A day of adventure until the weather gods went ballistic

We really enjoyed our stay at the Daiwa Roynet Hotel. it was nicely outfitted, comfortable and the view of the castle from our room was amazing.

When we asked where we could park our bicycles they immediately said to bring them up on the elevator and park them in the lobby.The hotel reception was on the fifth floor.The trikes barely fit in the elevator. We were determined to get them up to the fifth floor. Barry had to lift the trike by the rear wheel and stand it on end to make it fit in the elevator.

We met this Polish couple, Anna and Gregory in the hotel lobby. They were very interested in our trikes.Anna wanted to try out Mary Ellen’s trike….

And she jumped on …I think they may have trikes in their future.

Thumbs up for Daiwa Roynet. We often find that nice hotels are more obliging when it comes to our trikes. We have stayed in less desirable places and have struggled to get help with a reasonable place to park our trikes.

We were happy to be on the 18th floor with a killer view. The green roof on the small structure is a wedding chapel. Celebrations like weddings are big business for hotels.

We headed across the street to the castle.

We love the iconic shape of a Japanese Castle. This castle is set atop a big hill which is beautifully forested. So far, we have been astounded by the beauty of the lush forests and huge hills/mountains along the Pacific coast. We like the look of the covered bridge across the moat in the foreground…we’ll check it out later.

Riding around the perimeter of the moat.

Last night, we enjoyed seeing these colourful lanterns lit up along the paths and open areas on the castle grounds. The red and pink glow was magical.

The paths leading up to the castle are true to the history of the castle and not modernized. It does not make for an easy access as some sections are made of large boulders, some have large stepping stones and others have flat rocks at different heights.

We are curious what the green rocks are…jade possibly? Some were distinctly green and quite pretty.

Haven’t seen many geishas with grey hair or sun glasses before.

This is the Otemon Gate and Ichinohashi Bridge. The bridge crosses the moat and is one entrance of a few entrances to the castle grounds.

Bamboo canes are supplied for people to safely climb up the jagged steps to the castle.

The inside of the castle is a museum showcasing its history.

8000 arrows overnight! An expert archer of the Kisha Tokugawa clan is said to have shot this many arrows in a night long archery competition. The record remains unbroken. The bow in the photo is the bow that was used. It is made of bamboo and is covered with a natural lacquer made from tree resin.

Some of the weapons used by feudal warriors

We climbed to the top of the castle. It was a great view of the castle grounds and the city of Wakayama

These nasty weapons were used to catch criminals

Hanaoka Seishu was a brilliant surgeon who invented anesthesia in 1804

The Wakayama Castle has been used as inspiration for modern pop culture

As you can see, people are following the advice of the previous photo…no kicking or throwing the white stone path.

This photos sums up the natural beauty of this area.

The walk down from the castle was really hard on Mary Ellen’s knees

We had to take our shoes before we could cross the bridge.

The beautiful OhashiReka Bridge was reproduced from ancient ruins. It made us feel like we were stepping back in time.

Just past the bridge was a beautiful little island with a cormorant resting amongst the basking turtles

Shoe horns to help you put your shoes on again after crossing the wooden bridge

The Nishinomaru-Telen Garden was a serene, calm Japanese garden.

There was a tea house beautifully situated by the pond

Barry saw this cat climbing up the side of the castle

Can you see the adventurous cat scaling the castle wall?

This route with smooth rocks spaced evenly looked daunting, but it was the best surface we had on the grounds.

Nesting our trikes together so that we can lock them together.

Heading out of Wakayama. We liked this city.

Cousins of the ducks, Betty and Bob, who travel with us on our trikes.

Sometimes we regret relying on Google Maps. We are about to make a big mistake by taking a detour to avoid a busy highway. We are in for impossible gradients and difficult riding up in the hills where bamboo is harvested and mandarins.

It starts out nicely….we are enjoying it.

We encountered lovely bamboo forests and see areas where they have cleared some of the bamboo.

It looks lovely but the route is narrowing and we are facing gradients that go straight up or down. It is easier to carry on than trying to backtrack.

We are above a petroleum plant The route has narrowed. We realize that only small trucks come here to harvest mandarins.

We have never seen this before…black gloves wrapped around each of the mandarins in the tree.

The route has been challenging, hair-raising but interesting with great views. We have climbed and climbed.

The road that we were on was very busy and lacked any kind of shoulder. The Wakayama 800 cycling route that we had been following, was rerouted away from the busy road and it took us along a quiet side road.you can see the busy road as it enters a tunnel below us.

Mandarins were growing everywhere along the route

We finally made our way back to the highway. Whether we like it or not, we will have to ride with the traffic. We could feel rain coming, and it did with a vengeance. The rain was so heavy and winds were making visibility challenging. We must carry on.

And then, we were hit with a heavy thunderstorm, lightning, heavy winds, thunder and torrential rain. We had to pull over and wait for a bit of clearing. It was not ridable and we felt unsafe carrying on.

This fellow pulled over to offer assistance. He offered us a place to stay in his home. We were very grateful, but we only had 10 km to go to reach our accommodation. He did tell us that a Lawson’s Convenience Store was across the river up ahead. Very kind.

We finally reached our hotel, in the dark and looking like drowned rats. We have had an incredible day, seeing amazing things, meeting nice people, experiencing scary moments on the highway and in the hills, surviving an intense storm. We were tired, cold and wet. What a day….finished with a hot shower and straight to bed.

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 186 km (116 miles)

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