The 4 of us slept very toasty with the wood stove going all night. Kaoru was putting more wood in during the evening which kept it going. Kaoru had her usual early start to the day and Michael, Leila and I woke around 730 and made our way to the main house for breakfast. Okasan made her usual feast and it took about 45 minutes to get through it! Then it was time for Michael and I to get to work…Otosan had some wood that needed splitting and his knee has been bad. So we were obviously wrapped at being able to help out. So we brought the hydraulic splitter round the back where the wood was already cut to length, and got to work. Because of Michaels experience cutting wood with an axe, he was great at being able to finish the bits up. Then we came across some that were too long for the splitter. So I got the chain saw to do the first split of them and Michael did the other 2 cuts to make them thin enough.

After a shower, we said goodbye to Okasan, and Otosan drove the 4 of us to the train station. We grabbed some food and hopped on the 1200 train for Nikko. We had to change en-route and arrived about 145. We then caught a taxi to our accommodation. Our rooms were complete totami rooms! They looked awesome! But we didn’t  have long until things were closing so we had to make a move. We went to the Toshogu Shrine-a place Kaoru and I had been to before but it was still great to see again. We spent about 90 minutes there, looking at the 3 wise monkeys, being prayed for in the shrine and all the other things to do inside.

Back at our Ryoken, we all came in to our room and had some nibbles and drinks. Then it was time for Onsen! There are two large ones here -a men’s and a ladies. I found the water too hot so didn’t stay for too long. But then it was time for dinner…

This was an amazing feast! Photos possibly to follow if I remember… It was shabu shabu, with more extras than you could poke a stick at! I couldn’t finish everything but it was all delicious!

Walking up to our rooms Michael was talking about being ready for bed…I think we were all thinking the same thing. Then we saw it was only 830! We looked in the shop for a bit and said goodnight. Then Kaoru went for her bath as she didn’t to when I did before dinner.