We’re heading back to London today. I can’t say that I’m going to miss Japan that much. We’re back in Narita airport again. Thankfully we don’t have to hang around here for 6 hours like last time. Time to have another go on those massage chairs…
Tokyo is a nightmare. I’ve never been anywhere like it. It is complete chaos. We spent our first hour here getting lost in Tokyo train station. The place is massive. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of Tokyo itself. It was raining most of the day. We went up Tokyo tower, but you couldn’t see very far because all of the fog. We went to Shibuya and Ginza and had a wander around the shops too. Ended up buying loads of silly t-shirts in Uni Qlo, and that was about it. We had to head back to the airport before 8pm because that’s when they stop the trains to the airport, and the airport is actually an hour away in a different city.
I don’t think I’ll be going back to Tokyo again in a hurry. It’s too modern and chaotic. I think I would find Kyoto more interesting.
We’re heading off to Tokyo today for a short stop-over on the way home. I’m going to miss Sydney. I’ve really enjoyed my time here. Hopefully I’ll be back again soon one day.
oday was probably the day that Andy and I were looking forward to the most. Today we headed up into the Hunter valley to visit some vineyards. It was a fun day out (and a rather alcoholic one too). The vineyards in Australia are certainly much more generous with their wine tastings than the ones in the napa valley were.
We started off at a vineyard called Iron Gate, which is owned and run by a retired industrial chemist from the UK. Judging by the selection of wines he produces he has a bit of a sweet tooth. We came away with a sweet Semillon and a rather unusual but very tasty sweet Shiraz.
Then we moved on to the cellar door at Ivanhoe Wines. We ended up coming away from there with a rather nice 2003 Chardonnay and a 2002 late picked Gewurztraminer.
After lunch we stopped at our final vineyard, Earnest Hill Wines. This was probably my favourite, not least because of the lady guiding us through the tastings. She was half-cut before we even got there. It was entertaining to say the least. We came away from there with a very nice Shiraz rosé and a dessert Semillon.
Overall it was a really good day out. I’m glad we went with a smaller tour company that takes you to the smaller indipendant vineyards rather than one of the larger ones that just ferry you between the larger more commercial cellar doors. I highly recommend them.
When we were given our tickets for the bridge climb we were also given free tickets to get us to the top of one of the towers at the edge of the bridge. We climbed to the top and I took some panorama shots of the harbour.
We spent pretty much the rest of the day shopping.
In the evening we went to Sydney Tower Restaurant. The view up there was amazing. Unfortunately the food wasn’t so good, and unsurprisingly, rather pricey.