Temora Aviation Museum – Videos

Thanks to the overcast weather on the day I didn’t have a great deal of success shooting video with the TZ40 at Temora.  The combination of grey skies cloud and cold weather (the latter giving me the shakes) reply hampered the flying videos.

Warbirds on the apron

However I’ve cut together the good bits and they’re ready to watch Continue reading Temora Aviation Museum – Videos

Temora Aviation Museum – 2nd July 2016

On the 2nd of July 2016 I jumped into the car and we went out to the Temora Aviation Museum.  It’s not the first time I’ve gone and certainly won’t be the last.  This visit provided the opportunity to see the Curtis P-40 “Kittyhawk” fly Continue reading Temora Aviation Museum – 2nd July 2016

Visiting: Ueno Zoo Tokyo

Ueno Zoo is one of the three zoos housing Giant Pandas and also the oldest zoological park in Japan.  Located a short distance from the electronics/tourist centre of Akihabara alongside Ueno Park it’s easy to get to and thanks to a very low Y600 (under AUD10) admission price very affordable for even a short visit.

Continue reading Visiting: Ueno Zoo Tokyo

Visiting: Wakayama Castle

During our trip to Japan we used Wakayama as an overnight stopover on the rail journey from Shirahama to Osaka.  Since our hotel was a mere 800m away taking the time to visit Wakayama Castle had to happen.

The castle has a long history, having been first built in 1585 and subsequently destroyed and rebuilt numerous times through the years since.  The most recent rebuild was in 1958 after it was destroyed by bombing in WWII.

Continue reading Visiting: Wakayama Castle

Visiting: Wakayama Adventure World

I really like Giant Pandas so it made perfect sense to incorporate a trip to Adventure World into our Japanese holiday.  See Adventure World is home to the largest “family” of Giant Panda outside of China.  At the time of writing (and our visit) 7 were living there.

It’s not all about the Pandas though with the park being a hybrid of theme park and zoo.  During our visit the persistent rain kept visitor numbers down and we didn’t explore the whole park.

Continue reading Visiting: Wakayama Adventure World

Review: Okumizuma Onsen

When we started planning our 2016 trip to Japan we both felt it would be essential to try and stay in some more traditionally Japanese accomodation and couldn’t go past the location and setting we found at Okumizuma Onsen.

Our very first night in Japan turned out to be one where we were able to immerse ourselves into Japan and soak away over 24 hours of planes, trains and automobiles in the natural hot spring baths of Okumizuma Onsen.

Okumizuma Onsen
Driveway and entry to Okumizuma Onsen.

Continue reading Review: Okumizuma Onsen

My Panda Moments: Adventure World Japan

As you know I’m a bit keen on the good old Giant Panda.  So when we started planning our trip to Japan I knew I was going to be having some Panda moments!

There are three Zoos in Japan that have Giant Pandas on exhibit; Oji Zoo in Kobe, Ueno Zoo in Tokyo and Adventure World in Shirahama.

On the 10th of May 2016 we made our way to Adventure World in the town of Shirahama.  Adventure World is home to the largest Panda “family” outside of China and has had considerable success with breeding Giant Pandas over the years.  If there’s one place in the world where you can have Panda moments this is it!

Continue reading My Panda Moments: Adventure World Japan

Saving for early retirement

Saving for early retirement is an alien thought for most people but the story of the GoCurryCracker duo stirred up discussion at water coolers all around the country.

In a previous post I’ve talked about just how having a higher the average income was the key vehicle to retiring in your 30’s and outlined a target of saving AUD6300 a month.  This is based on earning 2.45x the average household income and living with a budget similar to that of an average household.

In this post I’ll look at some strategies to start and maintain the high rate of saving for early retirement.

Continue reading Saving for early retirement