Historic Nikko

Today we did a little day trip to Nikko, about 2 hours by rapid train out of Tokyo. Thankfully all our other day trips will have shorter travel times because today was massive. We left the hotel at about 6:30am and stepped off the train in Tokyo at about 7:00pm. We chose not to upgrade to limited express train tickets, to save money, but it mean an extra 40minutes on the way home. Nikko is a small town that has a lot of shrines and temples in a small space and so it is very popular for day trips.

A day in Tokyo!

View from the Tokyo Government Metropolitan building

Last night we landed in Tokyo to start our two week ski and sight-seeing holiday. The airport is a bit over an hour from the city centre and we opted to catch a limosine bus (roughly $30pp). We knew our hotel was close to a train station but had no idea how to get from the station to it, so after the bus dropped us at Tokyo train station we just caught a taxi to the hotel. Surprisingly it was less than $10, but it was only a short trip.
Before we left, we were talking about how every time we go to talk to someone in another language Spanish just pops into our heads. As we collected our bags from the bus, the baggage handler asked (in English) "two bags?". "Si," Brandon replied, and I wet myself laughing.

Diving Fish Rock: South West Rocks

Originally I had our Australia Day long weekend all planned out. We were going to do the main range track in Kosciuszko National Park, but then most people I asked didn't want to (maybe couldn't) go, and others didn't really give proper yes or nos. So our plans changed and we ended up at South West Rocks to do "one of the best dives in Australia" at Fish Rock.
There aren't many places to stay in the area and so I decided to try out Air BnB. Although I felt pretty awkward rocking up at a strangers house to stay there a couple nights, it was actually pretty great. I think we would do it again in the future if it worked out cheaper than other accommodation.

Sharks!