Up, up and away!

The New Year is here!

So out came the bicycle, battery all charged up, and off we went!

The 'plan' was to go about an hour up the coast on the eastern side of the island, have lunch at a small restaurant that my guide to Japan recommended, and then potter on home. This was a good plan, and like most of my plans, did not have any bearing with what I actually did.

I did set out to the eastern side of the island, passed the famed restaurant at around 10am, and continued up the coast, along the dazzling dark blue sea, framed by the tall pampas grass flowers.

Further along the coast, and at the lowest of low tide, I was admiring the big sandy flats of a small estuary, and the large hills I would soon have to cross to get to the other side of the island ….

… when I noticed the strange little while dots creating streaks along the edge of the sand flats.

Closer inspection showed them to be to be hundreds and hundreds of small white crabs, all merrily sifting through the sand.

I then huffed my way up and over the centre of the island, and zoomed down to the western coast, ending up just south of Nago city and the small peninsula on which the aquarium is.

Having needed quite a bit of help getting over the central range, I did not feel I should risk going further north to investigate Nago and the surrounding area (and running out of power on the way back). So instead flew back down to Onna village, the dark central ridge with its ferns and forests to the east, farmland and turquoise bus coral reefs to the west.

A bit over 55 km, and 5 hours later, I am very pleased with what the New Year has offered so far,

and I wish it may offer you the same!

 Happy New Year 2014!

On the road to Yamada gusuku

To counter the rather appalling lack of trains in Okinawa, I have bought myself a magnificent and powerful machine:

an electric bicycle!

After an hour charging, this lovely thing can take me whizzing to work, up and over the hill to the shopping centre, and up the nightly great hill I live on with no more effort than if this was the middle of Holland! So excited have I been about my new bicycle that I have been racing out of the house without my camera! But today (after a false start yesterday), I packed camera, tea and flashlight and set off on the hike up to, or possibly around, Yamada gusuku.

The hike starts off a little ways south of the house, and heads up into the hills, through a mixture of pine trees, reeds, spiny plants and giant tree-ferns. The first couple of valleys look almost exactly like the settings of Jurassic Park.

As the path wanders around the hills, the dirt wears out, and the old stone paving becomes visible. These roads used to be the main roads connecting the villages to the gusuku, a sort of old holy place from the 12th or 13th century, and considering their age and the all-empowering forest, it's amazing how well some of the strips of road and bridges are well-preserved.

After seeing the stone bridge, I veered off the main gusuku trail, and, following my usual attraction for water, headed down a small side path which meandered along a small stream.

More exuberant vegetation, with ferns and mosses and worts enough to fill a whole botanical garden.

A couple enthusiastic centipedes, too.

As the rock here is just layers and layers of coral rubble and limestone, there are caves and crevices absolutely everywhere, with small little dripping stalactites, and big thick columns of very very ancient stalactites that have finally reached the bottom.

The network of paths around Yamada seems to go on for ever and, who knows, we may one day stumble upon the gusuku!

Hike to Maeda point

It is a pleasant hour's hike from my house, south along the coast, to Maeda point.

The beach found below my house, is actually one of the prettiest I've seen so far. It's far from any hotel, and mainly used by local fishermen, so although the seafloor is rather destroyed and without much more interesting than a few sea cucumbers, the beach itself is beautiful, with large accumulations of shells and coral rubble along the high tide line.

After a second beach a little to the south, the road curves inland, while a small hiking path winds up along the edge of the cliffs leading to Maeda point.

The path was quite overgrown in parts, but that merely provided even more flowers for the armies of butterflies flitting around.

It is hard to believe we are in mid-october, with flowers the side of your palm along every hedge, and butterflies larger even than that.

After several bends through overgrown hibiscus, the path leads out onto the cliff edge, dried by the wind and sun, and overlooking the white and turquoise of the surf on the reef.

From here, the earth finally loses to the forces of nature, and the whole promontory at Maeda point is nothing but sharp craggy basalt rock, with some tidal pools left over from the last typhoon, and a couple lonely springs of green, peeping out from crannies in the rocks.

With so much varitation in scenery in just a few kilometres, I'm sure there will be plenty more surprises around!

Farewell party

How can I thank everyone enough for coming
from far and wide

to what turned out to be the best barbecue party ever!