Deep South, into the Ocean and down the River

The idea of climbing Mt. Fuji this past weekend had been tossed around, but doubts that Fuji could top the Mt. Yarigatake experience, compounded by the fact that it was the last full weekend to get some packing and cleaning done before having to move out, squashed it. Instead, Belinda, Corri and I took a road trip to the southern most point of Honshu (another little known wakayama attraction). We started out early and ended up meeting up with some other folks on a small southern island off of Kushimoto to snorkel. Apparently there are some prime snorkeling spots down there, and while it was beautiful it was more treachurous than we had expected and a few cuts and stings cut the snorkel trip to about an hour. Still we saw a lot of puffer fish (kawai!!!), some chisai fluorescent blue fish and some sea creatures. We continued the day in water with a trip to a beach in Nachi and then to Kawayu River for some natural onsen baths. Tanoshikata. I slept most of the long ride home, thanks Bel.


Sunday, the sun was shining brightly again and the humidity was stifling. So it was a bike ride to Ubuyu beach, a bit northwest of Gobo. Unfortunately my granny bike is gear-less, so the knees are chotto sore today, but it was quite a pleasant ride. Oceans at the end of the tunnel are always a good incentive. Most of the beaches in Japan clear out around 4 or 5, so we had the water mostly to ourselves.

Then finally, to finish off the three-day weekend, I headed to to Nakatsu to float down Hidaka River. Some folks were out kayaking down the rapids, others were netting frogs and bugs. Nothing like an innertube and some beautiful turquoise water to relax the mind from packing induced stress. Well, except perhaps, for the onsen across the road. Ah, I will miss this.