Uraga - Kurihama

In a bout of non-logic, I felt like going to the beach today, before I head off to Okinawa for 3 weeks. And I wanted rocks and tide pools to peer into, so my local sandy beaches jus wouldn't do. I had originally thought of going to the beach at the end of the train line, but then thought of Uraga, as it had been so nice last year.

I had already gone to see the big lighthouse and park at Uraga last year with Mona, so I was quite happy to find I had taken a wrong turn at the station exit and was now on the other side of the little bay that seperates northern Uraga from southern Uraga and Kurihama. I thought of turning back, as it was kind of a rundown port area, but stumbled on the most lovely little shrine, again with very intricate carvings. It is always the smallest, most remote shrines that end up being the nicest ones! And this one was in a very old-type village, with many old wooden houses. Even their warehouses were nice-looking!

I followed the bay, past the old docking area, and got to saw a dazzling blue kingfisher for nearly 2 seconds, which is my longest sighting so far!

The bay opens up into the sea, and there is a small little peninsula, with signs indicating a lighthouse. This seemed odd to me, as there is such a big one just across the bay. Well, it turns out to be a very small, very old wooden lighthouse, that probably hasn't been used since Commodore Perry arrived there in 1853.

There is a small park dedicated to him at Kurihama port, but it is very hard to think what his first impressions of Japan could have been, as the coastline on that side of the small peninsula is completely covered in refineries.

It is the same kind of 2-sided peninsula as in Zushi/Kamakura, here with one side being refineries and murky, muddy water,

the other with the clearest water and cleanest beaches I've seen so far! It was, admitedly, very small, as the beaches are almost exclusively around the foot of the lighthouse. But there was almost white sand (a rarety here), and oodles of oddly-shaped rocks with tide pools!

And I so I spent a very relaxing afternoon on the beach, on the clean side, photographing various wildlife, and trying not to actually slide into the tide pools. Although just along the beach were a group of children playing in a rubber dinghy that looked soooo inviting! That must be the Okinawa effect!

I am now all set to go to Okinawa (must remember to pack my swimming suit), and go sit on the beach there! Oh, yes, and do some DNA sequencing, too, hehe.