Camphor tree

The covered bridge connects two sections of Wakayama Castle over the mort. This 27m-long, 3m-wide bridge connects the castle’s central residential area and the entertainment quarter in the west where musical performance took place. Only the lord and his attendants were allowed to cross the bridge. The bridge is on an angle (11%), a design said to be quite rare. A historian speculates that perhaps the design reflected a sense of fun and excitement of visiting the entertainment quarter. The bridge was recently restored using timber such as red pine, cypress, cherry and cedar. Wakayama castle was originally built by Toyotomi Family in 1585, and after several changes of reign, was resided by Tokugawa Shogunate for 250 some years (from 1619). The castle went through two burn-rebuilt, first in 1846 by lightening, and the WW2 air raid. On the quiet castle ground, there are a number of large trees, the largest of all being kusu (camphor, cinamomum camphora). The largest kusu is worshiped as the guardian tree for the local community (Wakayama Castle 和歌山城).

Koyasan Choishi-michi Pilgrimage

Koyasan Cho-ishi-michi is a 24km mountain pilgrimage trail leading up to Koyasan mountain where 130 some temples stand in silence. Koyasan is a Shingon Esoteric Buddhism headquarter established by Kukai in 816. At the back of the Koya town lies Okuno-in, where Kukai is enshrined. Thick moss and large cedar trees cover this medieval cemetery, and walking through it, you wonder if the forests or the cemetery existed first. At dusk, the stone lantern along the cemetery are all lit, filling the place with serenity and silence. The so-called Five-ring stone stupa symbolises "Heaven, Air, Fire, Water, Earth". The same is used for the stone marker of Cho-ishi-michi Pilgrimage route standing every one cho (109m). Currently 180 original markers remain. The very first is at the Ji-son-in Temple, where Kukai's mother is worshiped. About 5km up is a shrine for Deity Nyutsuhime. The two that enshrine female figures at the beginning of the pilgrimage seems to give gentle air to this pilgrimage, although the mountain road is quite steep at places (also this blog 2008.12.12).

Condamine

The milky canvas of the river water reflected the surrounding gum tree forest - it looked as if there was another world underneath. This almost reminds me of Escher's world, in which the artist expressed his fascination with infinity, parallel world and illusionary perspectives. Perhaps if we stay still long enough, in a total silence, the invisible world may unfold in front of us (Dogwood Creek, Condamine, Qld).