A Japanese cherry blossom cruise.

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Peak season is mid may.We were there early April so were lucky to see as many blooms as we did.

Edited August 6, 2016 by drron29

[drron29]

Not surprisingly many pictures of peonies in Japanese design-

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Back out into the garden.

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And those shoots coming through the ground are the herbaceous peonies.

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Certainly these gardens would have been much better appreciated doing it independently but going on this cruis got us to places it would be a little difficult to organise.As well we usually lost the group for periods as we always knew when the bus was to leave.We were never the last back on the bus-the other frustrating thing about group tours.I am not sure why but I liked this garden more than some of the more famous ones we visited.

Back to the pictorial-

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Now it was back through the shop.Mrsdrron found a couple of small purchases and I found lots of samples of Japanese food to enjoy.Then across the road and through the nursery.Wonderful plants and I found the orchids-another of my favourite flowers.Always impressed with the perfection the Japanese strive for.Rarely a blemish on the plants-

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This plant was a long way from home-

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So now back on the bus.Herbaceous peonies-

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Now ginseng-

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Back at the dock there were some little folks to farewell us.

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It was a really windy day which caused some problems for the children.but another moving farewell-

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Now the movies.the men performed first-

 

Now the first performance by the children-

 

the second children's performance-

 

Now the combined farewell.Note the strength of the wind.Plus apologies for the fickle finger of fate in top left-

Edited August 6, 2016 by drron29

[drron29]

The Japanese certainly do put a Japanese accent to many things familiar to us here.I find it delightful.

We are now leaving Sakaiminato.Mt Daisen finally makes an appearance-

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As we move into the Sea of Japan the sun is starting to set so you know what that means.

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Lots of sunset pics!

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An amazing sun-

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Tuesday and we arrive in Kanazawa.Once again the local tourist office out to welcome us.Today in traditional dress-

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With our Cruise Director Yanni.We got along very well.So our first visit today was a gold leaf factory where we made postcards.Much more enjoyable than I thought.We made postcards,had some edible gold and of course a gold icecream.

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An interesting water feature-

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Kanazawa was not bombed during the war so a lot more older buildings but not necessarily impressive.Some of the local area and shots from the bus on the way to an Entertainment area.

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Typical Japanese scene.Bus driver cleaning his bus.Attention to detail.

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And we are here-

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Both of us felt of all the ports this was the top of the list for a repeat visit.Easy to get to by shinkansen,Crowne Plaza at the station which is central to everything,plenty of restaurants and the Kenroku-en garden to top it all.

 

So to the Higashi Geisha district.Narrow streets but turned out to be very interesting.Unfortunately no geisha shows on the night we were there.

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This little fellow had just been relieved from nesting duties-

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Now that downpipe wouldn't last 24 hours in Australia.

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So Fuji in gold leaf.just a tad expensive.

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Back to the ship for lunch then the afternoon at Kenroku-en Garden.We missed peak blossom time but some later blooming cherries were looking good.

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One of the features of the garden is this fountain powered just by water pressure.The oldest in Japan built in the 1800s.

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