I visited a massive historic property somewhere in the countryside around Launceston. It was filled with many curious artifacts and featured numerous outbuildings. A massive homestead from the early 1800s.

Exploring the lush courtyards of some small Tasmanian village.

Canadian, and spending most of my life there, I really love all the exotic species of eucalyptus.

Wyndmere Orchards. This is the farm I worked at outside Launceston, Tazmania. Swan Lake I believe is the name of the area. I pitched my tent inside of a huge barn that had been used to house sheep for at least a decade. It stunk but I was protected from the sun and any other weather so I found it comfortable. There was a kitchen, shower and little tv with a couch for me in this barn. This was the view from the little kitchen where I would often make smoothies with my immersion blender, ramen noodles and different Aussie dim sum options. I found and bought a DVD of the original 21 Jump Street series with Johnny Depp and watched every single episode of that series during that time of January  and February 2014.  

Up next I think we’ll take a trip through my photos of Australia. Most of them are from Tazmania where I lived and worked in Launceston. 

A few favs from the Osaka Aquarium.

Horiuchi Fruit Farm, six generations of persimmon growing along these steep lush mountains outside of Nara, Japan. I was so impressed with the scale and equipment of this farm. They had the most impressive fruit dehydrating system for preserving the wide variety of delicious fruits they produce.

Off to Gojo in Nara perfecture to the most incredible persimmon orchards. Six generations of fruit growing on the steep, mountainous slopes made the Horiuchi Fruit Farm an amazing place to visit and work. I was treated like absolute royalty when I arrived to work here. I was gifted my own, private Japanese apartment for the week with a lovely male chauffeur who would pick me up each morning.  It’s unbelievable that I do not have photos of the lobby of this building which was covered in all types of exotic house plants. A weary travelers dream haven!!

Quick pics of Fukuoka before leaving the island of Kyushu.

I loved walking around the village after work with my camera. The area is very popular for grape production and this last photo shows the tunnels that are used absolutely everywhere for covering the vines.  

I headed off to what would become my favorite farm stay  in Japan, Shingo Hayashi’s Asian Pear orchards. Four years later and I still watch in awe on social media the work and beauty surrounding Hayashi-san’s farm. Located just outside Asakura city in Kyushu, not far from Fukuoka, this wonderful family operation took me in through the WWOOFing network. I arrived at the same time as two other travelers from England so we discovered Hayashi-san’s place together. I don’t have photos of my work in the orchards unfortunately because they were long and quite serious work days.

I arrived in spring and the days were very structured around the village wide alarm signaling laborers when to break and return from work. I worked under the canopy of small, trellised nashi trees thinning the young fruits to allow for good size. It was a very monotonous but important task. 

Saying goodbye to my sweet friend as she sees me off. The end of our ten year reunion.

And here are some photos of easily the most elaborate meal I have ever tasted. Ten courses of pure Japanese mastery! If I remember right the owners of the restaurant were very skilled fish mongers who for one reason or another open a teeny tiny restaurant and have been keeping their loyal following of customers like the Kadotas coming back for more than twelve years.

The delicious little drink served within a box, nihonshu I beleive?, is sometype of absolutely trancendant grain alcohol. It is served inside of the box to show generosity. The waiter pours it so full that it flows into the box and once finished your glass you tip back the box.  

One interesting thing we did on this little outing with my best pal Asako’s family was to stop at a large shrine near the cabin. The Kadotas wanted to make a special offering. They specifically wanted us to stop to devote prayers for Asako to find a loving romantic partner.  I though this was so cute and was very surprised when her parents explained this to me. Well, it has now been three years since these photos were taken and Asako is happily married and has a lovely newborn child. Such a beautiful gesture. 

Beautiful scenes surrounding the Aso volcano in Kyushu, Japan.

Inside a volcanic crater! The closer we got the harder it was to stand the elements. A sunny and warm spring day in the hills below but harsh, ripping winds on the churning mountain above. A desert in the sky.