Entries by

Rosalie Zycher & Augustine Zycher

Our Top Places in Japan

WomanGoingPlaces has chosen some of the places we saw as first-time visitors to Japan that became our Top Places in Japan.
These are to be found on 4 different islands of Japan – Honshu, Miyajima, Hokkaido and Shikoku. The choices are arranged according to islands and not in order of favourites.

Woman In…Outback Australia: Camooweal, Queensland

Right across the top of Australia, old drovers are rolling their swags because it is time to head to Camooweal for their annual reunion at the Drover’s Camp Festival held every year on the 4th weekend in August. This event commemorates the droving tradition when Camooweal was the centre for the largest cattle drives the world has ever seen.

Kakadu National Park – Jarrangbarnmi (Koolpin Gorge), Northern Territory

I had asked my daughter Genevieve, who lives in Darwin and works in surrounding Aboriginal communities, to take me to one of her favourite spots. She had heard of Jarrangbarnmi from friends and as it was a sacred site she thought it would be an ideal place to go to with her mum and sister Anna. I had always wanted to visit a sacred site as I am interested in Aboriginal culture and ways of relating to the environment.

Hokkaido – the Northern Island of Japan

Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands gives you a sense of space, of wilderness and of untamed nature, thanks largely to its many national parks and large stretches of uninhabited spaces. In winter, it becomes a wonderland of ice and snow and people flock to its ski resorts. Autumn arrives earlier in Hokkaido than in the rest of Japan, so you are more likely to see the turning of the leaves here first. Of all the wonderful sights and attractions of Hokkaido, its volcanoes and natural hot springs, are the most impressive.

Japan’s Brilliant Bullet Train

Remarkably, Japanese trains have an annual average late arrival time of only 38 seconds!
The bullet train or Shinkansen that connects major centres, is a marvel. Travelling at up to 300km per hour, this sleek, white, green or red serpent of a train is whisper quiet and provides a smooth ride when you are inside. Outside, it appears as a rush of wind if you’re lucky enough to catch it passing at full speed.

The Pleasures of a Japanese Toilet

The pleasures of the Japanese toilet are gaining worldwide attention. The BBC in its news today, made an announcement about toilets in Japan. And recently the New York Times ran a feature story on Japanese toilets. Why toilets would qualify as news might puzzle many – but it would not surprise those who have been to Japan.
Japanese toilets are quite ingenious.

Ryokans in Japan

Ryokans in Japan have been described as national treasures. These traditional inns for travellers are located throughout the country. You can stay in Western-style hotels throughout Japan, but you would be missing out on very memorable and pleasurable experiences by not staying in a ryokan. Many hotels also offer you a choice of Western or Japanese-style rooms. The latter are similar to a room in a ryokan. These rooms tend to be larger than Western-style rooms which are often tiny.

Woman In …. Paris

Two girlfriends and I were sitting outside a suburban Melbourne  café, toasting a recent birthday. The sun was shining and we had a scenic view of the Yarra River. We were surrounded by majestic trees, colourful cyclists, and energetic rowers. In a very off-hand manner my friends mentioned that they were both thinking of going […]

Woman In … Lake Balaton, Hungary

Woman travelling with extended family. With two grown-up sons, their partners  and a grandson living in London England, my base being a couple of hundred miles north of that, and a husband working in Hong Kong, it’s hard to get us all together for an extended piece of family time away from the day-to-day (i.e. […]

Home Alone – Not Necessarily!

  I’ve just read an article that again confirmed why our new WomanGoingPlaces website was created. In a piece entitled ‘Home Alone’ in the Age’s Sunday Life Magazine, writer Dianne Blacklock, divorced and mother of four grown children, wrote about finding herself on her own after raising her children. After giving priority to her family for all those years, […]