful Japanese man, who was our designated back leader. 

We trekked on throughout the afternoon and added layers as the temperature decreased. The views were spectacular and difficult to describe.......beautiful, awesome, picturesque, stunning..... Tokyo could be glimpsed in the distance and lakes, plains and undulating countryside lay below. The surface of the mountain often resembled a moonscape, with steep slopes of scree and pumice stone, and overall was very barren with a lack of any significant vegetation.

As we climbed higher we appeared to be perched on cotton wool and as the sun settled the sky turned pink. Before we knew it we were deploying our head lamps and our climbing continued in the dark.

As we climbed we could see each of the stations above us. They seemed so close but the track zig-zagged on its way up.

As already mentioned, it was at the 7th Station that I left my 'stick' behind. The journey between the 7th and 8th stations was definitely 'the straw that broke the camel's back' for many walkers. Halfway between the two stations I began to develop a headache and started to feel nauseous. I had been noticing for a while that my stomach was feeling very bloated (air expansion) and, probably, I was not concentrating on my breathing as I should have been. At this stage it was also important to slow down your movements to sufficiently compensate for the lack of oxygen. Anyway, the short story is, I succumbed to altitude sickness. Lying on the track retching and with little energy, I would happily have stopped and rested where I landed. Enter.... team support!! Initially some of my team mates sat with me, encouraged me to breathe deeply and egged me on. I was then relieved of my pack and given some high energy food bars. After a short recuperation I would move on another 20 steps or so, then stop and repeat the process. Finally I had a few puffs of aerosol oxygen and ultimately I felt an arm under each armpit as I was virtually air lifted to the 8th Station. The time about 9.30pm. What a day!!!

Once again, I was annoyed with myself but felt a little less demoralised when I discovered another member of the team, who was on his third Fuji climb, had also succumbed. A meal was waiting at the hut but unfortunately I felt too disgusting to have anything but a few nibbles of rice. The little sausages and curry didn't appeal at all. The station was named 'Fuji-san Hotel', a very regal name for a humble, but cosy,  mountain hut. At about 10.30pm I found a bunk, crawled in and finally went horizontal but, as to be expected, sleep alluded me. The bunk was quite comfortable with a 'futon like' mattress and lovely thick blanket and small pillow. I was glad to release my down puffer jacket from its stuff bag and cuddle up with it.

The plan was to rise at 1.00am and have an early breakfast before beginning the final ascent. Not one to miss out, I dragged my still nauseous self out of the warm bunk, popped an anti nausea tablet and attempted to eat breakfast......more rice, tuna and some strange tasting topping....not a 'happening thing' except for a few mouthfuls of rice. In preparation for the zero degree temperature, at the top and on the climb up, everyone layered up. By 1.30am about 20 of our 35 were ready to leave, many had decided the night before that they would not proceed.

The group split in two.....the ones who wanted to climb around the crater and those who were happy to stop at the summit above. I opted for the 2nd group. The track rose steeply and the surface was loose. Within a couple of hundred metres two climbers had returned home...victims to continuing altitude effects. I was the next victim to be overcome with continuing weakness, lack of desire and I suspect just plain tiredness. After receiving strict instructions on how to descend I was left to find my way back to the hut in the dark. Once back in the hut I quickly fell into bed again and really didn't give a damn whether I saw the sunrise at 4.00am or not.

At 6.30am, before the summit walkers returned, those still at the hut began the descent back to Station 5 . The return trip was more like a slide in many places and it was commonplace to see people falling backwards onto their behinds. By the time we returned to the bottom the sun was shining brightly, the temperature was back up again and all the layers had been shed. In the end eleven of the original thirty-five starters reached the summit.

The whole experience was excellent; the group camaraderie and support was terrific and the organisation was 'spot on'. We enjoyed a lovely shower and a celebratory meal at the Fitness Resort below the mountain. Each person was acknowledged and presented with a certificate to mark the occasion. It also gave me the opportunity to thank my rescuers, one of whom was Akinori, my trusty 'buddy'!!!

 I am definitely glad I climbed Fuji-san but probably will not attempt it again. At this stage I can't say I will never attempt it again, that's a bit definite. You just never know..........there is always next year!!!!!! The mountain will still be there and, as far as I am concerned, it is there to be climbed and looked at!

As they were looking..... I was climbing!!

This photo was taken by Bek on a day trip in our new car.