Sat 21

Phoebe crook.  She stayed home to give her body a chance to rest and recover.

TSUGIKE

Henry and I walked down the hill caught a T2 bus to Tsugike. A very long and high gondola ride.  Lots of great runs. 

11:30am An early lunch.  I really just wanted soup but although soup was available,  it wasn't on the menu as an individual item. I had too buy a pork and rice meal in order to get the soup. As with many cafes, chips water was free. 

This was the lunch venue. 

A lot of the infrastructure looks rusty.

We then took a bus to Iwatke.

IWATKE

Henry warned me that I might get the wrong idea and Iwatke because it was afternoon and a hot suny day and so the snow was likely to be slushy. 

Iwatke is very tourist focused. A gondola takes people to a location that includes multiple activities.  It also allows non skiers to engage in the activities and then ride the gondola back down. 

Activities:

Dog petting,

Swing out from a platform.

Cafe with cantilever verandah. 

We went to the above mentioned Cafe but the queue to buy a coffee was huge so we availed ourselves of free iced water and sat and looked at the view. 

Pointing to a Cafe in the distance at Hoppo where we had a less than Stella coffee a few days earlier. 

Bus home. 

The buses seem confusing.  These signs provide route and time info and are way clearer than the paper schedule. 

EVENING 

Walked down the street to an Italian place.  Aperol Spitz, Pizza, water & Tiramisu.

As we walked back up the hill the sound of rushing water signalled that winter was over.

Hakuba equipment

BROUGHT & good

Ski Jacket & pants.

Puffer jacket. 

3 quick dry polo shirts.

5 undies

Small torch

Tooth paste & brush.

Lanolin

Lip moisturiser. 

2m extension lead.  3m would have been better. 

Nail scissors. 

Japanese adapter lead - I had too cut off the earth pin but I wanted a Australian outlet with an earth because my laptop, the extension lead and Phoebe's CPAP all had earth pins even though all had switch mode power supplies and  at 100V far less important than at 240V.

Frank:

Rhythm Hakuba had a fancy machine that made a 3D model of my feet.

Phoebe:

Hakuba Thur 18

DAY 2 

Phoebe dropped at ski school.

  H & F went off. 

Far side of gondola was a beautiful run.

Eventually caught up with Henry's friends at a Cafe very high up.  Very nice hot choc muffin and a coffee. 

This is the record of where H & F travelled. 

PHOEBE LUNCH 

Phoebe records 

Today i experienced my first Onsen. A traditional Japanese bathhouse. Stepping into the first room, I found a basket for my belongings. Sliding a door across, I entered a spacious second tiled room. A large square tank on one side held hot water, inviting me to take a dip. A step down submerged me in liquid warmth. Small stools lined the left and right, perfect for washing my body before entering the bath. Washing and rinsing thoroughly is requested. so I settled on a stool, relaxing and hosing myself down. This sensible bathing method, unlike standing, was far more enjoyable. After washing and rinsing, I stepped into the hot water, letting it soothe my muscles after a day of snow. I lingered until I could bear it, each muscle relaxing. Then I returned to my stool, washed again, and savoured the calming, gentle flow of water from head to toe. Time passed slowly. It was a serene and peaceful experience. I highly recommend an onsen.

Frank:

Henry and I had an Onsen at the same time. The Onsen is segregated by gender. They are done nude.

First room had baskets to hold our belongings. We stripped. Went into second room. Sit down and wash with liquid soap and rinse. Step into the hot tub. It's was very hot.  Sat on the step with just my legs in the hot water. Eventually I lowered my body into the hot water. Did that a couple of times. After that,  H&F had a rinse off then got towels and got into the sauna. Sweatted profusely. Eventually out for another rinse. Put the bath robe on. 

Hakuba 1

First day at Hakuba.

It feels a lot like Threadbo. None of the super powder snow that I'd expected. 

We made our way down to the drying room and swapped our house slippers for ski boots. I inadvertently put my gloves on top of a locker and they feel in.  There's a hole in the top of each locker to accommodate long skiis.  I went upstairs to get my second pair and wrote a note that I dropped into the offending locker. While I was upstairs my phone rang and it was Phoebe who'd forgotten her helmet.  Turned out i had too.

Reconvened in the ski room.  I dropped my note into the locker. 

Henry and I walked with Phoebe to "Evergreen " ski school.  Left Phoebe to work out where her lesson started from. H & F went down the hill and obtained the ski passes. 

Hakuba skiing is included in our Australian epic pass.  We had to show a screen shot of our epic pass and our drivers licence. 

The day started hot and sunny. I wore my sunnies and no gloves. Jacket unzipped. 

Phoebe went off on her adventure. 

Henry located two of his friends and we spent the day skiing.  Another two joined us at lunch line after their morning lesson. 

Dinner at a less than impressive Cafe:

Dinner experience:

Order via a machine. 

We did not feel relaxed. It was jump up and grab a plate. Then jump again...

Some dishes were just microwave reheat and not very hot and concern about salmonella. 

TUE 17 Tokyo - Nagano - Hukuba

Henry arrived at our hotel and we bought him breakfast. 

Walked together to Tokyo station and he navigated the ticket machine. The next two trains had no seats and the 10:33 only had non reserved seats and we bought three of those. 

Platform 23 car 4. There were two places to queue. One for the next train and one for the train after. 

We noted that every seat is taken and by the second stop, the isle is full of standing passengers. 

I think if one is going for non reserved seating, only do it off boarding at Tokyo.

Henry had booked through "Mountain Watch Tavel". He contacted them and they collected us from the bus station and drove us to our hotel.  On the way they pointed out a hotel and advised there were welcome drinks that evening. Later we walked down and partook in those drinks. During the drinks Marcus video called. Could not hear because of the pub noise but it was fun to wave to each other. 

War museum

We visited a war museum. It was within the grounds of a Shinto memorial. 

Multiple feelings. Gave a deep perspective to the Japanese psychi and history.  They don't refer to World War Two. It's the "Greater East Asian War".  

Photos were not allowed in most of it and in a way one didn't want to take photos.   The loss of human life in War seems so pointless.  Many of the plaques told stories of individual courage ending in death. 

Easy to take photos of military hardware as that does not depict personal grief.

Teamlab Planets

Team lab planets

An amazing immersive interactive art installation. 

So glad Phoebe had brought the premium pass.  There was a huge queue for the plebs entrance. 

We had to remove shoes and roll up our pant legs. 

First bit walking up a corridor ankle deep in water with a super strong smell of chlorine. 

The soft undulating floor challenged ones balance.

A whole lot of infinity

Dual Phoebe's

Look in the background, Two more of us. 

Water and light