Gators at Tokyo Tower

Still in a celebratory mood due to the Gators winning the National Championship game, we headed up to Tokyo. Our plan for this trip was to take in the sights of the city from Tokyo Tower which you see behind us.Tokyo Tower is essentially a huge antenna with observation decks which have commanding views of the city. The tower at its peak is 333meters or a 1,092 plus feet.
"Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high."

We went to both the main observatory and the special observatory during out visit. The main observatory is 150m (about 492 feet) above the ground and the special observatory is 250m (about 820 feet) both giving you a 360 degree view of the Kanto area surrounding Tokyo
The buildings seemed to go on forever! No wonder space is such a luxury in Japan.

In this photo you can see the Rainbow Bridge and a fascinating sphere structure in the background.

Can you see it?

Mt Fuji is the very dim white mass at the top of the picture. I was thrilled to finally be able to see Mt Fuji! I have traveled to the fifth station on Fuji and hiked to multiple lookouts just to see Fuji, however due to the weather I was never able to see it. Then Rory emails me from the ship one day to say he saw Mt Fuji from the flight deck. The ship was here in port! Aarghh I really think Fuji was hiding from me but alas I saw her!

Dylan enjoyed part of the experience but was ready to leave for lunch.

Dada Gator and future Gator (maybe).

We are hoping to find/invent a 4th Generation Gator scholarship for Dylan.
Trying to get a picture with the elusive Mt Fuji

Enoshima Island

Back to share with you the experiences and adventures we are having here in our host country, Japan. In late December we took a trip over to Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay.

Above is a picture of Enoshima Island (meaning Bay Island) that was on a tiles under the overpass before you arrived at the Benten bridge. Heading onto the Benten Bridge

We are almost to Enoshima Island Directly down a narrow street crammed with souvenir shops and restaurants, was the Enoshima-jinja (jinja is Japanese for shrine)., Imagine that, another shrine! Japan is covered in shrines or so it seems to us Gaijin. The Enoshima-jinja was built in 1182 and dedicated to Benten the goddess of fortune.

A view back to the beach over top the torii gate from a second shrine. There are shrines within shrines thus it is hard for me to keep them all straight.

Another shrine or part of the same shrine? There are three goddess sisters worshipped on Enoshima Island making it that much more confusing.
Here you are witnessing worshipers doing some type of ritual. If we were to wager a guess it would be a good luck ritual. People would weave in and out of this large "twine" circle. Obviously people saw us watching and taking pictures which caused a few people to laugh. - uhmm

There were dragon statues all over the island and in the caves.

I believe that there was an ancient belief that a dragon god lived in the caves.

Oh yeah and as your faucet in the bathroom sinks

Heading down to the caves. The first cave is almost 500 feet long and the second is 367 feet long. It is said that one of the caves leads to Mt Fuji if you feel the cool wind... We aren't sure how that could be possible and have to take into account it may be a case of Engrish:)

These stones were found in the second cave. The seas around Enoshima used to be the home for countless numbers of floating phosphorescent hence the crazy neon colors that are emitted under the black light.

Inside the caves were many historic stone sculptures and monuments

We were given candles as we headed deeper into the cave to view the strange sculptures that line the walls. A couple times we had to stoop down to continue through the cave. A very fascinating experience.

Yea, Look it's Dada!

The bridge connecting the two caves.

On our way back on the monorail and trains we saw this pennant. Fujisawa is the city from which you access Enoshima Island. Interestingly enough one of the beaches in this area is called Miami beach and some part of Enoshima has been compared to South Beach.

Our Last Day in Australia

As vacations must ours came to an end. The last day we were in the beautiful country of Australia; we headed up into the mountains surrounding Cairns to Kuranda. Kuranda is in Far North Queensland and is a town of only 650 people surrounded by rain forest.We headed up to Kuranda via the Kuranda Scenic Railway which slowly snakes its way up the Macalister Range. We cut through the Barron Gorge National Park stopping for a view of Barron Falls. We also rode right past Stoney Creek Falls just a few feet from the train. If we had been heading up during wet season the train would have been wet that is how close it was. I must say the cool spray may have been a delight!Dylan enjoyed the scenery as much as we did. One thing we knew but you can't totally understand until you experience it is the heavy heat of a rain forest. Sitting in the train heading into the rain forest we felt as though the heat had encircled us and was beginning to squeeze much like a boa. Thankfully the railway knew about the heat. They provided water in each car and came by with cool wet napkins.

Not only did we enjoy the many views from the train but were able to learn more about the area and construction of the railway via the running commentary. History has always intrigued me thus I found the history of the railway and area interesting. As we made one of the turns heading up the mountain, you could see the front of the train from our train car. There she is chug chug chugging up the mountain.

Kuranda has been home to the Djabugay people for hundreds of years. We bought a boomerang made by a local Aborigine:) We will have to wait and throw it when we have a yard so we don't ruin it. Neither Rory nor I were so great when we tried to throw a boomerang at the RainForest Station.

As we started walking to the Skyrail the sky began to darken in the direction that we were to be heading. Once at the skyrail we were told that our tour company had changed our itinerary due to a storm which was brewing. I was thrilled and oh so excited!!!!

Let me give you a little back ground on why I was so thrilled about our change of plans. As our time was winding down in Australia, I realized we had not seen any kangaroos. At this point, I was a little sad that I did not have the foresight to plan an event where we could experience these strange creatures.
That morning when we were picked and taken to the train station my hopes were lifted for a brief moment. We were handed our itinerary for the day which including seeing kangaroos at the RainForest Station in Kuranda. But alas we were then told oops wrong itinerary here is where you are really heading back out of Kuranda to another Aborigine park. I was bummed but when you are touring around Australia that feeling doesn't last long. I also gave it to the Lord. If He wanted me to see kangaroos than I would and I did!!!

With our new itinerary we headed back into Kuranda to the RainForest Station. Once there we had lunch before climbing on board a WWII vintage Army Duck for our rain forest tour.

Above is a picture of another Army Duck that was in the lake at the same time we were. In case you are not familiar with Army Ducks they can operate on land as well as in the water. Our guide pointed out Wait-a-While Palms, Black Wattle, massive termites nests, Stinging Tree (seen below) and many more plant species residing within the Australian rain forest. Ah the Stinging Tree - not your friend!

I had to add this picture so all of you heading to the Australian rain forest can steer clear. The large wide leaves are NOT handy for collecting water or another other need while hiking! Once it comes in contact with your skin the sensation of stinging glass being embedded can last up to 6 months. Rory and I can tell you how long 6 months can truly feel (do to deployments not stinging trees!!)

After our Army Duck tour, we watched the Pamagirri Aboriginal Dancers perform native dances.
Then on to the Kangaroos!!!!!!!!!!!!As excited as I was to be up close with the kangaroos it was no where near Dylan's excitement and awe! This excitment and wonder in my son made me that much more grateful for the storm!

Can you see how much fun petting and feeding the kangaroos was for Dylan? In this picture he was feeding a roo, as he calls them, with the help of Daddy.

When he wasn't feeding the kangaroos, Dylan would pet one then look for the next one to head over and pet. No petting the same one twice in a row Dylan wanted to make sure they all felt loved. It was hilarious. I am so grateful that the Lord changed our itinerary!!

Kangaroos are so very fascinating.

How can you have pictures of Australia without one of these cute cuddly chaps.

Some how he is making that position look comfortable.

This rodent looking fellow is a wombat - not as cute or fascinating as the koala and kangaroo


Back to the Skyrail for our trip down the mountain and out of the rain forest.

Whoa Mom look!

It is so wonderful to be together!

All three of us are so happy that Rory's time in the Navy is quickly coming to an end!

Looking back into Cairns from the edge of the rain forest.

Back at our hotel we decided to try one more item on the challenge list. Our travel agent provided us with a list of Aussie foods, information and facts to search for while we were in Australia. Vegemite sandwich was one of the foods to try. We never found a sandwich but did find a tube of Vegemite. Not realizing what we were doing to ourselves, we tried it straight out of the tube!

Pre-Vegemite picture

Rory tried it first! I wasn't really interested in trying it after seeing this face. Alas in the interest of the Aussie Adventure, I too tried a squeeze of Vegemite on my finger. As you can tell we are an expressive family:)

After tasting the vitamin B fortified, yeast concentrate dark colored spread, we thought Vegemite must be something from Australia's past! People don't still eat this horrific stuff do they?

On our flight back to Japan one of the Australian flight attendants befriended us and we found out more about Vegemite.

Children grow up eating Vegemite like American children grow up eating peanut butter. As you can see above Dylan wasn't a big fan of the Vegemite. He was even served the correct Aussie way. A cracker (or toast) spread with margarine and then Vegemite. The flight attendant did admit that it is an acquired taste. Vegemite is so popular though that many Australians pack a tube or jar of it in fear that they will not have any when they are traveling! One of the other flight attendants who was Japanese but living in Australia now feeds his children Vegemite! It was for sure a uniquely Australian 'treat' - I sure have been using that word liberally since moving away from the states.

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Though we had left Australia behind the wonders the Lord had created were still visible from the windows. How about these views for people in window seats!

This is a zoomed in picture of butterfly island (not sure if that is the correct name). You can see not only the very obvious wings but also the butterfly's body. How creative and magnificent is Our God!!!

Hope that you enjoyed our Aussie Holiday!

If the opportunity ever arises for you and your family to visit Australia we recommend that you go! I also have the name of a superb travel agent if you need one.