Bye Bye Australia, Hello Tokyo!

As of tomorrow we will begin week five of our overseas adventure! This last week has

been a blur of hotels, airplanes and fast train rides.
Exploring Essendon
In my last post, the poor MOTH had been struck down by a horrible stomach bug which laid him low for the rest of our stay in Australia. This meant most activities needed to be undertaken either (a) on my own with the kids, or in pretty close proximity to our house in Essendon. On our last few days we discovered mega mall Highpoint and I finally had the chance to wander a Melbourne Market - St Kilda's with my dear friend Jo. She and her husband also took Miss K and Master A on a Tram ride, a special highlight before we left the land of dingoes and kangaroos.

Bye Bye Australia, Hello NZ (briefly)
On Tuesday, we set out from Melbourne to arrive back in Auckland. International flight logic made it cheaper to return to NZ first before flying onto Japan, and we found ourselves at the Jet Park Hotel. If you ever need a family friendly hotel, close to the airport, this is it. They run a free shuttle to and from the airport, have a swimming pool, free lobby Wi-Fi, a small outdoor play area and an excellent collection of indoor toys and books. The restaurant is very child-friendly (ensuring little ones are fed first so parents can enjoy their meal) and the food is top quality.

Next stop... Japan
At 4:30am our friendly 'wake up call' had us rousing sleepy children to head to the airport. We had been held up at security (with long lines) in Melbourne and were probably the last people on board our flight. While this has its advantages (no sitting about in departure lounges), from a stress-level point of view, it's not so advantageous and we ensured we got through security with about 10 minutes to spare before our boarding call to Japan.

I was paid a lovely compliment on the plane by a fellow passenger while waiting for the toilet (as one does, particularly near the end of a 10 hour flight): he said he had no idea that there were young children on board, least of all a one-year old. Yep, our kids travelled beautifully! Miss K and Master A were entertained by all the movies and TV programmes we never let them watch at home. Master T had a collection of finger puppets, wind up toys, stickers and an etcha-sketch to entertain him; but his favourite past time was pushing the viewing screen sending Peppa Pig (which Mummy had to view all the way to and from Australia and for about 7 hours to Japan) into fast-forward frequency. My saving grace was when the MOTH took a sleeping Master T and I watched Saving Mr Banks - now there's a good movie!(Note MOTH somehow managed to watch 3.5 inflight movies.... hmmm go figure).

If you ever take this flight with small people, ensure you have a good supply of snacks. There is quite a long gap between being served 'breakfast' and 'dinner' (about an hour either end of the journey) and the in-flight meals are nothing to write home about - so I won't.

Hello Japan!
Our flight landed just before 5pm at Narita Airport. Rather than encounter rush hour traffic, by this I mean people, as much as vehicles in Tokyo, we opted to stay a night at the Narita Tobu Hotel and face the train system the following day. We also sent our luggage on from the airport to our accommodation to avoid lugging 3 backpacks, two car seats, a stroller and 3 children onto the trains. This hotel offered a free shuttle to and from the airport (a key criteria for me when booking), and while Miss K had her first 'oka-sama meal' here (meals designed for children), the food at the hotel was also nothing to get excited about. Suffice to say the hotel was clean and excellent value for money.

The boys on the Narita Xpress

Thursday found us navigating the airport and railways via elevators (the stroller is a necessity because Master T is too heavy to carry and his legs too short to go fast, but most of Japan travels on the escalators and stairs, and elevators are NOT very efficient), and negotiating with ticket machines. I had intended to buy a cheaper one-way fare for the Narita Express, but the queues at the JR office snaked out the doors with a half hour wait, so we opted for normal prices and speed, reaching Shinjuku by lunchtime, where we found a restaurant with Master A's name - of course we dined there. Hospitality 10/10, food well 6/10...

After full tummies we successfully conquered the Tokyo Metro and more ticket machines (thank goodness they have an English option) to finally reach our tiny apartment in Shin-Nakano (about a 6 minute ride from Shinjuku). We have been treated to fantastic hospitality by our host (this property was also found on airbnb) and for a little over $100 a night (a bargain for 5 people in Tokyo), we are in a cosy two bedroom, one bathroom and kitchen - known as a 'mansion' here. Roomier than the campervan at least.

Friday was supposed to be one of those 'recovery days' the MOTH and I try and build into the schedule, because three days being itinerant is exhausting (for me, never mind the kids!) BUT, we discovered our adapter for the laptops was not suitable and we journeyed into Shinjuku to find a replacement at a local department store. Here, the children had their first introduction to Japanese toys, gachapon and Akira acquired some new shoes. This was also the day the MOTH got himself a haircut. It included an ear trim and a 'vacuum' of his head all for Y1000! (see photo at end of post for his new, improved look).

Saturday became a rest day with exploratory walks around the area, visiting local stores and hanging (literally) with some children at the playground. As the children played with their new toys and poured over Japanese children's magazines for the afternoon, it became evident how important this 'settling' into their new environment was. We had all become a bit fractious with each other and this 'down day' helped rest the family kindness barometer.

The beauty of the Cherry Blossom
When I was in my mid-twenties, my mother and I arrived in Japan during early March. I was struck by the beauty of tentatively awakening cherry blossoms, surrounded by skirts of slowly dissipating snow. It took my breath away. Cherry blossoms were also what Miss K first commented on during the drive to the hotel when we arrived, but today's viewing at Shinjuku Gyoen park was absolutely breath-taking. Photos do not do justice to the beauty, tranquillity and sheer awe we all felt in that park. Late March to mid-April is a spectacular time to visit Japan.

Lunching like the locals do on a Sunday in Japan

Leaving you with some of the beauty we found today... tomorrow it's Disney Magic!

Big sister takes little brother on a bird hunt through the woods

Check out that dashing man!