We started off today back in the dining room, this time with a lovely breakfast of fish, rice, vegetables – and a few pieces of ham and a fried egg!
After we checked out, we dropped into the post office to send a post card. I think this might have been the first time that the young lady behind the counter had ever seen a piece of mail addressed to Australia. After conferring with an older colleague she established that it was 70 yen and then we were on our way.
We went back to the town of Fukue by circuiting the island. The island is much more beautiful than we had realised. The whole island consists of wooded hills and mountains, with the occasional small village along the coastal areas.
View on the road to Fukue
...and another view on the road to Fukue
Along the way we stopped off at two beautiful beaches. The first one didn’t have anywhere to sit or any toilet facilities so we took some photos and then moved on to Takahama Beach, which has been listed as one of Japans most beautiful beaches. It really was beautiful and had all the necessary facilities, so we settled in for a couple of hours of relaxation. I went for a walk along the beach while John read a book on his Kindle.
Kate on Takahama Beach
Some guys in business clothes
We hope they aren't looking at 'improving' this gorgeous beach!
Some Japanese ladies arrived and sat at the next table. One of them suddenly jumped up and started running towards the beach. I thought she’d seen a big hairy spider or a bear or something else scary, but she looked up at the nearby hill and said ‘shika’ which is Japanese for deer. Feeling reassured, we went to have a look too. It was quite a large deer with antlers, so John said ‘Jingle Bells’ which the ladies seemed to understand. (Well they laughed anyway).
A bus shelter!
Further along the way we visited a supermarket to buy something for lunch and we caused quite a sensation. We had to wonder whether any Australians have ever been in this shop before. The staff and customers were very discreet about their peeking at us, but they were obviously quite fascinated.
Loaded up with sushi, bun and fruit for me and a chinged bento box and bun for John, we sat by the sea and had a leisurely lunch. We couldn’t eat it all, so saved a nashi pear and a bun for later.
Next stop was a big shopping mall on the outskirts of Fukue. We discovered that there are some large shops including a convenience store. They were just on the other side of town from where we’d been yesterday. We had a good browse and then came out to discover that the crows had been pecking at the bags hanging from the ‘shopping hooks’ on our scooters. They had spread the rubbish from our lunch around the car park and had eaten the bun and the nashi pear that were in the other bag. A lesson learnt! I hope they got a belly ache.
John attempting to appear wise in the Fukue Shopping Mall
We then found the hotel where we will be staying for the next two nights and met Mr Yamaguchi, the man who has been very helpful by making our Goto Islands bookings for us. He is a very nice man and speaks English very well. His wife does not speak English, but she is very friendly and is making us feel welcome.
View from our hotel window
We had a snooze and then a bath, followed by a lovely dinner. Our room is HUGE and very nice. We can see the harbour from our window, so we've been watching the activity from above. John had a chat with Erin on Skype and Mr Yamaguchi came along and had a chat with her too! The wonders of modern technology!
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