Australia 🇦🇺 and Japan 🇯🇵

We had a week to spend in Australia, flying in and out of Sydney. We had beautiful weather and spent days at Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. We also went to the zoo and aquarium. We were enjoying our time in Sydney . . . then the Luckhounds had some bad luck. Long story short, right before our flight to Japan, Mike hit his head (surfing? boxing kangaroos? epic fight with the missus? I will only tell you IRL!). Concussed with a giant egg, he had to spend the night in hospital in Sydney with the trauma team running him through scans. So wow... not good. 

I had been feeling kind of bad myself — aches, fever, etc. Turns out it was a viral infection. Yay. So Mike had to miss our flight to Tokyo, and the girls and I had to go on without him, fingers crossed that he’d be able to meet us in Tokyo soon after. Rather stressful day: Mike in the hospital, and for me and my girls — an eleven-hour flight to Seoul, quick plane change, then two more hours to Tokyo, not knowing the state of Mike! 

By the time we got to Tokyo, we had confirmation that Mike was on his way, so that was a relief, but I felt like hot garbage. In Tokyo, I went to Emergency and got a prescription for antivirals, which took a while to kick in. So our first few days in Tokyo were spent mostly in our hotel, in the pjs they supply (love that!), recovering. Our poor kids put themselves to bed one night after playing Minecraft for hours and eating a few clementines for supper! Pitiful. 

On Day 3 or so, we went to Harajuku, a cartoony part of Tokyo that’s on blast. Pretty much the worst place to take a guy with a concussion! We had truly terrible food at Kawaii Monster Café, which was visually spectacular and extremely loud. We were so overwhelmed by it that we had to go relax in a cat café. Meow. So chill, much nicer time. 🐈 

Moving on, we bought our rail passes and took the bullet train to Kyoto for a week. There we met Peter MacIntosh, who is a very fun host. Let’s just say he knows Kyoto (See link below!) having lived there since 1993! Pete is a geisha expert, a tour guide, an artist, and sweetheart. We went on his walking tour through the geisha district, then met for dinner with a geisha. It was fascinating to spend time with her and learn about geisha history and culture. 

Kyoto is a cool city, and the people we met were extremely helpful and sweet. We went to peaceful Shinto shrines, ancient gardens, and great restaurants. We did some karaoke. Chloe and Mike had an epic bike ride around the city, and Sylvie and I spent a day on a big shopping street — the two-level Hello Kitty store and the ubiquitous capsule toys were highlights. 

We took a day trip to Hiroshima, to the Peace Memorial Museum and Park. It’s a heartbreaking place, showing how awful and vulnerable people can be. It was hard for us all to go through the museum, reading and listening to exhibits, and seeing artefacts that convey some of the devastation and long term harm the atomic bomb caused the people of Hiroshima.  Also, it’s gutting to know how much nuclear weaponry is still out there, and likely in development. Outside the museum, we thankfully met groups of local students on field trips, reciting poetry and bringing paper crane garlands and other artwork to the Children’s Memorial. There were some outgoing and comical kids who were happy to practice their English on us. 

We also stopped to see the famous water shrine and tame deer on the island Itsukushima (Miyajima). We wandered through a huge temple and enjoyed the architecture and landscape. 🦌⛩ 

We headed back to Tokyo, sad to say goodbye to Peter and his wife Aya, but excited for our Disney plans. It was the first time at any Disney for Mike and the girls, second for me (remember that time, DHS ladies?). The girls in their fresh new Mickey shirts, we spent a day at DisneySea and another at Disneyland. We rode some coasters, cute rides, 3D rides, and ate some junky snacks — highlights were Temple of Doom, Journey to the

Centre of the Earth, caramel popcorn, and a shell-shaped ice cream monaka. The people are so kawaii with so many friends “twinning” their outfits. DisneySea is huge and gorgeous, and the lineups weren’t bad at all. Disneyland was busier and several rides were closed, but still a fun place to be for a day. Space Mountain, Star Tours, and It’s a Small World did not disappoint. 🎢🎠🗺

All in all, we LOVE Japan and plan to return someday. For the food alone it’s worth it: 

sushi, ramen, wagyu beef, yakitori, Lawson egg salad sandwich, I could go on. 🍣🍜🥩🍢🍙  Even the oniri rice triangle from the corner-store is tasty. Arigato! 🇯🇵 

Tahiti and Moorea 🌴🌺🐚

Ten awesome days. Wow. I had to fight back tears at the Tahiti airport as Tiaré and Kahalani put shells around our necks and gave us their last bisous 😘. Knowing how far French Polynesia 🇵🇫is from home and how much we love it makes it hard to go. 

We spent most of our time on the island of Tahiti, near the city of Papeete, in the outskirts of Papara. We also spent two beautiful nights on the island of Moorea. Polynesia is so friendly. It takes a while to get used to the heat, but the abundance of fresh fruit and fish is incredible.

On the island Moorea we stayed in a bungalow with an over-water deck, surrounded by fish. We swam and kayaked around the bay. It was amazing, and we didn’t even need to be on The Bachelorette finale to be there (hahahaha thank God). 

When we went back to Tahiti, our friends the Raveinos picked us up and took us to their house, where we stayed for the rest of the week. They are great hosts, warm and welcoming, and there are always lots of family and friends around. They fed us well, toured us around the island, and taught us loads about Polynesian hospitality and culture. We attended their church, where they welcomed a new deacon. The church was huge, and packed, and the singing was  — in French and Tahitian. After church there was a huge party to welcome the deacon and groups sang, danced, and regaled him with special gifts. We ate the Tahitian version of the church-reception potluck. Very cool. 

It was a beautiful stay in Tahiti and we hope to go visit our friends again someday, and would also love to host them in Canada.

Rapa Nui: Te Pito O Te Henua 🌴🗿🌺

Rapa Nui is unique, isolated and distinct. It’s the easternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. (Hawaii and New Zealand are the other two points.)

Clearly, Rapa Nui is known for its giant stone Moai, but there is much more to the island. The fragrant, rolling, volcanic hills are full of wild horses. There are perfect rolling surfers’ waves in the town’s small harbour, and the waterfront has parks where you can swim and watch the sun set. On another coast, Anakena beach is powder-sanded, warm, palm shaded. Fresh fruit and fish are abundant everyday in the small market. Colourful flowers are commonplace. 🐴🌺🐟

The development since our last visit (2006) is extensive: the pools built into the  town’s shoreline, a new museum, a monthly magazine, and more accommodation choices. Also, visitors have to buy tickets to the most important sites like Rano Raraku (the 🗿quarry) and Orongo (site of the birdman 🥚competition). There are signs, paths, and fences where there weren’t before, and the rules of the island are posted everywhere. I guess there have just been too many fools climbing on sites, trying to ruin or steal pieces of this place (like the historians of years passed). Twelve years ago the sites were unsupervised and when we went, we were the only ones there. Now there are larger groups of tourists, but it’s still fascinating.

Another difference for us since 2006 is that we’re traveling as a four-pack, so hitchhiking is not really an option. By fluke we were able find Tete and Tovi, the guys who picked us up when we were hitched last visit. It was surreal to meet again. They had made our last visit unforgettable. They were happy to see us and meet the girls. 

We rented a little Jeep and drove along the bumpy (but many paved) roads, often stopping for herds of cattle and horses free ranging it. There are also plenty of dogs and chickens sifting through town, and the roosters go off all night. Ah, tropical life. 

It has been a relaxing week. Next are heading to the center of the triangle, to Tahiti and Moorea. We’re looking forward to visiting some friends, and switching from Spanish to French. 

Patagonia 🇦🇷🇨🇱

Bariloche is a picturesque mountain town, full of chocolatiers. Our favorite place was Mamuschka, the dreamy chocolate store where you point and a waiter with tiny tongs places exquisite chocolates into a pretty box. Let’s just say we were regulars. It was Easter week and the festival of chocolate, so the town was hoppin.

Another chocolate place called RapaNui had a little ice rink. So the Cosgroves laced up and took to the ice. In Canada, we enjoy the occasional recreational skate. In Argentina, we are basically Tessa Virtue, Scott Muir, Elvis Stojko, and Patrick Chan. Doing leisurely laps, novice levels at best, we saw families and lovers on a date wipe out A LOT. I’m talking splits and hard falls, classic Bambi legs, and always laughing it off. The general inability and resilience were equally impressive. 

We took a side trip to El Bolson, a small hippie town in a valley. We bought cozy hats at the market and hiked up a mountain to a forest filled with carved statues. A highlight was also our accommodation, Earthship Patagonia, an evolving site with an earthship, tents, and yurts. There were horses munching the grass nearby and five cats looking for snuggles. In the shared kitchen we had fun hanging out with other travellers. The kids were especially happy to have more people to talk to (English and French). It was fun to be immersed in the backpacker vibe again for a bit. 

Our next destination was Puerto Varas, Chile. We took a combination of buses and boats through the beautiful lakes. In that town we could see the Osorno volcano. We met artist Paulo Freire in his interesting house-museum. After a few days we rented a car to go explore the island of Chiloé. 

Chiloé was a treat. We met fun travellers (yay! new buddies), explored another quirky house-museum, and visited Chiloé’s UNESCO wooden churches. On a visit to a deserted beach we saw dolphins playing in the surf. 

Now we’re back in Santiago, and spent the day at Pablo Neruda’s waterfront house in Isla Negra.  We are about to leave South America mainland for Rapa Nui. What an amazing continent!

🇨🇱🍱🍣🐬🦅🐴🦌🐂🐄🐑🦙🐈🐩🐇🌲🌴🎋🍄🍂🌻🌎🌈🍎🥑🍕🍷🚗🚕🛥✈️🇦🇷

Santiago & Mendoza 🍷🍕🗻

After enjoying nature in Ecuador, the move to Santiago, Chile was a big switch. We stayed in an 11th floor apartment (AirBNB) in Providencia - great neighbourhood. We took the nearby teleferico, and the funicular to the top of San Cristobal for a full view of the capital.

We toured Pablo Neruda’s house La Chascona, and were inspired again by his eccentric style, his obsession with Matilda, and of course, his poetry. We went from room to room with a listening device that gives you information about each place and Neruda’s life. Sylvie was rapt by the audio tour and refused to move on until she heard every detail, sometimes replaying it to be sure. 

We went to the tallest mall in South America and Chloe got herself a chenille sweater that she is cherishing. We also caught a concert in Sculpture Park.

We took an 8-hr bus ride from Santiago across the border to Mendoza, Argentina, where the feasting began. 

Zuccardi Bodega is a huge family vineyard that offered a cooking class for the girls while Mike and I toured. (Keep an eye out for Fuzion at the NSLC.) When we returned from our tour, Chloe and Sylvie had made pizza, doughnuts, and pain au chocolat (baked in the big clay oven outside with the chef, who showed them around the garden, where they picked the tomatoes for their pizzas). Then we had a three-course lunch. Bread, oils and tapenades, salad, lasagna, milanesa — and dessert. In honour of the vineyard matriarch, we had her signature wine with lunch, the Santa Julia rosé. Muy rico, as they say here. 

The next day, we needed some swimming. We rented a car and went to the Termas Cacheuta 25 km outside the city. It’s a complex of 15 or so pools — big, small, cold, hot, warm, you get the picture. Great day. 

The rest of our time in Mendoza we spent going to parks, plazas, a sad aquarium, a cool anthropological museum, another two vineyards, and a few great restaurants. It’s an easy city to love. 

19-hr bus ride later, we’re in Bariloche, the chocolate capital, which is in Patagonia. It’s autumn here, and we’re adjusting to the cool weather. They have a chocolate festival for Easter week. The Easter Bunny is all set in this town. 

That’s all for now. Eating chocolate. —K