Yesterday, we landed in Hakodate. We are now moving towards the north of Japan and one can tell the difference with the flowers being later - especially the azaleas and even some cherry blossom! We didnt havea tour booked here, and so we made our own way via a rather circuitous route which took in the Tourist Information Office to Mount Hakodate which wasn’t terribly difficult to find! We got to the cable car (ropeway as they call it in these parts) and took...

We arrived in Hiroshima at lunch time and had booked a tour of the City. This included a tour of the Peace Garden, a visit to the Hypocentre (where the A bomb blast occurred) and a tour of the museum. The Peace Garden was beautiful and included a lake full of huge colourful carp, and surrounded by trees and flowers including azaleas and irises. There are also a lot of cherry trees which would be beautiful - if they were out! There is one ginkgo tree blown to...

As you can see from the title pic, our cabin is very convenient for the lifeboats! Monday night got quite rough with strong winds and a decent swell. We shared our dinner table with a couple from ...... and two couples from Vancouver. These shared tables have wireless out very well so far although we do have the choice to be on our own if we wish! The entertainment on the theatre was a group singing Motown hits. I didn't know Tom Jones was a black America...

As I write this we are just reversing out of Osaka port with the help of a tug. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and we left the ship at 9 am to go to Kyoto. Although we were supposed to go on the bullet train to get there the itinerary had been changed and we went by coach instead. The first stop was at the Kyomizu temple. This weekend was the end of Golden Week - a major holiday in Japan - and therefore everywhere was heaving. Many of the young Japane...

Hello again. When we last left you we were in Tokyo so to pick up from there, here goes. Our last day there was extremely wet but the next day dawned bright and sunny. Leaving the hotel at 11 am we made our way to the station to catch the train to Yokohama where we were to board our cruise ship. Although we were on the right platform, doubt crept in but a local confirmed all was well. The train took us on the 50 minute trip and on leaving we met an Austr...