Another bloomin’ day in Fukuoka

John didn’t think he would be in Japan on his 65th birthday I’ll bet.

Another fine day – no better than a leisurely bike ride. I am so proud that I mapped a route on Komoot, successfully synced it to my Garmin and followed the route to Nishi Park. Better still I think John was impressed and felt a little less anxious about the days ahead – he was quietly worried about my mapping skills. Ahha … I said perhaps you can learn how to do it … an old dog new tricks … ummm.

Nishi Park is another focal point for cherry blossoms on a hill overlooking the harbour.

What a difference a day makes, the trees were in full bloom and breathtaking – the park was popular with locals picnicking.

A nice lunch at a cafe along the way … not noodles … we pick from the picture on the menu – very nice and a cost of approx A$15.

A ride to Maizuru Park – the most popular bloom spotting by far … lots of food outlets – I mean 100+ and people everywhere and picnickers. Most trees were full bloom or a day away … people including me snapping away with mobiles and cameras for that perfect shot.

A lot of admin was done today; booking accommodation to get us to Nagasaki; mapping out the routes to avoid too many big climbs.

We stumbled across a great restaurant for dinner on our way back to Maizuru Park. John had a grilled curry and I had octopus and mushrooms in garlic.

Onto the park to see the blooms by night – 100’s of trees lit up with changing colours – food outlets doing a great trade.

Tomorrow we leave to Karatsu – I feel there is no wifi in the hotel so the blog may not go out.