Another week, another typhoon… Yes, we had number 22 pass through this week, with the associated greyness and rain. On the up side, we actually had some sunshine this week too!!! It was very, very nice to be able to go outside without an umbrella, and in some lighter clothes. So, welcome to week 48, sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy.

I have to say that typhoon 22 wasn’t as full-on as number 21, but then it didn’t actually make full landfall but rather passed to the southeast, giving us mainly the rain shadow. The question is:– was it the last for the season??? Only time will tell, of course, but it is nice having the current respite and consequential sunny days.

The sunny weather has also made it easier to visit The Very Nearly House to see what they are up to. Last time I said it appeared the electrical wiring and plumbing was fully installed. I think I also said I was a novice at building, and so it was no surprise to arrive and find eight vehicles at the site, with nearly all occupants beavering away at electrical and plumbing stuff (stuff – technical jargon). Some were installing the bathrooms upstairs, others downstairs installing the electrical distribution board and associated peripheries and some outside installing a satellite dish (!!!!), which we didn’t know we were getting.

There was also a couple of tradies (not sure what they would actually be called here – I’m not even sure exactly what their training system is here) finishing the woodwork under the eaves (the soffit?). The external cladding is still naked; I presume there are still things that have to be done outside before the final surfacing is done – but don’t quote me on this…

With the improving weather, we decided to try to find some of that elusive autumnal colour. Our thinking was that the mountain areas were likely to be further down the track in terms of autumn colour because it is cooler in the mountain areas than down here in the city, generally. So, we decided to head up to Kuramadera since it is reasonably easily accessible and it is a pleasant place to visit. Craig was keen to try the climb from the Kibune side again, to see if our fitness and strength had improved, however, one of my knees has been playing up a bit recently (so many stairs…), so I suggested we climb up from the Kurama side and, if my knee is ok, go over the top of the mountain and down to Kibune.

It was a glorious autumn day, sunny and low 20s, so perfect climbing weather. When we arrived at the entrance to Kuramadera, down the bottom of the walk/climb, we found a notice in English explaining that it was not possible to climb the trail over to Kibune as some trees had fallen across the path! Thank goodness for my knee being difficult, otherwise we would have got off the train at the Kibune station and walked the approximately 2kms to the start of the trail up to Kuramadera, only to find it was closed.

So we didn’t get a chance to try the climb again and, as it turned out, my knee behaved itself during the climb up to the temple and back. Unfortunately, the elusive autumnal colour remained somewhat elusive, as it really hadn’t begun in earnest up at Kuramayama. Anyway, it was a nice walk/climb and I did notice that it was much easier than last time, so my fitness is definitely improving.

After the foreshortened expedition we decided to walk up the main road of the township there, as we had never done so, to see where the famed Kurama onsen was. It is a lovely town surrounded as it is by the mountains, with most of the houses lining the road being old and very traditional. A scenic place to live, but I imagine it gets very cold in winter and Craig said he would be concerned about the possibility to landslides there. The risk of landslide here has really been highlighted to us during the last two typhoons when many landslides occurred, burying roads and houses and leaving some houses hanging over the edge of a newly created cliff.

One other outing we had was to the office of the Japan Automobile Federation to have our licences translated so that we can apply for Japanese licences. They said it would take around a week to do and they would post the finished product to us, which they did (in less than a week). We also need to prove that we had our licences for at least three months while we were in Australia, but unfortunately our licences don’t have the issue date on them, nor how long we have had them, so we have sent an email to the SA transport department asking for a statement of how long we have had them – no response yet…

So, time and the weather move on. Halloween has now passed and, though we haven’t looked yet, I would bet that the xmas decorations are already up in the shops – more on that next time (will there be upside-down trees this time??).

In parting, here’s a photo of the witch watching tv on Halloween and a photo of someone who looks like a Japanese Chopper Reid…well, we think he does anyway! Cheers.