After our Australian adventure year of 2022, we spent 2023 settling back into ‘non-travel’ life and exploring our new stomping ground on the Sunny Coast. QLD life is certainly treating us well but by the end of the year we were well and truly ready to take another adventure – only this time in the form of a short ski trip to Japan.

Preparing for a ski trip over summer in Queensland was certainly an experience that needed air con to try and convince the kids to try on their ski gear! Trying to find somewhere to buy long pants for the kids was also a challenge, and it took quite a bit to convince Finlay he couldn’t just take boardies on holiday with him (summer kid for sure that one!). Bags packed and time to go!

After an early start from our Sunny Coast home, we checked our bags with Korean Air. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting much from the airline but was pleasantly surprised. Comfy seats, plenty of legroom and the food wasn’t terrible. We settled in for the long haul of 10 hours to Seoul followed by a short 2 hour hop across to Tokyo.

Arriving into Tokyo late at night, we spent our first night in a hotel close to the airport. When checking in, the gentleman at reception did tell us we had a Japanese room with no beds. I don’t think I really heard the ‘no beds’ part properly but sure enough we opened the door to our room to find four ‘non-bed-beds’. It was a bit like sleeping in a swag but indoors. Still… after an early start and a long day of travel, no one really complained.

We woke up bright an early to a sunny Tokyo day. Breakfast buffet in the hotel and Kiera was most excited to find that Japanese breakfast has some of her favourite foods… rice and friend chicken!

We are heading for the ski resort village of Hakuba, host of the 1998 Winter Olympics. There is a direct bus from the airport that will apparently get you to the resort in 5-6 hours depending on traffic. Never a fan of long bus journeys, or the easy option, we opted for the less direct but clearly more fun option of navigating the train network.

After navigating our way out of the airport on the Skyliner, we found our way to the bullet train (or Shinkansen as it is known in Japan) out to Nagano. Apparently the train can get up to a top speed of 285 km/h and it was certainly a comfortable way to travel. A few hours after leaving our hotel, we found ourselves on the final leg of the journey – a short 40 minute taxi journey up to the village of Hakuba, set in the heart of the Japanese Alps and our home for the next 7 days.

We were all pretty tired from the journey but also on a 9 out of 10 hunger level… that’s not good! We abandoned out bags in our hotel room and set off in search of food. Having no idea where we were actually heading, my suggested ‘short cut’ was anything but a short cut and more a loop back to where we started which dis nothing to help the hunger levels. Eventually we found a cafe and ordered some familiar food (burgers and chips) to satisfy the hunger. Not exactly a traditional

Japanese meal but I guess we have plenty of time ahead of us.

We spent the last part of the afternoon familiarising ourselves with the area, getting our lift passes sorted and picking up our rental ski gear. Everything is in close walking distance to the hotel which is awesome.

Time for an early night (in actual beds!) before our first day on the slopes tomorrow!