Batcave and Glass

Had another busy day today. We began at the Fuji Visitor Centre before heading off on a 2 hour bush walk through a forest that is 900 years old. The forest is formed ontop of volcanic rock spewed from Fuji-san and the tree roots have a 20m radius as there is less than 10cm of soil on the rocks. We made our way to the Bat Cave. Much to the kids disappointment, there was no Bat Mobile, but the cave network was excellent. Luckily the Japanese are overly cautious when it comes to safety and the kids were decked out in hard hats - good job as every five seconds you'd hear a thump and an accompanying 'Owww!'.

Afterwards we had lunch served to us by a restaurant owner who came over to NZ on an exchange with Tawa Intermediate many years ago. We tried a type of traditional noodle - the name escapes me at the moment, but it was not udon or soba.

We then went to a glass factory, and many of you may be in for a nice treat when the kids get home. Students had the option of designing artwork for a glass ornament then sandblasting it, or creating a piece of glass jewellery. The kids did a great job and put my rather average effort to shame.

We then had a visit to a rather strange museum. Their was no explanation, but the theme was about a book series involving cats. Kind of like a Japanese Beatrix Potter. Then we headed down to one of the Fuji Five Lakes before heading off to our host families who took us out for sushi.