Next up on our sight seeing tick list are one of the Isle of Wight’s most famous landmarks – The Needles. The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise about 30m out of the sea. But before we visit them we spot an ‘interesting’ little display in a local gardenContinue reading “The Needles”
Monthly Archives: September 2017
Godshill
Nest up on our tour of the Isle of Wight is the beautiful little village of Godshill. It is full of charming thatched-roofed cottages and a winding main-street lined with traditional tearooms and quaint shops. This psychedelic little splash of joy is the Oracle Gallery. It’s a cross between channel art, and guided meditation. AccordingContinue reading “Godshill”
Sunny Sandown
We’re continuing with our exploration of the Isle of Wight now with a visit to Sandown. It’s a quintessentially English seaside resort with a long sandy beach and a huge pier lined with arcades and fairground rides. It’s a mixture of garish colour and slow decay. With some prime beach front properties boarded up andContinue reading “Sunny Sandown”
Woodland lodges
We’re settling into our Isle of Wight accommodation for the next few days now. We’re staying at the Woodside Bay Lodge retreat. It’s a sprawling expanse of super cosy wooden lodges in Wootton Bridge and features an onsite restaurant, gym and spa. I don;t usually dedicate too many posts just to accommodation but as thisContinue reading “Woodland lodges”
Isle of Wight
It’s a complete change of pace for our next adventure. This time we’re not heading too far, just a few days in the Isle of Wight. Not quite as exotic as we’ve become used to . . . First up is an evening in the largest town on the island – Ryde. It’s where theContinue reading “Isle of Wight”
It’s all over…..for now . . .
It is with a heavy heart that I finally come to the LAST EVER POST ABOUT JAPAN!* It has taken a whole year to document our amazing trip and it is fitting that it is almost exactly a year since we set off on our odyssey. So lets’s take a last romp through Osaka’s colourfulContinue reading “It’s all over…..for now . . .”
Osaka castle
Closing in on the last day in Japan now . . (chokes back a sob) and it’s a beautiful sunny day to enjoy our last few hours. We start the day off with a visit to the gorgeous Osaka castle. The construction of the castle started in 1583 on the former site of the IshiyamaContinue reading “Osaka castle”
Tetsujin 28
Another quirky sight to be found in Kobe is the mammoth Tetsujin 28 Robot Statue! Towering at an impressive 59 feet high he is somewhat innocuously sited in a fairly drab square surrounded by tower blocks. Tetsujin-28 is a manga character from Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s 1956 “Tetsujin 28-go”. The story is about a robot built to beContinue reading “Tetsujin 28”
Kobe’s Earthquake memorial
Carrying on with our exploration of Kobe we stumble across a veritable cornucopia of cute road work signs. How boring and mundane our traffic cones look now!! Sadly Kobe is better known for the tragedy that befell many of its inhabitants in 1995 when a huge earthquake wracked the city and surrounding areas. The GreatContinue reading “Kobe’s Earthquake memorial”
China town
We’re off to experience a little taste of China in Japan now as we head to Kobe for a day trip. Nankinmachi is a small but perfectly formed chinatown in central Kobe and is the centre of the Chinese community in the Kansai Region. The area was built up by Chinese merchants who settled nearContinue reading “China town”