A new dawn

As I set out on my walk just before nine this morning, I got the sense that today marked a new beginning, that the 146km I've walked to date was just a warm-up, that my injury worries were behind me, and that my real training was just starting.

The walk itself was great. It rained a lot yesterday and so it was hard to avoid getting my shoes wet whenever I left the tar seal. However, despite the presence of some low cloud around the hills, the rain stayed away and in fact it was relatively warm.

There weren't many people about. Being a Saturday, I thought there'd be more people out jogging or biking. In all I exchanged verbal greetings with at least four passersby, got a number of nods, was tooted at and waved to by a guy in a passing car, and was almost run over by a postie. I saw plenty of waterlogged sheep, some curious cows, a couple of frisky horses who were forced to share a paddock with some large goats, and the odd dog. I considered stopping for coffee or to buy a banana a couple of times along the way, but decided to push on and made it home in time for lunch.

Distance walked today: 14.1km
Total distance walked since blog began: 160.1km

Expectations

Now that my flights are finalized, the next step will be to start booking our accommodation. Erik should know pretty soon whether or not he can take the time off work he needs to embark on the Kisokaido Project, and once I have that confirmation I'll start booking the hotels and inns listed on our wiki. Some I'll be able to book over the Internet, either directly or via booking sites like Rakuten Travel, but others will require a phone call or fax to the lodging concerned.

I actually really enjoy this planning phase of overseas trips. Which is just as well, because Erik has mentioned to me on several occasions that he hates it, not because he's a lazy bastard, but because he doesn't like to have too many preconceived ideas about destinations in his head before he leaves, as disappointment can result when a place doesn't live up to expectations. Personally I like the security of knowing to some extent what to expect during my travels, particularly when it comes to accommodation. That still leaves plenty of room during the day for surprises. A lot more than when one's stuck at home working.

Speaking of which, it looks like I've got the whole weekend off, which is a real rarity. Looking forward to a long walk tomorrow.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 146km

Flights booked!

Well, the flights are booked. I'll be jetting into Kansai International Airport on Saturday 20 October and possibly spending the night in Osaka before heading to Kyoto the following day to meet up with Erik (if he turns up, that is).

According to the latest schedule as detailed on the wiki, we'll be arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday 13 November, hopefully to be greeted by a mob of cheering fans as we stroll through Nihonbashi in our clown suits (clown noses optional). I fly out from Narita International Airport on Saturday 17 November, so that gives me a few days to unwind in Tokyo before heading home.

I'm afraid there hasn't been a lot of walking, or blogging, going on this week. To be honest my mind's been occupied with other things. Hopefully I'll have time over the weekend to do a decent bit of training.

Distance walked the day before yesterday: 3km
Distance walked yesterday: 0km
Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 143km

No turning back

Erik and I had a long and fruitful Skype session this afternoon during which we discussed shoes, airline tickets, ideas for the art project, various medical issues, and cones.

I heard from a little birdie that JAL have no plans for the time being to issue any special airfares, so I've decided to go ahead and book flights at JAL's normal fare, which is still cheaper than Air New Zealand and allows me to travel "open jaw", flying from Christchurch to Kansai via Auckland on the way there, and from Narita to Christchurch direct on the way back. I'd been toying with flying in at least one direction on Jetstar, but after reading this and hearing other stories about Jetstar canceling or rescheduling flights at the last moment, I've decided it's not worth the hassle.

Distance walked yesterday: 5.2km
Distance walked today; 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 140km

Closure

I received a delightful letter from ACC (that's Accident Compensation Corporation to you non-Kiwis) yesterday informing me that they've agreed to accept the claim for my toe. I don't actually remember making a claim. It's just a process that's automatically triggered, I think, whenever a medical accident of some kind occurs. Unfortunately this doesn't mean that I'm entitled to vasts sums of money in compensation. I think compensation would only be considered if I needed further treatment (which I don't) or if I made some kind of official complaint against my GP (which I'm not willing to do).

Anyway, I thought the last paragraph of the letter was such a wonderful example of medical/bureaucratic prose (full of jargon but precise and to the point) that I'm going to quote it in full. According to a translation job I just finished, something called "found footage" is big in the video art world at the moment, so think of this as a piece of "found prose" if you like.

Clinical evidence provided to ACC supports that on the 28th of May 2007 at your medical practice you were administered a digital nerve block (anaesthetic with adrenaline) for a resection of your left toe nail. You were incorrectly given local anaesthetic with adrenaline. Your left toe became pale and cold and you were transferred to hospital for treatment (vasodilator infusion). Ischaemia to the left great toe is not considered a necessary part or an ordinary consequence of treatment and is accepted for cover.

In other news, while out shopping today I tried on some Merrell walking shoes. I'm beginning to think that my New Balance 748s may be exerting undue pressure on my great toes, so I'm beginning to look around for some replacements.

Distance walked yesterday: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 131.8km

Pretenders

Yesterday I Googled "the walking fool" for the first time. Now I'm not one of those vain types who like to boost their egos by Googling their name everyday and counting how many times it crops up (215,000, but some of those are bound to be imposters). But I am happy to report that this blog was at the top of the list of results. What was worrying, however, was to discover just how many usurpers there are out there. One of my main rivals for the Walking Fool crown would appear to be a comedian and "hack actor" from New York by the name of Mark E. Philips, who in 2001 tried to walk across the U.S. He failed, probably because he had by his own admission "a lousy sense of direction", but it may also have had something to do with the fact that he carried a 70-pound (32-kilogram) backpack. Must have been full of video gear to make his weekly public access show, footage of which he cobbled together into a feature-length movie, provocatively entitled The Walking Fool. You can watch the trailer here if you want. Personally I've got more important things to do.

Distance walked yesterday: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 131.8km

Normality

Gollum (top) celebrates his return to full fitness with a hearty meal.

Distance walked yesterday: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 131.8km

Faint hopes

My heart skipped a beat this morning when I checked Air New Zealand's grabaseat page and saw under International fares: "Auckland to Tokyo, check back later in the day". I waited nervously for half an hour or so until the details were finally posted. The price was great; just $597 return. But unfortunately the travel dates were restricted to between 2 and 17 July. Two weeks isn't long enough to walk the Nakasendo, and only a fool would consider attempting the journey at the height of the Japanese summer.

I'm still waiting for JAL to come out with some special fares. They came out with some cheap deals around this time last year, so my fingers are crossed.

Distance walked yesterday: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 128.8km

Blister update

A week or so ago I developed the beginnings of a blister on the back of my left heel, caused by a combination of not having worn shoes for a few weeks and either my expensive new trekking socks or my walking awkwardly due to recent minor toe surgery. At the time I mentioned buying some special blister plasters. Well, I'm delighted to report that they worked.

I used these Scholl Blister Clear Gel Plasters for just three days or so, and not only did they relieve the pain completely, but they seemed to speed up the healing process. I'm now walking freely again without them.

They were really secure, too, showing no sign of slipping off due to sweat (or maybe it's just that I don't sweat as much as Yuda, who reported experiencing this problem with the blister plasters he used). At around NZ$15 for a pack of five, they're not cheap (they utilize "new generation hydra-gel technology", you understand), but I'll definitely be taking some with me on the Nakasendo walk in October.

Today's walk wasn't the big training walk I'd planned, but a shopping walk. Still, it all counts.

Distance walked today: 6.1km
Total distance walked since blog began: 125.8km

Bouncing back

Despite Keiko urging me to take it easy and rest my leg, I walked into town and back yesterday, stopping in at Bivouac to buy the Sunburst Osprey Aether 60 backpack I'd ordered earlier in the week. The shop assistant spent ages making sure the pack was properly adjusted, even going as far as scavenging shoulder straps from a large pack of the same make and model because he thought the ones on the medium pack I'd ordered were too short. I felt a slight twinge in the groin once when my foot landed awkwardly, but apart from that I had no real problems. The groin feels pretty good right now. I've just been to the supermarket and back and experienced no twinges or pain along the way. Work permitting, I plan to head up onto the Cashmere Hills again tomorrow.

Distance walked yesterday: 9.7km
Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 119.7km

Ever get the feeling you're being tested?

Do you ever get the feeling you're being tested, that bad things are happening to you for a reason? Things are going along nicely, you're kind of enjoying life, and then suddenly things start going haywire. Well, yesterday I certainly got that feeling.

The morning didn't start off too badly. I had one of those annoying jobs to finish off, the ones that make you question whether you're really suited to your chosen occupation. But I got it done. Nevertheless, I wasn't in the greatest frame of mind just before noon when it came time to take one of our cats, Gollum, down to the vet to have a checkup on a wound on his face, the result of a cat fight a couple of weeks ago.

Gollum usually sleeps on our bed during the day, except at lunchtime when he invariably shows up in the kitchen. Yesterday, however, he was nowhere to be found. We called and called, looked in all the cupboards, looked around the garden, even looked out on the road in case he'd been run over, but there was no sign of him. So I called the vet and rescheduled the appointment for nine this morning. This was annoying. However, Gollum's a very resourceful cat, so we weren't particularly worried.

We did start to worry later, though, when he didn't turn up at dinner time. We were due over at my father's for a meal, so we fed our other cat, Oscar, who callously acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary, and headed out.

We had organized to pick up some pizza on the way. I'd felt a bit of a twinge in my groin earlier in the day (this occasionally happens when I stand up after sitting down for long periods, plus it was a bitterly cold day, which can't have helped), and as I was getting out of the car at the pizza place I felt a stab of pain in my hip. I managed to straighten up and went in and picked up the pizzas OK, but when we got to my father's and I tried to get out of the car again the pain was almost unbearable. It did improve as time went on. However, my physical discomfort and the anguish over Gollum's disappearance combined to put a real dampener on the evening.

When we got home just after eight there was still no sign of Gollum. He has skipped the odd meal before, but we couldn't remember him going missing for this long, and knowing that he wasn't 100% fit, we were beginning to think the worst.

Neither of us could get much sleep that night. To make matters worse, my groin became sorer and sorer as the night wore on. At around three in the morning I got up to look for some Panadol. I decided to peek into the lounge, which is where the cats usually sleep, and to my delight I spotted two black and white bundles of fur curled up on the sofa. I can't describe how happy and relieved I was. I picked Gollum up and gave him the biggest cuddle of his life before carrying him into the bedroom to show Keiko. We then gave him a well-deserved meal.

My groin wasn't much better first thing this morning (getting out of bed was a real challenge, and I don't mean because it was the coldest morning of the year so far), but by nine it was on the improve, and we managed to get Gollum down to the vet for a jab of antibiotics. He was a bit shaken, but he seems fine now. I'm a lot better too. I'm quite mobile and more-or-less pain free. But ask me to put a 15kg pack on my back and trek 530km and I'd think twice. Can I really walk the Nakasendo?

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 107km

Wireless

I finished watching the second season of The Wire last night. If you hadn't guessed by the lack of postings on the subject recently, I haven't been as enamored with it as I was with the first season. Which isn't to say it doesn't boast the same commitment to realism or isn't full of the same great, earthy characters, just that I haven't been struck with the same "shock of the new" feeling that hit me the first time around. Actually the third season is supposed to be the best. Unfortunately it isn't out on DVD here yet, and I'm not sure I can be bothered getting the region 1 version from Amazon. Next on my viewing list, by the way, is the original 1981 BBC adaptation of The Day of the Triffids, also on DVD courtesy of Grant. I seem to remember enjoying it when it screened here in the 1980s. It'll be interesting to see if it's stood the test of time. It got eight stars on the Internet Movie Database, so it can't have been too shoddy.

I bought some special blister plasters today. They're quite pricey, but I'm keen to test them out on the nascent blister on my left heel to see if it's worth taking a bunch of them when we embark on the Kisokaido Project in October.

In case you hadn't noticed, I topped the 100Km mark yesterday. I was expecting a flood of congratulatory comments...

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 107km

100km!

It was a classic Christchurch winter's day today: frosty to start with but beautifully fine with a light northeasterly breeze blowing. After finishing off some work, I headed into town just after 11am and dropped off my new Line 7 trousers at the tailor's for turning up. I then grabbed some lunch and stopped off at Bivouac to take a look at an Osprey Aether 60 backpack. They only had the Emerald in my size (medium), but I tried it on and liked it so much I had them order the Sunburst for me. I reckon it'll go nicely with the Fatigue Green cargo pants. And with a red clown nose on I could do a nice impersonation of a traffic light. I came back via Barrington's shopping mall, arriving home just before 2pm.

Distance walked today: 9.7km
Total distance walked since blog began: 104km

Fine-tuning

I spent quite a bit of time over the weekend fine-tuning the 30km-a-day schedule on the wiki. I had trouble finding accommodation in some of the original stopover points, so I've changed these to either the station before or after, a difference of 5km or so in most cases. I've also scheduled in two rest days, one in Gifu and one in Shimo-Suwa.

This afternoon I stumbled across this interesting website full of old photos taken in Japan during the late-Edo and Meiji periods. Quite a lot of the photos taken around Nagano show scenes along the Nakasendo, and it was interesting to see how these places looked when the highway was still in use and how the photos compared to woodblock prints made around the same time.

This photo, taken near Wada Pass, has a peculiarly woodblock-print feel about it. Something about the trees and rocks, I think. At 1531m, Wada Pass is the highest point along the Nakasendo. I was actually looking for information on the pass when I came across the website. Apparently it gets 2-3m of snow in winter, but that won't be of concern to us (I hope) in late-October. I'm more worried about the temperature. A couple of years ago I visited Mount Koya in Wakayama prefecture around the same time of year, and remember it being pretty chilly in the evening. I had the impression it was at quite a high altitude, but it turns out it was only 1000m. Of course we won't be staying at the top of the pass. The closest we'll be overnighting is Wada village, which is just 821m.

By the way, if you hunt around on that photo site you'll find a picture of a Japanese crucifixion. The caption reassures us that the photo was taken "before the birth of the modern judicial system".

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 94.3km

Cargo pants

This morning I braved the chilly weather and walked over to Riccarton and back. I put a bit of plaster over the proto-blister before I set off, and while it was a bit tender at first, before long I'd forgotten all about it and I was prancing along just like I was four or five weeks ago. It was as though the toe episode never happened.

While at Riccarton I spotted some nice Line 7 cotton cargo pants on sale for $89 (down from $150). I couldn't decide between Ceramic and Fatigue Green, so I bought a pair of each! One of them is destined to join my GAP cotton pants as a part of my Kisokaido Project wardrobe.

The shop assistant complimented me on my choice of trousers, saying they were good travel pants. She seemed convinced I was from overseas. (This happens to me quite often, usually when I'm out shopping with Keiko.) She asked me where I was from, and seemed a bit disappointed when I told her I'd journeyed all the way from Spreydon. Maybe it was the cowboy hat that threw her.

Distance walked today: 7.6km
Total distance walked since blog began: 91.3km

Privacy is over

I noticed a slight blister on the back of my left heel this morning. It's the first blister I've got since I started training for the Nakasendo walk. I figure it's either because I haven't worn shoes for over four weeks, or because the $30 trekking socks I bought the other day are worthless pieces of shit.

The wiki is now public! For a glimpse into the feverish minds of two people crazy enough to contemplate walking from Kyoto to Tokyo and doing some art along the way, and to find out how many pairs of socks Erik plans on taking, head over to kisokaido2007 now!

No training today, but I did mow the lawns. Must have walked a couple of hundred metres at least. Rain on the way. Got the Gore-Tex jacket out and tried it on over of my new jumper. Snug as a rug. Bring it on.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 83.7km

Second thoughts

I walked down to the supermarket this afternoon. I'd planned on biking down because I was concerned that two walks in as many days might be too much for my still rather tender big toe. But at the last minute I thought, stuff it, it's a lovely day, I want to walk, I want to put on my new Coolmax trekking socks and my new Wild South Stringer Pullover and see how they feel. So I walked.

I bought the pullover yesterday. I figured I might need an extra layer to slip on (either under or over my fleece vest) in the evening when we're staying in those drafty Japanese inns along the Kiso Valley.

I've been thinking about my wardrobe quite a bit recently. In fact it's been on my mind ever since Erik created a special page on our Kisokaido Project wiki to list all the stuff we'll be packing. I've felt bad because while he's listed everything down to his thermos and toothbrush, under my name it just says, "clown nose, new balance 748s, clown suits" (all of which he wrote anyway). So in the coming days I plan to expand on this a bit.

Incidentally, Erik made the wiki public when he first set it up, but after I freaked out we set it to private. But I'm having second thoughts. Maybe it'd be good to have a public record (in addition to this blog, which is all about my own personal "journey", and Erik's, which is focused on his art) of the collective organizing that's going into the Kisokaido Project. I'll let you know if and when it does go public so you can scrutinize our wardrobes in full. For example, are three pairs of underwear really enough?

Distance walked today: 2.3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 83.7km

Back on track

Today, walking shoes were donned and pavement was pounded. I guess this means I no longer have an excuse not to mow the lawns.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 81.4km

Why?

At what point in history did walking lose its status alongside cycling and other less physically demanding forms of transport as an acceptable means of traveling over long distances? I ask because I've been struck by the number of times people have responded to news that I'm planning to walk from Kyoto to Tokyo with a simple "Why?"

This reaction would seem to be based on the assumption that no-one in their right mind would consider walking such a vast distance unless there was some ulterior motive, such as raising money for some charity or raising awareness of some issue. If I said I was planning to cycle between Kyoto and Tokyo, people might still question the wisdom of such a venture, but they would accept that it's something someone might do for its own sake, because they enjoy cycling and the particular opportunities and encounters it offers.

To me, walking offers all the benefits of cycling and then some. A month or so ago when I wandered out into the country to see how far I could walk in a morning, I followed a route I used to cycle fairly regularly in my youth. What struck me, besides the number of new houses on the hills between Cashmere and the Hoon Hay Valley, was how much more in touch I felt with my surroundings compared to when I cycled the same route. The faster you go, the more you miss.

With so many efficient and comfortable transportation options available to travelers these days and with most of us having so little time to spare, it's only natural, I suppose, that the more physically demanding and time-consuming alternatives become less and less desirable. But in our haste to get from point A to point B, perhaps we're missing out on all kinds of opportunities for adventure along the way.

Yes, Erik and I could make roughly the same journey along the Nakasendo between Kyoto and Tokyo using trains and buses, but the experience would be totally different. That's why I'm walking.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 78.4km

Adjusting

After reading on Erik's blog how difficult he found walking 40km in a day, and especially after hearing how crap he felt the day after, I'm thinking seriously about slowing our pace down to 30km a day. This would mean we'd need 19 days to walk the Nakasendo instead of 15, not counting any rest days. Which is fine by me, but may be difficult for Erik depending on how many days off work he can get.

I bought three pairs of walking socks today. Looking forward to donning my walking shoes again early next week.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 78.4km

Three photos