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Hiking Mt Kosciuszko

At 2,228m Mt Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia, located in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. The nearest town is the small ski resort of Thredbo, where I was based for the ski season of 2004. Towards the end of that season, a group of us who worked together at the Denman Hotel (be sure to visit the Denman’s Apres Bar – where I earned my keep – for a few post-hike cocktails!) decided to hike to the summit from the ski area’s top lift station with our snowboards strapped to our backs and then ride back down to the village. So this is really more of a snowboarding post than a hiking post, but if you’re reading this because you’re planning on hiking Mt Kosciuszko from the Thredbo side in summer you’ll hopefully still find this write-up useful.

The trail starts from the top of Thredbo’s main Kosciuszko Express chairlift (which runs year-round), and as it’s entirely on a raised walkway (for environmental protection) there should be no navigational issues at all when doing this hike outside of the snow season. Just ride up the chairlift (or walk up the Merritts trail under it if you don’t want to cheat!) and then follow the trail to the summit. The NSW National Parks website has more information, including the estimated walking time of around four hours for the 14km round trip.

Hiking Mt Kosciuszko in winter

It’s a different proposition during the snow season (i.e. both winter and well into spring until the snow eventually melts), as the trail is covered by snow and the conditions can be very dangerous. A number of skiers and snowboarders have lost their lives in the Thredbo backcountry, so you really shouldn’t go there if the conditions are wrong or you don’t know the area – in fact I wouldn’t usually recommend going into the area at all during the winter, and ski patrol will block access from the top lifts during periods of heavy snow. But Mt Kosciuszko is popular with cross-country skiers, and if you do want to get up there on skis or with boards you should do so on a clear blue-sky day in spring with no clouds on the weather forecast and no avalanche warnings for the area. If any of that isn’t right, don’t chance it. Furthermore, if you don’t have someone with you who knows the area (and therefore which mountain you’re aiming for), don’t chance it! With all that said, we had an absolutely cracking day even though it involved a lot more hiking than it did riding. Rather than it being one single slope, the route for hiking Mt Kosciuszko takes you up and down over a series of ridges, so we found ourselves hiking up one side, riding down the other, and then unstrapping to hike up the next.

Kosciuszko Ridge Avalanche

As we were taking some group photos on the penultimate ridge before the Kosciuszko summit, we spotted another group hiking along the Kosciuszko ridge – and they actually triggered an avalanche, sending huge boulders of ice breaking off the cornice and tumbling down the ridge. The main thing I remember about it was the incredible noise, a deep rumbling almost like a couple of fighter planes were making a low pass somewhere in the near distance. Watching and listening to it, it was pretty clear that to be caught in one of those would almost certainly be fatal, and in fact we couldn’t tell at first if any of the figures we’d seen on the ridge had fallen. But they continued on their way, having heard it but not been able to see it from their position (in the bar that evening it turned out that we knew one of them – a local photographer who was out there to shoot some backcountry skiing – and he told us how it’d sounded from where they were i.e. they shat their pants and ran for it!)

After seeing that we continued on to the summit, took some more group photos and took in the beautiful views and clear air, and then set off back to the village. The return journey was obviously easier with more of it being downhill, but we still didn’t really manage any extended runs. The longest single downhill section was dropping off the main Kosciuszko ridgeline just below the summit – but obviously we had to stay well away from the overhanging cornice we’d seen avalanche a short time earlier. So, while it was a great day out in the mountains with great friends, it wasn’t really a day of great snowboarding – if you want a good day’s riding you’re better off sticking to Thredbo’s pistes, and if you want to climb Australia’s highest peak you’re better off doing it in summer! But if you do want to combine the two, take due care and have an awesome day.

Have you been to Mt Kosciuszko? How was it? Any questions? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

For more hiking ideas, another great walk I did in Australia was Tasmania’s Overland Track. Also see my Australia overland travel page here, and more Australia posts here.

Search & book Thredbo accommodation here, and make sure you have a good insurance policy – World Nomads offer flexible travel insurance you can buy even if already overseas (most travel insurance companies won’t cover you if you’ve already left your country, and this can be a crucial point as I once found out the hard way in Thailand)

These are affiliate links i.e. if you use them to purchase insurance or book a room, 4corners7seas will receive a commission from them – this commission comes out of their profit margin at no extra cost to you. I’m recommending them because I know and trust them from personal use; thank you in advance should you choose to use my links.

Visiting a Maid Cafe in Akihabara, Tokyo

Japan, Tokyo

Akihabara: ground zero for the weird & whacky otaku Japan that exists mostly in the fantasies of nerds who love manga & anime or shitty J-pop music. It’s niche rather than representative, but it’s an interesting little corner of Tokyo to visit at least once.

The vast majority of Japan simply isn’t like that, but Akihabara (aka Akiba) is where you find a Pokemon shop next to a porn DVD shop next to an Evangelion figurine shop next to a dildo shop next to an electronics shop next to an AKB48 shop, all drenched in the neon glow of anime dreams (don’t know what AKB48 is? Ignorance is bliss, but here you go). And out on the street in front of all that you’ll see the girls in French maid outfits touting for business.

The business in question isn’t anything of the red light nature, though it often has a (somewhat misunderstood) seedy reputation among those foreign tourists who’ve heard of it. A maid cafe is basically just a cafe where your food & drink is served by waitresses in French maid outfits. Apart from the outfits and the garish decor (think children’s play area with everything in bright primary colours), the main difference is that the maids play games or pose for silly polaroids with you, and sometimes give dance performances miming along to CDs of the breathlessly giddy bubble gum that is J-pop.

The only creepy thing you might see there is some of the other customers – solo grown men paying to play Connect 4 with young girls in maid costumes. But whatever their internal motivations, they really are just paying to play Connect 4. In 2008 a social misfit drove a rental truck into the crowd in Akiba before jumping out and going on a knife rampage in what is remembered as the Akihabara Massacre, and it’s definitely a place for misfits.

But it’s also a place where people don’t have to be as uptight as usual, in what is mostly a very uptight city – e.g. see the video at the bottom of this post. Maid cafes aren’t a sex industry business, but that said, it can definitely be an awkward and weird experience if you go to one as a non-Japanese speaking tourist. You’re certainly welcome to visit and they do their best to accommodate (they may or may not have English-speaking maids available), but you can expect the whole thing to be rather baffling.

It helps to have an idea in advance how it works – essentially you pay for a fixed amount of time in the cafe, and the price depends on which menu set you choose. You basically have to choose a drink (coffee, tea, fruit juice, simple alcoholic drinks), and you can also take a food option but don’t expect anything great – for example, an omelette served on rice with a big smiley tomato ketchup face on top. The cakes are probably the best bet if you want a bite to eat.

The other thing you select from the menu is which games or other extras you want to do with the maids. By which I mean stuff like having them sit and play a game with you, or posing for a polaroid photo together while you wear some comedy moose antlers. That sort of thing. You basically pay the maids to do comical stuff with you, and definitely no sexy stuff.

First time I went, I took the cup of tea and polaroid photo set, resulting in the monkey ears photo at the top of this post (my mate Paul got the moose antlers). Note that you’re not allowed to take photos inside, so the polaroid option is the only way to get a memento (we got these pics at the maid cafe called Maid Dreamin, which has multiple locations in Akihabara; their flyering staff should be easy enough to find near the station).

I’ve been to a maid cafe 3 times, all in Akiba (there are also a few across town in Ikebukuro and down in Osaka’s Den Den Town). The first time was great fun with a mixed group of guys & girls, Japanese & foreigners; the next time was with my American friend when he first moved to Tokyo and fancied checking one out, and last time I went was with friends (a British-American couple) visiting from Korea who again fancied checking one out. To be honest those second two visits were just weird and awkward, and if you go without any Japanese speakers in your group you can probably expect the same.

But yeah that first time was genuinely fun. We all ordered different things, and each was served with a different set of instructions – I was told she would pour the milk in my tea until I told her to stop, but the way I had to do that was bunch my hands on top of my head like cat ears and say “neko neko” in a squeaky voice (neko means cat). Someone else ordered a fruit shake, which involved repeating a series of actions and words the maid did & said while she made the drink in a cocktail shaker. We just all had a good laugh at each other doing all this ridiculous nonsense, and I guess it was fun because we were a decent size mixed group – it definitely helps to go with Japanese friends who can explain exactly what the fuck is going on.

So should you go to a maid cafe? Well it’s nowhere anywhere near the top of the list of cool things to do in Tokyo, but sure, if you’re curious there’s no reason not to. Just don’t expect it to be anything fantastic, and do expect it to be quite a baffling experience. And if you want a stupid picture of yourself like mine up top, you now know where to get it.

For something a bit more – for want of a better word – adult to do in Akihabara, go and check out the old Manseibashi Station just over the bridge. It was a grand old train station bombed out in the war, and the surviving base structure has now been renovated as a kind of artsy shopping centre with a couple of nice cafes and a craft brewery. The Chuo Line trains continue to run right over the top of it, and it’s quite reminiscent of similar places you see in post-industrial northern English cities like Leeds and Manchester. More info on Manseibashi here (along with a few other ideas for random things to do in Tokyo)

And finally check out the Tokyo Dance Trooper video. The first shot is in Akihabara, and when the maids all join in dancing with him on the crossing (the same crossing where the massacre occurred) I think that was genuinely spontaneous:

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If you dig Japanese anime, check out my post here about post-apocalyptic future Tokyos

More Tokyo posts here, and check out my quick guide to Tokyo

Japan travel guide here

Any questions about maid cafes? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you

Whale Watching in Kaikoura, New Zealand

Australia & NZ, Wildlife

Kaikoura’s a cute little town located on a gorgeous stretch of coastline an hour north of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island.

It offers lovely scenery, a laid back atmosphere, and famous seafood (crayfish in particular), but the main draw is the daily whale watching boat tours in the bay.

Kaikoura is blessed with the year-round presence of sperm whales which come to hunt in the abundant waters of a deep submarine canyon just offshore, while there are also seasonal visits from migrating whales of other species including humpbacks and blue whales (if you’re lucky). Dolphins are also a common sight, and on the day I went whale watching we saw a huge pod of dusky dolphins somersaulting around the boat in addition to the half-dozen sperm whales we’d sighted. I got lucky as that was a particularly successful outing, but whale sightings are so common that you’re offered an 80% refund if your trip strikes out; 95% are successful.

Sperm whales in Kaikoura — A rare double sperm whale sighting

Dusky dolphins in Kaikoura — Dusky dolphins

The local Ngati-Kuri Maori people used to hunt the whales in these waters (as did the Europeans who came and established whaling stations in the area); now they own & run the whale-watching operation, adhering to strict guidelines regarding how many boats go out at any given time and how close they get to the whales. This ensures the whales aren’t disturbed, and the historical & cultural information shared by the onboard guides is fascinating. Kaikoura really is a fine example of how coastal whaling towns can transition to profiting from whale tourism instead of whale hunting – take note Japan (for further reading on that matter see this article by my friend Sean (from Tohoku tsunami volunteering days) contrasting the fortunes of Kaikoura with the Japanese whaling town Taiji (made infamous by the documentary The Cove) and offering constructive suggestions for Taiji’s future, an article for which he was doxxed and threatened by Japan’s batshit crazy far right nationalists)

Sperm whales dive for extended periods to great depths, hunting by echolocation in the pitch darkness. The crew use sensors to track the whales’ echolocation clicks to be positioned nearby when the whales surface for air. They usually hunt solo, so you see the whale surface and spend a few minutes floating at the surface to breathe, before humping its back and raising its tail to dive. This is when you can get the classic shot like the one above. Sperm whales don’t tend to be so playful and usually just ignore the boats (though they used to defend themselves fiercely against whalers – the whale in Moby Dick was a sperm whale), so don’t expect to see them jumping around for the cameras the way e.g. humpback whales sometimes do. Still very cool to see.

Boat crew using sensors to detect sperm whales

The boat may look crowded, but actually there’s plenty of space on board for everyone to get a good vantage point.

Due to the restricted daily number of tickets it’s a good idea to book in advance once you’re sure of your dates, which you can do here. It’s also easy enough to book your boat trip after arriving in town, either through your hostel/hotel or by going direct to Whale Watch Kaikoura, though you may have to wait until a later slot if they’re booked up.

Whale watching isn’t the only game in town though, so if you do end up having to wait you can use the time for a whole bunch of other activities like dolphin swimming or seal kayaking (I didn’t do any others but heard good reports, especially of dolphin swimming)

A few pics of New Zealand’s stunning roads

Australia & NZ

One of the best things you can do in New Zealand is just simply drive somewhere a few hours away. This is especially true if you have your own wheels (though the bus rides are lovely too), and especially true on South Island (especially on the west coast).

The scenery’s gorgeous throughout the country, but a few roads in particular which stick out in my memory are the road linking Queenstown to Wanaka over the Crown Range, the road to Milford Sound from Te Anau, and that jaw-dropping section of Highway 6 down the west coast of South Island which I already wrote about on one of my hiking pages here, quote:

as you drive north you have the ocean to your left and the mountains towering up immediately on your right, with the road spanning a series of rivers as they drop down from the Alps through spectacular valleys, canyons which quickly open and close their jaws to you as you drive past

Instead of writing any more about it, as I recently finished scanning the rest of my old analogue photos here’s a bunch of pics of NZ’s stunning scenery as seen on various road trips I took there. They’re scanned from faded old hard copies and were taken on a shitty old camera by a rank amateur, so the quality sucks; but the scenery speaks for itself and these pics should give you an idea of just how epic it is.

View of the Queenstown area from the Crown Range road:

The only pic I actually have from the west coast road is this one (which doesn’t include the full drama of the mountains but is still very pretty):

Franz Josef Glacier (not visible from Highway 6, but a short detour off it):

Milford Sound Highway from Te Anau to Milford Sound:

And a few pics of Milford Sound itself, swapping the road for the sea (our boat was accompanied by a pod of bottlenose dolphins):

Another cracking drive is the road between Greymouth and Christchurch via Arthur’s Pass – I did this one too (on a public bus) but failed to take any pictures.

Thinking of heading to New Zealand? It really is one of the best places I’ve been – stop thinking and get it booked! Check out my main New Zealand page here

Tokyo 2020 Olympics guide

Japan, Tokyo Olympics

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be the second summer games held in Japan’s capital, and the fourth in Asia (following Tokyo 1964, Seoul 1988, and Beijing 2008). Tokyo’s changed a lot since 1964 (and is surely a much easier city for non-Japanese speaking visitors to deal with these days), but since then Japan has also hosted the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, and two Winter Olympics, showcasing excellent sporting facilities and public transportation.

Most recently Japan did a great job hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and we can be confident Japan will do a similarly stellar job of hosting the 2020 Olympic Games (though the wisdom of having the Olympics at the height of the Tokyo summer is somewhat questionable – make sure you’re prepared for the heat & humidity)

All that said, Japan will very much be an unknown quantity for most visiting fans, and probably with more of a language barrier than you may have experienced when attending other Olympics. As a sports fan with years of experience living in & visiting Japan, I figure I can therefore be of help to fans visiting Japan for Tokyo 2020 – these pages should hopefully be of use with helping you decide where to stay and understand how to get around, as well as ideas for other non-Olympic things you could do in Japan while you’re in the country.

See my detailed Tokyo guide here, Yokohama here, and Sapporo (hosting the marathon) here

For transportation advice on how best to travel around Tokyo (and the rest of the country), click here

Japan’s an amazing place with an incredible amount to see and do, so if you’re flying all that way I strongly suggest you also take the opportunity to travel about a bit and check out some more of the country outside of Tokyo while you’re there – for suggestions click here, and see my quick guides to Kyoto and Hiroshima

How to get online here

Useful resources here

On Getting Stuck

Musings

Getting stuck somewhere isn’t usually what you have in mind when dreaming of seeing the world, but if you do much long-distance backpacking it’s bound to happen at some point – in fact, it’s all part of the fun.

You might get stuck somewhere you never planned on staying and end up falling in love with it, or perhaps even a person you end up meeting there. Or you might get stuck in some random shithole but come to see it has a certain charm, lovely locals, a great music scene or whatever; or you might get stuck in some random shithole and find no redeeming feature at all to your time there, but rather a test of your patience or maybe your negotiating skills as you try to get out of there.

But the rough always goes with the smooth when you’re travelling and playing things by ear, and these unplanned stopovers can be some of most memorable experiences you have on the road.

Rickshaw ride in Siliguri — A rickshaw ride through Siliguri

Like the time my friend Danny and I got stuck in the Indian town of Siliguri for several days after leaving Darjeeling, days we spent in frustration failing to buy tickets at the train station before going back to the hotel to eat copious quantities of dopiaza while watching heavily censored gangster films and arguing over Scarface quotes. Despite all the wonderful and crazy things we saw in India, it’s always those few days stuck in Siliguri we talk & laugh about the most when we reminisce about that trip.

A couple of years before that, Danny and I (plus 2 other friends) found ourselves stuck in Rome for a few days after our passports were stolen on the night train from Vienna while interrailing around Europe (I’ve shared quite a few scrapes with Danny!)

But really, Rome is as good a place as any in which to get stuck. Those extra few days were not unpleasant at all, other than the sweaty and frustrating first day we spent visiting a police station and the embassy; once that was out of the way we enjoyed a few days of coffee & pizza, sightseeing & partying while we waited for our replacement passports.

The downside was that we blew too much money and never made it to Barcelona and Gibraltar (where our friend lived) as planned.

The upshot was that we met an American girl in Rome and a Canadian girl in Brussels (where we broke the journey home) who I now call dear old friends, and who gave shape to further travels – the following summer two of us went and road-tripped around the States with Anna (when we had this intense encounter with a psycho hillbilly, and also visited Ginny in Victoria) and I later was roommates with Ginny for a year in Vancouver during my ski bum days.

So getting stuck in Rome was one of those times when it actually turned out to be a positive; be adaptable, go with the flow, and it often works out well.

But not always. On another more recent solo trip I got stuck in the western Chinese city of Xining when my Tibet tour got cancelled at the last minute. Tours & permits are required to enter the Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, and my permit couldn’t be transferred to join another tour so I couldn’t board the train to Lhasa.

Nothing good came of this whatsoever; I didn’t fall in love with Xining or anyone in it, and it didn’t prove to be a sliding doors moment that led me to some other serendipitous chain of events. I’d already travelled all over China (all but a couple of provinces) in previous visits, and while the alternative route I took through the Tibetan regions of Gansu & Sichuan prefecture was nice, it wasn’t what I’d specifically gone to China to do. The whole trip was a waste of time & money, and the few days spent in Xining absolutely sucked. While I can’t say Xining has no redeeming features – it’s a sizeable city and I barely know it – my time spent stuck there had no redeeming aspects to it, and it didn’t lead to any silver linings.

I also once got stuck at the Thai-Malaysia border following a nerve-wracking bus ride through the military checkpoints of Thailand’s restive south-east. I was only stuck overnight, but after some initial alarm at the potentially very dodgy situation it ended up being quite an amusing experience when I was put up for the night by a porn-surfing border policeman. Hardly a tale for the ages, but I’m kind of glad it happened and that’s what I mean when I say it’s all part of the adventure.

Perhaps all this doesn’t only apply to getting stuck somewhere while backpacking; you can get stuck in so many ways as you travel through life, stuck living in a place you don’t like or stuck in a dead end job. And sometimes you may find the positives or learn a valuable lesson, but sometimes it might just totally suck and you just have to deal with it as best you can. That’s life.