Miyazaki Road Trip (Day 2)

Was woken up by Ciarán calling our room to find out if we wanted anything from the shops for breakfast. Then Drummond left to go to the onsen as it closed at 9am. Rushen and I slept more. Eventually we got up, and finally we checked out. The rooms were really cheap at only £35 for each room, so it was only just over £12 each for the night. Cheaper even than a youth hostel.

We drove to a little beachy place near to the hotel, and sat on the rocks. We had a breakfast consisting of bananas, oranges, onigiri, bread, bread rolls and cheese. We also had orange juice to drink, though we were told we'd have to buy cups in the hotel. Instead James stole little shochu tasting cups, so we had shots of OJ.

Then we drove down the coast to Aoshima island. No cars are allowed on the island, we were so enthusiastically told by a Japanese man with a car park business! It wasn't expensive, though, however he kept telling us that we should go upstairs for "omiyage" and it would cost ￥3,000. He also said something about shochu. Was he advocating drink driving? We will never know.

According to all the guides we had read it was supposed to be the place to go for swimming in the sea, with beautiful beaches of white sand. We saw nothing of the sort, however. Though the island itself was amazing because of the strange rock formations (called the "Giant's Washboard") and the huge crashing waves. We walked around it and then spent a few hours sitting by the sea.

Coming back from the island we found the "Miyazaki Prefecture Subtropical Gardens". These were pretty nice with palm trees and the likes, but the best thing was the giant greenhouse in the middle. Inside they were growing pineapples and bananas, which was really cool. Did you know pineapples grow on stalks above the plant, and when it gets big enough, the stalk breaks. Such an interesting plant.

We bumped in to one of the guys we met the night before in the bar, which was impressive, seeing as we were about 30km away from there. We carried on driving south to the Udo Jingu shrine, supposedly dedicated to the great-grandfather of Jimmu (the first emperor whose shrine we visited yesterday). It was up a big flight of stairs, or so we thought, but we couldn't see which way to go when at the top, so we came back down. The lady at the bottom seemed surprised, as we were supposed to come back down a different staircase. So, instead we went up the second one to see if it would be easier to find that way. As it turned out the main shrine was a really long way away, but it was so worth it when we got there.

It was right next to the sea, with more odd rock formations. There's something about watching big waves crash against the rocks; it's really captivating. In between the rocks was another rock (surprisingly) but which had a "shallow pool" in the top. You could buy five little clay balls for ￥100 (50p) and try to throw them down into it. I think the idea is that it'll grant your wishes, or something, of you get one in.

We began our trip back, stopping at an udon place for dinner. Not a big fan of udon, but it was okay. Though they gave us some really strange, weak coffee to drink, and when we asked for water, they just gave us a top up! The drive home was eventless, stopping for petrol, and at a little parking spot to change drivers. I have the honour of being the only one awake for the whole journey back, given that I was chief navigator in charge of the GPS!

I'm glad I went, as I wasn't sure whether I'd enjoy it. Don't think I'll go too often, as it drains the ol' money, but it's good to get away. Glad to be back now, though. I missed the contact with Hannah, and my family, and I'm all sunburnt and mosquito-bitten now!