It was time to fly north for some snow. We left Hiroshima on the shinkansen to Shin Osaka station and then changed to an express train to Kansai airport. Once again we had been unable to reserve seats on the shinkansen and a large group of people were lining up for the non-reserved cabin. Our…
We jumped on the Shinkansen again to Hiroshima, just a couple of hours from Kyoto. This time we managed to reserve specific seat numbers on the reserved carriages. The countryside quickly whizzed past and we pulled in to the station just after lunch time. We were a bit more prepared this time and had bought…
We reluctantly said “sayonara” to Tokyo and jumped on the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. Rail Pass & Shinkansen We bought a 7 day JR rail pass, which we had been using on some of the lines around Tokyo and it would also allow us to travel on the trains down to Kyoto and beyond. The…
During the summer holidays in New Zealand we would usually be sailing our boat Wildwood up to the Marlborough Sounds and cruising around with our friends for a few weeks. This year however our friends James & Elisa asked us if we would like to join them in Japan for an adventure there instead. It…
Apparently I am not the only person to have been given a big fright by the moon sneaking up over the horizon at random times of the night, and my crew continue to debate whether or not the moon landings were real or a huge conspiracy. Whatever your opinion and whether it has ever frightened…
About a month ago I was looking forward to slowing down, a few Christmas parties, and a bit of a tidy up at work before knocking off a few days early to start the celebrations. They say a week in politics is a long time, and so just one day later, I was organising 22…
I have been feeling quite numb all week. Not really sure how to process what has happened. Writing seems to help, so here goes. Brain dump… In the early hours of Monday morning 14 November 2016, much of New Zealand was shaken awake by a prolonged and violent earthquake, absolutely devastating a large portion of…
Thanks to everyone who is still persevering with the Celestial Navigation notes. I hope you have picked up a few things. You might have noticed a couple of the videos that I have linked through to belong to the Vanderbilt University who have a fantastic free online Celestial Navigation course. They whip through the topics…
I consider myself extremely lucky to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. In the South Island alone there is just so much to explore and discover, even for someone who has lived here for most of my life. I am also extremely lucky to have an amazing group of friends…
More angles today… sigh – I do wish I had paid more attention in 5th form maths. Sorry Mr Sanders… Let’s learn about Azimuth angles. As at the stage of typing this first paragraph of the post I personally have no idea what they are. Time to learn!
Astrolabe Sailing 