Thursday 19 March 2015

Still on tender hooks

15 March 2015
Well we still are on tender  hooks about our departure from Japan. The expiry date for our carnet is 1st April (yes April fools day) which is the anniversary of the issuing of the carnet, -not the anniversary of our arrival here! So time is even shorter than we expected.

But the good news is that our shipping agent in Brusbane (Jim Cliffin of Colles-Young) has ascertained from the Korean agents that if we have a carnet then we can enter Sth Korea. Trouble is -our carnet expires 1st April. So we need an extension. 

I made a call to RACQ Brisbane today and it appears we can get an extension to the carnet by going to a JAF (Japanese Automobile Federation). They will check with RACQ, and all will be well. We can find a JAF  office in the next couple of days. 

So we are still going to Sth Korea.

In the interim we are camped on a small lake. 


20/3/15
Well so much for getting the carnet extended! Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) has refused to extend the carnet. This is in violation of the International Automobile Association rules. All member countries are supposed to do the extensions! But in spite of Australian Automobile Association (AAA) mediation JAF still will not do it! 

And Sth Korea will not allow us in without the carnet! 

So we have been booked onto the next available ship out of here -To Antwerp, Belgium. We still don't know how much this will cost but we have no choise! The vehicle will be "stuffed" into a container on Monday or Tuesday. We have not yet decided our own movements. 

So here are a few wildlife photos while we wait for the "stuffing" to take place. 





And one non-wildlife character..thus us a water sprite -mythological Japanese figure, who plays tricks on people near water. You can see how popular they are by the number of them on sale apt this one pottery. And there were many more potteries with similar displays in this area. 








Tips for travelling with an Earthcruiser in Japan.

1April 2015

The following article is the result of our experience traveling in Japan for a total of 7 months (accumulative) over a year, 2014-2015. We bought our Earthcruiser ("Camping Car", RV, expedition vehicle) to Japan in a shipping container, with a carnet. Japan allows the vehicle to remain in Japan for a year, but we can have only three month visas. So we went home to Australia in between three months episodes of travel. 

Our style of travelling might not suit everyone. We like the national parks and the "green areas" on the maps. We avoid the big cities, although they weren't as difficult to drive in as expected. It's just that we don't like cities in general. 

We found finding a camp-site much more difficult near the cities. These were the only times we were made to move on. So all of my comments about how nice the people and the camping were are based on this style of travel. We saw enough of the cities when we took our week long rail pass before the vehicle arrived. 



Carnet
Japan requires a carnet with 100% of the value of the vehicle for security. The carnet should include high value items that are always with the vehicle -not consumables, since you will need to produce them when the vehicle leaves the country. I think items on the carnet do not attract customs duty since they will be leaving the country again. 
We had to present the carnet to the Japan Auto Club on arrival. They gave us our insurance sticker and a document written in Japanese explaining that this is an Australian registered "Camping Car", and the carnet system. This document was invaluable and we used it many times, particularly at toll gates, and whenever police showed an interest in us. At toll gates the "Camper Car" classification saved us paying the truck rates which are higher. 

Shipping
The total cost was about $6000 plus insurance. This was for a 40ft high top container. We didn't share with another vehicle which would have halved the cost. 
We used Jim Cliffin at Colless-Young Shipping agents (Brisbane) to arrange the vehicle transport. It took about three weeks to get it there. He was very helpful and efficient. 


 We were wrongly told at the packing of the shipping container that we could not send containers with compressed gas in the shipping container. So we removed the fire extinguisher, insect repellant etc. Later we were told that this was nonsense and that we could have taken them. As a result we have had to buy another fire extinguisher, wrong size for the door fitting. Very inconvenient. 

Ensure that you have a packing list before you pack the container. That is a complete list of everything in the vehicle - clothing, cutlery, rolls of toilet paper with number of items and value of each item. Zero value is not allowed. We valued every thing as second hand. Take your packing list with you when you fly.

Your customs card (when you fly in) asks whether you have any "unaccompanied goods". Answer "yes" This is when you produce your packing list and carnet. You may be charged duty on some of these goods (not the goods listed on your carnet). 

When to travel
We decided to spend two x three month periods in Japan, in cherry blossom season and autumn season. These are the best seasons to travel in Japan. Summer is very hot and muggy and biting flies are a problem. There are also people everywhere, and camp grounds are very crowded. In winter there is snow every where and a lot of roads are closed. 



We enjoyed travelling in the off seasons which were far less crowded and the temperature was pleasant. Hokkaido is cooler than Honshu. Higher altitudes are also cooler. We thought autumn was much nicer than spring because of the fantastic colours and no flies or mosquitoes. 



However late in Autumn/early winter the rain/hail/sleet/snow starts. In December we had more bad weather days than sunny ones, which made things awkward especially when there were five of us (in the dual cab Fuso). By then the autumn colours were finished anyway, so I suggest that Sept -end Nov are the best autumn months. 

Health and Safety

There are biting flies in spring too (probably worse in summer), as well as hoardes of Mosquitos in some places (with associated Dengue fever). The fly bites cause very itchy blisters and take a week to heal. I recommend having a mosquito netting awning made before you leave Australia. We used Mr Dong of Dong Leisure in Darra, Brisbane. 

The treatment for the fly bites which are intensly itchy, is a weak steroid cream. I recommend asking your doctor for Betnovate 1/5 or something similar. Also have an antiseptic such as savlon. These bites often get infected.



The Hokkaido fox carries echinococcus, which is similar to hydatid disease in Australia. It causes cysts in the liver and brain and can be fatal. Do NOT touch foxes or Racoon dogs, or their faeces, and if you do then wash your hands immediately. Drinking stream water may also be risky for the same reason. 



Bears inhabit both Honshu and Hokkaido. The Hokkaido bear (brown bear) is bigger and more aggressive than the Honshu (black) bear. But you don't want to meet either one. We occasionally saw bear scats not very far from where we camped, and we saw one wild bear on the road (luckily we were inside driving, not camping). The Japanese wear bear bells (a bell dangling from the belt) to warn bears away and hope they will avoid humans. We had contingency plans for a bear near the vehicle, including always parking in the direction of escape, always knowing where the car keys are, sitting close to the vehicle at night. You can get a chilli spray for bear protection, but it costs more than $100. We kept the fire extinguisher on the step of the vehicle in bear country hoping to delay any approach while we got inside. We never left food or cooking scraps outside at night. if we felt nervous we played  music to warn them off, but then we couldn't hear them! We also kept the outside of the vehicle well lit when we were outside. 


Managing waste
We had great difficulty finding places to dispose of rubbish. Not that the Japanese manage this well either. There is an awful lot of rubbish dumped in the bush. At first we collected it in an effort to leave the camping spot better than we found it, but we soon tired of that! Because we could not find where to dispose of our own rubbish -let alone someone else's. 

Household rubbish is disposed of in cages situated in front of houses (bear, Racoon dog proof..) but these are usually locked. 

Eventually we found that the Japanese sort recyclables into a number of different categories. Plastic bottles and cans be disposed of at any vending machine. In campgrounds you can dispose of all rubbish. Some supermarkets and some road stops will take small quantities of general waste. We were constantly looking out for bins and getting rid of a bag or two. 

Toilet waste is similarly not catered for. We did not see a single formal RV waste disposal site. We bought an oxygen type nappy bleach in a supermarket. We used this sparingly in case we had to empty the toilet into a pit toilet, or in the wild. We also kept paper separately and disposed of that by burning when able, or into general waste bins. We took great care not to empty the toilet near any water course, or any parking area or walking trail. We also did not empty the toilet in snow or very cold weather, so that there was no unpleasant surprise after the thaw! Without the paper we felt this was not damaging the environment. Japan has many public toilets, so opportunities to empty into these was quite common. Also the availability of public toilets relieved the pressure on our onboard toilet.

Navigation

We used an iPad App called "Pocket Earth" for navigating. It has good offline maps of Japan and of course GPS positioning and tracking. All roads including very minor ones are shown." Tsunami indundation areas" and green (undeveloped) and white (built up areas) are also shown. The App is not expensive. Travelling without a good GPS navigation system would be a nightmare in Japan where you can't read the signs. 
Toll roads are very expensive. for example we have been told that tolls between Osaka and Tokyo can cost two hundred dollars. We avoided them where ever possible in favour of smaller country roads. these were more interesting anyway. 



The roads are narrow, made for tiny box-like cars and miniature trucks. Many roads are no wider than the EC. But if you travel slowly you can back up or find a way to pull over if there is an oncoming vehicle. Be careful of the very minor roads (white on Pocket Earth). These can be very narrow and there may be nowhere to turn around. If the road is also curvy the EC may not be able to make the turns whilst staying on the road. And often there is drop-off near your back wheel which you'd rather not think about! 

Look out for the red lights! Within 100m of the shipping container we had driven right through our first red light! The lights are on the FAR side of the intersection, not the near side as in Australia, and they are up high. Hence we expect to drive up to them, which is through the intersection. 

When we had an address in Japanese or in English we found we could cut and paste it into the Google maps program and get directions. This got us to Webasto and Waeco workshops. 

Camping
There are camp grounds ("Campu-jo") and camp grounds where you can have your car beside your tent ("auto campu jo"). A few camp grounds have facilities specifically for RVs. We used auto campu jos when we needed the laundry. Some of them don't have showers, expecting you to use the nearby onsen. They often have BBQs, all lined up together under a roof in the camp kitchen. You can usually get water. Few of them have power -Japanese RVs carry generators. None of them have toilet dump facilities. They can be expensive - up to $40 per night for two people (off season). 

Otherwise the Japanese are very tolerant of wherever you want to camp. You can camp on supermarket parking lots if you like. You can camp in nearly any parking area including at scenic lookouts, and including at onsens. We found the White roads (Pocket Earth) which are in green (forested) areas and which go to a dead end, to be very useful. There is often a defunct hotel at the top, or a lookout. Sometimes there is a locked gate (which means no passing traffic). Walking tracks are marked on Pocket Earth and these sometimes have parking areas at the beginning of the track. 
There are also lots of unused roads in Japan. Often these run around dams or along rivers, to a defunct bridge, which makes a nice camping spot. An unused tunnel is also good similar to a locked gate. Some towns have a park with walking tracks etc. these usually have quiet parking areas. 

We often went down forestry tracks and found an area wide enough for a vehicle to pass if necessary. We were never questioned about camping in these. It is possible to camp at ports, under the tsunami wall, but the boats go out in the night and early morning making a lot of noise. 

Camp fires are possible in some places, with care and common sense. We bought an $11 fire bucket from a hardware store in Japan. This contains a fire which is lit with charcoal, and small pieces of wood. We found that if we sit this on a suitable surface (we use our Aussy hardwood chocks) then there is no trace of the fire in the morning, even on bitumen in parking areas. 

In Australia I would be horrified at the thought of camping on bitumen, but it is very convenient if the ground is wet and muddy otherwise. We found bitumen slabs well away from people in remote defunct sites, and soon got to like them.

We had some fabulous camp-sites with great views, quiet, just magnificent, but not every night! 



However lookout for entrances to parking areas that have a chain. This will be pulled across in the evening, and you will be expelled from parking there over night. This only happened to us on three occasions in 7 months (accumulative) but it was quite unpleasant when it did happen. 

Communications
Non-residents of Japan cannot get a phone SIM card for more than 2 weeks! We were told that without a Japanese address none of the phone companies will give you even a pre-paid sim. The same applies to mobile wifi, but we managed to persuade one salesman that we had a hotel address, and got a DOCOMO mobile wifi router, on a 12 month plan with credit card direct debit. This means we can get email and TXT messaging on our smart phones. We got that from one of the big phone stores (Bic Camera). Wifi is not available every where with the router. It is only available in towns serviced by DOCOMO, which is not all towns. Mostly it is only available in cities. We turn it on when we are in built up areas. 

On our last trip we bought a "Woolworths global roaming sim" with us and this worked fine. The phone must be capable of CDMA reception (which most Australian phone are not). We also used skype to call Australia on a couple of occasions, also successfully (when we had wifi reception.)

We also have a sat phone.  The sat phone needs be outside with access to the sky, unless you have a vehicle mounted aerial (which we don't) and if you are camped in forest or the sky is overcast it can't access the satellite. So we don't find the sat phone very useful.

The inReach (Delorme, personal beacon and tracker) has very powerful satellite detection. We have it on all of the time. It is mounted on our windscreen in a mobile phone suction holder. It detects when we are travelling and changes its signal frequency, as set by us, to different rates for moving and stopped. It has managed to send tracking signals from inside the back locker when we forgot it there on charge. It has no trouble in forest or with overcast sky. It is very convenient for TXT messaging, incoming and outgoing. And of course it has the SOS facility. There is no need to have police or emergency services phone numbers handy. We use it to check in with our family if we have been out of wifi range for a few days. 


Most importantly we had occasion to use the SOS function once whilst in Japan, and were successfully rescued in good time. We decided that this device is worth its weight in gold!


Earthcruiser storage
The carnet is good for a year but our visas are only for three months. This requires leaving the vehicle in storage somewhere. We left it first with a couple of American English teachers (on Hokkaido) who had rented a farm house. They had plenty of room and were happy for us to park the vehicle with them, free of charge. 
In Tokyo, (Narita close to the airport) there are plenty of small long-term vehicle secure parking areas. We left ours in an area adjacent to the Narita Exel Tokyu Hotel, for a total of less than $250 for 90 days. The area has a high fence, staff in attendance from 6.30 am till midnight, and the vehicle is in open air so the batteries will stay charged. Tokyo has little snow which in other places could cover the solar panels for months. 

This has the contact details for the car park, in Japanese, and a phone number. Also the email is info@2525parking.com

Miscellaneous
There are frequent rest areas along the roads. They have toilets, sometimes have onsens, and have local attractions on show. This could be some locally produced food, farmers market, sea food, hot food stalls. We found these really good for finding unusual vegetables. 

We needed to replace our fridge while in Japan. We found a Waeco dealer on-line, in Tokyo.

There is also a Webasto dealer in Japan, in Yokohama. In fact the Webasto contact was a very supportive and friendly contact. The Managing Director is a Bartek Radzimski, a Polish long term (16years) resident of Japan, speaking English. In addition he is an office bearer of the Japanese RV association, so he has a love of RVs as well as the contacts to go with it. In his role with the RV association he is happy to be contacted by non-Japanese speakers for assistance. 


We had business cards made in Australia before we left. We found a japanese translator on line. She gave us the Japanese translation electronically, so we could just give that to the printer, with one side done in English and the other in Japanese.

 


The card has a photo of the vehicle, our names, occupations, and qualifications on it. It also has "Travelling The World" in big letters, as well as the blog and email addresses. We have found this very useful and well accepted by the Japanese. It serves to answer many of the questions they try to ask. Cards are very common in Japan anyway, and this serves a communication purpose. Having the photo helps explain our situation when we  are away from the car as well.

I recommend learning a few phrases of Japanese. This breaks the ice (we all laugh together) and then Japanese people feel brave enough to try out their English. We used the lonely Planet phrase book (bought in the post office when we renewed our passports.). 

And last but not least - Japanese toilet paper is exceedingly fragile, thin and soluble. If you are at all fussy about your paper, bring your own! 

Export of vehicle
To Sth Korea
In the last month before we were to leave Japan we heard that Sth Korea had been refusing entry to the country for vehicles from Japan! A telephone call by a Japanese-speaking friend revealed that Sth Korea had had some trouble from Japanese RVs. The ferry company operating from Shimonoseki said they would not take our vehicle, since some RVs had been returned to Japan on the ferry. 

Discussions with our Australian Shipping agent revealed that a current Carnet would be acceptable. But our carnet was to expire on leaving Japan. So we needed an extension to the carnet. But Japan Auto Federation refused to extend our carnet. They had a misunderstanding of the international agreements re the Carnet system.  In spite of correspondance between the AAA and the JAF they would not change their position. 

So my recommendation is to plan well ahead, use your shipping agents, and even though Sth Korea does not REQUIRE (MANDATORY)  a carnet, it is very helpful if not essential to have one to cover your time in the country. We were told that we still could enter Sth Korea without the carnet but we would have to pay import duty on the vehicle and contents. 

In addition you will need to have evidence of your departure arrangements from Sth Korea. Ie pre-booked shipping and flights.

And the packing list which you prepared for entry to Japan will need to be produced. A trap for young players .... Do not take anything on the list home to Australia prior to departure from Japan. Eg we took our satelite phone home since we were not using it, but it appears on the packing list with which we entered Japan.

In the end we could not get our carnet extended so could not go to Sth Korea. We had to quickly book onto the first available ship out of Japan -to Antwerp. In researching this we also found that Canada has changed its Carnet system from April 2015 -no longer issuing Carnets to Canadian residents and presumably no longer extending them either. They are switching to a European based system later in 2015. So if you are planning to exit Japan to Canada check their latest requirements. 

In the end, at very short notice we booked onto a ship bound for Antwerp, Belgium. The cost was around $5000 for a 40ft high top container. (Not including insurance). 

The customs procedure was smooth, although we did have to remove everything from the vehicle for inspection.  The customs broker did not go through the packing list item by item. They were interested in what we had bought in Japan. The biggest problems were that they needed to take away Joe's passport, and the carnet, and they said customs procedures would take a few days! Since we were leaving Japan in 2 days there was a rush to get the passport back in time. Eventually the passport was delivered to our hotel. However they would not stamp or release the carnet to us until the ship had sailed! (Despite the vehicle being in the container.) That would have required us to wait in the area for a week! We were very nervous about leaving Japan without the carnet, but in the end we have to trust them to mail it to us via secure post. 

Our journey in Japan ended on a very pleasant note with Japanese generosity in the last few days. A security officer allowed us to sleep overnight in a car park after initially saying we could not. Once he understood our situation he went to a lot of trouble to get permission for us to stay. And a hotel reception staffer walked a number of blocks with us to the bus stop to get us on the right bus to the airport. This was typical of the help we got throughout our trip and was a nice finale to the trip. 

So that's the end of our Japan travels. If you do take your Earthcruiser or other RV to Japan we'd love to hear from you! Good luck and enjoy this beautiful country! 


Sunday 15 March 2015

Quo vadis - doco des Ka?

I 14-15th March 2015.
I We have a dilemma! Our plan has been to go from Japan to Sth Korea by vehicle ferry. But right now we are hearing that Sth Korea is refusing entry for RVs from Japan! There are two ferry ports from Japan to Sth Korea -Shimonoseki and Fukuoka. Our good friend Bartek (Webasto) has used his contacts to ask about carrying us from Shimonoseki or Fukuoka. The Shimonoseki company has declined to carry us, because they have had RVs returned to Japan by Sth Korean customs. The Fukuoka company is asking difficult questions such as whether our vehicle was imported to Japan as a vehicle or as "goods in a shipping container". 

Well we have our shipping agent in Australia and also the agent who landed us in Osaka both working on the problem and now it is the weekend -so we have no choise but to enjoy ourselves.....

We have been travelling through a mountainous part if Japan, where tea growing is the major industry. 

 It is amazing how the steep slopes are used to grow the tea! These tea rows must be harvested by machine although we haven't seen a machine in action yet. And the smallest communities are part of the action...

 With rows of tea bushes right among the houses. 

We are driving through very mountainous country, with wild rivers like we have (almost) become used to in Japan. It still takes our breath away when we see the steep slopes and running rivers. 



Japan feels comfortable to us now. We know how to get around, some useful phrases, and have developed some favourite foods. Mushrooms are still high on our lists, with slightly different varieties available each time we have come here. Look at these beauties, costing less than $5 for the lot! 


And of course we eat a lot of Miso, but I was surprised to find these Miso beans. Ie soy beans that have been cultured ready to make Miso, but sold whole without crushing into the paste. 


And Mochi -this is pounded rice made into a slab, fried in soy sauce -a gooey taste sensation! 


Last night we found a great camping spot -in a parking area for a Shinto temple. We placed ourselves out of the way where would cause no trouble and not be too obvious. There were no other vehicles around. Great quiet spot. 


After we had been in bed for about  2 hours and fast asleep we were woken by someone knocking on the door and calling out. It turned out to be an angry security man. No amount of persuasion would induce him to leave us be. He kept on about private property in spite of no signs that we could see with any numbers on them. Even Joe's statement had had been drinking sake and so mustn't drive had no effect. Apparently it was "no parking" after 6pm. This was one of only three times in more than 6 months of camping in Japan that we have been made to move. 

We are getting nervous now about getting booked on some means of transport out of Japan. The expiry  date of our carnet is fast approaching and still we have no destination! We are putting a lot of trust in our shipping agent in Brisbane to sort this out.
This is not a perfect raptor shot - but the best I have achieved to date! 




















Thursday 12 March 2015

Here we go again -our last month in Japan.

12/3/2015
We arrived back here on 9th March for our last month in Japan before we must export the vehicle. 

Last time we were here we were very busy with 5 of us in the vehicle during the worst weather we have experienced in Japan so far! We were right in the blizzard which caused a number of deaths, and while it was exciting for us it was also quite uncomfortable, especially for Emma and Jono in the roof top tent. Condensation and cold were the main issues. In addition our heater failed in the last and coldest days.

We had a last minute change of plans as to where we would leave the vehicle while we went home. In the end we left it in a long term secure storage yard, right next door to an airport hotel in Narita. This was very convenient, and cheaper than we had been quoted elsewhere. The hotel was the Excel Hotel Narita. Both drop off and pickup went very smoothly so I do recommend this arrangement for anyone coming to Japan in their own vehicle. 

 This is the paperwork the long term car park gave us, with contact details and address in Japanese.

Our first priority on arrival back in Japan was getting the heater fixed. Googling Webasto revealed a "number of Webasto branches in Japan, but initial attempts at contacting them before we left home got no response. So I went through Mark at Earthcruiser to get the Australian Webasto to contact the appropriate Japanese branch. Then it all went very smoothly. 

We went to Webasto head office in Yokohama. Here the GM of Webasto Japan (Bartek Radzimski) took us under his wing. Whilst the heater was being inspected and fixed he took us out to lunch (vegan too!). He also invited along a journalist for an RV magazine. Bartek is also an Office-bearer in the Japanese RV industry association. We hope our story might encourage Japanese RVers to get out and about in their beautiful country, and that it might encourage Japan's RV industry a little too.

The heater problem was due to Cape York red dust (we had a lot of dust inside on that trip and under the seat where the heater goes is a place we rarely see) in combination with the condensation we had last year. This caused a electrical short. The Webasto tradesman fixed it, cleaned it all out, and then gave us a tutorial about our heater. 

He suggested that since we usually run the heater on low this will eventually cause a build up of soot in the heater. We should occasionally run it on high for at least 15 minutes to burn off the soot. In addition, to avoid condensation we should increase the heater power, and leave a window open to vent the excess heat and moisture. This solves both the soot problem and the condensation problem. However it increases our power consumption. So we are looking for the optimal heater power and window opening arrangement.

Bartek also arranged a company deal on a hotel for the night -Prince Hotel in Yokohama. And the view of the city was worth every penny.


Bartek also gave us an idea of what to see in this part of Japan. So we headed South towards Mt. Fuji. 
And WOW. Day 1 towards evening we saw the mountain. It was bitterly cold (by our standards) and I couldn't bear the pain outside on the wind. After only a few minutes I had to flee. But I do like the shots I got...


That night we found a camping spot on the shore of a lake. We set up camp and slept soundly until we were awoken by a couple of fishermen at dawn. And that brought our attention to the dawn view. 

 This was the view from the camper when we awoke. 

A short walk gave me this view..

 And that was only the beginning! There is a Skyline drive with great views of Fuji, and 5 lakes each with its own great aspect on Fuji. I could bore you with the dozens of photos I took, but I can't resist a few of them...




 Had enough of Fuji?


Our next priority is to get the vehicle serviced -It is overdue, and likely Japan is a good place to do this for a Fuso! 

 Followers of this blog will notice notice a couple of changes. There is now a button for Google translation to Japanese at the top right of the page, but I can't be responsible for the quality of the translation! Also the photos should be a little better. My new camera (Sony Cybershot HX400V.) is a bridge camera -between a point-and-shoot and a DLX. So I hope that pleases.