I arrived in Australia in the middle of a heat wave in December.   It was weird to hear Christmas music while wiping sweat out of my eyes.   I spent a week on Magnetic Island, with a few days in Townsville before and after.   In Townsville, my hotel was just around the corner from Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, and Thai restaurants; it was hard deciding which to choose at each meal.   Also near the hotel was a small park with an amazing variety of bird life.   Honestly, in a total of 5 days in town, I never ventured more than 2 blocks from the hotel.   To be fair, 2 of those days it poured rain.   I had booked a week at an apartment/resort on Magnetic Island and it was fantastic!   On the first day, I booked a bus trip (Magnetic Island Best Bus Tour) around the island and was the only person who signed up.   I admit it was a little weird, but Neal, the owner, was very nice and he tailored the tour to what I wanted to see, mainly wildlife....

Useful information I learned about Japan I must admit, although I had heard so many wonderful things about Japan, for some reason, it was never high on my list of places to visit.   To be honest, my heart is in Europe; its where I spend the most time and there are so many places much higher on my ‘to do list’.   That being said, a friend invited me (or did I invite myself) to join her for a 3-month trip around SE Asia at the beginning of 2018.   I was surprised at how much I loved all the countries we visited.   This summer I found an amazing group tour for China ( www.intertrips.com ) and I didn’t hesitate to head back ‘East’.   Note:   the Intertrips to China are an unbeatable deal; they are so cheap because the Chinese government supplements them to boost tourism.   You can find post for all those trips here: www.Lisaslivingherdream.blogspot.com   So why Japan?   Well, I was in the neighborhood (sort of) so why not.   I plan on ...

I stayed in Osaka for a few days, and I admit I was slowing down a bit.   I originally planned to go to some temples, but then decided I had seen enough for a while.   Instead, I took a day and just wandered around the city.   Like Hiroshima, it had a fantastic covered shopping area, with plenty of street food vendors.   I have been really surprised at the price of fresh fruit since I’ve been in Japan.   You will see beautifully packaged fruit, say an apple.   It will be sitting in its own little protective sleeve.    The apples are grown locally, so they are not too expensive but others, like melons, strawberries, grapes etc. are outrageously expensive.   You can get a lovely wrapped bunch of about 20 green grapes, for just $22.   A slice of a melon might cost $3.   A slice being 1/16 th of the melon, so $48 for the whole thing.    One orange is about $4.   The rest of their food is not nearly as expensive, and I’...

I spent 1 full day in Hiroshima.   Like everywhere else I visited, I could easily have stayed longer because there was so much to see and do.   My hotel was right in the middle of everything, so I ended up doing a lot of walking, almost 20,000 steps, according to my Fitbit. I started my day at Shukkei-en garden – a beautiful Japanese garden that was originally constructed in 1620.   At one time, the Imperial General Headquarters were located in Hiroshima and Emperor Meji lived in the villa and garden for a short time during his reign from 1867 to 1912. During his time in power, Emperor Meji brought Japan from an isolated, pre-industrial, feudal country to a capitalist society and imperial world power.    Under his guidance, Japan underwent a political, social, and industrial revolution.   It was heavily damaged in the nuclear attack in 1945 but has since been restored.   There are a number of tea houses in the garden and visitors can partake in ...