​Many times in the outback we find that we need to cut something - but have our hands full because they are holding other items – normally the items that we are trying to cut. In situations like this you need a knife that has the ability to flip open or open automatically. Because of this, although we have several other knives in our gear, we recently purchased a Buck 110 Auto.

You can find the details about the Buck 110 Auto on the Camping/Tools page.

Most people go out to brunch on Mother's day. Since we love the outdoors we did something a little different; we took a hike at a few locations on the Massachusetts North Shore (Ship Rock, Devereaux Beach, Marblehead and Castle Rock.). ​It was a great way to spend the day!

In April we took a 16-day trip to Japan and South Korea - and I’ve finally had time to catch up, review, edit and post some of the 2,500+ photos that I took during the trip. It was a great trip that allowed us to see a lot of spectacular sights and hike all over the countries (both in the woods and in the urban areas). Here’s a short list of the places that we went and the sights we saw:
 

1. Tokyo, Japan
   1. Akihabara, Studio Ghibli Museum, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Meiji Shrine and the Imperial Palace Gardens
2. Shingu, Japan
   1. Kumano Kodo Pilgrimages Trails - Daimonzaka Trail, Nachi Taisha Shrine and Seigantoji temple and the Nachi Falls.
3. Kagoshima, Japan
   1. Chiran Tokko "Kamikaze Pilots" Museum,  Chiran historic samurai dwellings and gardens, Shoko Shuseikan Museum and the Senganen Garden
4. Sasebo, Japan
   1. Ohashi Kannon Temple, Emukae Honjin Ruin and Yamashita House, Kozakihana Park - the westernmost place of mainland Japan
5. Busan, South Korea
   1. Seokguram Buddhist Temple, Bulguksa Buddhist Temple, the Gyeongju National Museum and Tumuli Park
6. Fukuoka, Japan
   1. Niji no Matsubara pine forest, Karatsu Castle, Hikiyama Exhibition Hall and Koreyoshi Takatori's historic residence
7. Hiroshima, Japan
   1. Miyajima, Itsukushima Shrine and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
8. Kochi, Japan
   1. Katsurahama Beach and the Kochi Castle
9. Kyoto, Japan
   1. International Manga Museum, Nishiki Market, Mameshiba Café, Kiyomizu Temple and Kiyomizu area and Gion
10. Osaka, Japan
    1. Osaka Castle, Umeda Sky Building, Dotonbori, Lucky Owl Café and the Harukas 300 Observatory

You can see all the photos of our Adventures on the Adventures/Asia page.

One of our favorite hiking activities is to hike to see waterfalls. ​ ​Luckily there is an online database that lists the known waterfalls by Country, State, name and map location - the "World Waterfall Database".

                                            https://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/

"The World Waterfall Database was established to provide a complete, accurate record of the waterfalls throughout the world, largely because such a record had not ever been established."

The website has lots of great detailed information on the waterfalls. They’ve even a glossary of waterfall related terms (https://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/glossary) and lists of waterfalls by category:
 

• World's Top 100 Highest Rated Waterfalls
• Tallest Waterfalls
  •  Overall Height
  • Single Drops
  • Free-Falling Drops
• Largest Waterfalls
  • By Average Width
  • By Average Volume
  • By Average Volume (excluding rapids)
  • By Average Volume (excluding Extinct and Inundated Falls)

​Here are the maps for the waterfalls in New England::

Here’s what all the map icons mean. 

Details about the site’s icons and how to use the site can be found at:
 
            https://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/help#status
 
So if you are looking for waterfalls on your hikes – you should really check out the "World Waterfall Database".

​As you might have noticed my last blog post was back on 10 April; since then – nothing.
 
Well there’s a good reason for my lapse in posting – on 11 April we left for a 16-day trip to Japan and Korea. Since we returned on the 27th we’ve unpacked and started to get everything back on track. I’ve even had a chance to take an initial pass through the 2,500+ photos that I took on the trip. I plan on posting some of them over the weekend. In the meantime I thought that I would post about one of the fun things we searched for in Japan – Kit Kat candy bars.
 
In Japan Kit Kat candy bars are a big thing. In the US Hershey’s controls the brand – but in Japan Nestlé has control. To increase their sales Nestlé has played into the niche game. So where the US only has Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate Kit Kats, in Japan there have been over 300 flavors of Kit Kats – with approximately 30 flavors normally for sale at one time.
 
They even have regional specialties that you can only purchase in certain parts of Japan and “high end” flavors that come from teaming with the “Chocolatory” specialty candy stores.  
 
We didn’t buy every flavor that we saw (for example “Wasabi”) – but we did find 11 flavors that we thought would be worth trying:
 
       1) Banana
       2) Raspberry Biscuit
       3) Japanese Strawberry
       4) Sweet Sake
       5) Cranberry and Almond
       6) Green Tea, Cranberry, Raspberry and Almond
       7) Sweet Potato and Adzuki Bean Dumplings
       8) Iyokan Mandarin Orange
       9) Hokkaido Spicy Cantaloupe and Mascarpone Cheese
       10) Hiroshima Maple Buns
       ​11) White Chocolate and Milk Chocolate
 
I’ll let you know how the side-by-side taste test goes.