The final day of the 2017Jaunting around Japan Art Tour with Ev Hales — and what a glorious sunny day in Kyoto to bid all 16 of us a fond sayonara.

We spent the morning at Nijō Castle, the home of the Tokugawa shōgun during the 250 years that Japan was virtually cut off from the world.  Conveniently located across the road from our hotel, it didn’t take long to rally the troops after breakfast.

The castle is set in magnificent grounds and the architecture is breathtaking.  We all toured the shōgun’s home first, before the artists spent a couple of hours sketching in the gardens.

Personally, I can never tire of the structure of the rooofs, the wood work, the gilding and the carvings.

Back to the hotel for a latish buffet lunch and then a show and tell session with all the art from the past two weeks on display for us all to admire and for Ev to critique.

That’s it!  Many are staying on to explore Kyoto’s many temples, shrines and World Heritage sites, while others are on the Shinkansen to the airport tomorrow.

As my mother was fond of saying, “he who tooteth not his own horn, his own horn shall not be tooteth.”  So allow me to toot.  This was arguably the best group we’ve had the pleasure of escorting on an art tour and I believe the itinerary worked well in allowing everyone to experience something of the real Japan, beyond the big cities, and to appreciate why Japan remains very close to our hearts as a beautiful, charming and unique country.

Sayonara — until May 2018, when we will be in Hokkaido on the next Ev Hales art adventure.

An early start today, but also a chance, with -1 deg outside, to catch a clear view of the Japan Alps from our bedroom windows:

We had a three-hour journey by private bus from Takayama to Eiheiji through some stunningly beautiful scenery — mountains, rivers, lakes, dams, waterfalls, gorges and hillsides splashed with the colours of autumn.

Ninety minutes at the 700-year-old Zen Buddhist temple of Eiheiji was probably not long enough to take in the subtle splendour of this exquisite complex set among a cedar forest, about 30 minutes from the city of Fukui.

The temple afforded glimpses of autumn colour at every corner, as well as ceilings full of watercolour art.

After Eiheiji, there was a quick lunch (and of course a soft cream) at Fukui station before taking the super fast Thunderbird Express to Kyoto — the last stop on our tour.

Our last day in beautiful Takayama — and we had rain and a wintery blast (temperatures didn’t make it above 9 deg all day) to farewell us.

Our artists spent the day under doorways and awnings in Sanno-machi and accomplished a variety of sketches, while others explored and indulged in the ubiquitous softo-cream — so many flavours, including sake and black sesame, but peach is the best.

After lunch, we walked to the Takayama Festival Museum of Floats (yatai) and the Hachimangu shrine.  These incredibly tall floats are paraded through the streets each April and October and are intricately decorated.

A last look at some kōyō on the way back to our hotel for a final ofuro and meal before heading tomorrow to the final stop on this year’s Jaunting around Japan Art Tour with Ev Hales.

Glorious, even in the rain.

What a spectacular day.  A cold start that turned into a brilliantly sunny day at the UNESCO World Heritage village of Ainokura, about 90 minutes (and dozens of tunnels) north-west of Takayama.

The gasshō-zukuri houses (so called as they resemble hands in prayer) along the Shōkawa River in the Gokayama District of Toyama Prefecture attract thousands of tourists every year, especially in the spring and autumn.  Ainokura, one of the furthest away, is much less crowded and we think more authentic as the 20 or so thatched roof buildings are inhabited and small businesses, like one making washi (Japanese paper) thrive.

While perhaps a wee bit late for full kōyō, the amber, gold, brown and green of the hillsides was a palette of colour for our artists who spent the whole day in the village turning out some great work in a challenging environment for painting.

The hills were alive…where was Julie Andrews when we needed a song?

Some wonderful views of the snow dusted peaks of the Japan Alps from our bus on the way “home” to Takayama, but I failed to snap the appropriate evidence.   I’ll see what I can do tomorrow. This really is a most beautiful part of Japan.

I’m combining two days as there was not a lot to report yesterday, except for our incident-free train journey from Shimoda to Takayama, via Atami and Nagoya.

Lyn took the opportunity to finish a painting while speeding along on Odoriko Super-View #2.

Waiting at Nagoya for the Hida Express to Takayama.  Hand luggage only.

Our Takayama hotel, the quaintly named Associa Resort, is gigantic (needs to be to accommodate the Russians — lots of them here) but the rooms, meals and ofuro are excellent.

Now for today (which, in case you’re not keeping up, is Thursday, November 9).  Great weather, if a little chilly (11 deg when we ventured forth) and kōyō (autumn colours) everywhere to incentivate artist and photographer alike.

The painting began in the morning at the Higashiyama temples and shrines overlooking Takayama city.

Some of us were a little more exuberant than others!

Samples of the morning’s efforts.

It was hard not to be inspired by the natural beauty that surrounded us (and pretty much it was just us — don’t know where the other tourists got to, but they weren’t up where we were).

After lunch, we moved down to Sanno-machi and the old homes and sake warehouses that make Takayama such a popular place to visit and paint.

Even a bride and groom in a rickshaw:

Off to see more kōyō and mountains tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I’m heading for a soak in the rotemburo.

Melbourne Cup Day dawned bright and sunny and reached a top of 23 degrees.  That was here in Shimoda.  (In Melbourne, we understand it was cold and rainy.)  To get into the spirit, we ran a sweep and managed to listen to the race courtesy of ABC Grandstand on my iPhone (at 1pm our time) — congratulations to Rick, the winner, Rhonda, for second, and, ahem… me third on Max Dynamite!

                                       Waiting for the race to start.

Apart from the race, the other big news was the announcement via a phone call from our daughter Kimi of the arrival of our fifth grandchild and third grandson Elijah Jade Dillner, in Melbourne: the real Melbourne Cup winner!

Here’s me receiving the news in a snap taken by fellow non-painter and Melbourne neighbour, Anne Kelso:

But back to the Art Tour.  We returned to Perry Road in Shimoda for painting and exploring among the temples and surrounds.  We had time for a group photo of the artists and two of the non-painters:

What a happy troop.  The scenery around the port is very picturesque, particularly on a bright sunny day:

The pathway around the bay had a big 危険 (Danger) sign at the start.  I wonder why:

Not a deterrent to our walkers!

Today was a lovely end to our time on the Izu Peninsula.  We handed back our two rental vans that had been driven by Chris and me for the last four days and said sayonara to Shimoda with a massive kaiseki dinner.

Takayama tomorrow — by train.

The start of our second week of Japan 2017 saw the group heading for central Izu and Kawazu Nanadaru (seven waterfalls).

The falls were stunning and so was the art that was produced this morning.

I admit to having a waterfall addiction.  Just love them.  Wish I could post my super video but I fear it would use up all my (and your) bandwidth.  Just a couple of more stills then.

More painting tomorrow in Shimoda township, Commodore Perry’s favourite port, on our last day in Izu before heading to the hills of Takayama.

Another day in Shimoda.  Well, to be precise, today was spent in Yumigahama and Irozaki, a few kilometres south of Shimoda on the tip of the Izu Peninsula.

But to backtrack for a moment, Shimoda was where a select few (that is, the few who selected to come) enjoyed a fabulous sushi meal last night that exceeded all expectations.

Now back to today, another sunny autumn day and perfect for both painting and hiking.  The morning was spent at a fishing port, surrounded by boats:

And after a lunch of ise-ebi ramen (and other local delicacies), we headed for Irozaki where the stunning landscape gave the artists plenty of options for a full afternoon of painting.

A slightly different view from the nearby hill, climbed by the non-painters:

Back to our hotel for snack (snuck?) dinners after a critique of the day’s work from Ev and communal baths in the onsen.

Waterfalls tomorrow.  Meanwhile it’s おやすみなさい (nighty-night) from me.

The scene from our bedroom window at the Izukyū Shimoda Hotel.  The surfers (not us!) were out in force at 6 am but not much of a swell.

Seems everyone survived their first night sleeping on the floor and were raring to go.  Chris and I are the designated drivers of two hired mini-vans — Toyota’s latest — to ferry our group around various locations on the Izu Peninsula.

First port of call was Kisami Ōhama beach for a full morning’s painting session and a 6km walk for four of the non-painters.

After lunch at Sunny Side (it’s still there after 30+ years), we drove back to Shimoda and an afternoon on Perry Road, at the shrines, shops and museums.

Meanwhile, I checked out some places for a snuck.

Dinner in town tonight after a relaxing soak in the onsen (hot spring baths), including a lovely rotemburo (outdoor bath).

Another glorious sunny day in Tokyo for our last morning here on this year’s trip.  It was Culture Day today, a national holiday and a popular day for weddings in the 400-year-old Japanese gardens of the New Ōtani Hotel.

A scene that attracted some photography from our group.

The beautiful gardens were where our artists spent the morning, after Ev’s briefing, alongside the gardeners who were doing their twice annual tree trimming.

At midday, we boarded a bus for the long, long, long road trip to Shimoda — only 180km south-east of Tokyo, but with public holiday traffic, road works, and traffic lights every 150metres,  it felt like 1800km.

It took almost two hours longer than the scheduled four and a half to reach our resort hotel, Izukyū Shimoda, which will be our base for the next five nights.  Our rooms are Japanese style, with futons on the tatami mating floor to sleep on.  An adventure!