Ushering in the new year

 After leaving Seoul, we spent a busy and social fortnight in Los Angeles. Tamar and two of her siblings organized a mountain getaway for twelve of us near Sequoia National Park; the girls swam, mini-golfed and did chin-ups in Balboa Park; Tamar's parents showed us a good time and showered us with delicious fruits. All too soon, we headed to Ottawa for a month in Jakob's hometown: family fun, skating, sledding, hockey, and endlessly wrestling Levi into and out of winterwear. It was so wonderful to spend lots of time with family after a long time away!

The last day of 2024 was a busy one. We went to Carleton Pool, home of the high-dive tower Jakob braved when he was a kid, and has been talking about ever since. Tova managed to jump off, after a high-elevation pep talk from a varsity diver, and made such a tiny splash on landing it would have garnered high scores in the Olympics. She resurfaced with a smile on her face and headed straight back up. Sophia wrung her hands and peered anxiously down for about five minutes before summoning every last scrap of courage and making the jump too. Zadie was content to hop off the diving board, just a couple of metres above the water.

Meanwhile, Aurora took Levana to the library while Tamar got a much-needed break from the 18-month old tyrant. Levi had a great time reading books and playing with the baby toys there. After lunch she was stuffed back into the stroller, and it was off to Lansdowne for skating, The ice was pretty slushy on such a warm day, but Sophia practiced hockey stops, Tova skating backwards, Zadie falling down, and Aurora just whizzed around, lap after lap. Tamar went climbing in the meantime at a local gym.

We celebrated New Year's Eve with sisters, cousins and parents. We enjoyed a huge dinner of tacos and fondue; Aurora, Tova and Jakob got swept 3-0 in Code Names; later, Tova and Zadie convinced Jakob to take them to Lansdowne Park at 10:30PM to play in the rain. The night wrapped up with 2025 Goals, a game of Bohnanza, Aurora feverishly finishing her 100th book of the year (Reasons to be Cheerful, fully half of which she blazed through on the 31st), and midnight fireworks.

2024 was an amazing year - Tamar would say something incredibly poetic and insightful right now, if she were writing this; but since she's not, here's hoping that 2025 is even richer in fun, growth and adventures!

Nothing better than dress-up and watermelon!

Tova sleds the slopes

Sophia and Mari with matching hats, bathing suits and core temperatures

Crossing sticks with a legend of the rink

The vaersagodbligaern tradition continues!

Seoul

 Like many things in our lives - we had meant to end our trip in a low key manner but didn't. A day in Ibusuki getting buried in hot sand and going to another onsen. A few days in Kagoshima where we made closer acquaintance with sakurajima and fell in love with a volcanic potter. And then a week in Seoul. Glad the flights out of Seoul were so affordable because we always have such a great time there. We got to spend time with friends, eat a lot, climb, see some sights and best of all finally do the city wall walk I have always hoped to do. I had this idea that I would just post pictures of food so here are a bunch of photos to increase a Seoul appetite and a few more. 

Perfect street food on a cold day!

Perfect child eating red bean paste fish

Onion - the line is long but the baked goods amazing! Also, watching others cut the baked goods is fun

Lots to fill up our bellies with

Never too cold for bing-su

The city wall walk left us all with sore calves

Look at that cute foliage

The city of coffee and drinks

How to carry half your weight

Tova's tea is looking festive!

Kids insisted we revisit the sheep cafe

Thanks Seoul - see you again maybe?

Post hike reflections

It feels funny not to walk. A relief to not have to wake the kids up in the dark and convince them that packing is the way to go to start a day. A relief not to have to sing old McDonald had a farm on repeat to entertain the baby. But we all miss it. We miss the simplicity of our goals. We miss getting to move our bodies and be outdoors all day long. We also miss Japan - the quiet, the coast, the customs. We even miss our convenience store meals. This was meant to be an inspiring post trip thought process but life is all encompassing and one adventure sweeps right into the next. When you are walking and living largely outdoors you think you will appreciate every fresh vegetable, every rainy day spent indoors, and every extra item of clothing. These are things you long for as your shoes remain dripping wet and you are eating the same daikon the sixth night in a row. In some ways we do appreciate all of these more, and in other ways it is very easy to slip back into a life where those simple pleasures are taken for granted. I don't think either way is a better way of living but the gap between the expectations in the two is notable. If I have a normal life I hope to have one where simple pleasures remain both simple and pleasurable. A handful of cherry tomatoes slowly nibbled with cold fingers. A beautiful leaf found on the underside of your shoe. A dry pair of socks at the right moment. Maybe it isn't 'live your life to the fullest', but, rather, 'Enjoy  life fully'. It was a great adventure. We are all glad we did it. We learned a lot about ourselves, about Japan, and about life. It may come across as easy in our online entries but I assure you it was a challenge from start to finish.  I am definitely choosing the same teammates for the next adventure.

Oh Japan you were beautiful!

Definitely worth the walk for this view!

Spiritual adventures are difficult but possible with a baby

A last bow of respect

Day.111-112: The End

 Day 111: Minamiosumi to Cape Sata!!!

Hours walked: 6:30-5:00

Distance walked: 36 km

Cumulative: 2,495 km

Cape Sata at last! Today we made it to the southern tip of mainland Japan and, after setting out from Cape Soya so long ago, all seven of us reached our goal. 

The day itself was smooth and successful, if harder than expected in some ways. We started before dawn, and the road wound up and down through the hills lining Kagoshima Bay. Zadie and Tova speculated what the “final boss” of the hike might be, when suddenly a wild boar appeared on the road not far ahead! Zadie freaked out. But it just trotted into the undergrowth and disappeared. On a steep hill, Tamar yelped and snapped her arm: wasp sting! Sophia freaked out, having vivid memories of her allergic reaction a few weeks ago - but that was the only sting. Then we had to choose between a 3-km stretch of brutal tunnel or a closed, barred road; we opted for the latter and thankfully it was beautiful, deserted, and crossable. 

In the end, the hills were the final boss: it was a very steep day! Tamar gamely pushed the stroller up and down, again and again, with assists from Aurora and Sophia. Some very excited locals gave us Vitamin C sodas, mochi, tiny sweet mandarins, and matcha wafers in a beautiful gift bag - one woman jumped up and down, exclaiming as if we were winners on a game show. 

Our campsite was closed for “weeding” so we went to the far inferior Plan B campsite, set up a tent and dropped off some heavy backpacks before continuing. As we approached Cape Sata, Tova was so excited she kept bursting into a sprint to see if it was around the next corner. 

We finally reached the beautiful lookout, portaging the stroller and sleeping toddler through some difficult staircases, and there we were - the Cape! Everyone had some chocolate, admired the view, and generally basked. Even Levi woke up to share the occasion. We were all feeling great, though also aware we had an hour of so of tough walking back to camp, and a long day of hiking tomorrow to the ferry. “It felt like the end, but it also didn’t feel like the end,” as Sophia so aptly put it. 

That evening, Jakob discovered he’d accidentally bought dry udon noodles, not somen - but they were actually quite tasty. We turned in at 6:30, pooped from a whole lot of kilometers but also glowing with the knowledge that we really did it!

Trail Magic’s final trick

The best 5 daughters there ever were

We did it!

Day 112: Cape Sata to Minamiosumi

Hours walked: 6:30-1:50

Distance walked: 30 km

Cumulative: 2,525 km

We woke up at 5:30, an early start for our very last day! We packed up with chilly fingers as the sunrise gradually pinkened the horizon, and set out at 6:30 am with a final goal: to make it 30 km back up to Minamiosumi by 4:30 pm, the last ferry of the day across to Ibusuki. 

It was very windy, but not too cold, as we retraced our steps over all those hills, singing to a cranky baby and doing one last round of Morning Math. Zadie managed to defeat the Citadels of Chaos on her very last try, and Jakob passed round his traditional Secret Stash of treats (today: Almond Pocky). 

With the hills behind us, we made excellent time and decided to skip a beach break in favor of pushing onward and trying to make the earlier ferry at 2:30. With Tamar setting an impressive pace, and Jakob reading The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid out loud in the rear, we stormed ahead: 10 km left … 5 km left … 1 km left … done! 

We’d come 30 km in 7h10m, our fastest 30 km of the whole hike. Tamar procured ice cream, mochi, oranges, puffed rice sticks and “a weird fruit that we don’t know what it is yet” which we are now eating on the ferry. 

Our walk is finished. We could have given up lots of times, but we kept each other going and succeeded in crossing Japan with good cheer and good memories.

Walking back up: Cape Soya is mighty far away!

On the ferry across Kagoshima Bay, letting the ending sink in

Day 109-110: Iwakawa to Minamiosumi

 Day 109: Iwakawa Hotel to Kanoya

Hours walked: 7:00-3:30

Distance walked: 32 km

Cumulative: 2,428 km

We woke up quite early, since today was going to be pretty long. Everyone set off in their warm hats to protect against the nippy air. We were all happy with the quiet roads through forest patches, until it hit us: we were going the wrong way! We ended up adding a couple of kilometers, but at least they were pretty ones on tiny roads that snaked through the stands of trees. 

Eventually we rejoined the main road and kept going. Tamar doesn’t like the smell of the trucks that transport manure, nor those that transport cows and pigs. Sophia had an epic nosebleed that soaked through about 20 wipes. Tova found a dolphin, a happy figurine, a suction stand, and a samurai sash along the roadside. 

Tova and Zadie learned estimation, Sophia did IGCSE Math practice exam questions. Aurora just picked stuff up for Levi while she yelled her name (i.e., while Levi yelled Aurora’s name, not the other way around). Levi took 175 blurry photos with Jakob’s phone, then fell asleep listening to Hakkebakke Skogen; we took full advantage to power through a couple more hours of easy walking. Zadie dreamt up a vast swimming pool complex including giant cups of tea, vats of chocolate, boiling oil, a shark with razor-sharp teeth, and a whirlpool whose drain leads to another pool featuring a sinking ship. 

Thanks to lots of good walking and only two short breaks to eat, we reached our hotel by 3:30 (we are in hotels for the final few days since they’re long, and the nights are getting cold.) Jakob taught Sophia, Tova and Zadie to play Texas Hold ‘Em while Aurora read Mortimer, Murmel Murmel, Mr. Brown Can Moo, and Pat the Bunny to Levi for the 10,000th time. 

We had a 7-11 type dinner (ie simple and easy) and enjoyed the small onsen. We all went to sleep early, except Aurora who stayed up late reading The Roads To Sata. We get to Cape Sata the day after tomorrow!

Kaimondake peeps out around every corner 

As if our last few days are in such a gorgeous area

Levi tries to make friends with the waves

Day 110: Kanoya to Minamiosumi

Hours walked: 7:15-4:45

Distance walked: 31 km

Cumulative: 2,459 km

We are getting so close! We walked along the coast most of the day in brilliant sunshine, with clear views of Kaimondake and Sakurajima volcanoes to our west. The landscape around us is a mix of rolling hills and palm trees - Sophia exclaimed how different it was compared to Cape Soya. 

Our morning, despite an early start, was one of slow progress. We had fresh rolls at the hotel, stopped at two convenience stores, Tamar wrestled the stroller up and down hills all morning while Jakob dealt with a stiff right knee. A rest stop provided cherry tomatoes and sushi. After 4 hours, we’d gone less than 13 km. 

But we got there in the end. With a few kilometres to go, we stopped at a beautiful sand beach to let Levi run wild. Zadie decorated the entire beach with her footsteps. We skipped rocks and admired the smooth cone of Kaimondake across Kagoshima Bay, then kept going. A man pulled over to ask about our walk, cheer “Gambatte!” and give us a bag full of exciting new fizzy drinks (blueberry, cherry blossom, lemon!)

Our guesthouse is a real stunner. It overlooks the bay with perfect views, has an ocean-facing bath, and generally reminds us of the best parts of Australia’s beach houses. We enjoyed a tasty meal of spaghetti with green beans, and went to bed early in anticipation of a big day tomorrow. 

Five happy hikers 

The landscape has gotten a lot junglier as we’ve come south 

Our own private view of the ocean

Day 106-108: Miyazaki to Iwakawa

Day 106: Miyazaki to Aoidake

Hours walked: 7:45-3:00

Distance walked: 27 km

Cumulative: 2,351 km

Today was cold and wet. Tamar whimpered as she looked out the window at the gray clouds, and sure enough, we never saw the sun all day. Three of us are still somewhat sick; Sophia is most hoarse and congested, but dealing with it well. 

Luckily the morning was mostly drizzle. We hiked out of Miyazaki, playing Interrogations and talking about what we’ll miss from this hike. Levi fell asleep listening to Hakkebakke Skogen, as is traditional. We met a long-distance hiker who is circumnavigating Japan, and has been on the road for 6 months. He gave us a “pay it forward” card which we are trying to figure out, and lots of candies which unfortunately had gelatin in them (most of the girls are now staunchly anti-gelatin.) We gave him a handmade sticker which now adorns the back of his phone. 

When Levi awoke from her two-hour nap, we’d made excellent progress. And good thing, too, because the afternoon was rather tough. The rain had picked up mid-morning and was now quite heavy; we were all drenched. The sidewalk disappeared as we climbed into the hills, and suddenly we were on a twisty highway with narrow shoulders as the fog rolled in. So the last 2 hours were kinda rough, but we managed it without any serious trouble. 

We were vastly relieved to score a free cabin for the night, after a full day of rain and a wet forecast overnight. Tamar, Sophia and Tova went to the onsen: “there was a walking bath where you walked around and around and around. There was a bubbly one that was supposed to lift you up. And an outdoor pool. The water was so thick! It was a very nice onsen.” Tamar: “It was a proper onsen - it had various pools and was frequented by lots of Japanese families. There was all this baby paraphernalia, more than I’ve ever seen.” Meanwhile Aurora and Zadie tried to keep a hyper Levana on the rails while Jakob made vegetable tofu udon. 

Our shelter from the rain

The rain does make for some beautiful countryside 

The muddy campground was very popular!

Day 107: Aoidake to Miyakonojo

Hours walked: 7:30-5:00

Distance walked: 27 km

Cumulative: 2,378 km

Things are starting to smoothen out again. We awoke to a mostly blue sky, and after some steep hills to warm up, we had sidewalks through nice countryside most of the day. 

The persistent cold led to a memorable episode of Zadie having a heavy nosebleed while also being congested, it was ruby red gobbets everywhere. Levi was out of sorts and cried all through lunch as she threw bits of Tamar’s burrito on the ground of the 7-11 parking lot. Sophia still hoarse and coughing, but cheerful. 

Two elderly women hailed us as we walked through a village in midafternoon. They were extremely outgoing, and gushed in Japanese. Soon afterwards, one drove up with a bag of succulent clementines for us. 

As the sun set, we reached Yururi Guesthouse, quite possibly the most amazing house of our whole trip. It had a giant playroom with swings, a slide, toys, and games. The rooms were crisp and clean, and the house was so spacious the kids played Sneak Up On Each Other. Jakob made a yummy miso vegetable soup in the well-appointed kitchen, and Levi got giddy from eating too much and laughed hysterically at everything Aurora did. 

Around 9 pm everything started to shake. The rooms rattled and it felt like a very large train was getting closer and closer. Earthquake! It only lasted a few seconds and cars didn’t stop on the road outside, so we figured it must be fine - indeed, there were no more. When our heartbeats slowed down, we went back to bed, feeling grateful to be in this lovely house and not a tsunami-prone coastal campsite!

Best guesthouse ever!

This was just the extra sitting room

Levana was in heaven 

Day 108: Miyakonojo to Iwakawa Hotel

Hours walked: 9:00-3:30

Distance walked: 18 km

Cumulative: 2,396 km

Levi spoke her first sentence at breakfast today, “Aurora, me chocolate!” Our hosts came and gave us a farewell gift: a lovely basket of pickled plums, matcha chocolates, fresh kumquats and miso. It really was an amazing place. They waved goodbye as we set off, and were still waving when we took a wrong turn about 20 seconds later. 

We stopped at “a superfun playground with such a steep slide” (says Tova); Levi climbed around on the rope bridge yelling “Climbing! Climbing!” and then had a tantrum when it was time to go. 

Otherwise our day was pretty smooth - we left quite late since it was a much shorter day than usual. Kyushu has been very pretty lately: there are many cabbage patches and fields of onions. We’ve also passed an unusual number of ludicrously run-down properties: buildings literally filled to the ceiling with debris, or graveyards of rotting cars and bicycles that look fifty years old. It’s jarring when these junkyards appear amid the hand-tended gardens and imposing traditional-style houses that usually line the roads. 

When we reached Iwakawa Hotel, it was really in the middle of nowhere; about 50 km from two large towns. But it was neat and cheery, and our two rooms more than sufficed for a relaxing evening of convenience store dinner, card, showers and bed. 

Nobody was brave enough to go look in the van. This was going to be Sophia’s pee spot, but she decided to just hold it in

Sleeping beauty - it was painful to have to wake her

Levi figured out how to take selfies! Epic. 

Day 103-105: Hyuga to Miyazaki

 Day 103: Hyuga to Ikurahama

Hours walked: 7:15-3:00

Distance walked: 25 km

Cumulative: 2,283 km

Today was a lot harder than usual. Five throats were very sore indeed this morning: some sort of head cold has barged through our family like a bowling ball. We hoarsely sniffled while Tamar and Levi, who just recovered from the same thing, bounced around like bushy-tailed deer. 

We don’t love walking when sick, but we didn’t have a ton of choice today - we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, and Miyazaki (the nearest city) is booked absolutely solid for weeks on end. So we reluctantly got going under a clear blue sky in fairly cool weather. 

Spirits were not that high. Tova was pale and very low-energy, mostly slouching along 50 meters behind the rest of us. Levi wreaked havoc in her stroller, at one point sneakily nabbing a clementine from underneath and peeling it - the first we knew was a shower of orange debris falling out of the stroller. She also tossed a shoe early on; Aurora ran back and searched to no avail, so now our naughty baby only has one shoe. 

We got throat lozenges, ice cream, a sweet potato tart and Aquarius drinks to console ourselves. Jakob distracted Tova and Zadie using a very old-school adventure, The Forest Of Doom (1983). We saw many pristine beaches, a dead bat, manured fields. Tamar got stuck on the wrong side of a barrier with the stroller, and had to hustle unhappily across while cars sped by. We crossed a bridge and saw a wild boar charge through the undergrowth beneath us. 

At last we reached Ikurahama Beach, but right away the wizened caretaker came over and said, “Camp? Camp??”, pointed at the ground and made a huge X with his thin arms. We were crushed: so much for stealth camping! The girls sat quietly while we frantically googled guesthouses. Eventually, the caretaker returned and explained that camping on his well-tended plots was emphatically banned, but that we were welcome to set up in the overgrown patch full of anthills. 

Elated, we pitched our tents and made pasta. A surfer chatted with Tamar and gave us a bowl of pickled bamboo. The caretaker returned three more times and beamed approvingly at our setup. Tova lolled illy in the tent most of the evening, and by about 6pm (maybe a new record?) we were all tucking ourselves in for the night as darkness fell. 

A successful stealth camp 

Soon we will leave the ocean views for a few days - we’ll miss them!

The beach at night is otherworldly 

Day 104: Ikurahama to Hyuga-Sumiyoshi

Hours walked: 7:00-3:00

Distance walked: 29 km

Cumulative: 2,312 km

Quote of the day: “That was the most mangoey bath I’ve had in my whole life!” - Tova

After 12 hours of darkness, we arose. Some were much better (Tova frisked like a puppy), others not (Sophia was pale as a ghost and felt nauseous). But we have less than two weeks to go, and everyone was game to walk today. 

So off we went, eating chestnut pancakes and nutty bread. After a couple of hours we met “the cutest and cuddliest little puppy ever, Levi played with it and had an amazing time,” says Tova. 

The girls’ mini-D&D campaigns continue. Sophia got eaten by a wyvern, Tova fell to her death in a deep chasm, Zadie played it safe and is still going. Levi threw more things out of the bottom of her stroller, including half a package of wet wipes - the terrible twos are looming… 

Zadie found a brass button, a stone figurine of a tiger, and 101 yen. Tova found a medal that says “Elegance is not about being noticed, it’s about being remembered” and 100 yen. Levi napped for two hours, then we had a light, somber lunch. 

When we finally reached our destination, we discovered the next train into Miyazaki was in 50 minutes; so the sicker contingent took a bus while Tamar, Aurora and Levi waited with the stroller. We snuck into our Mango Hotel, where we scored mango juice, ice cream and bath salts, and passed a quiet evening eating pasta and feeling kinda sick. 

Land of the Rising Sun is right

An unfortunate bat we came across 

The weather behaved itself today!

Day 105: Hyuga-Sumiyoshi to Miyazaki

Hours walked: 9:30-12:00

Distance walked: 12 km

Cumulative: 2,324 km

Our family is still full of flailing white blood cells and snot. Aurora, Sophia and Jakob were rather the worse for wear but didn’t want to miss out on the relatively short walk today. 

We took the train back to Hyuga and rambled through the outskirts of Miyazaki at a slower pace than usual. It was a gray, drizzly day and our moods were muted to match. We talked a bit about pachinko, haters on the internet, foods we will make when the hike ends, gender in the workplace. Pit stops at a bakery and cafe helped tide us over, and by noon we had made it back to our hotel. 

 

Our afternoon was quiet and unambitious. Those of us with appetites got onigiri for lunch. The girls played cards, Levana played in a warm bath, Tamar took a nap. Then we bought new shoes for Levi, booked some lodgings for the coming week’s push to Sata, and had soba with vegetables for dinner before turning in at 8.

We took 0 photos today - here’s yesterday’s flowers :)

Levi was happy to roam