放浪日記

February Wrap Up

2012-02-28T19:52:00.007+09:00

こんばんは、セレパッカーです。
2月も残るところ、あとわずか。
今月はブログを全く更新する事が出来ず冬眠してしまいました。

振り返ると月初めには疲労や冷え込みによって風邪を引いてしまいダウン気味でしたが、今は体も絶好調。そして生活の中心は気付けばスノーボードが主体に。

このスノーボードというスポーツ又は社交道具。世間的には不良な若者といったレッテルが貼られているが、実は本当に奥が深い。オリンピックなどで登場する整備された斜面や人工物で繰り広げられる競技としてのスノーボードもあれば、管理されていない自然の地形や山の斜面を自由にその人が思い描くまま滑るフリーライディングとスタイルは幅が広い。

今僕はこの後者の「フリーライディング」の世界に夢中であり、ここ最近は天気図のチェックを始め、ライディングには欠かせない相互連鎖要素が強い雪のコンディション、気温、風、視界、そして斜面の観察にはまっている。自然と向き合うのは勿論だが、やはり最大の魅力は想像力を養える遊びでもあるからだ。競技のようにルールは無いし、自由。自分のフィーリングで滑るラインを決めキャンバスに絵を描けばよいのだ。だから間違った滑り方も無い。その為かスノーボードは他人に管理されず人間が本来持つ自由力を養ってくれていると思えてくるし、アート的な要素が強い遊びだと思う。

又、自分の体と向き合うという意味でもスノーボードは大きな役割を果たしてくれている。いくらまだ若いと言ってももう年は３０を越えた。２０代の様な体のエネルギーも無い。その換わり自分の体と対話出来るようになってきている気がする。旅の始まりからずっと続けてきたＹＯＧＡもここで生かされてる気がするし、生活要素を含めた上で何処まで自分のライディングを高められるかという挑戦に今自分の中で挑んでいる気がする。春の匂いがする今日この頃。シーズン終盤はどんな世界が待ち構えているのか楽しみだ。

ここ最近はあまり写真など撮る機会が無かったのだけれど先週行われた近所の雪像祭りで遊んでいた子供の風景をベースに動きを付けてみた。なんだかエレクトロニカの名作、Boards of CanadaのMusic Has the Right to Childrenのジャケ写真を思い出してしまいました。

Snow Monsters

2012-02-03T20:20:00.012+09:00

こんばんは、セレパッカーです。気付けば既に１月が過ぎ、２月に突入。先月を振り返れば雪が全く止まない「暗闇」に満ちた一ヶ月で、冬を体の芯から感じられた一月でした。

今日は節分という日に久しぶりに一日中晴れ間に恵まれた野沢温泉。しかし、いつ次の寒波が襲い掛かるのか全く気が抜けないここ雪国の長い冬。春はまだまだ遠い。しかし、厳しい冬を乗り越えたところにきっと厳しさの数に比例する気持ちの良い春が待っているはず！

(上)月曜の夜に遭遇した勢いが良すぎる降雪。毎晩の日課である温泉への歩きも雪が降っているだけで大きな影響がある。（中）今、自分が住ませてもらっている平八荘。なんだか洋風アニメ、スマーフの家もしくはお菓子の生クリームに覆われたおもちゃの家に見えてきてしまう世界。（下）近所の鳥居もここまで雪に食われてしまっています・・・

January Wrap-up

2012-02-03T18:58:00.009+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here,

Still half way in, but this winter is becoming the most memorable winter of my life. With record setting snowfall hitting Japan this year, the amount of energy spent fighting off the snow has been phenomenal.

Today we were treated with sunshine throughout the day for the first time in days... Finally some time to breathe, but the locals know that they must also get ready for the next storm to strike.

It was also great to see some of my buddies that I got to know in Alaska almost 3 years ago making there way over to Japan last week. They were here for the snow, and Im glad that it just kept getting better each day throughout the whole week that they were here. The three skiers from Burlington Vermont, Mike, Matt, and Darren definitely brought that New England flavor, something Im very fond of as I am also a former product of that region in the state of Connecticut.

Girdwood, Alaska 4/17/2009

Nozawa Onsen 1/27/2012

Pride of Nozawa

2012-01-24T20:29:00.006+09:00

こんばんは、セレパッカーです。
ここ一週間程、大きな降雪はなかったのですが、昨夜から今朝にかけて久しぶりにまとまった雪が降ってくれました。お蔭様で今日は久しぶりに極上のパウダー！感謝!!

さて、話が先週に遡ってしまうのですけど先週日曜に行われた野沢の火祭り。圧巻でした・・・帰ってきて録画した映像に見とれてしまい、思わず編集作業が開始。気付いたら一本作品が完成してしまいました。

旅中、撮影しても撮り溜めておく事が多かったのですが、こうしてタイムリーに編集作業に取り掛かれると実際の体験から得たインスピレーションがより濃密に作品に反映される気がします。

この作品では人生の生き方として尊敬する岡本太郎氏の言葉を引用させて頂きました。野沢温泉を愛した岡本太郎さんの言葉は力強く、何か魂に響くものを感じられます。岡本太郎さんの本や作品は多々ありますが、この本は最強に勇気を与えてくれる本としてお勧めです。
↓
自分の中に毒を持て- あなたは「常識人間」を捨てられるか

Powder, Onsen, Ramen...

2012-01-13T21:34:00.012+09:00

こんばんは、セレパッカーです。
今晩もここ北信州の豪雪地帯、野沢温泉では激しく雪が降り続いております。
世界最高品質と太鼓判が押される日本のパウダースノー(JAPOW)に加え、数々の温泉風呂が楽しめる本物の「湯」のテーマパーク。冬だからこそ味わえる自然の恵みを受けながら毎日セレブな日々を送らせて頂いてます。

今週末は日本３大火祭りの一つである道祖神祭り。古来から続く日本のバーニングマンに期待大！

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T19:38:00.005+09:00

皆さん、明けましておめでとうございます。いよいよ待ちに待った２０１２年。今までの放浪は今年の活動の準備期間だったと思える位、濃い１年にしたいと思います。と言っても、自分は今まで通りに無理をせず授かった長所を生かし自分らしく生きるだけ。その範囲で周りの人達、そして日本、世界がよりよい方向に進むように貢献すること。

一人が出来ることは限られているけど、皆同じ意識で行動すれば必ず良い方向へと動く。そう思う人が今世界中で無意識的に自然とつながり、こうした時代の潮流によって新たな世界の幕が開けようとしている。政治や経済と言った表向きの変化もそうだが、それ以上に大事である、我々個人の意識改革。２０１２年はきっと大きな飛躍の年になるはず！

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年末年始と現在働いているレンタルショップの仕事が忙しくあまり正月らしい事は出来なかったものの、年明けにびっくりするニュースがありましたね。自分はネットのニュースで知ったのですが、オウムの平田容疑者の出頭。恐らく、日本で最もＷＡＮＴＥＤだった「凶悪犯」。そんな人物でさえ3.11の被災を見て何かを感じたというのだから、この国はこれから必ずいい方向に向かうと信じたい。

そしてこの平田容疑者の出頭でふと思い出したのが学生時代のアテンドバイト。ＦＢＩ超能力捜査官という番組で海外から超能力者を呼んで日本の指名手配犯の居場所を透視するというもの。当時まだガキだった自分はアメリカから呼んだジョン・オリバーという超能力者と共に平田容疑者の居場所を探す為、福岡に撮影クルーと向かった。平田容疑者が潜伏していたと思える場所をこのジョン・オリバーという男は絵に描いてディレクターに差し出し、実際その絵の特徴と同じ場所に遭遇するなど、多感な自分にとっては初めてスピリチュアリティという人間が本来持っていた目に見えない不思議なパワーに触れた体験だったのかもしれない。今はもう次の人に手渡したもののあの時にもらったクリスタル・ボールが僕の人生の方向性を築いてくれたといっても過言ではない。

Coca Cola

2011-12-26T19:32:00.010+09:00

If a cup of tea is God, why not Coca-Cola? In fact Coca-Cola is the only international thing in the world -- the only thing. Even in Soviet Russia, Coca-Cola... They may not love the American way of life, but they love Coca-Cola. That should be the universal symbol of brotherhood and love. You may not believe in somebody else's God, in his church, in his temple, in his scripture, but as far as Coca-Cola is concerned nobody is a Mohammedan, nobody is a Hindu, nobody is a Christian. Coca-Cola is a Christ symbol.

OSHO from "The Sun Rises in the Evening"

これは１年前、ラダックで出会ったＯＳＨＯの本、"The Sun Rises in the Evening"からの引用です。要はコカ・コーラ程、宗教や国境を越えて国際的に愛されているものはないということ。確かに人込みが凄まじい都会にいようと、灼熱の砂漠に行こうとコカ・コーラは存在する。コカ・コーラを元に人種や宗教を超えた交流が生まれる可能性を考えてみると正にコカ・コーラは神懸かりな存在なのかもしれない。

Midelt, Morocco 8/5/2011

Nozawa Onsen, Japan 12/20/2011

Winter Solstice

2011-12-22T15:26:00.004+09:00

Happy winter solstice. A long winter have just begun, but the energy of the sun will once again start to strech little by little.

旅を続けていると無意識に自然の営みであったり毎日命を注いでくれる太陽の動きに敏感になる。だから人間が作り上げた祝日もいいけど、冬至の様な自然の条理に適った特別な日の方が最近だとしっくりくる。

Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada 7/26/2009

手紙

2011-12-18T21:50:00.007+09:00

西オーストラリアのアルバニーという町で働いていた頃に良くしてもらっていた夫婦からクリスマスカードが届いた。当時、自分は車で寝泊りしながら農家で働いていた。そんな僕をクリスマスという日本で言う正月の家族の集いの場に招待してくれた上、プレゼントまで用意してくれた。仕舞いには夫婦の親戚の家であるにも関わらずその晩泊まる部屋まで提供してくれたのだった。

こうして旅先では数え切れない程の愛情をあらゆる人から受けとった。だからこそ今度は逆に授かった恩恵をあらゆる形で返していく義務がある。

手書きのカード、そして手に持って見れる写真はやっぱり味があっていい。感謝。
Jacky & Shane, Thank you :)

携帯紛失

2011-12-16T23:10:00.005+09:00

「もの」とは不思議である。電子機器であれ、服であれ、車であれ、長く使用していると愛着が沸いてくる。そして気付いたらそうした「もの」から自分とは切り離せない友人のような感情さえ沸いてくる。付き合いが長ければ長い程、尚更だ。

今日僕は雪山で帰国後、１年前に購入したＡＵの携帯を紛失した。山は現在大雪。おそらく春まで見つかることはないだろう。お金を出せば新たな携帯は手に入る。しかし、お金では取り返せない関係がそこに存在することを改めて気付かされた。

常に新しい「もの」が必要と思い込ませ、大量消費に誘導させる現代社会。僕らはこうした時にこそ「もの」の本質ともっと向き合わなくてはいけないのかもしれない・・・

秋季バイト　その２

2011-12-11T14:14:00.003+09:00

どうも、こんにちは。再びセレパッカーです。

昨夜は皆既月食でしたね。赤色に染まった月は美しかったのですが、それよりも山頂の暴風にやられ、今日は鼻から風邪がやってきている模様です（涙）

さて、昨日の続きでこの秋に体験したバイトの紹介を続けます。
と同時にブログ更新２日連続という快挙！内面から沸いてくるエネルギーが冬になり溜まっている様なのでそれを吐き出していきたいと思います。

<仕事2> 選挙の出口調査員

先月行われた大阪のダブル選挙。橋本氏率いる「大阪維新の会」が見事な勝利を収めた。僕はこの選挙の当日、大阪市の平野区の投票所となる小学校で出口調査の仕事をした。

出口調査とは選挙の当日、投票所付近で有権者が誰に投票を入れたかというアンケート形式の用紙に記入をお願いする接客業だ。なぜこの様な作業が必要とされるかと言えば、それは報道機関の思惑がある。彼らはいち早く、選挙の結果を放送したいわけだ。だから正式な集計が行われる前から毎時集計される出口調査を元に選挙の行方、そして結果を予測し、報道するのだ。

出口調査を行った小学校の門。

そんな出口調査員となった僕は当日、久々のスーツに身をまとい「関西テレビ」の腕章を身につけ朝から有権者と接触し続けた。「関西テレビの出口調査ですが、簡単なアンケートにご協力頂けないでしょうか」この決まり文句を朝から晩まで発し続けた。「関西テレビ」という名に友好的に反応する人もいれば、「マスコミは嫌いだ」と早走りで逃げていく人も。反応は千差万別。

そんな大阪市民と１日中接した中で印象的だったのは人々の詳細な反応だった。ここはやはり大阪人。必要以上に話したがるおばちゃんやおっちゃんがいる訳だ。その中でも１人のおばあちゃんの生々しい言葉が記憶に残る。彼女は「橋本さんが知事に就任して以来、職員である２人の子供が減給になった」と嘆いていた。橋本氏に反対する分かりやすい理由だ。やはり人は個人的な利害関係が絡むとまず自らの損得を優先的に守る姿勢に入ってしまう人間的本能がストレートに感じられた。

また、重要度を感じたのは投票している年齢層だ。自分が担当した平野区は高齢者が多かった気がする。失礼だが、余生があまり残っていなささそうな老人も数多く目にかかった。その一方、投票に訪れる若者は少なかった。２０代などいればかなり珍しい方で、３０代、４０代の投票者が「若い」と痛感する位だ。

地域や国、そして世界の未来を考える場合は１０年、２０年、５０年、１００年先を考える必要性がある。だが多くの老人にとってはそこまで先の事を考える必要は無い。今さえ良ければいいのだ。しかし、若い僕達は日本という国と長いスパンで考え、付き合っていく必要がある。だから直感的に感じたのは若年層の一票の重みだった。

戦後から約６５年経つ。日本人は平和ボケ、そして経済成長という名の元、大きな権力によって構築されてしまったシステムにより今現在「世代間格差」社会が出来上がってしまった。

改革を促進し、時代の流れに沿った社会を築き上げようとする新勢力、そして今までの体制にしがみ付きその恩恵にあやかり続けようとする保守派。今回の大阪ダブル選挙は正に日本、そして世界のシステムが置かれた状況を象徴するかのような選挙に映った。

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選挙二日前の梅田の地下鉄の改札口付近で「スマイル党」のマック赤坂を発見。渋谷で度々見かけ過去の自分の映像作品に偶発的に出演してしまったマック氏は大阪知事に立候補しており、この日は尾崎豊の「１７歳の地図」を熱唱していた。相変わらず意味不明でしたが、インパクトありました。

秋季バイト　その1

2011-12-10T17:53:00.013+09:00

どうも。セレパッカーです。

気付けばもう冬。今年も残すところ後わずかですね。このブログも今年はあまり更新されずでしたけれど、これから少しずつ更新頻度を増やしていきたいと思っています。

１年を振り返れば３月の大怪我から始まり、その直後に大災害が日本を襲い、夏の強烈なスペイン生活と続き、２０１２年を目前にかなりパンチの効いた１年になった気がします。そしてそんな一年を締めくくったのが関西の秋。今日はその秋に体験した仕事を簡単に紹介したいと思います。

＜仕事１＞荷揚げのバイト

荷揚げとは建築現場の最底辺の仕事。スペインから帰国後、バイトの求人誌を見ていたところ漠然と発見し、漠然と応募し、気付いたらニッカを履き毎朝５時起床の生活がスタート。仕事２日目には派遣先のエースと思われるヤンキーのベテランと組まされ鬼のような筋トレ的な仕事メニューをこなした。あの日は手の皮が捲れ、起き上がれない程体がフラフラだった。だが、汗を流して働く仕事の気持ちよさを再確認したのと同時に、建築業界の特有な雰囲気、そして現実に日本でも存在する格差社会の現状を垣間見れたことが収穫だった。

仕事は毎朝事務所に行ってから告げられる。だから毎日現場も違ったりするので一日の予想がつかない。個人的には毎日どんな仕事が自分に襲いかかるのか分からない展開が気に入っていた。写真は新築マンションの現場での朝礼時。小学校１年生以来のラジオ体操に再会できました（笑）

早朝、神戸の派遣先の事務所に向かうときに撮った一枚。緻密に設計された日本の芸術的なコンクリート地帯に人や車が存在しない不思議な構図を見ながら毎朝事務所へ・・・

この仕事は最終的に通勤時間を含む拘束時間を考えると給料と折り合わないという判断で１０現場程で辞めました。毎朝事務所まで出向きそこから現場に向かうとなると仕事開始まで約３時間を無駄にする訳です・・・

明日は１１月末に行われた大阪ダブル選挙の出口調査のバイトについて書きたいと思います。

End of Another Cycle

2011-12-04T23:51:00.002+09:00

近所の山も終わりに近いづいている。新緑から見続けた大好きな景色がこの様に変化を遂げているところを見ると何か感慨深い。「死」に陥るまでも美しい姿を見せてくれる雄大な自然。四季に恵まれた日本人の繊細な感性は長年こうした季節の移り変わりと共に育まれてきたのだろう。

Perception_Trailer

2011-10-29T20:05:00.006+09:00

I Have been working on a short documentary from my journey last November. It is pretty much done, but need to make a Japanese version for this film. The title of this short doc. is called "Perception" as the images display scenes and emotions which is interpreted from myself, the traveler`s point of view. A pocket digital video camera was used for shooting the unexpected scenes and with this being the case, the video quality is not the best in the world. But I feel there are positive sides to this as this gave me the true freedom to express my genuine insight as a traveler and an amateur film maker. The total length of it is just under 15min. the max for an upload on Youtube. Hope you like the trailer.

Back home in Japan

2011-10-27T20:22:00.007+09:00

Hi celebpacker here.
Been a very long time since the last update.
Im currently back home after spending my summer in southern spain. Hopefully I will be able to share my experience there pretty soon... And have this blog back up and running again !

Today was a gorgeous day... Blue skys. A picture perfect autumn day in Kansai

大峰奥駈道の神秘

2011-06-16T04:20:00.004+09:00

紀伊半島の中央にそびえる大峰山脈。ここには千年以上前から山伏が山に篭り修行を重ね、生きる道を切り開いてきた色濃い日本の歴史がある。山伏とは修験道（しゅげんどう）という山での修行を行い、聖なる力、超自然的な神仏の力を得る修行僧のことを言う。また、修験道は日本伝統の自然崇拝からなる「神道」や大陸から渡ってきた「仏教」の悟りを自らの山岳信仰や修行に取りいれることによって共生、共存してきた。そしてその山伏が修行場として最も重要視したのが「大峰奥駈道」(おおみねおくがけみち）。北は奈良県の吉野から始まり、南の和歌山県に入る熊野三山までつなぐ縦走路。約１７０ｋｍの行程だが、数字では物語れない、過酷な地形がそこには存在し、僕はそこに潜む神々に導かれたのであった。

振り返れば、今回この山脈を縦走するきっかけとなったのは3月のスノーボードによる大怪我。今までの人生で最も大きな怪我となったこの事故が自分をこの道へと導いてくれた。肝臓損傷と左足骨にヒビが入る状態で病院のベットに横になりながら今後の将来を考えた。だが考えるといっても限界がある。人間考えても行動をとらなくては何の結果も残せないからだ。退院当日、約2キロ歩くのに苦しんだ。ホテルの部屋にたどり着いた時はヘトヘトだった。だが、こんなに体力が低下し足が細くなってしまった体を見てもまだここに生きていられるだけで有難かった。それに、この怪我には何か特別な意味が隠されているかのようにさえ思えた。

実家の西宮に帰宅後、体を療養した。手元には2年振りにインターネットが気軽に出来る環境が整っていた。体を動かせないこともあって長い間気になっていた映画や映像を視聴したりずっといじってなかったFACEBOOKで人との交流を試みた。だが何か足りない。リアルな生活を2年間送ってきた自分にはやはり画面上の情報のみで成り立つ世界は利点もあれば大きな落とし穴もあるように感じた。そんな環境の変化に戸惑いを感じる中、4月下旬には大峰奥駈道への挑戦を復活の第一歩とし、トレーニングを開始した。

出発となる6月3日まで近所の山でトレーニングを重ねた。痛む足や肝臓をどれだけ保護しつつリハビリを進めることができるかが課題。しかし、幸いにも実家の玄関から一歩外に出ればそこはハイキングコース。西宮市のランドマーク、甲山まで標高200ｍ差を片道30分かけて登れる最適な環境にいた。それに加え温かみがある母の手料理。旅中はろくなものを食べていなかったので栄養をしっかり身につけることが出来た。後は天気予報。一週間に及ぶ山旅となると、雨に降られる覚悟は必要だが、さすがに嵐の中に突入していくことはさけたい。近畿地方は例年より早い梅雨入りをしたが、最初の2日間は晴れるという予報を頼りに出発した。

1日目 <西宮-四寸岩山>

大阪のゲットー、天王寺から近鉄吉野線で縦走路の始点、吉野まで約1時間半。今回の旅のために購入したテントやシュラフに加え、一週間分の食料を詰め込んだザックを背にやっとスタートラインに立つことが出来た。

初日は軽めに行程を立てた。トレールヘッドに立ったのが15時ということもあり約3時間の登りの末、キャンプ予定地の四寸岩山に到着。だが初日から厳しい登りの為、尋常ではない汗のかきっぷりでTシャツはびしょ濡れだった。アルコールストーブで晩飯のラーメンを作り、食後の一服。久しぶりにたどり着いた大自然の中、どこか心が落ち着いた。そしてあまりにも美しい自然に対してなぜか涙が出た。それは美しさと我々人間の自然破壊の営みからくる罪悪感による複雑に絡みあった感情移入だった。一週間に及ぶ巡礼の幕が開けた。

2日目 <四寸岩山-小笹宿>

朝はいい目覚めだった。テントから顔を出すと天気もどうやら悪くないようだ。夜中には謎の生き物がテント周辺を徘徊していたものの、ぐっすり眠れた。朝食をとり、爽快な野グソをかまし、出発しようとした時、年配の夫婦に出くわした。曜日は土曜。近場に車を止めここまで来たという。自分のザックを見た夫婦は「どこまで行かれるのですか？」と聞いてきたので、「本宮のつもりです」と答えた。「つもり」と答えたのは正直この時点で自分は足のコンディションに確信を持てていなかったからだ。前日は所詮足慣らしの日。実際どれだけやれるかまだ不安という意味がその言葉に込められているようだった。

３時間後、目的地となる修験道の聖地、山上ヶ岳の女人禁制門をくぐると週末ということもあってか修験道の格好に身をまとう集団に出くわした。山歩きをしたことがある人は分かると思うが、通常すれ違う人間とは必ずといっていいほど挨拶をかわす。それは大体、「こんにちわー」位だ。しかし、この山伏といわれる人間とすれ違うと挨拶の掛け声がまったく違う。その言葉は「よっまいりー」おそらく、「よっ、お参り」ということなのだろう。

また、特筆すべき点はこの山上ヶ岳の伝統規則だ。この山周辺は女性が未だに立ち入ることが出来ない世界でも珍しい聖域。今の時代、山ガールなどに「性差別だ」と容易に捉えられてもおかしくない事実だろう。だがこれには昔の宗教的背景や生活的要因が主な理由として挙げられる。言い伝えによると当時、山には野犬が存在し、子供を抱える女性が襲われることもあった。そうした恐ろしい環境から女性を守るため、女人禁制の処置がとられたのだという。このように昔は男が女を守るという根本的な考えが成り立っていたのかもしれない。だが、今現在はどうだろう。現代社会では男も女もそれぞれの伝統的な役割が崩壊しつつあるようにも思えなくない。男は草食になる一方で女は男を尻に引く。昔はお互い役割は鮮明であったはずだが、女は今、現代社会の「狩り」に大きく貢献している。過去の狩りに比べると、現代の狩りは体力など必要なく、器用で従順な女性は社会から重宝され立派に独立して生きていける世の中になった。だがそうした女性の特権と引き換えに、家庭で大きな役割を担うはずの女性の存在が薄くなってきているのも事実だろう。昔であれば男が狩りに出かけ女が家庭を守る。そんな絶対的な役割が家族や社会を支えていたのではないだろうか。どちらにしろ、時代の変化を大きく象徴する遺産がこの山上ヶ岳に存在していることに男と女に対する立場について考えずにはいられなかった。

女性立ち入り禁止区域とあって、ここは男にとって男に帰れる場所なのかもしれない。最も有名な山伏の修行の一つとして挙げられるのが「西の覗」。断崖絶壁に体ごと身をゆだね、自らの罪を白状したり、今後の正しい行いを誓う業である。

この日は日帰り山伏達がここで業を行っていたので拝見させてもらった。千年前はどうだったか分からないがこの日の掛け声では「親孝行しろよー」「奥さんと子供を大切にしろよー」、「女遊びしちゃいかんぞー」という声が山に響いていた。

3日目<小笹宿-弥山(みせん)>

山上ヶ岳を下り、女人結界門をくぐりぬけた。前日の歩きもハードではあったがこの日もノコギリの刃のような険しいアップダウンが続く。また、鎖場や歩幅がほんのわずかしかとれない岩を横切るセクションも現れ、集中を切らさず一歩一歩注意深く進む。不意な事故で足を怪我したらそこで終わりだ。スピードより安全を優先し前進する。

午後から小雨が降り始めた。それと同時に森は神秘的な雰因気に包まれ、霧が踊り出すかのような不思議な空間が演出された。これぞ自分が頭の中に描いていた「紀伊山地の霊場と参拝道」。昔の人々はこうした自然に神を見出し、崇拝するまでに至ったことに納得した。五感が正常に機能している人間であれば誰もがこの森を見て神秘的な「何か」を感じられずにはいられないだろう。そんな思いから自分は目の前の光景を記録した。

4日目<弥山-深仙山小屋>

前日は近畿地方の最高峰、八経ヶ岳（はっきょうがたけ）付近の立派な山小屋で一泊過ごした。雨が強くなってきたので外でキャンプするより金銭と引き換えに体力を温存することにしたのだ。そして一つ気がかりな言葉を思い返していた。前日最後のふんばりで登っている際、中年のグループとすれ違った。すると一人のおばさんが「この山は易しい山」と自分にとっては暴言ともいえる言葉を吐いていた。何を根拠にそんなことを言えるのか。自分の中では易しい山など存在しない。山には数々の生命が必死に息づき、天候や季節の変化によって恐ろしくも美しくも変化しようがある。だからどんな山でも過信は許されない。そんな暴言が僕に再びそのような思いを伝えてくれているかのように思えた。

この日の天気はうまい具合に晴れ、日射が痛い程照り続けた。弥山（みせん）から釈迦ヶ岳にかけては１５００ｍを越す頂が連なり、奥駈の中でもっとも原始的な森がそびえる区間。そんな景色を目に急な岩場をいくつも超え、なんとか釈迦ヶ岳頂上に到着。そこには高さ３．７ｍの仏像が山頂に聳え立っていた。大正時代、怪力のオニ雅という男が一人で担ぎ上げたという伝説がある。その大きさが、彼の信仰心の奥深さを示し、信じきることの強さを物語っていた。

釈迦ヶ岳から30分程急な斜面を下り、今晩の無人小屋に到着。だが頼りにしていた水場が枯れているではないか。困ったものだ。水が無ければ、食事の支度が出来ないし、移動が苦しくなる。致命的だ。そんな中、今回の主情報源である昭文社の「山と高原地図」で水場を探した。折りたたみ水筒と地図を片手に僕は来た道を登り新たな水場を探していた。この日は前述した通り太陽が照り、暑い。だから喉もカラカラ。そんな中、水の大切さを噛み締める思いで山を縦横し水場を探し色々考えた。普段先進国の人間は当たり前のように水が蛇口から出る環境で生活をしている。水源が何処かも特定するのは困難だし、あまり意識することもない。だが、３．１１で水の供給の危険性が報じられると水に対する意識が社会現象となった。水が無いと人間は生きられない。多くの人々はそれを肌で実感したのではないだろうか。この地球は世界人口増加と共に水資源が限られる状況になってきている。山深い日本はまだ水に恵まれてはいるが水資源の危機がまた起こらない保証はまったく無い。そんなことが頭によぎりながらの2時間後、水場を見つけた僕は水の神様に出会った気持ちで感謝の気持ちが溢れていた。

5日目<深仙山小屋-持経ノ宿>

この日は縦走の中間地点である南奥駈道に入った。南は地図を見る限りでは大きな山は存在しない。高度も釈迦ヶ岳からは下る一方なので心の中では山場を越えたかの思いで南奥駈に突入した。気がかりだった足の調子も悪くない。靴擦れもないし、大きな雨に降られないでここまでたどり着いた。だがそんな想いとは別に南こそ修行の地ともいえる何本ものアップダウンが待ち構えていたのだった。

10峰は超えただろうか。激しく上下する稜線を辿り、それでもまだ比較的早い2時過ぎに持久ノ宿にたどり着いた。予定では水場が存在するもう一つ先の平治宿まで行くつもりだったが、何か特別な感触をこの持久ノ宿で感じられた。旅をしていると直感が働く。無駄な情報にとりつかれないためだろう。水が入っているタンクがあることを確認し、僕は一晩この由緒ある無人小屋でお世話になることにした。

6日目<持経ノ宿-行仙宿山小屋>

朝。宿を出ると外界には神秘的な光景が広がっていた。だが霧がかった森の中、いくつもの急斜面が僕の前に立ち塞がる。ここまで来ると体の疲労があらわになるはずだが何故か進んでいける。それに、険しいと同時に分かりずらい道が続くものの、ここまで一度も道を外していない。何か見えない力が僕を導いてくれているかのよう、この森のエネルギーや過去千年以上歩き続けている山伏達の力が後押ししてくれているかのようにも思えてくる。

4時間後、縦走路で最も立派な無人小屋である行仙宿山小屋に到着。次の目的地が中途半端に遠いため、体力がまだ有り余ったまま寝付いた。

7日目<行仙宿山小屋-玉置神社>

この日は難所といわれる地蔵岳。鎖場が続き、全身全霊のアップダウンが続く。ここまでつらい行場が連続すると、南奥駈の厳しさを体で痛感する。そして、集中力を最大限に使い、なんとか難所を通過。ここからも超える峰は多々あるものの、下りが中心。そして間もなくしたところ、下からの足音に気付く。約3日振りに会う人間だ。お互いその瞬間足を止め、久しぶりに会う人間に対して自然と心が開き会話が弾む。

話を聞くと、彼は7年前に東京から本宮に移り住み、通しで奥駈を歩くのは2回目ということ。格好も山伏と現代的なトレッキングウェアの混合スタイル。年も多分同じ位だろう。よくもこんな所で同年代の山伏に会えたことだ。このまま縦走する山伏に会わず山を降りるのかと思っていたが、しっかり旅の神様はこのような出会いを用意してくれていたのだ。また人間とは不思議な生き物だと思えた。こうした環境で苦しい山の中で他人と会えばどこか共感出来る安堵感などがあるのだろう。自然という厳しい環境の中では人間はちっぽけな存在だ。だから他人に会うと安心するし、山にいる人間ということもあり信頼感さえすぐ芽生えてしまうのかもしれない。彼は別れの際、読経を唱え修験道の伝統でもある法螺（貝）を吹き鳴らし僕から邪気を追い払ってくれた。感謝感激。

8日目<玉置神社-熊野本宮大社>

前夜は千年以上の齢から成す巨木に囲まれた玉置神社の上部、玉置山の頂上でテントを張って夜を過ごした。今回の旅用に購入したMountain Hardwear社のソロテントはインナーがメッシュになっており、丁度、半月が見れる体制で就寝出来たのだった。起床後、朝飯の準備をして歯を磨いて歩く準備をする。こうしたシンプルなルーティンが今日で終わってしまうのだが、やはりゴールに到達することを考えると本宮が待ち遠しくも感じられた。天候はパッとしない曇り模様だが、歩くには快適な気温のようだ。八咫烏に先導された神武天皇が兵を休め、神宝を鎮めたという伝説の地に佇む玉置神社を後にゴールとなる本宮を目指した。

午後３時頃、熊野本宮大社に到着。大峰奥駈道は最後の最後まで僕に厳しい峰々を試練として与え続けた。そもそも、本宮は新たな旅立ちの祈願に適した神社ということもあって今回の目的地として選択したことを振り返った。本宮の神殿に到着後、これまでの安全に手を合わせ、今後の旅立ちに祈りを捧げた。

だが、参拝する目的とは別にやはり奥駈を歩くことにすべての意味があったように思えた。汗、雨、泥にまみれ一心不乱で歩き続けた一週間。間違いなく、下山した自分は巡礼の始まりとは違う自分が存在することを感じられた。

山をやっとの想いで越えたらすぐ下り、再び登りに入る。こうした険しい地形を歩き続けていると正に人生そのものを体感しているかのように思えた。そして何よりも、理屈ではなく自分の五体すべてで体験することによって心身が清められた。この紀行文からもわかるように、現代社会では置き去りにされている精神的な力を終始僕は感じずにはいられなかった。人間は精神的な生き物であり、昔の日本人は精神的な豊かさを追求し、そのような価値観が社会の基盤を安定させていたのではないだろうか。日本の本質が詰まった「大峰奥駈道」には太古から鳴り響く大和魂が僕に様々なメッセージを語りかけてくれた。

Speed Addiction is Fatal

2011-04-26T12:32:00.007+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here with news...

Spring has arrived here in Japan, and as people may know so much has happened since last month. The obvious disaster that struck Tohoku, and the frightening radiation issue that is still in effect. Internationally, people have been exposed with an image that every part of Japan is diagnosed, but in reality people are living their normal lives just the way it has been across most of the country. Though much suffering is there amongst the victims, the real challenge lies ahead as the country is finally realizing the need to shift from the traditional profit centered economy to a more efficient and resourceful economy.

Putting the national chaos aside, I had gotten into a fatal snowboarding accident just 3 days before 3.11, and it has been an unforgettable experience. What happened was, I struck a shirakaba tree flying right into the ribs hospitalizing me for 3 weeks damaging my liver and the left foot. It was the foggiest night of any night session Ive ever rode, and trying a new line in such condition was the consequence. Just glad and feel lucky that this was home turf.

Right now Im in the Kansai area near Kobe and Osaka in the process of recovery. I feel fortunate to have my body working close back to normal and can definitely appreciate the function of a healthy body. I guess this was meant to be and I hope I have learned a lesson from this experience. Patience is the key here and it has been a good time to just kick back and reflect on the last 2 years on the road.

These are sakuras also known as cherry blossoms. They pop up for a week and are symbolized as the arrival of spring in Japan. They are too pinky for my taste but nevertheless beautiful especially when collaged with a blue sky.

Powerspot

2011-02-25T11:20:00.010+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here,
Hard to believe that Feb. is almost coming to an end. It is always the fastest month!

Okay, some updates....Life in Niseko has been a lot of fun so far and its been great just waking up in the morning and looking around to see the mysteriously shaped Annupuri and the obvious Fuji-like Yotei. Everyday is different, and just observing the way it stands day in, day out makes you aware of the energy that is carried out by this environment.

In addition to this superb setting, what stands Niseko apart from other mountains from the world has to be the quality of snow. This is what people call, "The Champagne Powder".

Its not like every part of Japan gets dumped with this fluffy snow, it all has to do with the geography of the area. The major factor that forces such quality and quantity of snow here is the dry wind generated from the huge cold land mass of Siberia. The wind travels southwards, before hitting the warmer Japanese ocean causing moisture. This is all transformed into one of the lightest snow in the world before embarking itself on western Hokkaido.

Those of you in Japan, I must say this is an area not to be missed. This is a special place which is world class, and its just a hop on the plane to get over here and experience some of the best in the world. Get here before it gets totally invaded...

Annupuri at dusk from Kutchan Town. The clouds up on the summit gives you that special feeling that probablly has not changed for thousands of years

Mt. Yotei(Ezo-Fuji) cut in half. Yotei is without a doubt the landmark of the area. Respect

Re-Dumped

2011-02-01T12:10:00.006+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here !
Almost into my 3rd week at my new job in Niseko. This is a seasonal work in the rental shop dealing with customers to fit their Skis and Snowboards for their holidays. It is a fun job, as the job involves interacting with international customers, many that have never seen snow in their life! Definitely a worthwhile experience as the environment that I am in does not feel like I am in Japan at all...

ニセコでの仕事が始まりました。3月までの季節労働ですが、ナカナカ良い環境で仕事をさせてもらってます。内容はレンタルショップの接客業。ブーツのフィッティングから板への調整まで一通りやらせてもらっている。お客さんのほとんどが外国人であるため、自分が希望していた英語を使っての接客が出来るから英語力を維持する意味でもいい環境。だけど、いい意味でも悪い意味でも日本にいるのにここが日本ではないという錯覚を感じてしまうことがある・・・

The snow here is just massive and continuous...

Currently sharing with 20+ people in this crib.

Dumped

2011-01-12T20:10:00.005+09:00

Late greetings, but "Happy New Year" to everyone around the world ! Going back to the mountains from tomorrow. Really excited about the new job and hitting the slopes in powder country.

新年明けましておめでとうございます。札幌は年始めから大雪でした！明日から再びニセコに戻ります。新しい職場と極上のパウダースノーに期待したいところです。

The streets of central Sapporo was dumped with snow this past week.

Weird Places to Sleep

2010-12-27T18:48:00.012+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here,

I am now in Hokkaido the northern most island of Japan, and it is freezing cold just the way I had imagined.

Ive only taken limited pictures since I returned, but wanted to introduce some weird places I have stayed this past week.

This is the railway station of "Hirafu" one of the minor station in the area of the Niseko range. What makes this place very special is that this station has a loghouse where you can spend the night. I did not get any pictures of the loghouse and of the trains coming in, but this had to be one of the most special places I have ever stayed at. The bath tub which is carved out of a north american cedar was simply a work of art, and you can not get a better alarm clock than an early train arriving by your bed. Another charm here is that there is this huge cat called "Shimataro" that loves to sit on your lap.
For more Info

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This is another strange place. This is the infamous "Capsule Hotel" which makes us Japanese very proud lol This capsule hotel is more modern than some of the capsules I have ever stayed in the past, but the feeling you get in this "Capsule" is quite depressive (at least for me). Its really easy to lose the sense of time here as your are completely cut off from the Sun, and the creepy thing is that there is hardly any communication with other people. You are given a locker key with a number and handed a uniform to wear inside the facility. Doesnt this sound a bit like a jail ?

At the moment Im at Sapporo which is why im using the capsule, but hope to be back in Niseko soon. There was another place in Sapporo called the Ino`s Place which was very nice, so I really recommend this place if you ever come to Sapporo. Wanted to see Sapporo to further my options, but Ive learned that this is not the place for me at the moment.

Hope everyone had a nice year, and wish you all the best in 2011.

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Book Introduction

This is a mystery book called "Odaiba Island Baby" written by my cousin, "Iyohara Shin". It won a very prestigious mystery novel award this year and I wanted to congratulate his achievement by mentioning his book which I found here in Sapporo.

Home

2010-12-07T19:55:00.002+09:00

Just returned home last week from China. The 27 day run from Delhi to Japan made it the most colorful month of my life. I thank everybody that helped me out and treated me with extreme hospitality especially in Shang"high"

Now, it feels very strange to be in Japan. Everything is in order, the toilets are super clean, and people are too polite when you are just trying to buy a can of cocacola

Nevertheless Japan is peaceful and a beautiful place. I was in awe when I saw the beautiful countryside after getting off the ferry at Shimonoseki and got on the local train in Yamaguchi-Ken.

My next move is out to Tokyo this evening to catch up with old buddies and then on to a ski village in Hokkaido where I plan to work during the winter season.

Hokkaido should give me the big winter I need at the moment, as I really need the perfect environment for me to rest and hibernate. On top of that my next step and goal is to create a movie from this trip. There are very good materials which can be turned into something. But currently Im having problems, as I may have lost some important data due to the memory cards that I had to obtain locally while in Pakistan and the fact that my laptop has been infected with a virus has not helped....

I have no idea when this project will be completed but I plan to work on it as soon as I can settle down in Hokkaido and have my laptop recovered. It may be finished by this Spring or may take years, I dont know, but making a movie had been my dream so this is what I will do next.

There are so many people I like to mention and thank when I look back at the 20 months I spent on the road, but its not that simple, so Ill keep that feeling to myself for now.

Thanx for stopping by and reading. bye for now.

via Karakoram Highway

2010-11-12T21:52:00.007+09:00

Long time since I wrote an entry, and so much has happened since.

I left Delhi almost 7 days ago after spending an unexpected 3 weeks mainly due to the Pakistani visa problem. The problem was that the Pakistan Embassy in Delhi had stopped issuing them 2 months ago. Initally I thought about giving up this overland journey, but had to find a way somehow, so I searched through the internet leading me to find a travel agent in Japan which dealt with foreign visas. The whole process involved research, patience, understanding the bureacracy of India, and pure luck. It was a battle till the end as I had to scramble all over Delhi just to get back my passport. Thanx to Aki for all that time we rambled in Delhi :)

Delhi surely made me tough. It was good, as I was reminded that the environment you put yourself in can control a lot in your character.

Now I am finally back in the Himalayas once again, this time in the Islamic world of Pakistan. The vast natural environment is very similar to that of Ladakh in India, but the strange thing is that there exists a totally different culture and people. Travelling this part of the world (Central Asia) definitely makes you think about country, race, religion, and what they really mean in this globalized world of today.

I am now at a town called Gilgit and will be heading up north through the Karakoram Highway which links Pakistan with China through some of the surreal mountainscapes of the world.

Well, I hope to be back in Japan for the nabe season anytime before the beginning of December... It will be just a matter of how well I can cut back time through the intriguing path of the silk road.

In Chaos Now

2010-10-17T23:35:00.003+09:00

Hello Celebpacker in Delhi now.
This city hat to be the most chaotic place I have visited on this trip.
Everything just seems to come right at you. In your face, stimulating all senses.
Just walking in the back alley gives you the feeling of slipping into a movie set or a video game...
Timelimit in Delhi is about one week, as I have to get the visa for Pakistan the first country I must get through in order to get home overland. Hoping everything will work out.

Autumn Has Come

2010-09-30T19:58:00.007+09:00

Feeling much better now mentally and physically as I just came back from a 8 day valley trek in the Himalayas. The whole experience was totally mindblowing as I walked from one village to another each day and eventually got up to over 5000m.

It was a different hike from what I experienced in Alaska and Australia as this trek provided some of the biggest landscapes ive seen in my life in addition to an amazing Ladakhi cultural experience, as I got to homestay in each village every night.

At the same time, I also felt the coldness of the air, and seeing the trees in the valley growing red and yellow I felt my longest summer of my life was coming to an end.

Up till this point I never really reflected that much of how far I have come from the long northern summer of Alaska and Canada, Okinawa, the southern hemisphere summer in Australia taking me up to tropical northern Australia and into Southeast Asia. Pretty much I had been bathing the sun for a year and a half without any time to rest and this trek made me think of where I have come on this long and winding journey.

I came to India in search of something at the end, but this trek in Ladakh taught me that there is no need to go searching for anything in India at this moment, because every person I have met along the way has taught me a great deal in one way or another.

Now I am ready to go home to my country before winter arrives. Just a matter of how I am getting their because I am sick and tired of flights.

Ari and Tsering, young ladakhi expedition guides I met who were taking 7 polish climbers up to Kang Yaze a peak of 6400m. They both thought I was a Ladakhi at first and for me the two reminded me of friends back home... So we got along very quickly. For me up at this altitude it was a struggle just taking each step, but for them this is their backyard, and their energy up in this high country was simply extraordinary.

Wrecked in India

2010-09-15T16:31:00.002+09:00

Hello Celebpacker here in one of the worst conditions since the journey started. I have been lying in my bed for 3 days after I arrived in Ladakh, North India after multiple symptoms started taking over me right after I left Bali on the 9th.

Fever and diarrhoea was the major issue during my trip over to India, but now another symptom, High Altitude Sickness has come into play.

Though the negative effects are still much around me, I can say the worst has passed as i am now able to get out of my bed and get on the internet...

I hope the next time I am on the computer, I am fully recovered.

Back to Asia

2010-08-13T11:29:00.005+09:00

Finally sold the car this morning for a $1000 ironically to the first Indonesian I met in Australia where I am headed soon. Quite happy with it, as I really did not expect to sell it this easy after all I had been through this past 10 days.

What made it hard was that Darwin was a buyer's market. People finish their travels here, but few start off their travels here. There were some people who shook hands to buy it and some just were simply playing around trying to make bargains even before looking at the actual car.

If you are going to buy a car in Australia, Darwin is the place where buyers have so many choices and advantages over the seller. And if you are going to sell it, many say Sydney is the place as this is where all the young travellers start their travels.

Anyways, I have just booked a flight to Dili in East Timor tomorrow morning. My last ramble in my 20's starts here going back to Asia. I have 28 days to get to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia where I fly out to my last stage. So I will try and make the most out of those days through the archipelago of Indonesia. Feels good to be back on my backpack and to be heading into the unknown.

I have so much to say and write about Australia, but Ill leave that until some time in the future.

Until then, thank you ! Australia.

Car for sale

2010-08-05T10:23:00.009+09:00

Hi ! Celebpacker here!

Took 7 days to get across the Kimberley, a remarkable driving journey with spectacular scenary throughout the course of the trip. The unusual heavy rainfall last month in the western Kimberley had made the landscape lush and alive, but it seems like every local I speak to, tells me about the weird climate they are getting. Today in Darwin, a local I stayed with told me that it was the coolest morning in August ever for 35 years that he has been in this plece...

As for me, I am getting ready to leave Australia. Its hard to believe its been only 10 months since I arrived here, as the whole experience has been just totally fulfilling. I would like to write and express more of my emotions, but right now, I am too busy getting ready to jump to the next stage of my journey.

And yes, like the title says I am selling my beloved nimbin camry. Its up for grabs, and as soon as I sell it I will buy my flight ticket to the closest country from Darwin, which is "East Timor". Darwin is the transition zone for me, as I now head into a deeper zone past modern civilization. Ok gotta run ! Got some pictures of the Boabs today ! Enjoy and have a nice day ;)

My camera had been dead for a long time, but luckily I was able to get this shot in yesterday while i was cleaning and vacuuming my car. I lost the adaptor and the charger for my video camera, so from here, ill just go simply with my GR camera.

I think this was the 2nd day of the trip in Derby around dusk. Me with the boabs. As you can see, I am well and alive.

The boabs all have different variations from long "bottles" to fat "kegs"

These are the only Baobab trees thriving apart from Madagascar or Africa, and they only naturally exist in northwest Australia. Then, how did it get to Australia ?? There are theories coming from the continental shift, but the most believed theory is that one of these boab fruit floated across the sea to germinate in Australia...

To Darwin

2010-07-21T15:25:00.002+09:00

Off to Darwin now to resume my travels. Had already booked my flight out of Broome in september, but something tells me i must get to Darwin as I initially had planned to.

I am now in Derby the next town from Broome that is 220kms away, in the world of big boab (Baobab) trees. This was gonna be just a short excursion out of Broome to check out these trees, but there is no real reasons for me to go back to that "city" so I have now decided to move on.

Maybe encountering "shinya tokyu vol.1" the classic Japanese travel novel in Broome library had something to do with my emotions and the urge to start travelling again.

I'm off !

Life in Broome

2010-06-17T20:37:00.009+09:00

Hello ! Celebpacker here !!

It has been a while since I last posted an entry, but I am alive and well.

Things in Broome has not turned out to be what I had expected, but there have been other surprises that's making things intresting at the momement.

The scenary of Broome is characterized by the mix of"pindan" (red dirt), and the ever beautiful turquois blue ocean. Below is the "Torii" at town beach which is the remniscent of the many Japanese divers that used to dive for the natural pearls off the shores of Broome. They even had "bon" festivals during August when they still had a thriving Japanese community. Nowadays it seems like this is a town mixed of native aboriginals, retirees, wanderers, artists, and backpackers

More than 900 Japanese that died in the early 20th century are buried here in the "Japanese Cemetery" in the middle of town. The number is quite staggering. And yes, the godfather of Japan, Mr. Sasakawa was responsible for putting this cemetery back together.

This is the famous "Staircase to the Moon" . With a tradition of observing a full moon back in my own country like the "tsukimi" in the fall, this is an awesome event. Only through April to September the Moon rises up from the horizon off the coast and develops a natural staircase reflecting off the very low tidal mudflat. But the first time I saw this, I was more blown out by the actual color of the moon, which was "scorching" red.

A typical street in the "Hood" of Broome. The funny thing is many streets still carry the history of Japanese residency, and this street name is called Matsumoto Street. Other street names I found are Sayonara, Wakayama, Taiji, Sasakawa... and a few more I forgot.

Been Staying at one of the Caravan Parks, called the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park. Met many travellers from all over the world. The two German girls above carried good tunes that you might hear at Rainbow Serpent, and Matt another German was one of the closer friend when the campsite was very quiet in late April. He was a typical German getting energy from Beer everynight lol

This picture shows Mizu and Shinji. Meeting them was quite miraculous. I wont go into details, but they were great and loving people. Every morning we did sessions of meditation and Yoga, and they fed me positive energy through out the times we spent together. Must have been over couple of weeks of camping together. This is one of the recent pictures taken here.

And this is where I am at jobwise. Working at Chiken Treat ! Yeehaa ! For those of you who are not familiar with chicken Treat, its like a KFC of Western Australia. Never expected to be working here... Only 3 weeks in, so lets see how it turns out. See you and thanx for coming back. Let the world cup fever continue. From Broome, Western Australia ;)

Exiles by Robert Harris

2010-05-27T12:56:00.017+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here

4 weeks have past since my arrival in Broome where I am staying in one of the camping grounds. Travelling and seeing new things everyday has come to a pause for now, but it seems everyday there is something to gain and learn.

Today I want to share and write about a book I love. I was very fortunate to have re-encountered it recently from a fellow Japanese traveller. This book is called "Exiles" published in Japanese by Robert Harris. To me and for many people, he is a legendary traveller that have given power to many young people searching for their own path in life. I was definitely influenced by this book when I first read it during my Yokohama days, and it still gave me goose bumps.

Below is the epilogue at the very end of the book. And yes it seems that I have finally found a internet cafe allowing me to type Japanese! so ive taken advantage of that fact and have copied the few paragraphs at the end of the book that really touched me. I've tried to translate it as close to it as possible down below.

よく若者からこんな質問の入った手紙をもらう。

「自分らしい生き方をするにはどうしたらいいんでしょうか？」

僕に言えることは、「自分の道を行く」ということは、実際に旅に出るか出ないかという問題ではないということだ。自分らしく生きたいと願い、行動に出た人間は、みなその時点で、地図も海図も羅針盤も役に立たない、長い航海へとすでに旅立っているのだと思う。要はそんなことを願い、行動に出られるかどうかということではないだろうか。
まず第一歩踏み出すことだ、と僕は思う。その第一歩からすべての道は始まる。そして旅の途中、忘れてならないのは、「自分らしさ」を、現実の社会で生きる大変さのせいで歪ませたりしてはいけないということだ。
人間にはすべて、自由に、溌剌と、情熱的に、つまり自分らしく生きる権利があるんだ、と僕は信じてきた。この思いが僕を常に支えてくれたし、砂漠の中、闇の中での道標になってくれた。
もうひとつ言えることは、どこにいようが、何をしようが、自分に忠実に生きていく者には運が味方してくれる、そして同じようなハートを持った仲間が集まってくるということだ。つまり「自分の道を行く」という旅は、決して苦悩だらけでも、孤独なものでもないということだ。
人はよく未来に対して不安になるが、誰にもはかり知ることのできない、未知なるものに不安になってもしかたがないと思う。当り前のことだが絶対とか保証とかいったものは、こと人生に関しては存在しないからだ。そして存在しないからこそ、自分次第でどんな人生だって手に入れられるのだ。時には不安になることもあるが、何年生きてきても自分にどんな未来が待っているのかとわくわくする。僕らしい生き方がどんな形になって僕の顔に現れ、僕らしく生きていることがどんな運命を呼び寄せるのかと、不安と期待の入り混じった、じっとしていられない気持ちにいつもなる。僕の仲間達もそんな不安と期待を胸に感じながら、さまざまな可能性から自分に合った道を選択し、がむしゃらに突き進んでいったのだと思う。 (エピローグp.317-18)

I often get letters from young people asking

"How is it possible to live a life staying true to yourself"

All I can say is that to "live your own path" does not necessary mean going off to travel. People wishing to live their own path that have taken that first action have already gone off on a long journey where a map or a compass is completely useless.

It all starts by taking that first step. From their, the path makes its beginning. And while you are in that journey you should remember to never blame society and its difficulties for neglecting your true feelings.

I have always believed that every person has the right to live free, with energy, and passion. This belief always kept me going even in the darkest moments in my life.

Another thing is, whereever you are and whatever you are doing, people that are living truly to themselves will have luck on their side, and like minded people with a similar heart will gather around you. This is why the journey of "living your own path " does not always have to be a painful or a lonely one.

People often have fears for their unknown future, but we can not help feeling those fears. This is because in life certainty or a promise does not exist. This is why we are capable of drawing any type of life. Sure, we have fears at times, but no matter how long you've been living you will have the excitement of the unknown future awaiting you. I always think about how living truly to myself connects to the expressions of my face, and the fate it creates mixing both the emotions of fear and expectation. This always gets me excited. My friends have also gone through those similar fears and expectations and have drawn their own path from many possibilities to reach and grab the life they desire.
----------------

Since I read this book earlier this week, strange things have happened. Things were not looking good these past few weeks, but within this couple of days, things seems to be on the rise. Thank you for the power !

Fragments of the Earth

2010-05-06T17:05:00.022+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here !

Finally got the time to reflect and record the final leg of my journey in the Pilbarra. The memories had already started to fade on me, but by going through the pictures of this remarkable country, I can now truly understand and appreciate where this journey took me.

Pilbarra was a region of mystery. As soon as you entered this region, the landscape changed drastically, and I can remember seeing the ancient hills with huge "Moai" like rocks scattered over the spinifex filled plains. My first reaction to this was just "outrageous", "what on earth created it?" But soon I learn that Pilbarra is one of the oldest land masses on this planet. I guess if I were to compare this to the Kilauea in Hawaii, Kilauea would be an hour old baby that has just come out of the mother's womb, where as the Pilbarra would be a great grandfather that has seen it all happen.

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Millstream-Chichester National Park

Chichester
I first made a stop at Millstream-Chichester National park. This park used to be 2 seperate parks which later joined together to form one national park. The first stop was at Chichester, which I had read that it resembled somewhat of the Monument Valley in the US. On the first day I took a dip in the python pool and the following day, walked the 16km camel trail by getting an early start in the morning in the dark to avoid the midday heat. The walk took me through mesas(flat topped hills) and amazing spinifex country in the morning light. Spotted many Euros(type of Kangaroos) hopping there way through, but the flys were one of the worst ever, so when night arrived and the flys had gone home, I felt very much at home gazing the night sky above me.

"spinifex"

"python pool"

Millstream
About 40kms south of Chichester was the "oasis" of Millstream. It was delightfully green and tropical with various flora and fauna highlighted by its own native palm tree. These are a relic from a tropical rainforest, which retreated Australia when the climate became drier between 2-5 million years ago. It also posseses a fresh water springs from an underground aquifier ensuring that the area is always supplied with fresh water.

For me, having travelled through dry arid country, it was quite astonishing to see all the green and fresh water flowing in such a deserted region. The significance of water was immense, as it gave evidence to many lives that was thriving in this small patch of land.

Introduced vegetation included this "Date Palm". These palms are much bigger than the native palms, and suck up more water which effects the native canopy and undergrowth. The eradication of these palms continue to bring back the natural environment at Millstream.

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Karijini National Park

Karijini had to be one of the few "main dishes" of this journey. I had my eyes on it long before the trip, and it really did live up to the expectations.

The park's main features are highlighted by its magnificent gorges and natural pools made up of exposed rocks dating back 2500 million years ago. It's easy to feel you have stomped into the lost unknown like in one of the Indy Jones movies while you could also feel the ancient vibration of the earth's past deep within the gorges.

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abstract photos

Karijini was a photographer's paradise. Any setting as spectacular as this one would enhance the creativity of anyone equipped with a camera.

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Today, we humans live in a society where natural resource is a necessity. From the everyday utilities of an automobile, the Ipod, utensils, and to the most luxurious wedding rings, we make mostly everything from piles of precious minerals deep within the earth. This is the evidence of the long history of our planet, and for me all of this really sunk in gradually as I realised that Western Australia is a country thriving from the prosperous mining industry.

In Pilbarra, Iron Ore is King. Iron ore is a resource that is turned into steel and metal to process and produce such things as the door of your car. Major customers include Japan for its automobile industry, along with the offshore natural gas that is dug up and exported to fuel the energy required in many of Japan's households.

But the major factor these days seems to be the growing powers of China. With the uprise of China's developing mega-population, the demand for the iron ore is greater than ever. Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton is doubling and tripling their production in the span of 10 years.(source; mining monthly) This is proof that for the Iron Ore industry, and the factories in China, there is no stopping as fragments of the earth's past is continuously dug out to fulfill the necessities of our modern standardized living.

When taking account the earth's history in an hour, human's history would only account for half a second, yet we have come to the point where exploitations of the land is at a rate faster than any other time in history. How long will this be able to go on for? What kind of an effect will we see from the resource hungry nations of China, India, and other developing countries?

My experience in the Pilbarra gave me an insight into the ancient natural beauty of the earth's past, but along with it came the doubts for our future. Presently, we are now living in the age where the earth is on the verge to explode. What will happen is unknown, but already there are serious changes happening all over the world. Climate change for the worse is here to stay and continue unless economic sacrifices can be recognised by today's "world leaders" to take a leap forward and come to terms.

Robbed in the Outback

2010-04-25T15:36:00.010+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here alive !

Finally made it up to Broome, marking the end to my 2 months of travelling through Western Australia. It was a remarkable adventure taking me to ancient landscapes I had yet to encounter, but I must say that unfortunately it ended on a low note. That's because I was robbed ! It's a pity that an event that took place only within 20 minutes must overshadow the high points of the adventure but I have come to understand that this is all part of travelling. Let me tell you what happened.

April 20, 2010
Wake up around 6am as the sun made its way up. Fix myself a soothing chamomile tea, and prepare 2 cups of rice to feed for the day. I had slept close to the Hamersley Ranges at Karijini National Park to get close with the mountains early in the morning. 5 days ago on my arrival to the park, I had seen the strangest looking ranges ever, and on the day I was to leave the park I knew I had to come back and see it once again. So here I was.

Around 7:00, I leave the isolated car park and slowly start heading east facing the rising sun. The road is gravel, but the condition is not too bad. Doing about 30km/h to grasp the mountains coming into view from the side window. The base of the range is roundly carved with the trademark vegetation of the Pilbara, "spinifex" decorating it with stripes to make it look like a living creature that has come out of a bogus children's book. Simply amazing.

With the thought of never again being able to see such a mysterious range, I take my cameras and get out of the nimbin camry to try and get a hold of this monster.

The range looks close, but as I walk towards it it does not seem like I am getting any closer. By this time I had walked a good 10 minutes in the outback heat. People will say this is a dangerous act, but for me walking off road had become a norm as I had been walking the gorge trails the past 5 days and it wasn't a bad way to get my exercise here in the morning.

As I kept on going I heard a car coming on the road. The noise that a vehicle makes on an isolated open area is quite enormous. It could be heard from hundreds of meters away like a jet making its landing. So, I turnaround to see the car approaching and slowly stopping in front of the nimbin camry. A bit worried, as I had left everything wide open. I look back with caution to see what happens, but within half a minute, the car takes off. Nothing to worry now I think. So I continue heading towards the ranges.

By the next 5minutes or so, the path towards it starts getting a bit bushy and I realize that it would be hard to get a better shot and too hot, so I decided to turn back to the vehicle. I make my way towards the road carefully looking down on each step to avoid any possible encounter with a snake. Then, few minutes later looking ahead towards the car, I realize something is wrong. The backdoor of the nimbin camry is wide open. What the... ? Something is going on I suspect, so I make a dash back.

I fly myself back and when I got there, there were 2 men in the 40s around the nimbin camry with a white ute (truck) just ahead. This meant that there must have been 2 cars that stopped at the same time, and I had no idea about this one as it did not come to my view. The men both had working attires with cowboy hats, but with their dark skin, it was obvious that they were Aboriginal cowboys, the 1st time I had seen such people aside from photo books.

"what were you doing out there?" they ask
"nothing just taking a short walk"

The next thing I know, they were pouring down questions and warnings that they gave me no chance to confront them with my suspicion. They looked like the men of the outback, and being older it all seemed like they were just looking after a possible accident and my suspicion had started to fade. They were even offering me water, asking if I had enough, and they had completely altered my mind.

As you would expect by now, I got back in the car to find that things were missing only to see them take off minutes earlier. I felt like the biggest fool, and I probablly was at 8:45 AM April 20 out here in the middle of nowhere in the Australian outback.

---

When I look back I should have defenitely locked the doors. But my excuse would be that I did not know I was going far, it was in the morning, and the thought of isolation made me feel safer, but in reality this was the total opposite. This was the type of place where people could be killed without anyone knowing that they were actually missing. And I have heard these things have actually occured in the past, so in a way I can say I was lucky to be alive.

Also the theives were two men that did not look like criminals, but the fact that I hade left the car wide open had caused the action of stealing. Plus with 2 minds initiating at the same time, it must have created a stronger negative spiral.

But at the end it is myself who must be the one to blame. Travelling for over a year, mostly in "developed " countries, there must have been a huge void within my safety awareness. This incident reminded me that , whereever you go a traveller must always be careful , and responsible of their own belongings.

Casulaties

Hobo purse including Karrimor wallet with minimal cash and bank card
Garmin GPS
stock loads of MJ (and this happened on april 20)
Zippo chakka
suunto key chain
power inverter, batteries and chargers in eagle creek bag
mobile phone

Aftermaths
Minutes after they took off, I chased them. Looking back I can say it was pretty hillarious in a way, as it was like a movie scene chasing thieves in the dusty outback. I was stopping oncoming vehicles and road workers asking if these men had passed. But no luck, they must have been locals that knew their way around.

So the next thing I did was go to the bank in Karratha to stop my card, and reported the incident to the police.

Almost 6 days since the incident, but still not use to living without my long loving purse+wallet. Hopefully I will get things straightened out very soon and will be able to laugh it off as one of the memorable happenings in Australia.

I am now in Broome. Just 4 days here so far, but really like the unique atmosphere that this town holds. Planning to work now, as Ive used a lot of cash on gas to drive myself up here.

Will try to get pics from the last phase of the trip in my next log.

Thanx for reading, and beware of thieves whereever you are ! lol

(The pics I used on this log is from the 1st visit to this road, and the cowboy art is from a postcard pretty similar to the way the thieves dressed)

Time Traveller

2010-04-08T15:25:00.028+09:00

After 13 days of non-stop running, I've arrived on the northern shores of the continent at Karratha. Needless to say this past 2 weeks have been a rich experience that have expanded my view towards the long history of planet earth and where us homo-sapiens stand at the moment. Sorry to sound like a tight ass scientist or a critic to start out, but I have simply been blown away by the magic of this ancient landmasses that at times I felt like I had warped to another planet. It's difficult to express my feelings just with words, so I'll borrow pics to detail my experience from here.

Stromatolites of Shark Bay. This is the oldest form of life on planet which formed when bacterias piled together, later releasing oxygen to support air-breathing life. The picture of the postcard did not come out that well, but these rock/reef like life form do not exist anywhere else other than WA and in the Bahamas.

Shark Bay is popular for its daily dolphin feedings which comes to feed in shallow waters, but it is said that these stromatolites were the major factor for the area being listed as a world heritage.

-----------------
Day 1-2
Lake Ballard just off Menzies about 250km from Kalgoorlie on Day 1. Some of the most interesting sculptures fused with the breathtaking scenery of the outback

At the campsite, I was fortunate to meet a like minded Frenchman cycling up to an aboriginal community near Port Hedland, to volunteer and photograph. It was good to chat and share stories, as lone travellers are often thirsty for interaction with others.

----
Day2
Ghost Town of Kookynie

The northern goldfields region took me by surprise. Some towns still exist from mining, but most have dyed out long time ago when gold ran out. The town of Kookynie's population in 1907 was 3500 but now only 12. I found the beauty of nothingness.

The only real remains of the town was the old hotel. I bought an ice cream and had a chat with the owner. She told me of crazy Japanese cyclist touring this extrem land that had dropped in here before. The Frenchman also said that the Japanese are the only ones that cycle around Australia.

The temperature was quite high that day

Speaking of Japanese, I was astonished to find that there was a brothel of Japanese women here in Kookynie. The hotel owner told me that they were brought here, but why these Japanese women ? It's fascinating, and a bit of a mystery as to what happened to them after the town faded out. Kimono ladies in the outback setting... now that is very strange !
-------------------------
Day 3 Sandstone

In Sandstone I met another French. This time a girl working at the local pub. She was also on a work holiday visa and told me she had worked in a banana plantation in Queensland and Cherries in Tassie. Said she was taking a year off from school just like many Europeans do for experience.

This is Aussie Humor at its best. But can't deny the fact that this land bridge is million times older than the real London Bridge.

----------
Day 4 driving across the Murchison region to Geraldton

Heading to Geraldton to get back on the coast

Mt.Magnet gold mine

passed through Yalgoo where aboriginal kids loved my car
--------------
Day 5 Geraldton

Geraldton. Nice little coastal city, but the wave of development seemed to be extending up from Perth
---------------
Day 6 Kalbarri

Another majestic cliff experience. This time at Kalbarri National Park
----------------
Day 7-8 Shark Bay

Highlight for me on this trip, the stromatolites

About 50km from the stromatolites was Shell Beach

--------------------------
Day 9 Carnarvon

Carnavon's pioneer cemetery

Afghan

Czech

------------------------
Day 10-12 Kennedy Range Nationa Park

2 nights in the Kennedy Range. Timeslipped back into ancient times. Enjoyed the canyon walks. Gem stones everywhere.

Gravel was rough on the wheels, so changed one of the front tires. Also made a tough decision to turn back to the highway to avoid further risks from the rough gravel roads.
-------------
Day 12-13
To Karratha via Coral Bay

Greeted with an early morning rainbow on my way to Karratha. no photos but i got to snorkel at coral bay which was a good activity for a change aside from walking and driving.

-------------
Day 13 Karratha - Dampier

@roadhouse in Karratha

Karratha is the regional center for the mining operation here in the Northwest Pilbara region. It exports massive amounts of natural gas which Japan relies heavily on.
It was a bit awkward to see all the industrial light beams at night, but soon brought back images of Tokyo Bay. And the second image of this building reminded me of the apartments sprawled around Japan. They just looked too familiar, but with the odd landscape of the Pilbara in the background !

--------------------------------
Music Section

What lacked on this trip was good music. Hours and hours of driving everyday calls for a need of good cds, but unfortunatley I was only able to get a hold of Ministry of Sounds CDS in Kalgoorlie, and they were horrible. Some good tracks, but there is no flow or good mixing in these commercial money making releases. So when I got to a cd shop in Karratha, I hit it big.

The above cd is the new album of Angus & Julia Stone. I first heard them on triple-j, the Aussie national radio and after reading good reviews on the album, I had been waiting for the right timing to grab it. It's sentimental, sweet, and nostaligic. The tracks in each songs are superb, and the vocals of the Stone siblings are beyond words !

For an upper syndrome, I got the latest Anjunadeep compilation mixed by Jaytech & A&R James Grant. Heard both disks last night at my solo rave and they are awesome ! it rips !! This is the matrix, and the sheer evidence of how far homo sapiens have come. Highly recommended for the euphoric high and good work on the album sleeve where the djs has given the story behind each track on the mix.

------------
I will now get some rest, stock up and head for my 3rd and final phase before hitting Broome. 2 amazing National Parks to experience.

Thanx for visiting my blog ;) Hope all is well with everyone around the world and in Japan !

Gold

2010-03-26T10:56:00.010+09:00

Celebpacker here !

These days Ive come to realize that the blog entries have become sort of a homework for me. Yes it's a task involving finding the timing, a computer, picking photos, and the hardest part writing with time limits on the internet.

I never really liked writing especially in English, but with only an Ipod touch to strenuously finger tap Japanese it seems like I have been assigned a bi-monthly to weekly English report to record and share stories of my travels. But this is not bad as homework. I get to write what I want and I dont get graded on it. The best part is being able to sort the brain and emotions from the simple fact of being away from a stable environment, such as the comforts of home. Lots of things go through my mind, and with the blog I can reflect, record, and look upon the future. Writing is powerful.

--
From the breath-taking beaches of Esperance, I have now advanced up north to the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie(pop. 30000) I arrived here Monday and its been a good change for me to recuperate from the overwhelming natural phenomenons of the south. But its still very hot here during the day reaching 35.

As for the atmosphere of the city/town, Kalgoorlie is a place where people say it retains that lost American "wild west" feeling. It has wide streets, pubs with skimpys (girl dancers) that looks to have come out of a history book, active brothels, and the biggest gold pit in Australia . But yet, this all seems to be just one side of the face for Kalgoorlie as the presence of aboriginals roaming the streets are hard to ignore.

Main center of Kalgoorlie. Exchange hotel was where gold was exchanged. On the right, the latest gold price is always on display.

At the mining hall of fame. Great museum. Took the underground tour.

The super pit, and its postcard.

The streets of kalgoorlie.

-----

From here I now head through the outback into my next big destination, Broome. But this is over 2500km away and the heat is still on reaching close to 40 in the interior. This is extreme dry country, so I wont be taking risks. Just need to take loads of pumping cds to blast me through the red rugged land !

I hope to get there safely.

Margaret River main break

2010-03-17T17:40:00.004+09:00

Celbapacker here with updates !

I am now in the town of Esperance after being on the road for a week averaging 2-300km/day. I had written on my previous post that my plan was to stay around the Margaret River region and catch the surf event, but unfortunately that was not the case. Many people warned me that it is a very "touristy" area, and they were absolutely correct. The town and the area was over run with people inspite the fact that summer had past, and it was a weekday.

So I decided to make the most out of my visit by seeing what I had wanted. The surf breaks !! Simply put, it was the biggest and the cleanest waves I had ever seen, a picture perfect surf break. The size must have been double overhead high, as many surfers were equipped with a helmet. These were surfers and breaks you would only see on screens, but here I was seeing it with my own eyes, simply stunned.

After being a spectator for a few hours, I was pretty convinced why Australia produces the best surfers in the world. Surfing is a major recognized sport. It is not just about surf fashion, its a national culture and identity in the international scene for the young nation. The surf breaks are even protected by the government denying any development that would effect the breaks, a whole different story compared with Japan where unnecessary "tetrapods" (big concrete blocks)are being filled up destroying the coastlines in the hands of dirty bureaucrats and constuction companies.

Travels in the southwest

2010-03-10T11:27:00.008+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here !

I've been making the most out of my freedom, wandering the southwest since my Bibbulmun track hike. After several stops at charming little towns and camping in its surrounding nature, I've arrived at the resort town of Busselton where I will now head down to Margaret River.

Margaret River is known as the surf and wine region and it has been one of the top destinations on my list to see here in the southwest. On top of that, there will be a major pro surfing event from the 16th featuring worldclass surfers with live music&arts something worth checking out for itself.

Another news. I have got my main camera repaired. Good news for me because the quality of pictures and its functions are no match with my other one. So, I've been taking a lot of photos to record my travels and of course to capture "out of the world" landscapes which portrays the grand nature of this continent.

So, some pics from the last 10 days :)

Last day on the Bibbulmun, after being soaked in pure nature for 6 days.

And this is where I arrived

Felt the pulse of the earth at "Windy Harbor" as the tides crashed on to the cliffs, and clouds hurried across the sky. D'Entrecasteaux National Park

Yeagarup lake in the morning and the Yeagarup dunes at dusk. D'Entrecasteaux National Park

Car is dwarfed by the Giant Karri Forest. Took it in B/W as it was a bit overcast. Warren National Park

Avocados & plums are what I mostly feed on at the moment. Avocado rice to be exact. easy, cheap, fullfilling, and tasty !

Went to the city of Bunbury yesterday to hunt down my new boots. Found these Vasque boots reduced from $189 to $99. 3rd boots in 12 months, hopefully they'll do the job for at least the next 6 months.

Okay, now out of Busselton library to catch some fresh air ! Gonna keep going !

Bibbulmun

2010-03-01T13:08:00.003+09:00

Just reached Northcliffe visitor center. Distance was 135km from Walpole to Northcliffe. This journey took me from the wild southern coast to the plains and into the hearts of the southwestern forests. Highlights were walking under the full moon, stars and sighting heeps of kangaroos and encounters with other walkers. But the biggest memory might have been the pests, the "March Flies". They really got me...

Picture is the sign of the Bibbulmun track marker. It's the rainbow serpent telling me which way to head on ;) Will try to sort out my journey with pics and stories to post in the future. Now I'm ready to rest !

Moving On

2010-02-23T17:26:00.014+09:00

Hello Celebapacker here !

Just finished up my 12 weeks at the veggie farm last Friday.
It has been truly a wonderful experience. A real priviledge as not too many travellers are hired there. So very lucky to get involved in the operation for this summer! Working with authentic Aussies and getting to see a bit of what farming was all about was worth more than what I earned. I thank everyone at the farm especially Howard & Bev ! Wish all the best for years to come.

Broccoli & cauliflower picking with the old boys. Had a couple of cuts on my leg and hand with those sharp knives

Corn was plentiful at the farm

Its all about the crates when it comes to the operation at a farm.

Special thanx goes to Jacky and Shane. Jacky was my fellow broccoli picker and she was very nice to invite me to her family Christmas gathering and numerous visits to her huge home.

And they had so many animals including these kangaroos and Emus which i thought are close to dinosaurs.

-------------------

Shots from today.

Met a German couple at Walpole who approached me saying that they had seen my car over East ! I asked them where ? and they answered "around Byron Bay" !! Amazing ;)

Have decided to hit the Bibbulmum track from Walpole to Northcliffe. Bibbulmum track is a hiking course which goes for 1200kms ?! from Perth to Albany. Will be a 5 day walk to Northcliffe. So got to get ready to pack my food !!

Hasta Luego !

SNS Links & Denmark Landscapes

2010-02-14T10:32:00.009+09:00

Hi celebpacker here !
Finally got down to sorting out Facebook. Was not a very big fan of it to begin with but i have come to realize that it is a very useful and a safe way to stay in contact with people in my life. Still driven crazy by all these information, but hopefully i will be able to sort it out to make the best out of it. These days it just seems that Facebook have established itself as the world standard in communication. What a world we live in ei?? Could not think of such a world when i was growing up. Just think of the kids growing up with this tool and what kind of a world it would be in years time... ! Unreal ! Anyways, so have also listed links to Facebook and Mixi to link myself to people back home. and youtube to remind me that i should keep filming ;)

I got some pictures to share from last Tuesday. This day was the most amazing day since I came down to Australia. Nature was putting on a remarkable show. Thunder and lighting followed by a miraculous comeback of the sun which filled the sky with rainbows just before sunset. When all of this happened I was at my favorite spot in Denmark just kicking back and cooking my dinner in my car. No movie or a 3d theater can match the show I saw there that day !

Early morning creating a mystical fealing on the Denmark River.

My favortite animal that I have come across in Australia has to be the pelicans. These guys are the goofiest and funkiest creatures out there. They just simply make me smile.

No photos of the lighting but this is what it looked like after the sun came out. Drops of rain continued while the rainbow painted the horizon.

There were many surreal cloud formation, and this was one of them that I sliced up with this image

From Denmark heading west, there is a the forest of the Karri and Jarrah trees. This is one of the highlights of Southwest Australia, and they give you that "Safari" feeling which i feel are very close to the vegetation ive seen on images of Africa...

My main camera Richoh's GR broke down so i have been trying to shoot with my motion video camera Sanyo's Xacti. Very difficult to shoot stills with this as this is more for shooting videos than stills, but on this day nature was getting fancy so any camera would have worked and this was the result ;)

To sum it all up, I was convinced on this day that I had finally caught the glimpse of the region that they call the "Great Southern"

Gaijin books

2010-02-01T17:30:00.000+09:00

Hello Celebpacker here!
Being away from home I am learning more and more about my home country. I do believe that going to travel abroad gives you deeper understanding towards your home country because there are many differences in the new environment both good and bad you must take in. In addition to those thoughts in mind, I found some really good books that talks of Japan from a "gaijin's" (foreigner) perspective so I would like to introduce them to you today.

The first book i picked up was "hiking in japan" published by Lonely Planet in 2001. I got a nice deal at $10.00. My impression with Lonely Planet guides are they vary in quality regards to its titles, but this one is of high quality. Great read in discovering the historical mountain culture and religion of Japan. I'm glad I came across this one, as this should keep me going for years.

The above guidebook led me to this fascinating yet depressing book, "Lost Japan" written by American, Alex Kerr who has lived in Japan for over 30 years. It was first published in 94 in which it won the best non-fiction award, a feat achieved for the first time by a foreigner. This book is called "utsukushiki nihon no zanzou" in Japanese. It must have been one of the best book I have read in English in a long time.

I just finished this one. This is a personal pilgramage story written by an Aussie girl who goes on the "Ohenro"(Buddhist pilgramage in Shikoku). Was very inspirational as it really made me want to go back to carrying my backpack.

----

This is hardly the first time I have been moved by foreign authors. I can remember reading heaps during job hunting period(last years in Uni before heading out to JP full on society) and one author that totally stood out and confronted me with the disgusting truth behind Japan was the journalist BENJAMIN FULFORD. Benjamin is a Canadian turned Japanese who is literary trying to save the world from the people who run and rule this world. I can not put into words how much I admire his courage of risking his own life to do this and having followed his blogs and books for over 5 years and gone to lectures, I am pretty convinced that people should seriously consider what this guy is talking about.

A bit off topic today, but I really wanted to get the point across that there are interesting points being made from outside, as these days I feel we Japanese are just too ignorant and not aware of where the country is headed to.

I might be away from home, but I am always thinking of you ! Japan ;)

Leaving Albany

2010-01-16T11:58:00.008+09:00

Hello Celebpacker here.
Its been a good 2 weeks as I am working at the veggie farm Mon-Fri right now. And this weekend I will be moving out to the alternative town of Denmark just 50km from Albany. Albany has treated me very well, but I think it is time to base myself in a different environment. The farm is between the two towns so, no problem getting to work from Denmark. Dont know how long i will be working at the veggie farm for, but I will slowly keep heading west.

BTW, I saw the movie "Avatar" last weekend. Had to watch it as I heard kids raving about it in their conversation at the Denmark Markets. While I was watching it, it really reminded me of watching "Dances with the wolves" when I was a child. Some scenes were a bit too "blockbuster" type action made for the kids, but the whole plot and story i think is great. Some adults are too late to change their views on topics like these, but if we can get the coming generation of kids to grow up with new progressive values, there is hope for a better planet. Highly recommended for families.

Albany exists in the midst of rolling hills and magnificent coastline. The lawn here is the best to do my Yoga in the morning and after work. Yes, doing Yoga continuously has kept me going both physically and mentally for the last year I have started wandering. And sometimes i do reach that "high" when my body responds well.

In Australia you will always see funky looking cars. Mostly traveller vans. Here I woke up and found a similar design to my car so i took a photo of it.

Went to the only night club in Albany last month when i was bored to death on a 4 day holiday. It had to have been over a year since i last went to a club, and unfortunately I got an impression of "emptiness". Music was some fluffy house and mixture of popular hip hop. To me, i really got the sense that there is nothing in an alcohlic fueled party. This is where I look back to my roots in Trance music. Trance parties and music was fierce stuff where people would "experience" the state of trance in an outdoor environment. I could go on and on about this, but starting to go off topic so I will shut up right here ;)

Albany has a "wind farm" generating its energy from natural power.

In the morning Yoga, Good fulfilling breakfast, and a can of Red Bull. This is a perfect mix for a physical day at work. But drinking over one can is a no-no, and I try not to drink it everyday as it will decrease the effect and also health wise.

This is the "Hydroponic Lettuce" section of the farm. many many varieties of Herbs and lettuces.

Growing a field of pumpkins for autumn harvest. Daily crops for harvest are Broccolis and Cauliflowers with Onions, Leeks, Carrots, and Beans at the moment.

My co-workers and bosses. From left, Jen, owner Bev & Howard, Bev's bro Cole, Chris, Jack, and Adrian.

Running out of time here at the cafe. Please dont click on the pics as i have not changed the sizes to suit the browser. thanx ! see ya

2010 kicks off

2010-01-03T17:12:00.011+09:00

Hello ! Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu !
Happy new year and thank you for visiting my blog last year. I hope to feed out more interesting stuff this year from my days in Australia

I spent my 1st day of the year in the mountains. This is the Stirling Ranges, a beautiful mountain range about 80km north from Albany. Usually I go back home to Osaka for my family gathering, but this year I was all alone, so decided to go somewhere sacred and close to nature.

I took this picture on the 31st with my candle lantern in my car at an isolated roadhouse where i parked and spent the night. The moon was beautiful

The peak of Toolbrunup. As you can see it was very steep. Going down from the summit i went the wrong direction and had to stumble down some very dangerous cliffs. Fortunately i made it back to the trail but it was not a pleasant situation. But good experience ! Vertical is a little above 1000m but even mountains like this can be life threatning.

And yes, i must say it was one of the steepest hike in my life. Not a long hike but just steep and some spots dangerous.

Me up on the summit. Spent 5 hours there, and got myself a good red burnt face with my shades outlining the tan.

View from the summit. A hawk came gliding in and i waved my hand. Seemed like the hawk made a response by floating around the summit for a while. Reminded me of the world of the Ravens and Eagles up north.

Typical road in Australia. Its a real treat to be able to drive these scenic roads to work

The shed at work... This is where I am currently working 3-4 times a week. Will be going back to work from tomorrow picking veggies. All the best with the start of 2010 to everyone.

Merry Christmas & Happy New year

2009-12-20T17:24:00.006+09:00

Taken this morning ;) Was difficult to get the right lighting

strawberries

2009-12-13T18:02:00.004+09:00

Hello Celebpacker here !

Today was the hottest day of the year here in WA.
It must have been over 35 degrees.

For me, I dont like it... Id rather have 20 degrees mild temperate weather.
Especially this year where i have experienced a long bright summer up north.

Well, not much news this week but got some pictures from the strawberry farm and have started to eat meat every day to keep up with the physical labour. My back is taking its toll.

Also feels weird to come across a hot steaming Christmas, as i am used to the northern hemisphere Christmas with Snow ! Also I miss writing in Japanese ! I hope I can write in Japanese as well soon. Okay, wishing people all the best with the rest of 2009.

update

2009-12-06T17:22:00.004+09:00

Hello! Celebpacker here.
This week blew by fast. I had two new jobs. One was for the Japanese Restaurant and the other one at the vegetable farm. But Ive already left the JP restaurant job, as i did not feel much of a connection with the place and the people there (Only 3 including the Japanese owner) The other job at the vegetable farm is great. It is a family owned business and I am one of 6 people working on Mon., Wed., Fri. This farm mainly produces broccolis and does hydroponic lettuces which is pretty cool to learn about. The people here are like minded people, and I can not complain about the pay as well. 17 dollars per hour (About 1400 Yen)

So, I will be working for two farms in the daytime 3 days each (Strawberry and Vegetable) with Sundays painting at the guesthouse.

I dont have any pictures of the farm yet, so I will post a nice picture i took this friday, after work. This is a surf point about 15minutes from Albany. Two people were riding semi-long boards sharing good waves. This is my next goal. To get a surfboard and get into the water.

update

2009-11-29T14:29:00.001+09:00

10 days into strawberry picking.  Slowly getting the hang of it

This week I will start new work at a vegetable farm and Japanese restaurant at night.

Will split time with Strawberry farm to gain experience at the vegetable farm in the daytime.

(sorry if the font is weird... icant fix it)

Mud, Flies, Rain, Back Ache = Strawberry Picking

2009-11-22T16:54:00.001+09:00

Hello ! Celebpacker here with some news.
This week was hectic. I started working at a strawberry farm this wednesday.
So, finally I have a job. But, it is not an easy job.

Basically it is six days on with sundays off. The picking starts at 7AM and goes on until around 11AM... It depends on the weather and conditions of the strawberrries. After picking it is packing work, a totally mechanical work that you see in movies like the movie "Baraka"

Continuous bending to pick the berries down low in muddy conditions, and occasional flies bugging you, this is one of the dirtiest jobs i have done. But, its not that bad, as i am getting used to it each day. The pay is $1.20 for one bucket you fill, so the faster you are the more money you earn. At the moment I can say the pay is shitty for me, but it has been a good experience. And, the nationalties of the workers vary from all over the world. Germans, French, Korean, Canadian, English, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Japanese, and of course Aussies... so it is a one of a kind environment.

Today I worked for the Inn, where I am using the internet doing some painting, and gardening work. Starting from December I might start working for a "Jap" restaurant in the evening, so things are picking up. I am pretty much determined to do anything it takes to get me back up and going ! Will be back with more updates next week ;) Ciao

"The Gap" in Albany (remains of the split from Antarctica in the times of Gondwanna)

"My house"

Balibo

2009-11-14T14:18:00.005+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here.
It has been almost 4 weeks since i started living in my car... But still no work, until just now. I just found a short work at a backpacker lodge here where i am using the internet. I came here last week, and told the lady owner about the situation, and just now she said i can do some labour starting tomorrow. so good news. Because I have been in the library like a student hitting the books to kill time all this week... So this week not much excitement except I got to watch a good movie at a movie theatre in almost half a year !! The movie is called Balibo, and is a movie based on events of the 5 australian journalists killed in East Timor during Indonesia's invasion in 1975. Highly recommended !

Gondwanaland

2009-11-08T17:10:00.002+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here.
This week did a lot of driving getting around to the "spots" around Albany, where I am based at the moment.
Found many interesting places. I am not a geologist but the land here is quite unique. And I also found out that Australia was connected with present day Africa, South America, India, and Antarctica, when there was only 2 continents on the planet. My surprise was that India was apart from asia, and when it crashed it formed the present day Himalayas... Very interesting.

This is a lizard called the "goanna". Got very close to them in the porongurups 2weeks ago. Okay running out of time here at the internet cafe ! see ya

Off the hook

2009-11-03T17:47:00.002+09:00

Finally registered to WA (Western Australia) license plates yesterday as i cleared the re-inspection of the car and even caught a squid that night! No pictures to post because the pc i am on will not let me do so. The weather here is pretty cool, but the sunlight is very strong during the day ! Strawberries are still very slow, so i must wait a bit more ;( more updates when i am online again ! thanx

My New Mate

2009-10-30T14:05:00.002+09:00

Hi Celebpacker here.

been running to wreck yards to find parts for my car. So many things to be fixed so im learning quite a bit about cars. Was a pain at first but its a good experience. The car i bought is a 88 toyota camry station wagon with handprints all over it. I think it came from Byron Bay. Previous owner drove it from Cairns to Perth, but seems like they did not take care of it so im giving this baby a new life. Should have everything all set by next week, and im good to start working somewhere.

A bit too early

2009-10-22T13:28:00.002+09:00

People tell me this winter was very cold compared to the usual winter, so strawberries are yet to ripe... maybe 2 weeks to harvest. so I am now stuck. But also need to fix my car by nov. 3 to make it roadworthy.

Porongurup

2009-10-21T16:02:00.002+09:00

today woke up, went to porongurup national park to do a hike.(20km from Mt. Barker) Vertical was 670m. Great view. Might be little early with fruit picking here at Mt. Barker, because of this years weather...

At Mount Barker

2009-10-20T12:37:00.003+09:00

I am now in Mount Barker (350km south of Perth) where I am looking for work. Cherries & Strawberries.

arrived safely in perth

2009-10-17T15:39:00.005+09:00

I arrived in Perth Thursday. AUS Dollar very strong USD going down. Living cost seems quite expensive where i stay in the city. secured a car today very cheap for 1000 AUS (about 8man. yen). Very low on money now. Heading down south to find jobs next week.

ドラクエ再出発

2009-10-15T06:43:00.001+09:00

YOUTUBEのアップロード久々だったので苦労しました。しかしやっと出発1時間前に高画質のアップに成功しました。フル画面モードでみることをおすすめします。ちなみに他の作品も高画質でアップしたかったのでアップ間に合いませんでした（涙）どうにかしてアップしていこうと思います。

出発前日なのに・・・

2009-10-14T23:40:00.006+09:00

どうも、セレパッカーです。
明日、関空から第2章へ旅立ちます！

なのですが、全く準備が進んでおりません。（笑）この年になっても旅前日はこんな感じです。思えば高校の時も毎年2回、兵庫からNYの学校へ戻る一大行事があったのですが、その時から出発前日になっても全く準備が進まず徹夜続きだった記憶があります。こういうところは人間変わらないんですね～。

で、すっかりジャパニーズモードに復帰してしまっていた私セレパッカーなのですが、24時間後には再び遠い異国にワープします。なのでどんな辺鄙なところに行っても日本心を忘れないようにする「芸術」を仕入れました。

まず本。前回は「国家の品格」という日本人としての愛国心を促す本を持っていったのですが、今回は太宰治の「走れメロス」を本日梅田で購入してまいりました。他の短編作品を含んで破格の税込み380円でした。

そして音楽。やはり日本語の歌は日本語を喋れないときや聞けないときには何にも変えがたい薬なのです。で、前回に引き続き「くるり」をゲット。このストレートかつちょっとひねくれた京都人の歌詞を海外で聞くとグッとくるんです。新作とライブアルバムをIPODにずっこーんと入れて準備完了といった具合です。

装備の方ですが、セレパッカー的に軽量化を検討し新たなパックやテントを見たのですが、結論としてアラスカで使ったもので行くことにしました。多少重くても「背負えばいいじゃん」というスタンスに戻ったわけです。

映像の話

先週のブログでもお伝えしたとおり、映像製作にここ最近は没頭してました。ずっと旅した後こうして篭って作業するスタイルもなかなかいいなぁと思いました。結果的にビデオカメラがぶっ壊れるまでの素材を使って4部作を完成致しました。最初に製作したヴィジョンクエストという作品を作った後、「これだとちょっと人には伝わらないな～」と思ったのでこのヴィジョン・クエストに至るまでのストーリーを作ることを決意したわけです。ですからある意味、このヴィジョン・クエストが作品意欲を駆り立ててくれたのです。とまぁまだまだ腕はアマチュアなのですがそれなりに自分を「映像」という手法を通して表現出来ているのではないかと思ってます。僕は「映像の力」を信じる人間なのでこれからも継続して旅の模様を記録していこうと思ってます。

最後になりますが、パソコンともここでお別れです。明日からまたバックパック生活が始まります。まぁすぐ慣れると思うので全く心配などないのですが、ブログの更新がまたかなり「とろく」なると思われますのでご了承ください。日本語打てる環境あれば日本語打ちますが、無理でしたら英語で書きますのでこれからもセレパッカーを暖かく見守ってやってください。よろしくおねがいしまっす！

オーストラリアに行く理由

2009-10-09T23:25:00.011+09:00

どうも、セレパッカーです。
今日のビックニュースは小浜のノーベル賞でしょうか？
ノーベル賞ってこんなものでしたっけ？今回の件で本当にこの「権威ある賞」の実態を疑ってしまいました・・・

さて、政治はおいといて、個人的な話題に入らしてもらいます。

こんな形で放浪をしていると目的なく何やってんだこいつ？って思われがちですが、僕はただ心が訴えかけるまま進んでいるだけなのです。

なぜ今回オーストラリアに行く事になったのかといえば一つ大きな理由があります。まずカナダを旅した際、あらゆる場所で導かれるように「植林」(Tree Planting)というシーズンワークをしている若者に出会いました。話を聞いているとかなり過酷な仕事ではあるようだったが、どうやら自分のようなカウンターカルチャー的な思想を持ったユルイ人間が集まっているというのです。。そして集まる人間も国籍、性別、年齢問わず皆、大自然の中、共同生活をするというのだ。魅力的だ。しかし、植林の季節は決まっており5月から8月。今年はすでに終了していた。だったら違う場所で出来ないかな？と調べたところオーストラリアで出来るという情報をネットで発見したのです。それがきっかけでした。

結局今のところ数少ないオーストラリアの植林会社の一つと連絡を取ることは出来ているのだが不況ということもあって仕事は減っているという。最初に向かう町はパース。12月からダーウィンの南で仕事が入るかもという話だから、その時期からうまくタイミングが合えばやってみたいと思っている。後はパースに着いてからのフィーリングかな。2度目のオーストラリア、今回も衝撃的な出会いがたくさんあることでしょう。そしていろんなことに挑戦してみたいと思う。テンション上げていきます！

作業状況

2009-10-08T12:11:00.015+09:00

どうも、セレパッカーです。
台風すごかったですね。
農家の人達は収穫前に大慌てで収穫作業を行ったと今朝ラジオで言ってました。人間とは自然の猛威の前には本当にちっちゃいもんです。

さて最近の活動ですが、近所の散策以外には今回の旅の映像をまとめた作品作りに励んでおります。

今のところ、アラスカでの一つの冒険映像を元にショートフィルムを作成しました。しかし、どちらかというと今は自分がどんな経緯でこの放浪に出るようになったのかというものをストレートに表現出来るような作品が作れたらなと思っているのでそれを制作中です。

過去にも短編を何本か作成しているのですが、更なるレベルアップを目指した作品を作れるようこれまで撮ってきた映像、写真をかき集めてやってます。ほんとうにこの作業は身体がかたまってしまいますが、次のステージに行くには過去のものを飲み込まなくてはいけないと思うので来週の出発まで全力でやろうと思います。

一足先に完成した作品ですが「MY VISION QUEST」という題名です。これはネイティブ・インディアンが行う儀式、ヴィジョン・クエストに因んでのタイトル名です。以下趣味ともいえども、リリースインフォ風に情報を明記してみました。これは出発前に必ずどこかで見れるようにしたいと思っております。
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「マイ・ヴィジョン・クエスト」

断崖絶壁の海岸線、足元を吸い込む沼地、激流の川、そして残雪に埋もる山。そんな荒々しいアラスカ州コディアック島で歩いた５日間の映像を元に幻想的な世界を描いてみました。

ヴィジョンクエストとは
ネイティブ・アメリカンの儀式。ヴィジョン・クエストは一生に一度の事ではなく、人生の一大事に至った時何度でも行うものであり、特に人生最初のヴィジョン・クエストは子供から大人になるための重要な通過儀礼になっている。MORE INFO

My Vision Quest

Rugged coastline, swampy bogland, fast river crossings, to snow capped mountains, all in an undeveloped wilderness area. This is a dreamy short film comprised of images taken from my vision quest in Kodiak Island, Alaska May 2009.

Vision Quest
In many Native American groups, the vision quest is a turning point in life taken before puberty to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction. When an older child is ready, he or she will go on a personal, spiritual quest alone in the wilderness　　(-Source Wiki)

Twitter風に（ちょっとかなり長くなりましたが。

2009-10-05T19:47:00.006+09:00

昨日近所の放浪帰りに北山貯水池ってところを歩いていたら、

笑福亭鶴瓶

（つるべいさん）に遭遇。全く気付かず「しゃれた感じのおじさんがちっこい犬連れて歩いているな」って思いながら彼の後ろを歩いていたら対面からおばさんが声を掛けているので、振り返ってみるとビックリ！

NHKの番組「家族に乾杯」の世界でした。あれだけテレビに出ている人がいきなりリアルな世界に現れたのであっぱれやられました。

僕はその後、「つるべいさんだ」てニヤケながら一瞬立ち止まりましたが、おばさんが猛烈な会話を始めていたので、結局立ち去りました。面白い出来事でした。もちろん写真ありません。

リアルな世界に戻った私

2009-10-02T16:24:00.011+09:00

どうも。セレパッカーです！
沖縄から本土兵庫へ帰還してまいりました。
久しぶりに日本語で打ちます。

約半年放浪を続けてきたわけですが、ここにきて再びリアリティな社会と対面している感じです。といってもそのリアリティとはパソコンで密接に繋がっている情報過剰な世界なわけです。さすがに旅立つ前はオークションや仕事関係でずっとパソコンの前に張り付いた生活が普通だったのですが、半年近くパソコン生活から遠ざかっていたものとしては更にこの世の中はより「speedy」な方向へと向かっているんだなぁて印象を受けます。

復帰して驚いたのはtwitterやfacebooｋの機能で簡単に今の状況を一瞬に人に伝えることが出来るというもの。最初は正直「一体、これはどんな意味があってどう使えるんだ？？」って浦島太郎な私は全く理解できず、逆に恐ろしくなってしまったのですが、冷静に考えるとそれはそれで機能としてはすごく利便性が高いものであることが分かりました。

本当に半年でここまでネットの世界は進化するんだなぁって驚いてます。

まぁそんな感じでリアルな世界（ネット）に復帰した私ですが、メッセンジャーで「ピロパロン」って音ともに友達とチャットしていた時代が懐かしく思えます。

さて兵庫ではここ半年間の写真、映像などを整理しています。昨日は息抜きに近所の山を散策してきました。（picasaっていう画像サイト試験的に使ってます）やっぱりバランスは重要でした。

で、今後の放浪ですが、今月中には出稼ぎにオーストラリアに行く予定です。一応関空からオーストラリア行きがいっぱい安いのが出ているので残念ながら東京には行く事がないと思います。なんで関西にいるかた、こっち方面に来る方は遠慮なく声かけてください。(taku99ny@gmail.com or hotmailまで連絡ください）。出発まではちょくちょくブログ更新していこうかなって思ってます。そんでは～

One Week in Yambaru

2009-09-19T12:39:00.023+09:00

From Canada, I was dropped on the tropical world of the Ryukyus, an area in Japan with so much diverse culture and history.

Now a days, Okinawa is a controversial area of Japan, as the debt from the loss in the WW2 is still apparant with many military bases around the island. The economy is based around tourism as Okinawa is a popular get away from the mainland

Okay, so much with the introduction to Okinawa.

This was my 3rd time in Okinawa.

2nd trip I took in Okinawa dates back to the Junior year in University exactly 6 years ago. I took the slow ferry from Tokyo to Naha, and onwards into Ishigaki where I enjoyed the genuine Ryukyu feel on Taketomi and Iriomote Island. It was a special trip as I got to meet up with my good friend Ryuya, on Iriomote who is currently travelling the world (You can see his travel blog through the link)

Ever since then, I knew I would come back to Okinawa, but never knew this would be the timing after my journey in North America. The reason I came was because I needed to get back in touch with my biggest friend and partner since 4 years, Ebu who had been working in Northern Okinawa at a cafe "cafe yamagame" and gueshouse "Asahiya"for the last half year. Our relationship had to be sorted out, and I needed to understand her situation in her life.

"Asahiya" literally translates into "Morning Sun House"

Asahiya only has 3 rooms, but they all have enough space with an ocean view that is hard to beat. The price is very reasonable at around 5000 yen per night with breakfast and dinner available at an additional fee.

I stayed 2nights in Asahiya, but when i got here, a major rescue search was on for 2 missing men.

The sign that says something like
"Do not underestimate the power of the ocean and river ! "

Gen-san owner of Asahiya and Cafe Yamagame with kids watching the brazilian music dvd in the morning at chu-tan-ya

5 nights in "Takae" @chu-tan-ya was an experience itself.
This is a pic. of yo-chan & hibi-chan. They took me to King Tacos, The original restaurant that started Tacos-Rice in "Koza" and to "Ei-sa" traditional Okinawan dance festival.
By the way "Chu-Tan-Ya" is a protest house which houses people who come from all over the country and world to protest against the new military base constuction at Takae.

Shimizu-Kun placing 2nd in the 5km race at the annual "Higashi Village Track & Field Athletics"
I will never forget the songs he plays out in the evening sessions in Chu-tan-ya.
"Tano-shiku-" "Tano-shiku-" simply amazing.
Below is Marty, documentary film producer currently following the problem in Takae, giving it all in the 100m.

Military trucks and helicopters....

Yukine-san, Gen-san`s partner with 3of the 5 kids. Keitatsu, Genki, Jin. Boys growing up in nature are wild.

Ebu, thank you for the last 4 years. It has been quite an adventure from the day we met to the Shitamachi life in Tokyo to settling down in Chiba. You are a very special person that has touched my young life. We will both move on separately to the next stages of our lives. Much love to you.

I am now in Yoron Island. Scheduled to head up north from here.

Okinawa is humid

2009-09-07T16:02:00.005+09:00

Hello !
I am now in Okinawa Japan. I arrived here on the evenening of the 4th after a plane ride from Halifax, Nova Scotia →Toronto→Tokyo→Okinawa.

I purchased my ticket from Kayak.com
Maybe some people know of this site but this is very useful when you are travelling, as you get to search for all types of routes and you can always buy one way ticket at the right price, where if you were to buy one way tickets in Japan it may even be more expensive to buy a roundtrip. I dont know why, but it is very unreasonable with one ways in Japan.

Anyways I am back in Japan, but it does not mean that i have stopped travelling. Summer was coming to an end, and since I was given so much energy from Alaska and Canada, I thought it would be good for me to get back and absorb everything from this 'Epic' journey. I would like to think that Chapter 1 has just finished ;)

I will probably stay in Okinawa for a week or so and then head up to Kagoshima and travel back to my home in Hyogo. Get some rest and go off to my next destination next month and start working there. Most likely downunder! Bye for now.

Will try to update stuff without much time lag from now on. I had to do that because I was just all over the place...

Lawrencetown Beach just north of Halifax. This beach is very famous for surfing in Eastern Canada. The day I got there, the hurricane had just passed, and you can see the condition was
just enormous.

Nove Scotia, "Canada's Ocean Playground"

Last time I pitched my tent on this journey. The tent area was bushy and wet, but as you can see it was a beautiful day.

Getting over to Halifax via 10 min. ferry from Dartmouth at 10pm

In Halifax, I encountered something I had been looking for, a Paulo Coelho book. Ever since I met a person who was reading the Alchemist in Haida Gwaii, I was searching for his books but I never got to pick it up. Reading this story once again was like reflecting back on my personal journey and checking the answers left behind from the whole trip.

Picture from today. I did weeding for the cactus in the guesthouse I am staying in to get a night's worth free

10 days in Quebec

2009-09-05T06:17:00.010+09:00

Hello People!

After spending 10 days in Quebec province, I am now in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Quebec was truly a surprise. I had no plans of visiting the area, but I was taken into surprise with its very distinct culture being lived out by pure "Quebecois" or French Canadians. I just wished I had taken French in school or had some lessons before coming here.

I noted that I would upload pictures from my roadtrip, but since I have more videos from that part of travelling, I will pass that part for now. Enjoy the pictures ;)

This is a poster I found near Kensington Market in Toronto. The way the posters were bunched up and posted was very similar to that of the streets in Shibuya. Toronto was fun. I could travel around the world by going to different types of places to eat and drink in matter of minutes.

Quebec City. Although a major tourist spot, the architecture and the structure of this compact fort city was beautiful, and was very fun to just walk around.

I like license plates, and here is the Quebec plate I took.

From Quebec City, I took the public transportation bus as far east as i could go and started walking. It reminded me that by walking you can see so many interesting things. Dont know why but I`ve always had something for smurfs !

I got to the ferry terminal for the crossing over to Riviere Du Loup during dark, so I decided to sleep there. This was after my evacuation in the morning from a different spot where it stared pouring during the middle of the night. The sleeping bag and all of my belongings got soaked, but somehow i found myself to fall asleep after this disaster.

The next day, I made it over to Riviere du Loup. Which literary means "River of the Wolf". I read somewhere that there is some kind of a history behind this weird name, but not certain to give out the whole story.

The HI Hostel in Riviere Du Loup. I got myslef cleaned up and got my rest in this very nice hostel. It was my first time in a HI hostel, but there is a good reputation amongst travellers in Canada with these hostels.

I took a walk around the nighborhood, and saw many neat houses. This one had a playground so, I asked for a picture of the dad and daughter with their house behind it.

I was walking again on this Sunday afternoon, when I found an arena full of parked cars. I went in paid 6 bucks and caught a local youth hockey game. Midget class.

I found this at the school yard near the hostel. It`s some sort of a game....my guess

I liked this hostel, but everybody spoke French. So I didnt get to communicate with too many people until I met Eddy 41and Catherine 15, father and daugter who was hopping around hostels in eastern canada. They were interesting people. Eddy had been in Japan teaching English in Osaka and Chiba so he shared some funny stories in Japan. Cathereine was a beautiful young girl who taught me many things that one could not imagine from a young person. Thanks to them I enjoyed my time in Quebec.

Searching for my next destination. Feeling like a kid. Had to throw one of my picture in there.

The hostel in Tadoussac was the craziest hostel I have ever visited. The word "Bohemian" can describe everything about this special place. There was so much freedom and love in the air, that people did whatever they wanted to make themselves happy. I had the best night of my stay in Quebec on the night I hanged out at this place. I wished I had some pictures of these funky people I met there.

Canada is a country where it seemed that each province carried its own ways. Quebec is no exception, as they tried to become independent in 1995. The voting did not result in its independence, but you can see that this hostel had a very strong say on this issue.

And the telephone booth was in the bathroom

Live music everynight...

Thanx for checking it out. Will be back very soon with more updates

Pictures from the summer

2009-08-20T05:04:00.012+09:00

Bonjour ! I just arrived in Montreal from Toronto this morning. This city seems to have a good amount of gays and lesbians as I got hit on this morning and just saw a lesbian couple proudly making out on the escalator a few hours ago !!

Well, I never thought I would be heading out east, but here I am.
I thought once I got to Jasper I would head down south to Banff, but after seeing all the people and having the interest in Canada as a country, I wanted to do an experiment on how far I could get out east by hitchhiking. The result was 7 rides and 8 days to get to Toronto from the Pacific. Amazing people, amazing scenary, and a lot of gas consumed.

Ok ! will upload some pictures from this summer to do the rest of the talking
ciao !

View of the Mendenhall Glacier. My backyard for two weeks in Juneau (June 10, Juneau Alaska)

Papa Chops, Grandpa of the Skaflestads was responsible for my great times in Hoonah. He was the person that picked me up when I was walkin out to find a camp spot. Here he is just snoozin away like any other Grandpa on this planet.

Youngest of the three brothers, Torsten. 12 years old and already a natural hunter and fisherman. I will never forget the evening dinners with the Skaflestads. A real family. (July 3 Hoonah Alaska)

Yoga in the morning with Peter in Hoonah. I spent 2 weeks in this beautiful log cabin that Peter and his son, Michael built all by themselves. Now that's a dreamhome. Thank you again to Rory and Peter for their hospitality (June 28 Hoonah Alaska)

Heading out of Hoonah and saying goodbye to everyone I met was the toughest thing...Hoonah to Juneau in the cessna (July10, SE Alaska)
They named the ferry after me ! Well not exactly, but the "Taku" were respcted native tribes in southeast Alaska, and there were rivers, glaciers, winds and even souvenir shops named after the "Taku" I must say I was very proud to be a "Taku"

Getting close with a curious deer early in the morning before hitting the trail. (July 12 Petersburg, Alaska )

Taking a stroll in town just before sunset and here came a little tiger. (July 13 Wrangell, Alaska)

After a strenuous hike up, I slept the last night in Alaska with a view I will never forget (July 14 Wrangell Alaska)

Met two other backpackers on the first day in Haida Gwaii. Jared from Alberta, and Nela from Germanay. Ended up backpacking around the island with them for the 1st week. Here we are cooking ourselves up with dinner. (July 19, Haida Gwaii)

Heading into town from our campsite, a little funky Toyota pickup stops to give us a ride so we took some pictures. (July 24 Naikoon Provincial Park Haida Gwaii)

The waves were pounding the day we got to north beach. So excited, had to go to the surfshop the next day. Was great to be back in the water and getting my ass kicked.
(July 23, Haida Gwaii)

The swell went down in the next few days, but when it all cleared up, it was heaven on earth... (July 25, Haida Gwaii)

camping right beneath "Sleeping Beauty" (July 31- August3 Haida Gwaii)

Dawn. View from the top of Sleeping Beauty. looks like the lost world (August 1, Haida Gwaii)

Thanx for checking it out. I hope to upload my pictures and stories from my hitchhiking trip nex t time.

Haida Gwaii

2009-08-06T05:55:00.002+09:00

Konnichiwa !!

Please Allow me to express my situation in English, as I can not find anywhere to type Japanese characters.

I am doing very well right now. Currently I am at an island called the Queen Charllote Islands also known as "Haida Gwaii"

Simply put, this is one of the most fascinating places I have ever been to.

The presence of the native culture is very strong, and there are just so many things to do out here, which makes this place in my opinion a great place for backpackers.

This weekend is the annual music festival of the island. It has been a while since i got to get myself involved with live music, so am looking forward to this.

Also I have made a small plan of my voyage. A destination is needed, and at this moment, I am thinking of heading down to the tip of "Baja California". This will be a journey like many whales and birds that migrate along the pacific coast each year. Maybe I will be able to understand why these amazing fellas go back and forth each year.

So, hopefully will be in Japan by the end of this year to re organize myself.

ciao

---------------------

good bye alaska, hello bc

2009-07-17T09:26:00.003+09:00

domo konnnichiwa

nihon wa tsuyu ake no kisetsudesune.

koko south east alaska wa yoi hareta hi ga tsuzuitemashita.

sono tenki ni ayakari, saikin wa alaska journey no climax toshite, kappatsuni hike shitemashita.

soshite, backpack ni seou nimotsu wo karukushitakattanode pc wo hokan shimashita. nihongo ya shashin mo up dekinainode, natsuno aida blog oyasumi shimasu.

natsu ga owaru to mata blog de omoshiroi neta nado areba shoukai shitaito omoimasu. kesa wa canada ni hairimashita. ima no yotei wa konomama, minamini kudari, canada's surf town, "Tofino" wo mezashimasu.

Alaska mo iikanji ni shimekukurimashitanode korekara canada ga tanoshimidesu.

アイヌとクリンキットの関係

2009-07-02T05:31:00.008+09:00

ジュノーで一息ついて、今はフーナという人口900人の村にいる。ここに来た理由は今まで見る機会が無かったネイティブ（先住民）の住居区域を見てみたかったからだ。といっても彼らが現在住む家や着る服は伝統的なものではなく、現代人と変わりは無い。おじいちゃんはホットドックをほうばり若者はギャングスタな格好をして町を歩く。だが間違いなく彼らに先住民の血が流れていることがその容姿から伺える。

そしてその容姿を見ていると、日本人に近い存在であることが不思議な位感じられる。特に日本の民族の中でもアイヌとここの先住民、クリンキットは科学的に類似した民族であることが証明されているというのだ。

それを証明するかのようにここのアートや信仰はアイヌのものと非常に似ているし、自然環境も似ている。だから昔陸続きであった頃、アジアから北米に渡ったというのであれば納得出来てしまう。

また、アイヌは北米のすべてのインディアンがアメリカ軍に侵略を受けた様に、「日本本土」の侵略によって同化された事実がある。
だから彼らには「日本人」の枠組みを超えた独特な祖先が間違いなく存在する。そして、このアラスカの土地に住み続けてきたクリンキットとつながっているというのだから面白い。

現代の日本では自分のルーツについてあまり知らない人が多いと思う。自分もそうだ。だが、僕はここに来て改めて自らのルーツや祖先に興味を抱きはじめている・・・

昨日は黒澤明の大作、「7人の侍」を初めて見た。映画は鑑賞するタイミングによって感じ方が大きく左右するからこの場面で見れて本当に良かった。

世界は広いようで狭い。そして皆つながっている。そうここに来て感じている。

休憩場に到着

2009-06-15T08:44:00.006+09:00

旅を始めて2ヶ月が経過した。日数でいえば75日。旅は好きでも今までこのような長い旅に出た事はなかったので、自分の気持ちにたくさんの発見がある。

今は気分的に新しい事に挑戦したり、活発に何かをするよりゆっくりしたい気分。だから南東アラスカのジュノーに先週着いてから氷河とその湖に佇むキャンプ場でゆっくり今までの旅を振り返っている。

今まで起きた事の記憶を失うのも怖い上、これからどんだけ素晴らしい体験をしてもこのまま旅を今までのペースで進めてもそれほどの感動が出来るか自信がない。だから日本にいる頃から絶対にやろうと思っていたGlacier Bayでのカヤックも今このタイミングでやるべきなのか迷っている。

ここ一週間は今までの旅で起こったことを記録したり、この旅で疑問に思った事や調べたいことを整理するため、近所の大学の図書館で色々と作業をしている。軽い留学気分だ。そして何よりも自分の祖国の文献を英語で読むことに何か面白みを感じている。

写真はコディアックでヒッチハイクしてたら止まった韓国人のじじい、ベンジャミン。5日間家に泊めてもらった。ケチなじじいで日本の戦時中についての説教をしたり、ウザイときもあったけど大きな意味がこの出会いにあるのではないかと思う。その他にも書ききれないたくさんの出来事がありました・・・

-------------

ちなみに3月の頭から親友が飛行機なしの世界一周旅に挑戦しています。冷静に考えると陸路と海路のみで回るのはとんでもないことだと思います。旅小説的な感じでお勧めです。どうぞ。

世界一周旅日記

ストックトレーダーとして稼ぎながら、飛行機なしで世界一周する旅日記

夢のような日々

2009-05-22T05:47:00.012+09:00

今Homerの図書館でこれを書いている。

日本語を使う機会が減ったのか、なかなか自分の気持ちを今言葉で表現することが出来ない。それでもここHomerで過ごした一ヶ月は夢の様な日々だったことは間違いないことは言える。

たくさんの人に出会った。わずか5分間の出会いからまる一ヶ月毎日顔を合わせる関係まで様々な形で人と触れ合う機会に恵まれた。それもほとんどが、僕と同じような考えを持った人達。ロンリープラネットのガイドブックにも載っていたように、ここはまさに北の「シャングリラ」なのかもしれない。

次はアメリカ領土内で、2番目に大きい島、KODIAK ISLANDに行く予定。Homerではアラスカでの生活や人との触れ合いを経験できた。だから今度はKODIAKで自然と向き合い、出来れば熊に遭遇したいと思う。

次の投稿はパソコンを保管するため、だいぶ先になりそうです。

写真は,ホーマーのカフェ、夜１１時シーサイドファームでのキャンプファイヤー、氷河へのトレッキング、シーサイドファームのモシーとキッチンでのラズベリージャム作り

ホーマー、アラスカ

2009-05-02T09:19:00.003+09:00

アラスカにたどり着いて約一ヶ月がたつ。
この一ヶ月で一体どれだけの出会い、出来事が起こったのか自分でも分からないくらい濃い毎日を過ごしている。

4月のアラスカの急斜面を新雪のパウダースノーで滑走したり、ミクシーで出会ったアラスカの寿司職人の家に泊めてもらったり、熊の骸骨の肉を切り落としたり、強風や満潮の驚異に怯えながらビーチキャンピングをしたり、日常では考えられない出来事が自分の旅をより豊かな方向へと導いてくれている。

そして今日は5月1日。ようやく辿り着いたホーマーという港町はおしゃれで落ち着いた雰因気が伝わってくるメチャクチャ緩くて
チャーミングな町だ。

人も人間らしく、伸び伸びたくましく生きているし、なんといってもここから見えるとんでもなく美しい景色は格別だ。

そんなホーマーから７ｋｍ程走ったところにあるSeaside Farmという宿泊ファーム・キャンプグラウンドに僕は今いる。先週20日にたどり着き、来月の末まで毎日2，3時間のファームの手伝いと個室提供の交換条件で5月末まで滞在することが決まった。

そのSeaside Farmを取り仕切るのはホーマーで生まれ育ったモシー(MOSSY)という映画に出てきそうな60年代のバリバリのヒッピーであったナチュラリストなオバサン。

なんとアラスカ出身アーティストで最も成功したであろうシンガーソングライターのジュエル（JEWEL)のおばさんにあたる人なのだ。
彼女はお喋りで本当に色々面白いお話をしてくれる自称、「生まれながらのストーリーテラー」だ。また動物が大好きで鳥観察のスペシャリストであり、クリエイティブな才能を持った人物であるようだ。

ファームの環境は最高だ。牛、馬、鶏、がそこら中でふらついており、特に鶏は外敵となるイーグルに怯えながら生きているのが面白い。昨日も鶏がイーグルにさらわれる現場を目撃した。まさに自然界の弱肉強食世界。そんな光景をみていると我々人間は自然の一部として存在していることを実感する。

ここ南中部のアラスカ（Kenai Peninsula地方）は長いアラスカの冬から目覚めたばかり。雪に埋もれていた植物や草は長い日照時間を利用して一気に成長し続けている。もちろんここSeaside Farmも来月から世界中から多くのトラベラーが遊びにくるというのだから本当に楽しみだ。昨日は夜10時まで日が沈まないキャンプファイヤーを満喫。アラスカの夏はこれからだ。

ぐだぐだ生活

2009-04-12T11:19:00.002+09:00

ガードウッドに到着してこれで六日目。ここはアンカレッジから約1時間、東へ走ったところにある静かな村だ。宿泊先はここにあるホステル。毎日入れ替わりでいろんな人間が出入りする。

山の状況だが、一昨日から降り始めた雪で昨日は久々のパウダーな日を味わうことが出来た。頂上で約25センチの新雪。4月なのにさすがアラスカといった感じ。そんで、昨日のドカ雪に合わせて初めて滑ったので今は軽く筋肉痛。アラスカの冬はまだ終わりそうにもないのでそれまではここで待機する予定。

ファストフードネイション

2009-04-06T12:36:00.008+09:00

アンカレッジに到着してから4日。
なんだか気分が上がらない。もちろん始まったばかりだし、都会的な環境を求めてアラスカに来ているわけではないのだから仕方ないだろう。アンカレッジはどこにでもあるアメリカの都市そのままだ。人間もほとんどが本土の人に変わりようないし、食べているものもお決まりのファストフードやチェーン店の食べ物。取り合えず僕は日本から持参してきた米で食いつないでいる。

明日にはガードウッドというスキーヴィレッジに移る予定なので、今日は近くのアジアンマーケットで買出ししてきた。早く環境をかえたい。

ずっこけセレパッカー

2009-04-04T12:33:00.004+09:00

予定出発日が3月31日だったが、災難に見舞われ結局日本を出国できたのは昨日の4月2日。今アンカレッジのホステルのWIFIからこれを書いているが、ここまでたどり着くのにかなりの関門があった。

まず31日、成田の出国チェックインカウンターで衝撃的な事実を伝えられ、戸惑う。予約情報が記載された用紙をカウンターで手渡したら、予約は無効であることを告げられた。

「予約されたセレブツアーは今月の始めに倒産してしまったのでこちらに料金が支払われておらず、席を確保出来ておりません。」とのこと

これはよくニュースとかで気の毒だな～と思う出来事。

どうやらこの「セレブツアー」は倒産後連絡がつかず、被害者もかなりいるとのこと。

「セレパッカー、セレブツアーに敗れる」といえば響きは面白いが、この後、HISで同額を支払い、2日後のシアトルまでのチケットを購入するしかなかった。

本当に信じられない出来事だったが、これは、安さだけを追求した自分の過ちであった。YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FORという表現が最近は強く自分に染みてきます。

旅の始まりはこんな幕開けであった。

写真はこの為、成田で3泊した大竹屋旅館

2泊3日九十九里縦断

2009-03-27T22:59:00.004+09:00

アラスカのバックパッキングに向けて装備のチェックを兼ねて九十九里を縦断してきた。結果を言えば砂と風の猛威を感じた3日間だった。最終日の夜は風が強すぎてテントも吹き飛ばされ、砂だらけ。それでも南風を利用してその日は北への進行が楽だったのも確か。ひたすら重い荷物を背中に砂浜を歩き続けた週末だったが、収穫はあった。放浪するなら荷物を減らせということです。

マウスピース

2009-03-19T12:02:00.002+09:00

２週間前に依頼したマウスピースが出来上がったのでとりに行った。昔は市販のものをよく使っていたが、こうして歯医者でオーダーメードしてもらったので大事に使いたいと思う。ケース付きで７５００円。色は無難にクリアーにしました。ちなみに赤っぽいのは歯医者に最終調整してもらったときに付いてきた液体です。僕の血ではありません。

Enterport co ltd

2009-03-16T08:26:00.003+09:00

２００５年の秋から２００６年の夏にかけて株式会社を立ち上げた時期があった。事業内容はインターネット上の音楽配信サイト。最終的には資本家の不祥事で資金源が尽き、事業はサイトがオープンする前に終了。そんな目まぐるしい期間を共にした仲間達と出発前に近況報告をした。結論としては今の不況を考えるとスタート前に力尽きて正解だったとのこと。約３年前のことだが、当時は本当に若かったと思う。そんな経験があったからこそ今自分がはっきりとやりたいことが分かるのだと思う。ちなみに僕たちが製作したサイトは第三者に買い取られ、実際今でも存在するので興味あるかたはこちらにどうぞ→Kingbeat

Moosejaw

2009-03-12T12:02:00.003+09:00

アメリカのミシガン州に拠点をおいているMOOSEJAWというアウトドアリテイラーから先月注文したグッズが届いた。日本で購入するより安いし品揃えも豊富。いろいろ届いたけど実際使ってみてからいい商品があれば紹介していきたい。

Nallo 2 GT

2009-03-05T18:50:00.002+09:00

最近ずっと雨だった。ここ１０日以上で晴れたのは今日含めて２日くらいだろう。なので、先月届いたNallo 2 GTをピッチしてみた。写真は蛍光灯モードで撮ってしまったため青みが強くなってしまったが、無問題。今晩はテスト睡眠も予定。

Narita→Seattle→Anchorage

2009-03-04T11:55:00.006+09:00

初投稿。最近文章離れであったのでまずは写真をアップ。
出発は３月３１日。日本的に区切りがよいのでこの日に決定。
同じ日にアラスカ州アンカレッジには到着の予定。ちょっと写真見づらいかな。。。まいいや。

放浪日記

February Wrap Up

Snow Monsters

January Wrap-up

Pride of Nozawa

Powder, Onsen, Ramen...

Happy New Year

Coca Cola

Winter Solstice

手紙

携帯紛失

秋季バイト その２

秋季バイト その1

End of Another Cycle

Perception_Trailer

Back home in Japan

大峰奥駈道の神秘

Speed Addiction is Fatal

Powerspot

Re-Dumped

Dumped

Weird Places to Sleep

Home

via Karakoram Highway

In Chaos Now

Autumn Has Come

Wrecked in India

Back to Asia

Car for sale

To Darwin

Life in Broome

Exiles by Robert Harris

Fragments of the Earth

Robbed in the Outback

Time Traveller

Gold

Margaret River main break

Travels in the southwest

Bibbulmun

Moving On

SNS Links & Denmark Landscapes

Gaijin books

Leaving Albany

2010 kicks off

Merry Christmas & Happy New year

strawberries

update

update

Mud, Flies, Rain, Back Ache = Strawberry Picking

Balibo

Gondwanaland

Off the hook

My New Mate

A bit too early

Porongurup

At Mount Barker

arrived safely in perth

ドラクエ再出発

出発前日なのに・・・

オーストラリアに行く理由

作業状況

Twitter風に（ちょっとかなり長くなりましたが。

笑福亭鶴瓶

リアルな世界に戻った私

One Week in Yambaru

Okinawa is humid

10 days in Quebec

Pictures from the summer

Haida Gwaii

good bye alaska, hello bc

アイヌとクリンキットの関係

休憩場に到着

夢のような日々

ホーマー、アラスカ

ぐだぐだ生活

ファストフードネイション

ずっこけセレパッカー

2泊3日九十九里縦断

マウスピース

Enterport co ltd

秋季バイト　その２

秋季バイト　その1