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Kabuki
I went to see some Kabuki theatre, yesterday, and was very enjoyable. Kabuki is a traditional form of theatre. It is very stylized, but it is also a theatre “for the masses”. I went to the Kabuki-za theatre in mid-afternoon. I thought I would just buy a ticket for another day, but a performance was…
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Tokyo – First Day
I’ve already had one action-packed day in Tokyo. I first went to the Senso-ji Temple, near where I am staying. I discovered there that some cherry blossoms have already started. It is very early! Apparently, this was the first winter in 136 years in which Tokyo got no snowfall. Then, I took a short cruise…
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Tokyo Time
I arrived in Tokyo, last evening. I have only travelled from the airport to the ryokan where I am staying, so I don’t have much to say about Tokyo, yet. I had to wake up in Auckland at 5:00am, which was 2:00am Tokyo time. I finally arrived at my ryokan at 7:00pm. It was a…
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Auckland
Auckland is an ugly city! The parts I’ve seen, at least, are strikingly unattractive – especially the CBD (downtown) area. I guess no one in Auckland bothered to hire a good architect. I am just chilling out, and mostly planning and making arrangements for Japan. I have booked my lodging in Tokyo. I will get…
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Sailing
In the Bay of Islands, I went sailing on the R. Tucker Thompson. It is a two-masted tall ship. Here it is arriving to pick up the passengers: The crew up in the rigging, getting some sails ready: My turn to climb the rigging: And yes, I did actually climb up to that point in…
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Northern Peninsulas: More Bad Weather
I’ve been touring around the Coromandel Peninsula and Northlands, but it has been very windy and rainy for the last few days. The forecast is for it to continue. It only rains in brief showers, but the winds have been quite high, with even higher gusts. A tourist was injured in Auckland, yesterday, when a…
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Bad Weather: No White Island Trip
My boat trip to White Island (a very active volcano) was cancelled, due to bad weather. It looks like the weather will not improve for a few days, so my chance of getting to the island is slim. Too bad. I was looking forward to it. This device is used by the Kiwis for crossing…
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More Thermals, Geysers, and Rainforest
I’ve seen plenty of thermal pools and geysers, now. I also visited yet another rainforest area. There are so many hot springs around Rotorua that the town park even has a bunch of hot pools, which you can see for free. To the southeast, there is another rainforest area, which has a good collection of…
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Thermal Country
Heading north from the Tongariro volcano area, I passed into “Thermal Country”. New Zealand has a number of thermal areas with geysers, hot springs, and fumeroles. It is similar to Yellowstone Nat’l Park. However, in NZ, the areas are spaced apart, and each one costs around $25 to visit! The Wai-O-Rapu area has a geyser which…
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Volcano Country
Yesterday, I hiked the Tongariro Crossing. This is one of the famous “tramps” of the North Island – and it is fantastic! It is 17km, with 800m of climbing, and 1100m of descending. For $25 dollars, various transport companies will bus you to the trailhead, and pick you up at the end. Unfortunately, when the…
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Michael Chmilar's Travels 