Today we cross the alps to the other side. 

Baseball is the top sport here, as we learned when we saw a field full of kids in uniforms on a Saturday morning. “China is not good at baseball,” said Ben. “Even got beaten by Thai. Great shame. 1.4 billion people and they can’t find 11 people to play the game?”

We all laughed.

At a rest stop, we saw monkeys! This shot was taken by Julie. I only saw the baby monkey:

I promise you that’s a baby monkey.


After so much travel in snowy areas over the last few years, Japan is different. I think that her forests are monochromatic.

They have a different feel…

Today was a travel day, but we had two stops that were both interesting in their different ways.

After travelling over hills and dales… (whatever dales are)… we arrived at the town of Takayama Old Town, so called because there are 3 streets that weren’t bombed to oblivion during WWII, and so have a feel of what old-style Japan was like.

The three streets are a mixture of shops, restaurants and other businesses.


Ben took us to the red bridge to anchor us, then we had nearly 2 hours to wander around and see what we could see.

Some people chose to walk from food place to food place, sampling their wares. Me, not being a goody, chose to walk away from the old are at first, because I wanted to see what was along the river.

But of course I ended up sampling something Japanese for lunch. Ben had mentioned that this area was known for its beef, so I decided to try some beef sushi.
I tried to get rid of coins, so I ordered the cheapest one. It wasn’t great. The dot of wasabi was the only thing that saved it. Seafood sushi is definitely preferable.

There were some pretty vignettes.

Plus, Japan is insane about cats. I had to take a sneaky shot of this shop that was almost totally devoted to them.

Now, you know me and my love of useful souvenirs that don’t clutter up the place. Well, it occurred to me that it might be nice, when I’m reading on the couch on the front verandah, to burn a stick of incense. It won’t stink the house up, and it’ll remind me of the temples in China, Vietnam and Japan.

So I bought a little cat incense holder and a couple of boxes of incense sticks. They’ll probably last me for YEARS.

I accidentally took this shot in the incense shop. You can see the useful souvenir I bought in Central Australia last year- my bag.

Then omg guess what happened as we got into the bus?

It began to snow!

I’m going to show you a few shots of the alps I took from the bus. These forests are definitely different than the others I’ve travelled. They have LINES in them.

Tell me I’m not imagining it.

See? It’s not just the soju I bought for old times’ sake and had with dinner.

Anyway, soon we arrived at a fabulous little place.

It was high in the mountains, where the people live in thatched cottages, like in the Cotswolds.

Ok, so maybe not exactly like there.

Shirakawa-go is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it’s only one of two villages that still have the traditional farmhouses, some of which are 250 years old.
Once there were hundreds. Some of these houses are bed and breakfast places, and Ben said people report that it’s very cold. After seeing the snow here, I’m not surprised.

You make your way to the village over a swing bridge made of concrete. Yes, it’s weird and does strange things to your head when a concrete-looking bridge moves under your feet.
We were here on a Saturday and Ben said later that he was expecting it be be jam-packed. The last time he was here on a weekend, the bridge took 10 minutes to get over. But Fortunate Frogdancer ensured that there weren’t too many people at all.

There’s no denying that it’s a picturesque place.

Garrett and Timo were friends we met in Antarctica, and a month or so later, they came to visit me for lunch in Melbourne. A couple of days ago, Garrett asked me to record a birthday message for Timo. Look at all the snow. Of course I had to make a subtle reference to Antarctica!

Look at this snow. I don’t know how people do it.

I mean seriously… it’s the beginning of Spring.

Some joker made an igloo. Bloody cold.

Back in 2018, a photographer called Pierre was on our North Korea trip. After a while, I noticed that he was always facing a different way to the rest of us when we were taking pictures. I asked him why.

”Always take photos of the people, Frogdancer,” he said.

I don’t always do it, but I try and keep an eye open for good shots of the locals. This one was a beauty. The little girl in navy was laughing uncontrollably.

What makes it even better was, when the mum got back to the footpath with her girls, I was able to airdrop that moment to her. She was so happy!

Like, seriously, why do people insist on living in this climate? You can’t tell me that this is convenient.

It was at this point that I realised that I’d walked too far in the wrong direction. Zoom in and you’ll see the people on the suspension bridge. I hot-footed it back. I never want to be THAT person. You know, the one who holds up the whole bus.

Then it was back through the monochromatic hills to reach Kanazawa, which has the train station voted the most beautiful for the last 3 years.

Listen to the guide.

As I was driving through the alps, my sister Kate and I were talking over Messenger. Isn’t technology amazing? Dad’s not doing great…

Dad Joke of the Day: