Oasis Park

 Yesterday was Kaori's birthday - and she HAD TO WORK!!!!

So we postponed her birthday to the evening and Austin, Tatsuki and I went to Oasis Park for the morning.

At Oasis Park there is a ferris wheel, an aquarium and a park with water features and eating spaces and play spaces.

I do love a good ferris wheel:

I was a bit worried about going into the aquarium. The one in Ise was a sad, unhappy place with animals in spaces that were (to my mind) far too small. I remember it as dark and crowded. The one in Gifu is lovely. It follows the river, and then explores rivers in other parts of the world. You go to the top in an elevator and then meander your way down the river and it is open and light and airy and there are waterfalls and it feels happy and bright.

Then we had lunch in the park.

Hot corn soup in a can

I didn't realise redback spiders had migrated to Japan until I saw this warning poster. Apparently they arrived in Osaka in 1995 and have now spread over almost all the country. I did a google translate of the poster to make sure I was right about the type of spider and it definitely is a redback.

Then we made a quick visit to Donki. Still no bags of mixed KitKats, but plenty of bags of other mixed chocolates.

Then we went to a fancy bakery to get cakes for Kaori's birthday.

a quick trip to the supermarket and then home for a Birthday Feast. Austin made prawn pasta. We had pizza from the prize winning pizzeria next door. We had Kaori's favourite croquettes and mince katsu. And we had cake

It was a good day. And it was my last full day in Gifu. Today I am making my way back to Tokyo on two trains, two planes back to Melbourne and the SkyBus home. All being well, I should arrive home late in the afternoon tomorrow (Tuesday).

Breakfast yesterday:

Pastries from the bakery on Saturday:
Half a custard bear, a piece of apple pie
and part of a potato, sausage and cheese
tart

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Nagahama

Yesterday we took a drive to Nagahama, a town on Lake Biwa, about an hour's drive from here. 

The point of the drive was, in fact, the drive. It's a lovely route, passing Sekigahara and Mount Ibuki, both of which we have been to.

We had lunch in a Coco Curry place.

We went to the shore of Biwako, so I could say I had seen the lake and the water.

We walked along an old style shopping street

Tatsuki had an ice cream

We came home via a country bakery

and went to Big Boys for dinner

Mixed grill with mashed potato for me

I think Austin did extra time on the treadmill at the gym this morning. I am just resigned to my clothes having shrunk a bit. I shall have to restrict myself to salads when I get home. Although, I have been eating salad quite a bit while I've been here

Big Boy salad plate,
corn soup on the side

Hayakunen Park, Gifu

It was a public holiday yesterday, to celebrate the vernal equinox.

We all went to Hayakunen Park, which is on the other side of Gifu. It is a lovely drive there and the park itself is big and filled with trees and plants. It also has a small museum.

Kaori and Tastsuki went up these stairs

This is in the park

Looking inside

I did not go up the stairs to the museum. I did not walk up the path. Austin and I went up in this elevator

It looks like a self-driving tram. Austin and I got in. Some Japanese people got in. The door closed. We all sat there, not moving, until Austin noticed the elevator style buttons and pressed the one for Up. Whereupon the elevator started to move. Everyone laughed 😜

The museum itself is very cute. It's not especially big but it is lots of fun. There was a replica of the house down in the park. There are dinosaurs and nature exhibitions. Local archaeology. Daily life. Plenty to see and do

The elevator to the upper level

My favourite object

These can be my new walking boots

Then we came back to the 21st century and went to a nearby mall for a light lunch and to a Donki to see if I could get some packets of mixed KitKats (answer: no) and then home.

Before going to a sushi place for dinner

Garlic prawns

Coffee jelly

Cherry blossom time is approaching, although I don't think I'll be here for the main event. I'm leaving on Monday and I think it will be a few days before the trees come into full bloom

And for anyone following my breakfast adventures, this is what Austin made for me yesterday morning