A quick update on the trip so far. We left Gold Coast a little behind schedule as the pilot wanted the engineers to check something out before take-off. Always good to see caution here. Arrived Kanto airport 30 mins late, found JR office and swapped our Rail Pass order for the real thing. Easily found Haruka limited express train and finally arrived at Kyoto station at 9.30pm local time (10.30pm Qld time). We got a taxi (japanese instructions from Jackie and...

At Bilinga Beach the night before we depart. Celebrating Frank's 21st birthday (well actually 59th!!). The photo is an impressionist shot of a couple of baby boomers. Just had dinner at Bellakai restaurant in Coolangatta. Very nice!! A quiet day at Bilinga Beach Motel relaxing and looking at the surf from our beachfront unit. Looking forward to flying to Osaka tomorrow. Very civilised...10am start and arrive early evening.

This is just the begining