How do you like Kinkaku-ji?

I was very, very impressed. There were quite a few people there, many school groups, but with the sunshine on the Golden Temple, it was beautiful. And the gardens were lovely, and I'm very impressed with the upkeep, you know. There were gardeners out, many of them, sweeping, and clearing, and mending fences and things. The trail was very well laid-out. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more or heard a little bit more about the actual...other buildings, rather than the Golden Temple, and there was only one thing I found in English, one board I found in English. So some of the other boards, if they could have English translations, it would be very helpful. But no, it was lovely. Very good.

Why did you come to Kinkaku-ji?

I worked it out, and I had a good journey, and there were people on the bus that helped. Unfortunately, the driver couldn't give me a one-day pass, so I had to pay, but, uh, and lose some money, but that's ok. I have to on the next bus, 102, and go to the Silver Temple.

Have you been anywhere else in Japan?

Yes, we come skiing here quite a bit, so we went to Hakuba for skiing and had good snow there, and then here, and then to Shiga Kogen, and I've not been there before. I'd been to Hakuba before, but Shiga Kogen was very interesting, we had a lot of snow, and we were able to ski up and down the valley, which was good. And last year we went to ?? on the north island, so, no, I like Japan very much. [It's] very good for skiing.

Are there any similarities to Japan and where you're from?

People are friendly. I think Australians are very friendly, and I think Japanese are very friendly, and honest, and open, and you feel quite safe. And everything's very clean, and tidy. It's good. I think mostly the people, they're friendly and approachable, and even people that don't speak much English, they're prepared to have a go, you know, which is good.

Are you going to come back to Japan?

I'd love to come back in the cherry blossom [season], but I imagine it is absolutely crowded, and it would be impossible, but I might just have to see some video of that I think, because... I'd like perhaps to come back in the summer, although, I presume it gets hot? Very hot, yeah. And we have our own hot in Melbourne: it was 40 degrees the day I left. (laughs) So, [I'm] looking forward to going back to some heat.

Are you going to go somewhere else now?

From now? To the Silver Temple. I hope the bus, 102, gets me there. And then I need... I'll go to the station to try and get some more information, and then I'll go to the Imperial Palace. That's my plan.