So,
I’d like to preface this by saying that my first post will be from the past.
I wrote it while on the plane, on my first big journey, with thoughts streaming in to my iPad as fast as I could write. This isn’t an apology as much as it’s just a heads-up so that you can get in to a similar headspace. Imagine yourself there with me, and come on my adventure.
As the adventure went on, I found less and less time to write, so it will take on a past-tense as I fill in the blanks from the notes I took along the way. From time to time I’ll throw in some iPhone happy-snaps, so forgive the vertical posts, they’re there for immersion.
So, without further ado, view some pictures and then join me on the plane from Adelaide Airport to New Chitose Airport.
When I landed at Sydney Airport I posted on my Facebook “[INSERT 1,000 CLOUD PHOTOS HERE]”, here’s a few.
So, I arrived at Sydney Airport and didn't really have much time to transfer flights. The time I did have I spent helping some kids use a vending machine, taking a few pictures of my surroundings (where I was allowed to take photos) and lining up to depart.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t really make the most of my stop in Sydney. I only had a couple hours to kill and I was just so excited to get on the plane that would finally take me away from Australian soil.
The plane took off, and I was away.
I napped a little overnight, though I found it hard to sleep on the plane. It was one part unfamiliar surroundings and one part pure adrenaline from the excitement, but I managed to get a couple naps in. I’ll hand it over to past-me now, for what I was jotting down at the time in to my iPad.
2014–07–30 Wednesday, 3:27AM
So here I am. 28 years of age and travelling overseas for the first time in my life. For the past five years I’ve been working my hardest to make a trip like this happen, and back then I didn’t even know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do when I was there. Things became much clearer over the years, as more and more of my interests drew my attention away from America and towards Japan.
Currently I’m 11,582m above the Philippine Sea, just passing Guam, travelling at an absurd 874km/h. I’ll arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport in approximately three hours and I can’t be more excited.
So why Japan? There’s too many reasons to list individually so I’ll sum it up: Their culture and their resolve.
My interest began in history class at Blackwood High. We learned about the Second World War, and the role America and Japan played in it. I was impressed by Japan, not for their fighting skills, but by their post war efforts to find peace and resolve. It always strikes me when I see Australian war monuments blessing and praising our soldiers valiant efforts, and for that matter almost every war monument in the world does the same. Japan went a different route by instead mostly apologising for causing so much pain on the world, which ultimately ended the lives of innocent civilians, as most wars do. I’m impressed by their ability to recover from natural disaster. Things are cleaned up and people are back to work in record time. I’m impressed by their honour, and pretty much their demeanour. I’m generalising of course, peering in from the outside. This is coming from someone that knows Adelaide like the back of their hand. I love my little town, but there’s a bigger world out there and I need to dive right in to it. So I am.
After I touch down in Narita I will be transferring my luggage to a domestic flight to New Chitose Airport, just outside Sapporo. My plans are to make sure my bike has arrived safely. The Airline can lose all my luggage, but if they lost my bike I’d need to almost totally reassess my entire itinerary. Once I’m out of the airport, it’s straight to the Sapporo Brewery beer garden, where I will drink the beer on its home soil in honour of the Cooper’s/Sapporo partnership. I’m incredibly proud that Cooper’s brewery is a South Australian family owned and operated business now operating on an international scale and the last thing I ingested in Adelaide was a Cooper’s Pale Ale. It seems only fitting to grab a Sapporo in Sapporo once I complete my flights.
I’m aware of a few things around my journey. Firstly, I’m a foreigner. I think they call it a “Gaijin” which basically translates to “Alien”. I’m certain I will feel like one, for sure. Secondly, I’m aware that Japan is currently in a place of some frustration after the Fukushima disaster. From what I’ve read the Government authorities are trying to reassure the nation and the world that everything is under control, while the residents are finding the opposite to be true. Playgrounds have Geiger counters installed which are incorrectly calibrated to show lower readings, people are reporting sickness after coming in to contact with items that have travelled through the radiated areas. With all that information in my mind, it seems stupid to go near Niihonmatsu, which is only 20km from the nearest “safe” zone. Now, of course any area that has a “safe” level of radiation is in no way safe to hang around. The reason I’m visiting though is because of a certain bicycle parts manufacturer named Nitto.
I first set eyes on Nitto products when looking for track style (or pursuit style, either/or) handle bars for my bike, nearly everyone on very forum recommended them, saying “These products are for life” and “You’ll never shop for anything else” and I thought that would carry a ridiculous premium for such quality. I was pleasantly surprised though, they were pricey, but if the quality was anything like people were saying the price was more than justifiable. I decided on the RB-021 pursuit bars, but before I dove in I did a little more research on the company, and I fell in love.
The factory has been operating out of its Niihonmatsu factory for years, still manufacturing steel and aluminium products for cycling but on a level that sets them apart from their competitors. Their handlebars are still bent in hand operated pneumatic presses and all milling and drilling is still done by hand. Welds are done by skilled artisans and every product is hand polished before it’s set aside to be wrapped and sold. The company president claims that they dabbled in carbon, but for the price of manufacture the parts don’t match up to the cost effectiveness vs strength of aluminium and steel, meaning their quality is on par with that of high end carbon component manufacturers.
This blew me away. It’s a bold move in the cycling industry to completely reject carbon components, yet their products are still sought after. I was convinced, I bought my handlebars. I found that they did a collaboration with East Asia Imports (EAI) on a special model of the RB-021, the Nitto x EAI RB-021 which had welded closed ends which were sanded and polished to perfection, complimenting the already clean lines of the handlebar and making them look full and complete. After they arrived I adorned my bike with them, and all of a sudden my bike, which I had chopped and changed components on quite considerably, looked more incomplete than ever before. So I saved, and saved, and then bought a matching stem and seat post. I can honestly say they are the most precisely engineered components I have put on my bike. The bolt threads are matched perfectly to the stem threads, to the point where tightening them is not just a breeze, it’s a pleasure. It’s unfortunate you don’t need to adjust them once they’re in place, because it’s such a satisfying feeling getting them there. The seat post is infinitely adjustable too, but I won’t bore you any further, you get the point. Nitto’s equipment is fantastic. I’m still missing a part though, I need a bottle cage. So it’s only fitting that I buy one factory direct. So I will visit them along my trip, buy their product for my bike, already decked out with their other products, say hello and thank them for producing such inspiring equipment and then continue on my way. Leaving them working, 20 km away from the nearest “safe” radiation zone. I imagine it will be an experience I’ll never forget.
It’s now 4:05 AM, we’re cruising at a leisurely 900km/h and casually 11,582 metres above the sea. It still blows my mind that not only can we travel this way, but that people can get jaded about it. The plane is shaking and shuddering as we slam through the air, the air conditioners fervently blowing air in to the cabin to pressurise it.
I still can’t believe I’m here.
END iPAD ENTRY
[Sunrise over the Mariana Trench. AKA Obligatory cloud pic 005.]
If you’ve made it this far, congrats! Here’s some more pictures of clouds.
This one was quite interesting, if only for the shadows that were cast across THE PLANET.
JAPAN!
(Made it!)
I arrived at Tokyo (Narita) Airport without any fanfare, feeling a little beat up after so many hours in the cabin of the plane. Inside, the air was stale and drying me out to my core and I couldn’t wait to have a shower. Outside, it was a beautiful day though, and I do love a good sunrise.
After entering and passing through customs I spent the next four hours or so in Narita Airport, pretty much just sitting around with my luggage. In my mind, my journey didn’t start until I was in the New Chitose Airport car park, with Steve (my bike) fully assembled and ready to set off for Guest House Yasube in Sapporo.
So, I sat.
After waiting in the departure lounge for an hour or more and taking the “Friendly Limousine” (aka Airport Shuttle Bus) I finally boarded the Jetstar flight that would take me to New Chitose Airport.
Upon arriving at in Chitose, I began to wheel my luggage to the exit which would take me to the road to Sapporo. Just as I picked up a pace I was politely stopped by a man in a suit. He apologised for the inconvenience, introduced himself as Airport Security, showing his badge, then asked if he may see my passport. Of course, I obliged and proceeded to answer all his questions. Where are you travelling from? What is your business in Japan? How long will you be staying? What house are you staying at? He asked about the giant box my bike was in and laughed when I told him it was a bike. He thought I was crazy to undertake the ride I was about to, and maybe he was right. Either way, he thanked me for my cooperation, wished me luck and left.
Now, it probably wasn’t the big box that caught Airport Security’s attention. You see, when I was checking in my baggage in Adelaide Airport I did something really fucking stupid.
As we were checking in my bike box in to Over-sized Luggage the man scanned the box with a special wand-thing and after running the data through the computer it came up clean. Now I was honestly worried it may show traces of fuel, or aerosol, or something, just because the box was in the shed a couple days, so I jokingly said something along the lines of “Haha, PHEW, my bikes not a bomb!” not thinking anything of it until possibly 30 seconds later. This led to me being pulled aside for “random” checks at every opportunity in every airport along the way, and this polite man in a suit was the final checkpoint.
Lesson learned.
I wheeled my luggage to the exit, unpacked my bike, inflated my tires, booted up my Japanese SIM card, then managed to get directions from Google Maps to Sapporo from the Airport and set off on my journey.
This, however, is where I made my first mistake.
