Saturday 18 April Maizuru

Our plans changed today when we were meant to have included in our morning trip, a drive over an hour to view Tateiwa Rock, which is a 20 metre monolith formed from ancient magma, spend 10 minutes taking photos, and come back. However our tour organiser has put together a better tour that has a lot less travel time. A big Seaborn ship has taken prime position at the port so we have quite a walk to go through Customs to get to our coaches.

So, we head to the Tango silk historical museum. It is still an hour's drive from port but very interesting. The silk is Tango Chirimen, a crimped silk fabric which is highly sought after by traditional kimono makers since the 18th century. I prefer the soft silk for how it feels. The crimped silk is preferred as it doesnt wrinkle but I reckon it looks wrinkled to begin with.

VJR scored a small item from the shop. Back on the coach and now we head into the Kyoto Prefecture (we are still a 2 hour drive from Kyoto proper) to Yosano town where a local guide walks us through Chirimen Kaido which is a historic merchant street that developed during the Edo period and was the centre of Tango Chirimen silk trading. It had started raining lightly and we were able to borrow an umbrella from the Information Centre.

We then tour through the former house of the Bito family. The house is a staple construction within the group of traditional buildings. It has a fusion of eastern and western traditional architecture. Most of the structures were constructed from 1863 to 1865.

Back to the coach and we head to Goyu lookout tower. We have noticed a few cars with the same logo on the back. This apparently indicates that the driver is either very new or old! Lots of rice paddys and tea groves asking the way. Lots and lots of tunnels through mountains too.

The views from the lookout aren't overly spectacular but this is the new option rather than looking at a big rock in the ocean!

Back to the coach for lunch and then we head out again on our booked tour to do the Amanohashidate (Bridge to heaven) walk. First off we begin the tour with a chair lift ride up Mt Nariai. It takes about 6 minutes to get to the top. We could have taken the cable car for a 4 minute ride to the top but the chairlift appealed more.

Lovely panoramic views over Miyazu bay.

We then head back down via the chairlift where we commence our 3.6km sand bar walk through the 8000 pine trees, small shrines and sea views.

Seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was a good 10000 steps and we had to keep up a steady pace to make it back to our designated meeting point on time.

We get back to our coach and it is time to get back on the coach for our 1 hour drive back to the ship. It is the Captain's farewell drinks tonight so we have a quick change and head to the lounge with our fellow guests.

Simon and Owen have asked us to have dinner with them again right so when the briefing for tomorrow had finished we head to the dining room and have a lovely night in their company, along with a lovely meal.

They have given special permission for me to include their photograph, especially for VJR! They are a lovely couple and we were very badly too heart that they had their honeymoon on Kangaroo Island. They have recently built their dream home in Gippsland Victoria and we are having lots of fun teasing them about my designing their 1 acre garden! So far there will be a Koi pond, a water feature with small island in the middle, a torii gate and a shrine or tea house, I'm not sure which yet!

We head to the lounge for a nightcap and it is my turn to buy drinks. Time to head back to our cabins and head to bed. Our cruise is soon coming to an end and it has been great.