Another year draws to a close and as we think back we remember that this year's plan was to spend the first part of the year in the Philippines and then return to Sabah and maybe the Kinabitangan River.  But here we are in Japan!!  As it was we spent about 3 months in the Philippines, mostly cruising the west coast of Palawan before a month in Subic Bay.  From there we ventured north with our friends on Alishan and did a passage to Japan via Taiwan.  We enjoyed Taiwan (we enjoy most places) for about a month and found it very affluent after the poverty encountered in the Philippines and then set off east for the southern Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan.  We sailed north through these lovely islands to arrive in Fukuoka in August from where we made our way by air back to Australia for almost three months.  Arriving back in Odo Marina in mid-November, the year had only a few short weeks to run and now they have gone too.

Winter is now definitely upon us as snow falls around us and the wind blows in from the frozen northern land mass.  The extremes in climate have taken us by surprise... first the hottest summer in Japan for 100 years which we found to be almost unbearable and now the coldest winter in Fukuoka since 1968.  Tonight, New Year's Eve, we have decided to stay in - it's snowing, very windy and too cold for us to want to venture out on such a night and the night is not celebrated as wholeheartedly as it would be in our home country with parties and fireworks to see in the New Year.  So another year of missing old friends and making new friends comes to an end.

Just a few pictures to finish up the year.  Today we were picked up by Jaap and Marijke from Alishan and we all went for another walk in the hills.  This time near the Raizan temple.  We saw more snow this week than last week and even had the experience of the silent footsteps.

A monk from the Raizan Temple carefully
makes his way down the icy road

A visitor in wet weather sailing gear!

Outside the Raizan Temple

 

Stone statues representing dead monks cover the hillside

Icicles hang from the roof

1,000-year old Japanese Cedar tree at a nearby temple

Stone guard dog 

Jon and Jaap provide a bit of colour in the monochrome landscape

Ice on the petals and leaves of this camellia

Traditional new year decoration adorns this shed door

Getting Ready for New Year

Well the forecast gale blew all night and the noise of wind through the rigging of numerous yachts was horrendous.  It seemed to have eased off this morning so it was another wonderful experience of Japanese culture today when Junko invited Mena and Pam to her house to participate in more mochi making for the New Year celebrations.

 

The delightful entrance room to Junko's house has this low table with a charcoal fire pit in the middle.  Here a ceramic pot dry roasts some sweet potatoes for us to snack on while Junko cracks some gingko nuts before zapping them in the microwave so we can eat them as well.

No bashing the glutinous rice with a hammer in this house.  Junko has had this machine for 30 years - it steams the rice and then similar to a bread maker kneads it into a hot sticky ball. 

This batch had a local herb added to it - something very good for you apparently!

Junko and her friend divide the finished mochi for sharing with several of their neighbours.

And then it is time for lunch - an unexpected bonus of a meal of okinomiyaki - a pancake type batter with vegetables, squid and wild boar pieces mixed through it and then cooked on a grill plate.  Here bacon is cooked first before the pancake mix is added in meal size batches.

While away from Tweed the gale had been downgraded to a near-gale for us.  Maybe some peace and quiet in the marina tonight!

A sweet-smelling winter-flowering plum in Junko's garden

A Good Day to be Down Below

The weather advisory for Fukuoka today reads "gale and snow, heavy snow, high waves, thunderstorm and snow accretion".  However, it didn't stop these brave dinghy sailors from venturing out into the bay.

In the meantime, we are snug and warm inside our cabin while the wind whistles around outside.

A Day of Firsts!

Christmas Day dawned and it was soon obvious that the forecast for snow was going to be correct!!  We were in for a white Christmas, albeit a light one!  As planned, we set off with Jaap, Marijke and Mena for the hills for a walk.  Jon and I had the exciting experience of seeing snow fall for the first time and it was doubling exciting to have it happen on Christmas Day.  

Jon, Jaap, Marijke and

Mena ready for a walk

Yes, Jon, it really is snow










 



The icing on the cake - oh, no, they really are snow-covered logs!

 It doesn't look like Mena can convince Jon to take a dip!

A camellia bush with a coating of snow.

The second first of the day was a visit to an onsen (hot spring - sorry, no pics!) where we had a nice lunch and then hit the baths.  We emerged nice and warm and ready to go back to Tweed for some hot soup and French bread, followed by hot apple crumble with gelati, stollen, and brownies.  The end of another memorable Christmas Day!

 

Being Entertained with the Old Folks

As well as being a member of a drumming group, our friend Junko is also a member of a mixed group who perform at various functions or institutions.  Junko does a traditional dance in costume while others are singers, magicians, musicians, actors, etc.  Yesterday we were picked up and taken to a 'day care' centre for old folk to watch one of these performances.  It was quite entertaining and the magicians in particular were hilarious - we are now privy to some of their secrets, revealed as they fumbled their way through their routines.  

One of the performers in traditional kimono

 

The group takes a bow at the end of their performance.  That's Junko on the left.

After our entertainment Junko's husband drove us back to the marina but on the way we stopped off at the Atago Shrine, not that far from the marina.  The Shrine is on a hill with views over Fukuoka and Hakata Bay.  The Shrine itself is very old and is the second busiest shrine in Fukuoka on New Year's Day when people from all around come to worship.  It is said to have miraculous powers when it comes to such things as extinguishing fires, improving luck, bringing long life and making business prosper!

From this view to the west you can just make out the masts in Odo Marina, centre.  That's a golf driving range on the right with the high fencing.

Local Happenings With a Lot of Tradition

Friday night we were invited along to  view a practice session of a local taiko group.  Taiko is the name of the traditional Japanese drums and Junko, a local Japanese lady who had us around for a lovely dinner last Sunday, is a member.  We met Junko through Mena,  friend of all visiting yachties.  She picked us up and we arrived at their practice hall - a large room with a stage and packed with drums in an underground room, for obvious reasons.  

Needless to say it was very loud and noisy but a lot of fun.  Of course, it looked easier than it really is and Pam found that when our little group got up to have a go that the concentration involved in keeping the rhythm took over from relaxing and going with it.

More local happenings on Sunday when the local yacht clubs got together to make mochi, a traditonal rice cake made for the new year celebrations.  In this case, 30 kg of glutinous rice had been soaked overnight and, in batche,s was wrapped in cloth and placed in a steamer to cook for 20-25 minutes.

The gluey mass was then plopped into a large morter and pounded with large wooden hammers until it formed into a smooth dough

Pam gets into the spirit!

Then, it was inside where balls of red bean paste were waiting to be moulded into the middle of a piece of the dough to form the mochi. 

It is eaten as a sweet on New Year's Day or else used as an offering in a shrine.  Some are left plain to be added to miso soup.  This one didn't last that long but it certainly had the approval of this little one!

And Today's Forecast...

SNOW!!  All very exciting for a couple who have never experienced falling snow and who have rarely even seen snow.  

Here is some of the icy stuff in our cockpit this morning.

It was not so cold on Sunday though and our friend Mitani, who also owns a Hans Christian 43 in this marina, took us to Dazaifu.  First stop was his brother's 100-year old soba noodle restaurant where we had lunch and were joined by Mitani's daughter and two children.

Pam practices her grandmothering with Yu Si, Matani's 4-month old grandson.

Dazaifu was formerly the administrative centre for the whole of Kyushu Island, from 1300 to about 1800.  The historial site includes some ancient ruins as well as some temples and a shrine.  The shrine is dedicated to the God of Literature, Michizane Sugawara, and students come from all around to pray for good school results! 

Tenmangu Shrine

The grounds of the Komyozenji Temple are renowned for their beautiful Japanese gardens - this one laid out to resemble land and sea using moss and white pebbles.  The plum trees have now lost their leaves but will be covered in blossom in the new year.

The symbol used throughout Dazaifu is the plum blossom, here seen on a man-hole cover.

Out And About, And Up and Down!

The sun did shine the day after our last blog but, boy, did the wind blow!!  We had a gale come through the marina hitting us with 30-35 knots, gusting over 40 which kept us on our toes monitoring Tweed's lines.  Of course, she was ok, it was just the silly crew who thought there could be a problem!

 It doesn't look so bad, but here Tweed pulls taught on her mooring lines

 

Then it was the weekend and we had an invitation from Mr Shimose, who has a 30-ft yacht in the marina, to have dinner at his house and to stay the night.  His wife, Kyoko, had prepared make-it-yourself sushi and had invited along three other ladies who meet regularly to practice their English at Mr and Mrs Shimose's house. 

 Mrs Shimose, Hiroko, Keiko,

Jon, Mr Shimose and Kuma

  

It was a very relaxed meal with lots of choice in what to put in the sushi - all of it tasty.  We talked about all sorts of things including our travels and the next morning Kuma and Keiko, two of the visitors, arrived to pick us up and take us for a tour of the old temples in Hakata. 

 A chilly morning at the Shimose house

 

Hakata was a separate town until 1889 when it was merged with Fukuoka town.  We visited the Jotenji Temple, built in 1242, which houses monuments to the soba and udon noodles, and manju bean-jam buns (red beans)...

The Shofukuji Zen Temple, built in 1195 by Zen master Yosai, who introduced Zen to Japan as well as tea plants.  It is the oldest Zen temple in Japan.  

 

(these spaces just won't go away!)

The main gate may only be used by  the imperial family when they visit Fukuoka.  The five lines on the wall indicate it is a temple of the highest order.

 

The third in this ancient group was the Tochoji Temple, where we saw the largest wooden Buddha in Japan which we weren't able to photograph so here are some gravestones.

 

 Colourful pagoda at

the Tochoji Temple

Along the walking trail we stopped off at a small shop front where a young man was weaving Hakata-ori, a high-quality silk textile used for obis and worn with kimonos.  This traditional local craft is over 750 years old and while the textile is still used for obis it is also utilised in other more 'touristy' products.

 

 

As we were near the Hakata Folk Museum we looked in there as well and found a local craftsman who makes and hand-paints beautiful Hakata Dolls.  

Hakata doll ready for firing - it was
cast in separate pieces and then joined

 

Next door a Shamisen group were getting ready to play their 3-stringed instruments accompanied by a couple of percussionists and a singer who could hardly be heard above the music.  

 

 

Next stop was the Kushida Shrine, home of the Hakata-Gion Yamakasa Festival, which is held over two weeks each July.  During the festival huge floats weighing up to one tonne are carried by men for five kilometers as they race through the town watched by up to a million people.  Needless to say, the men can only bear the weight for a short period so there is a constant changing of men during the race.

Jon by an old example of a Yamakasa float - nowadays they are nowhere near as tall because of the power lines!

Whew!  That was a long day and by the time we arrived back at Meinohama Station and walked back to the marina it was 5 o'clock.  But we thoroughly enjoyed the tour as our guides were able to explain a lot of things to us in English.  By ourselves we find it difficult as there is usually no English interpretation available.

Pam outside Kushida Shrine with Keiko and Kuma, our excellent guides!

Now back to business.  Monday morning we were all prepared to motor around to the hardstand area and haul out.  Unfortunately, there was a bit of delay while another boat went up before us but it was before lunch when we finally came out.  It was our first time on a cradle rather than a travel-lift which uses slings.  It was a smooth ride as we slowly rose out of the water and came onto the dock.  Yes, quite a few barnacles and other encrustrations visible on the hull and fittings.  We wouldn't be going very fast with that lot hanging off us.







The boys did a good job cleaning them off and then a high-pressure wash before we were moved along the rail to our home for the next week.

Hmmm... great braking system, but it works

Although it was more expensive to haul out here in Japan than elsewhere in SE Asia, we found it was not too bad considering that the price included their labour, the paint, and the Japanese version of PropSpeed.  They used a Chugoku product called Peller Clean to coat our prop, p-bracket and prop-shaft, which we notice is now available in Australia.  The shade of red for that particular brand of anti-foul turned out to be more of a pink but hopefully it will only be seen when we are on a reach and showing beneath our skirts!

 Yes, it's snow!

Wednesday night we had another gale with winds 30-35 knots again gusting over 40.  Just before dawn we had thunder and rain and much to our astonishment, it actually snowed on the mountains to the south of Fukuoka!!

 

While on the hard, Jon fitted in a few jobs: installed a new breather outlet for the forward water tank (this one won't let in salt water!); re-installed the generator starter motor which had been overhauled; fitted a new bonding strap for the generator; and then just as we were about to return to the water, he found two leaking ball valves in the heads - one to the handbasin and one to the toilet.  This delayed our splash by a day which meant Saturday.  Saturday we had another gale come through and it was far to windy for the helmswoman to consider returning to a berth where she had to reverse in!!  We would be there until Monday.  But then Sunday came and Mr Hamada, the owner of Marine Tech who runs the hardstand, arrived about 9:30 to put us back in!!  It was a calm morning - one of the lads who came with him touched up the few remaining areas of anti-fouling, we climbed aboard, and then slowly descended back to water level.  The wind was kind and didn't blow us onto the marina wall and we made our way back to our berth for a successful reverse entry into our berth. 

 We aren't the only ones wearing beanies!