August 9th - still cycling

Word of the day: Nikko

After waving good-bye to our lovely hosts we continued along the Edogawa bike path for the better part of the morning, stopping to buy some kerosene for our stove. We bought such a small amount that the service station guy gave it to use for free. Bonus.



























Unfortunately, in a cruel chain of events, Brendan's front brake broke off. I hope I'm describing this right...Apparently his bike stand lifted the bike in such a way that the front wheel swung around, so that the downtube put pressure on the brake. Something bent and when Brendan tried to straighten it, it snapped off. The end result, no more front brake. He can still ride, but he has to be especially careful on the downhills and in wet weather.


























Feeling frustrated we rode on about 10kms further and stopped at a small garden near the path. At least we were able to use our stove now and for the first time in almost two months we cooked our own meal - spaghetti with bottled pasta sauce and tinned tuna. Modest, but it hit the spot! (Detail spotter tip - the fork is from China airlines - Brendan).

It just so happened that there was a museum nearby - we're not sure what it was as all the writing was in Japanese - with some lovely gardens around it. We relaxed and mucked around before heading off on to the last of the bike path and then to Koga station.




Our time at the museum gave us an opportunity to add to our collection of photos of beautiful and unique drain covers. Geeky but interesting.




















After Brendan pulled the bikes apart and packed them in our train bags we headed off to Nikko home of a number of World Heritage shrines and temples. Fortunately there was a great campground nearby.