It has been a long two days, leaving Devonport 5 pm Monday, arriving in Japan 6.30 am Wednesday. We overnighted in Melbourne, had an early flight to Sydney with 90 minutes between landing and the international flight departing to Hong Kong.

We had an agonising 8 hour wait in Hong Kong leaving there at 2 am! We arrived in Osaka at 6.30 am this morning.

After showing our QR codes to immigration and customs, scanning our passports three times, finger printing and photos taken I join the queue to obtain a rail ticket.

It’s a long and slow queue and I’m tired. I get to the front to be told I’m in the wrong queue…..aaaagh. Fortunately no one was in the other queue a bit further up the way.

Two trains and we arrive in Wakayama at our hotel and it’s only 9 am, checkin is at 3 pm. For an extra 8800 yen (about 100 aud) we get to our room early (after eating tomorrows breakfast today, as they would not refund but would allow pre eating!)

We immediately hit the sack and slept for a bit over 2.5 hours feeling somewhat less tired than earlier.

Then it was down to business putting the bikes together. Tony does a great job and today had very little wriggle room.

My job is to do the washing, cleaning what we wore on the plane, and hanging it up to dry. Hence why Tony is wearing the pjs.

Having noted Wakayama Castle from our window, once we were all sorted and showered, we headed off for a walk towards the castle.

Beautiful gardens surround the castle.

Our first animal sighted in Japan is….a turtle.

At the bridge entrance we were required to remove footwear.

The timber may look smooth, but in fact they are overlaid planks that hurt hurt feet longer than the plank width. So tip toeing easier.

The castle was built in the late 1500s as has been reconstructed a few times due to destruction. The last rebuild was more recent, with the castle razed during WWII.

Tony finds cats hidden away including this dozing feline.

We departed by the rear gate where equine activities used to take place.

We found our dinner at a supermarket in the railway station, adjacent to our hotel. Very yummy and reasonably priced. The sushi cost around $15 aud. The strawberries were sweet and succulent.

We also purchased some snacks to carry in the bikes. Needless to say, these are mine. Two of those packets Tony will have zero interest in. He has his own supply, the high sugar type.

I do love wandering around food shops in other countries to see what is on offer.

Years ago we acquired a reputation from our friend Helen, whom we met doing LeJog and then a French north to south ride. She told us she knew the Yaxleys had arrived (in Dover) by the windows.

We actually got into trouble at Cheddar (England) as the owner did not appreciate the ‘look’. 🤣

I often think of Helen and did today as we headed back to the hotel and saw this…..

Tomorrow we are booked on the 5.30 am ferry. We need to be there just after 5 am and ride there, so we will be up early.

We are going to hand over our luggage being stored here for a fortnight, then hit the sack.

The adventure starts tomorrow, stay tuned. 😊❣️