Giant Tree Street: Nagasaki City

The Giant Tree Street in Nagasaki is one of those places where you know that the street planners and government officials have made the correct decision and allowed nature and development to work in conjunction with each other, create cohesion and the right balance between the continual struggle of how to keep nature and expansion in check and to retain the regions natural beauty!

To drive up and down the street is to step back in time and feel the real connection with nature.  At first, the feeling that this is impossible creates a wave of anxiety as the gap between the tree located in the middle of the road and the guard rail looks way too narrow to fit a large sized car through let alone a small car or a couple of motorcycles.  But slowly by slowly, ones confidence and ability to navigate the twist and turn road up and up to the top of the Giant Tree Street turns a slow and careful drive into a fun and joyful experience that you would like to do again and again!

It is without doubt one of the best drives in Nagasaki and I will look forward to driving this street again in Spring and Autumn when the tree colours and foliage are at their best.  Comes well recommended and an absolute delight for all nature lovers.

Please check out The Giant Tree Street in Nagasaki here on a map:

Please click on the photos below to enlarge:

Not much room through here!

A very busy section of road

Another taxi

Lots of activity

Nature wins out over destruction

Here is a video of the Giant Tree Street Nagasaki for your viewing enjoyment:

Strawberry Picking: Nagasaki Prefecture

Strawberry Picking is one of the best family activities that you could ever want to do.  It works on so many levels.  Firstly, wives just love Strawberries!  I don't care if it is ice cream, cake, shortcake, cheesecake, parfait, sundae or dipping in whipped cream, let alone with champagne or straight up just as it is, the ladies like Strawberries, period!

Then you have the kids, running around trying to find the perfect one and when they find it they talk about the strawberry as if its their long lost cousin and presto it is gone down to their stomachs within seconds and guess what miraculously they find another strawberry 2 seconds later that was better than the last and the process repeats itself over and over again.

The great thing about Nagasaki is that these Strawberry picking places and their massive greenhouses are everywhere so in reality you don't have to travel very far to find them.  The one we went to was the unlimited picking and eating variety and it was reasonably prices at 1500 yen (approx $15 US) and 800 yen (approx $8 US) for the kids.  The Strawberry picking season is generally between February and April as this is when the fruit is at its optimum sweetness and juiciness.

As for me, I hit the road running, came out of the blocks fast as a cheetah but alas we all have our limitations and mine is apparently unlimited strawberry eating.  By my estimation I hit the wall at 60 and couldn't force another strawberry down.  Maybe you will have better luck than me when you try your hand?

Click on the link to see Strawberry Picking in Nagasaki on a map:

Click on the photos below to enlarge:

Now that`s a strawberry

Looking for the good ones

Sweet and delicious

The face of someone who has eaten too many strawberries!

The wife and kids didn't hold back!

Another one bites the dust

Last one!

My take home pack

These aren't ready for eating yet!

Please check out Nagasaki Strawberry Picking on the videos below: