5 June

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start …
I awoke after a good sleep but not relay feeling too refreshed. I suppose that is due to the different type of activity now compared to the last four and a half months. After packing (and JUST getting everything in) I went down for breakfast and sat with the same couple as yesterday. Just as I was finishing, another Australian (who defected to New Zealand) asked about my Vegemite and had some.
After bringing my luggage down, I found we were all on the same bus – but only to the terminal. There we would swap to different buses for different tours – and even then, we could still be on a different tour, just sharing the same activity that day. This time, now being familiar with the area, I took note of our path and position and found, after ten minutes … we had gone around the corner! The bus terminal was in reality just over from the subway station I had used for the past two days. Even walking with my luggage, I could have been there within five minutes.
We had been given our chits for the trips at the hotel, so I presented mine, with suitcase, to see the suitcase labelled and whisked away. I can only hope it is reunited with me at Kyoto. I got my bus and seat number, sat down, then found I was with Cathy, who I had been with on Tuesday. However, we are on different tours, so she goes elsewhere tomorrow while I go to Kyoto.
We all packed our material away and then the tour guide introduced himself (Yoshimi) and we were off.
We set off through the city traffic onto the Expressway bound for Mt Fuji. We passed through the commercial centre, then government centre, then the suburbs of Tokyo and could see the height of buildings drop and the number of houses increase. It wasn’t far out before paddy fields became visible. Unfortunately at this stage the rain started as a light drizzle, not an inconvenience but certainly an annoyance. I was chatting to passengers behind and across from me, to find they were from the US (mother and son) and they thought I had seen more of the US than they had.
As we got towards Mt Fuji, cloud set in and the drizzle became rain. All the way up, after we had paused at the Visitors’ Centre at the base, I kept my fingers crossed that we would break through the cloud and see Mt Fuji in glorious sunshine.
However that was not to be. When we got out the drizzle had well and truly set in, the cloud extended from below to above us and there was still snow on the ground. We had some time there, looking around at different things, but there was no prospect of any better weather, so we returned to the bus only with memories of what might have been.
We headed off down to the Hotel Highland Resort (very large hotel) and went in for lunch. We had already been asked for our lunch preferences earlier and only part of the vegetarian meal seemed suitable for me – the other had fish. When the vegetarian meal arrived, some was mushrooms (off the menu for me) and some was not readily recognisable, so with discretion being the better part of valour, the only things I had were the rice (and I was still able to use chopsticks well, thanks to my lesson nearly twenty-five years ago at the Mambo Towers restaurant in Geelong), one vegetable and two desserts (the lady next to me, an actress from inner Sydney, couldn’t eat hers so I offered to solve the problem.
After lunch we went to Hakone, passed through it and then arrived at Lake Ashi. The rain had stopped and, although the cloud cover was low, it looked like being a good cruise on the lake. As soon as we set off from the dock, the rain set in again, but as the cruise was fairly short, it wasn’t a problem there, but …
We proceeded to the ropeway (a cable car) and boarded, only to see the rain had followed us over and at some points it was difficult even to see the ground. When we arrived at the top, expecting to see craters, lakes and other features, all we could see were the disappointed looks on each other’s faces. We cannot control the weather, so there wasn’t much we could do expect wait and travel back down again and board the bus.
After that we had a fairly subdued trip back to the hotel where the group split into those staying at the hotel tonight and those returning to Tokyo. Those of us staying at the hotel got our room keys and settled in, then explored the hotel.
I got a bit of a shock to find the toilet here outdid the one in Tokyo by having the same features but the additional one of heating – a shock when I wasn’t ready for it. But after a while one can adapt to anything …
As it is a resort area here, there isn’t too much else around. I won’t be partaking of the hot springs, so it will be an early night for me.