Ten years old today!

Dear blog

Happy birthday! I can't believe you're ten years old already. I know I've been neglecting you a bit of late. But let's be honest. You're a bit passé. A bit behind the times. A bit old-fogeyish. I've been hanging out with some new, hipper friends. Perhaps you've heard of them? Their names are Facebook and Twitter.

But don't worry. I promise I won't abandon you completely. After all, you're my firstborn, and as such you'll always have special place in my heart. You brought me out of my shell, gave me the confidence to share my views not only on walking, but on other topics such as music, art, books, cones, philosophy and munted body parts.

And through you I've gotten to meet lots of interesting people. Sure, some of them are a bit ill-mannered. They ask me for advice and when I give it to them they disappear and I never hear from them again. Not even a thank you. But most of them are good people. Some have even become friends. I like to think that walking brings out the best in us.

So once again, happy birthday, blog, and thanks for everything.

Walking Fool

Day 6: Utsunomiya - Imaichi

Distance covered: 27.2 km
Weather: Fine then cloudy then rain


Things got off to a bad start on day 6. As I queued for breakfast, the old man just ahead of me fumbled his tray and almost dropped it, spilling miso soup all over the floor. He was gutted, and I felt so sorry for him as he apologised to all and sundry. But worse was to come! There were no egg dishes, and I arrived at the toast station to find not normal bread, but slices of what looked like cake with swirls of pink through them. When I asked one of the dragons on duty if they had any normal toast bread, she replied curtly, "That is normal toast bread." As I feared, the pink swirls tasted of strawberry. Yuk! The coffee ("espresso" from a machine) wasn't much better.

By the time I left the hotel it was rush hour. Of course, rush hour in Utsunomiya is nothing like rush hour in Tokyo, and having spent most of the previous five days walking alongside a busy highway, I was used to the traffic. But leaving Utsunomiya, I found myself on a series of narrow streets with a steady stream of cars coming the other way and no footpath. At one point I was nearly hit by a car whose driver noticed me just as he was about to turn onto the road from a side street.

Once I was out of the central city, things got a lot better. It wasn't long before I encountered the first of several avenues of towering cryptomeria trees I would pass today. Like the avenues of pine trees on the Tokaido, these were planted in the Edo period to provide shelter for travellers. Where these avenues survive, the width of the road is limited to the space between the two rows of trees. The footpaths run along the outside of the rows, meaning walkers are well separated from the traffic. 

With a search on Google Maps earlier in the day indicating that there were likely to be few restaurants along today's route, I decided to buy lunch at a convenience store. I got a couple of rice balls, a corn roll, a slice of fruit loaf and some iced coffee and had lunch sitting by the side of the road. Nearby some farmers were harvesting their rice. I was enjoying my picnic, but by this time it was starting to cloud over, and not long after I got underway again it started to rain. It drizzled on and off for the rest of the day - not the most pleasant of walking conditions, but I was still able to take some photos.
  

Unfortunately, in some places, the exhaust fumes and vibrations from the constant flow of vehicles is having a detrimental effect on the cryptomerias, and to prevent further deterioration there are plans to reroute traffic away from the trees and restrict access to the space between them to cyclists and pedestrians. These plans have been implemented in two or three places, and it was a real joy to experience walking under the massive trees just like in the Edo period. And they did provide some welcome protection from the drizzle.

I was enjoying myself so much that I lost track of the time. I had booked a hotel in the nearby hot spring resort of Kinugawa Onsen. To get there I had to catch a train from Shimo-Imaichi, which was still a couple of kilometres up the road. The trains ran every hour or so, and when I checked the time and the schedule I realised there was one leaving in a few minutes at 2:45 pm. Could I make it? I set off at a brisk pace. I even thought about running, trying to remember how long it took me to run 5km when I was doing so regularly a few years ago and then dividing that time by two or three or... But I quickly realised I had no hope of making it to the station in time, and so I slowed down and tried to relax and enjoy the scenery again. I arrived at Shimo-Imaichi at 3.15, and had a long wait before catching the train to Kinugawa Onsen at 3.50.

It was just a few minutes walk from the station to my hotel. It was quite luxurious compared to the places I had stayed at so far. The only drawback was the lack of wi-fi in my room. I was booked to stay three nights. Tomorrow I would walk the remaining 8.5 km of the Nikko Kaido and then explore Nikko itself. The day after I planned to hike the Senjogahara marshlands, something I had long dreamed of doing. Unfortunately the weather forecast wasn't that great. Also, when I took of my shoes I discovered a sizeable blister on the side of my big toe. Would I be able to complete the walk? Or would disaster strike at the last minute?       

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

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

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

Medical accident to patient

According to the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists, "Adrenaline-containing solutions should never be used for infiltration around end-arteries i.e. penis, ring block of fingers or other areas with a terminal vascular supply as the intense vasoconstriction may lead to severe ischemia and necrosis."

In practical terms, that means if a patient is inadvertently given an injection in the toe of an adrenaline-based anesthetic during minor surgery, there is a danger that tissue in the toe may die due to an inadequate supply of oxygen.

My GP made a silly mistake, but to his credit he reacted quickly when he realized something had gone wrong. The biggest clue was the fact that my toe had turned white and didn't bleed when he cut into it. After patching me up and explaining what had happened, he rang a vascular surgeon at Christchurch Hospital, who recommended I be admitted immediately for treatment. My GP then arranged for a nurse to drive me in to A&E. By the time I arrived at the hospital the toe was starting to turn pink again, but my whole left foot was pretty cold, and so the surgeon recommended I go on an intravenous infusion of iloprost, a drug that counteracts the effects of adrenalin by opening up the blood vessels, helping them to carry more blood around the body.

In general iloprost is a well-tolerated drug, but it can cause a lowering of blood pressure, so the person receiving the infusion needs to be closely monitored. So I was taken to a surgical ward (I got a bed in a private room away from all the really sick people) and hooked up to an IV unit on my right arm and a blood pressure monitor on my left. I also had my own personal nurse who came in every half hour or so to check on me.

The main side effects of an iloprost infusion are facial flushing and headaches. The six hours I spent on the infusion were extremely uncomfortable. The headache was the worst thing, but being roused by the damn blood pressure monitor inflating automatically every 15 minutes just as I was dozing off added to the frustration. To make matters worse, I'd stayed up most of the previous night watching TV, so I was already in a pretty sleep-deprived state. Thankfully, once the infusion stopped at around three in the morning the headache disappeared and I was able to sleep until just after seven, when I was woken for breakfast. The surgeon came around to check on me at eight, and then again at eleven, when he told me I was free to go. I'd had Keiko bring my laptop into the hospital the night before, so in the intervening period I'd managed to catch up on a bit of work (see photograph).

It was an extremely anxious 24 hours. The low point was overhearing a nurse at the hospital talking on the telephone about the possible outcomes of not getting a patient on an iloprost infusion quickly enough, one of which is amputation of the appendage concerned. But I'm fine now. And the toe seems to have come through largely unscathed. I went back to my GP today, and he said I should be able to get back into the walking in about a week.

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

Preparation

Today I drove over to Grant's to borrow the second season of The Wire on DVD, and to my sister's to drop off a video. At my sister's, I took the opportunity to borrow a couple of interesting-looking novels. I'm going in for minor toe surgery tomorrow afternoon, so figured I'd better stock up on quality entertainment while I'm still relatively mobile.

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

Two tablets with food twice a day

Well, another visit to the doctor's today, and confirmation that the toe is still infected. I've got another week's worth of antibiotics (back to two tablets twice a day with food, but they're cylindrical orange ones this time). The doctor did seem to think there was an improvement, though, so I'm booked in for surgery next Monday.

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

Hooked

Sometimes there just isn't enough time to do all the things I want to do, or have to do, in a single day. Inevitably something gets left undone. It's frustrating, but still a lot more satisfying than filling in time doing things I don't really want to do, or worse still, sitting around trying to think of ways to fill in time, which is something I've ended up doing all too often in my life.

So yesterday I got up at around 8.00, breakfasted, read the paper, showered, bathed my toe, and worked from 9.30 to 11.30. I then made lunch, watched a bit of baseball (go the Yankees!), chatted briefly with my brother in Bhutan, then worked for another couple of hours from 1.00. At 3.00 it was time for my weekly Skype session with Erik. We talked for an hour about the Kisokaido Project, the Situationists, old girlfriends, the function of art, Erik's burgeoning career as an artist, and the digestive system of pandas. After that I did another burst of work until 5.00, when I started making dinner. Keiko got home and we ate at around 5.30 and watched TV for a bit until it was time for Keiko to go to her yoga class. Between 7.00 and 8.30 I read a few chapters of The Game of War and watched an episode of The Wire. I then watched a bit of Sumo until 9.00. After that it was more reading until Kaido Tekuteku Tabi at 9.45, followed by another episode of The Wire and a few more chapters of The Game of War before bed at 11.30.

I usually try to blog either during a break from work during the day or between finishing work and making dinner, but work is pretty busy at the moment, and yesterday I was just too rushed. I could have done it later, but I have this rule that I don't work in the evening, and for some reason (probably because it involves the same routine of walking into my office and concentrating in front of the computer for an extended period of time) I unconsciously place blogging in the same category as work. Plus I'm getting so much satisfaction out of reading The Game of War and watching The Wire that I want to spend as much of my free time as possible doing these two things at the moment.

I have the DVD of the first season of The Wire courtesy of Grant. With the exception of comedies like The Apprentice and The Amazing Race (obligatory mention of dubious New Zealand connection: hosted by Christchurch-born Phil Keoghan), I'm not a great fan of U.S. television, and the thought of watching an entire series of some cop show on DVD didn't appeal to me at first. Even Grant's description of The Wire as "television as art" didn't convince me. Probably because I've doubted his judgment ever since he told me how much he enjoyed Titanic. But I relented and popped the DVD on the other day when I had a moment to spare, and I've been hooked ever since.

Critics have called The Wire "the best show on television". It's also been described as realistic, novelistic, and "somewhat angry". Television audiences haven't been so kind, with ratings failing to match those of other cop shows like The Sopranos. Some critics felt The Wire was testing the attention span of its audience, but I love the complex characters and slowly drawn-out plots. And the acting, by a mostly African-American cast reflecting the demographics of Baltimore where the series is set, is top notch. Television as art? Maybe. Television as great entertainment? Definitely.

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

Browsing

Lately I've been keeping an eye out for deals on flights to Japan. I check Air New Zealand's grabaseat page nearly every morning. They're mostly domestic fares of course, but occasionally they put up international fares. I saw a really cheap fare to Shanghai a few weeks ago. You never know, maybe Tokyo will pop up one morning.

The other day I was browsing STA Travel's website when I noticed a Christchurch-Tokyo return fare of $1346 (including taxes and surcharges). It was on Air Pacific, which would entail flying via Nadi in Fiji, but when I looked on a map I saw it was actually a pretty direct route with not much of a dogleg at all. I seem to recall flying via Nadi on one of my first ever trips to Japan. Anyway, as I did when I came across a cheap fare with Tahiti Nui a month or so ago, I checked out the airline website to see what the connections were like and what sort of aircraft they operate. Only later when I took a closer look at the original website did I notice the fare was restricted to students and youths. Foiled!

Actually, I think I'd prefer to fly as directly as possible even if it means paying a bit of a premium. Often with the cheaper, non-direct fares you end up paying more anyway because you need to stopover somewhere. So that means either Air New Zealand or Japan Airlines (who code share, so it'll be an Air New Zealand plane in any case). Last year Japan Airlines came out with some cheap deals in June, so hopefully they'll offer some similar bargains this year. Japan Airlines also let you fly open jaw at no extra cost, which means I can fly into Kansai Airport on the way there and out from Narita on the way back, eliminating the need for a domestic plane or train ride back to our starting point at the end of the walk.

The toe's feeling pretty good today, although it's still not 100%. Keiko and I went out for lunch, and it was so nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours. I think I may have a bit of nail taken out next week once the infection has died down completely. That'll mean taking even more time off from walking while the toe heals, but hopefully less chance of a relapse once I do finally get back into training.

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

An idea for a movie

I've had an idea for a movie.

Two "artists," one from New Zealand and the other from New York (to be played by William Katt and Tom Green respectively), meet up in Japan and set off dressed as clowns on a 530km-long trek from Kyoto to Tokyo to raise awareness about global warming.

The New Zealand clown develops an ingrown toenail, but he is determined to see the project completed, and so hacks off the munted appendage with a knife.

Upon reaching Nagano prefecture, the two have an argument over where to stop for lunch. The toeless one wanders off into the forest in a huff, and is attacked by a Japanese Black Bear, who is attracted by the sound of a Swiss cowbell his sister gave him in the mistaken belief that it would ward off the animals. (The Swiss cowbell in fact produces a sound that is very similar to the mating call of the Japanese Black Bear.)

While attempting to escape the bear's clutches, the Kiwi clown loses his balance and stumbles. The New York clown rushes to his aid, and in a desperate effort to save him, grabs the cowbell and leads the bear away into the forest, enabling his injured companion to scramble to safety.

Alone, the toeless one vows to continue the journey in honour of his missing partner, and pushes on to Shimo-Suwa, where the Onbashira festival is in full swing. On hearing his story, the festival organizers agree to let the clown ride one of the logs down a hill as part of the ki-otoshi ceremony.

A long-time fan of U.S. actor Slim Pickens, the Kiwi clown decides to don a cowboy hat for the log ride, and takes a video camera with him to film the event. Things go spectacularly well, until he loses his balance as he tries to adjust the focus, and ends up capturing the moment of his own death as he is crushed beneath the massive trunk.

I'm not sure how that ending would go down with U.S. audiences. Perhaps there could be an alternate ending in which we learn that the New York clown is still alive. He turns up at the Onbashira festival just in time to see his partner hurtle down the mountain to his death, rescues the camera, and edits the footage into a film which goes on to win an Academy Award.

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

Silver linings

The toe felt pretty good this morning, about as good as it did last Thursday when I was able to drive over to the other side of town to see some friends, and definitely a lot better then Saturday, when I was completely housebound. But there were still signs of an infection, so I made an appointment with the doctor and went to see him just after midday. I came away with a prescription for another week's worth of a different antibiotic (one small yellowish tablet at night with food, as opposed to the old two white tablets twice a day). We're going to review things again in a week once I've polished those off.

This period of enforced inactivity hasn't been completely without its benefits. Sunday was the first day of complete relaxation I've had for a very long time. I got up latish and watched a bit of the replay of the Crusaders' Super 14 semifinal before having a bath. The rest of the day I spent watching TV, listening to music, and reading. For dinner I sent Keiko out to buy fish and chips, despite the fact that she doesn't like them.

I finished reading Nelson Demille's latest thriller, Wild Fire, which I found unconvincing and a bit of a disappointment, especially after Word of Honour, which I'd finished just a couple of weeks previously. The latter is probably my favourite DeMille book to date, although I also enjoyed Spencerville. DeMille and Gerald Seymour are really the only thriller writers I care for. I usually take one or the other with me whenever I go overseas to pass the time in airports, aeroplanes, and hotels.

Also on Saturday I started reading Andrew Hussey's The Game of War: The Life and Death of Guy Debord. It's an old library copy someone lent to me years ago that remained untouched on my bookshelf until a week or so ago when for some reason, I can't remember why, I suddenly felt the urge to read it and so promoted to the top of my admittedly short reading list. As a vastly more experienced fellow blogger reminded me the other day when I felt I had nothing worthwhile to say and resorted to posting a quote from Debord, I vowed to keep this blog apolitical, so I won't comment about the contents other than to admit that the passionate, iconoclastic, uncompromising, totally committed, no-holds-barred, fun-loving approach to art/life of Debord and those around him is something that I've long admired. Or rather, envied.

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

Cabin fever

Lovely weather today. I tried putting on some sandals to go outside, but the toe was just too sore. So it'll be back to the doctor's on Monday. Yesterday I managed to cycle down to the supermarket. Just as I was coming home a southerly change came through and it rained for an hour or so. I thought of putting on my new jacket and standing outside in the rain, just to see how it felt.

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

Enough about the toe already

Lately I've been watching a program on the Japanese TV channel NHK World called Kaido Tekuteku Tabi (which roughly translates as "Plodding along the Old Highways"), in which Japanese "sports celebrities" walk the old highways of Edo Japan.

The first series aired from April 2006 and covered the Tokaido. The format involves the celebrities walking usually one or two stages a day, stopping to talk to people, etc. along the way, followed the next morning by a 15-minute live broadcast in which they recount the previous day's journey. The presenter for the first series was former Japanese soccer international Teruo Iwamoto. Iwamoto has a New Zealand connection in that he played two games for Auckland City FC during the FIFA Club World Championship 2006, failing to prevent the Auckland team finishing last. I'm not sure if he was any good as a soccer player, but he certainly wasn't much of a celebrity, which kind of made me lose interest in the program after a while.

The second series (bits of which I saw) aired late last year, and focused on the Nakasendo, which was walked by a former Olympic speed skater, Ikue Teshigawara.

The series currently screening covers the Koshu Kaido, which links Tokyo with Shimo-Suwa in Nagano prefecture, and once again is being presented by Ikue Teshigawara. It's an interesting program that introduces lots of quiet, out-of-the-way Japanese places full of honest, friendly country folk. It also explains a bit of the history of each area. Yesterday's episode, for example, featured a beautifully preserved honjin (an inn officially appointed for use by daimyo, or feudal lords).

I'm particularly looking forward to the final episode, because Shimo-Suwa is also a stop on the Nakasendo. It's a hot-spring resort on the edge of a big lake, and it's where Erik and I plan to spend the only rest day during our walk later this year.

Shimo-Suwa is also the site of one of Japan's most well known festivals, Onbashira. The purpose of the festival, which is held once every six years, is to symbolically renew the Suwa Taisha shrine. Huge trees are chopped down using special ceremonial axes and dragged down from the forest by teams of men pulling long ropes. The fun really starts when the logs are skidded or dropped down steep slopes. During this part of the festival, known as ki-otoshi, local men ride the logs down the hill to prove their bravery. Several usually end up getting injured or killed.

Luckily the festival isn't being held this year, otherwise I could imagine Erik encouraging me to don my clown costume and take a ride on one of the logs in the interests of art, or moviemaking, or something. Come to think of it, that would make quite a nice little movie. Better than this effort, although it does at least give some idea of what we could expect. The next festival is in April 2010, so we have three years to do some planning.

By the way, Kaido Tekuteku Tabi is accompanied by a great website. It's in Japanese, but just try clicking on all the links and you should find some nice photos and maps relating to all the series to date. The Nakasendo section has pictures of the prints from The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido together with photos taken at each location showing what they look like today. Nice.

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

The toe saga continues

Nothing much to report. I haven't slept well the last couple of nights because of my toe, although it seems to be better this afternoon.

Yesterday I biked over to Barrington to see my tax consultant. Since then the toe's been too sore even to put shoes on, let alone walk anywhere, plus I've been really busy with work, so another fat zero in the "Distance walked" column today, I'm afraid. It's been lovely weather for walking, which just compounds the frustration.

I have been spending a bit of time online looking into accommodation options for the Kisokaido Project. I've discovered that in addition to Daikokuya, there are at least five other Edo-period lodgings along the Nakasendo that still offer accommodation to travelers. Our schedule is such that we should be able to stay in one of these: Kanemaru Tsuchiya Ryokan.

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

The Munted Toe

This morning I hobbled down to the doctor's and had him check my ingrown toenail. To cut a long story short, he gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and we're going to review the situation in a week to see if I need surgery or not. I told him about the Kisokaido Project, and how I really wanted the toe to be right in October to November, and he suggested that if I was still having trouble I should have the offending bit of nail cut out about six weeks before I leave, which would give the toe time to heal but ensure the nail wouldn't grow back and cause trouble during the actual walk.

By the way, my brother Mark left a comment suggesting I post a photo of the toe on my blog. What a sicko! I'm sure there's something in the Blogspot Terms of Service about that sort of thing. If there isn't, then there certainly should be. So no photo. But what I can do is post a piece of art (pictured) I made a couple of years ago after I had surgery on an ingrown toenail on my other foot. I've called it The Munted Toe. I'm thinking of putting the original (ballpoint pen on note paper, 69 x 120 mm, unframed) up for auction on Trade Me, but I've decided to give you, my loyal readers, first option. You can leave any offers in the comments section.

In other news, Erik and I have decided to put back by a couple of days our scheduled departure from Kyoto so that we can catch the Jidai Matsuri, one of the three big annual festivals in Kyoto, on October 22. We'll now be leaving on October 23.

Oh, and yesterday while shopping at Riccarton I found some nice Gore-Tex jackets on sale at Kathmandu, so I bought one! Normal price $569.90, reduced to $249.95. It's just the right length, a nice colour ("Ocean"), and a perfect fit. I can't wait to give it a test on my next rain walk. I'll just have to wait for the toe to clear up first.

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

Podiatry and palanquins

Bloody toe! I was thinking if the worst comes to the worst I could always do a Jacob Oram and cut the damn thing off. But then I recalled reading somewhere that the big toe is a particularly important appendage in terms of maintaining one's balance while walking, so maybe that's not such a good idea.

Another option would be to get Erik to carry me along the Nakasendo. Don't you think that would be an amazing art project? To maintain a certain level of historical accuracy, we could use one of these Japanese palanquins, known as a kago. Or better still, one of these souped up versions with gold lacquer, called a norimono, which were reserved for the higher-ranking feudal lords. You see, apart from the odd ox-drawn cart, they didn't have much in the way of wheeled transport in Edo period Japan, so anyone of any importance traveling on the highways either rode a horse or was carried in one of these palanquins. Of course, this plan would entail roping someone else in to help, since we'd need two people to carry the thing. Any volunteers?

Incidentally, the ukiyoe above is from Hiroshige's Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, and shows Keiko's hometown of Mishima.

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

The toe takes a turn for the worse

The toe's not looking all that flash, I'm afraid. I think I might be taking a trip to the doctor after all.

So no walking today, although this afternoon I drove into town to look at rain wear at the Fairydown clearance shop. Fairydown has a very interesting history. Apparently Sir Edmund Hillary wore a Fairydown jacket - and slept in a Fairydown sleeping bag - when he and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest in 1953 (obviously he wasn't actually in the sleeping bag when he got to the top, but you know what I mean). In 2003, however, the brand was renamed Zone because market researchers came to the conclusion that the "fairy" in the name was putting off Australian males who thought it was a bit, um, gay. But obviously the re-branding didn't pay off, because in 2005 they changed it back to Fairydown!

Then things really got confusing. From what I can gather based on various news reports and forums, in 2006 Arthur Ellis (the company that owned the Fairydown brand) was bought by Alp Sports (another outdoor clothing retailer), which was owned by Jan Cameron, who also just happens to be the owner of yet another outdoor clothing retailer, Kathmandu. Or at least she was until September last year, when she sold her remaining stake in the company for $275 million.

Anyway, I only found this out a few minutes ago while googling to see if Fairydown have a website (they don't). This afternoon all I was interested in was getting something to keep me dry while walking. The Fairydown clearance place had a pretty good selection of stuff, and the prices were certainly very reasonable ($199 for a Gore-Tex parka), but unfortunately they didn't have the size and colour combination I was after. On the way home I checked out the Kathmandu clearance shop (totally unaware of the Fairydown connection), but their Gore-Tex rain wear seemed to be a lot more expensive. So I may stick with the rain suit I bought in Japan for the time being and see how it goes on some longish walks. Once I get the toe sorted out, that is.

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