We were pretty excited about the fact that we’d pre-booked some ground passes for the mighty Aussie Open Tennis Championship and on the 27th we were there to support our very own Andy Murray and on the finals night who knows what would happen. Its always the case when you get to a big event trying to find your bearings and suss out whats going on and where and so we feel that we didn’t really get the best from our ground passes. However we did some an impressive female wheelchair doubles tennis final which was really good and definitely an interesting display to watch and support. We also got a few games from some of the junior girls and boys semi-finals along with having a good old nosey around the stalls and took advantage of their free giveaways.

It was a really hot day to be out in the sun and so when we found out where Andy Murray would be warming up for the semi-final that night against Djokovic we decided to fight the un and got a really good spot to watch the practice. We waited….and waited…and more fans were gathering around, but after an hour and 15 we realised it wasn’t happening, Andy Murray had let us down, well not quite but it was a little annoying to be told this is where he would be and then only find out after so long that he was training elsewhere. It was too late by this point to find out where he was as we needed to find ourselves a spot to watch the match from. Fortunately for Helen we’d spotted Nadal practicing earlier on in one of the bigger courts, although he was a little far away she got very excited about seeing the star play.

We opted for the Garden City seating area which is behind the Rod Lever Arena, all the seats were taken by this point and so we found a little spot on the grass. The support for Murray was huge, we were really surprised to see lot’s of Scottish flags, face painted supporters and crazy wig wearing Scots. It meant there was a good atmosphere though and dotted around were a few Serbian supporters too. The main problem for us being where we were is that the atmosphere just didn’t quite get on board with the game as much as we thought it would, although the support was there it just wasn’t quite exciting enough and after a slow start from Murray it was pretty quiet. We have to admit we didn’t stay to watch the end of the match we we later learned was more intense and it was very close between the pair, but after Helen snoozed her way through a few games we decided to catch a train home before missing the transport links back to Glen Waverley. Murray just lost out in the end so we now knew that it was Djokovic and Nadal through to the final, it was going to be a good one!

For the finals night on the 29th it was a very different story for us indeed. We once again had ourselves a pair of ground passes which for $19 was really good value, the only thing that kept nagging us was that we knew how good it would be if we could be in the main arena. It was also easier as we were familiar with the set up and so we found ourselves taking advantage of the Dove stand which was giving away loads of goodies, so after stocking up we went for a mooch around the smaller courts. The same one where Nadal had been practising a few days before we spotted Djokovic getting ready for the big game, this was very cool indeed and so we stayed a while watching him play.

We started thinking about the big match and decided to ask if we would be able to upgrade our tickets to arena tickets, but only if there were 2 available for us so that we could be together. We were sent away at one point but the second time round they conveniently managed to find 2 tickets together and so we decided to bite the bullet and go for it, we would only be in this situation once. The cost was a sting to the wallets but we have been really budget conscious since arriving in Australia and this was our big activity. So into the arena we were and it suddenly we were watching live Doubles Finals tennis, a bit of a step up from where we were the other day.

It was a while before the Men’s Singles Final but the anticipation was immense with awards ceremonies, and music to get everyone in the mood. At 7.30pm the final was announced and before long Nadal and Djokovic were making their entrances. This was built up to be a fantastic match and it really didn’t let us down, it felt like the support was on Nadal’s side for much of the match but there was definitely enough admiration and support for Djokovic to keep him going. Nadal started out on fire and won the first set but then lost it for the next 2. We were getting worried as we knew that if we were to stay until the end of the match we wouldn’t make our train connections back that night and so we hoped for a 5 setter. It didn’t look like this was going to happen but halfway through the 4th set Nadal came back amazingly and took the 4th with a tie breaker. Yes!! We would be here for a little while yet.

The 5th set was equally entertaining and enthralling, we couldn’t believer the sheer power, strength and determination on display. Both men were fighting till the very end and their athleticism is one to be remembered for a very long time, not to mention the amount of pressure on them from the audience and millions of viewers world wide. Well we all know the ending, Djokovic won and came-back to take the 5th set and the title, we felt for Nadal but at the end of the day the best man won and we felt really happy with the fact that we’d witnessed 6 hours of tennis history. One for the records!!

The ceremonies and speeches mean’t that we didn’t leave the arena until after 2.30am which was good news for us as the first train back to our suburb was at 5.15am so we didn’t have too long to wait. Melbourne CBD felt pretty safe for us, a McDonalds was open 24 hours which helped for a while before we rested at the entrance to the train station. There were enough people around who were in a similar position to us so we didn’t feel too alone. Back in the comforts of our bed we slept for most of the next morning until lunch time and heading out to meet up with friends.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Helen didn’t have the best night sleep, it was pretty chilly in our room and the painted tigers on the walls did little to make us feel warm either. The bell rang at 5.50am and we made our way to the shrine area for the morning chant. The morning air was chilly and it took some time to warm up in the shrine room. The chants lasted for about 45 minutes as the sun rose behind closed doors. It was an interesting experience and really shows the dedication that the monks have to their traditions and beliefs.

Once the ceremony had finished breakfast was served in the dining room. Another vegetarian meal of rice, soup, pickles, shredded veg, spongy tofu and green tea. We both pretty much finished the breakfast, however the same textures and flavors do become quite tedious when you are eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The morning light in the corridor and our room needed some photographic attention so we duly obliged.

We made our way back down the village to where we got dropped off yesterday (at the wrong monastery) and headed for the cemetery; Oku-No-In which had been recommended to us by the Dutch couple we had met the night before and is a mass of graves stones, shrines and temples. So with clean air in our lungs and the sun on your faces we headed off down the road. Maybe due to the cooler air at this altitude the leaves on the trees were at a much more autumnal stage and they looked very picturesque. The intense reds and oranges really pop and with a blue sky backdrop they look lovely. The cemetery is vast and contains thousands of graves from common folk to military generals.

There is a stone in a wooden cage structure here, the Miroku Stone. You can only get one hand through the gap in the wood and you are supposed to lift the rock up on to a shelf. The weight of the stone is supposed to change for each person, the less sins you have the lighter the stone will be. Dave failed on his first and second attempt, his sins are too high! Third attempt he made it but that’s a bit late really!

After walking back to pick up our bags we jumped on the bus, in the right direction and we caught the next cable car down the mountain valley before catching the train to our next stop Osaka. We spotted a cool place on the internet before we left the UK called Hostel 64 created by an architecture firm in Osaka, so with Hotel Michelberger, Berlin from early 2010 in our minds we booked two nights stay here to complete our travel in Japan. We arrived and checked into our room which was a nice size and then headed to the roof for a look over the roof tops. The sun was shining which we haven’t had much of in Japan so it made sense to soak up some rays (and take some photos)! The light and shadows were fabulous, so after some photos we decided to head out to The Umeda Sky Building to see some views of the city and catch the sunset. We just about made it in time to see the sun disappear over the horizon in a fiery red glow.

We headed back to the hostel area to eat locally as we had read of a local Korean restaurant which seemed like a good idea. We had a map from the hostel but could not get our bearings and local landmarks were not where we thought they should be. In a nutshell in Japan there are lots and lots of Family Marts and convenience stores. One of these was marked on the map so we used that as our reference. That was not the correct Family Mart, it was on the other side of the block! Not knowing this, we ended up going for a little restaurant that specialised in Yakitori; Japanese barbecue chicken. We had a mix of chicken, salad, tofu soup and a rice ball. The rice ball was toasted over hot coals in a sticky sesame sauce served with pickles, lovely!

Feeling full and still frustrated from wandering around for an hour looking for Korean food we headed back to the hostel for a beer in the bar and then bed.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We started early with a Japanese style breakfast provided by our Minshuku. It was much nicer than we were anticipating having been warned the night before. There was a traditional Hoba-miso from the area which is a miso sauce cooked on a leaf with a few shitake mushrooms and spring onions on it. You leave it to cook over a candle flame and then add it to the sticky rice, this was very pleasant. Accompanying was some cold grilled salmon, cooked squash, green tea and soup. Perhaps not your ideal breakfast start to the day but it was well worth trying and we left feeling pretty satisfied.

The temperature dropped significantly today and was somewhere around the 5 degrees mark, so with a brisk walk up to the famous morning markets we took in some of the local sights and stopped for a few photography opportunities of local trade. We were disappointed though as it all seems very contrived and set up for tourists. It is mostly Japanese tourists who come to the area along with lot’s of school trips. So off load the tour buses and suddenly the town becomes alive, but perhaps not in the way we had hoped. The word “Tacky-ama” comes to mind. It wasn’t all bad though as we did come across a nice cafe where we helped to translate some tour-guide info for a Japanese chap and then went on to Takayama Jinya.

This temple is beautifully restored and did hold our attention for an hour or so along with the school groups and fellow tourist makers. We managed to overlook this though and took in the historic details throughout. Following on from the temple we had the Takayama hilltops in our sights with a castle ruin at the top. It’s a good little hike up hill and along the way there are further shrines and monuments as well as an empty children’s playground which seemed to capture our photographic imaginations. From here we walked up to the top for a short look out across Takayama before heading back down towards the rooftops and a further path lined with temples. Takayama holds so much history that it’s difficult to forget where you are.

Back at our Minshuku we had a chance to relax and take a breather before heading out to meet Kim and Ivan. This time we chose a cosy little Japanese pub with one chef and many bar-top kitsch accessories such as a fridge that is also a TV, dvd player and playstation!! Along with this he provided us with books all about Japanese food, what he could do for us, explained that we would have to buy a beer whilst apologising all the while for his poor english!! The food was fantastic, fortunately we were able to share most of it as there was so much, Helen had the hoba-miso again this time though it was 4 times the size and had loads of mushrooms with it!! Dave had the local beef dish called Hida Beef which was very very good, melt in the mouth good. The chef gave the ladies a Kirin beer postcard and some goodbye bananas with “please come again” and “thank you” written on them. Priceless!

So with one more night left we prepared for the next step of our train journey to Kanazawa. We would meet Kim and Ivan for the same train the next morning at 11am. A good night was had by all.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)