Ju shi ban - now it is golden.

I find myself wanting to start this update as I always start, by habitually claiming that I am sorry for the lateness of the update and eluding to the idea that I have nothing to write about. Neither is true this time (and probably the latter statement is only in part true inside my own head).

This last month has found me on an island, by a river and under a waterfall....... with zero drownings.

We begin with............ Awesome land. Its a small island of the coast of Inujima which is a small tourist destination off the mainland of Japan..... before we arrive at Awesome land I better describe the journey there.

A ferry ride over to Inujima is where my trip begins and im sitting there surrounded by 30 other Japanese folk all with the same initial intentions...... to make it to Inujima without having to swim any of the distance. As the captain appears, he is looking like he just got out of bed and would rather be somewhere else, I notice he is wearing a "Jamaica" top with a massive marijuana leaf on the back........... im almost certain, unlike most places in Japan, that he is saving money on uniforms, and based on our intentions, the previously mentioned outlook is bleak for all of us.

On the ferry I met an English speaking bloke called Nobu. He was a very nice chap who attempted to translate for me to another couple of old fellas and then he invited me over to his island cafe of on Inujima (that is if based on our transport choice, we ever made it).

We arrive at Inujima without injury and the initial fears were nothing but a distant memory. I said farewell to Nobu only to find his cafe 5 minutes later and greeted him like a long lost friend with a whole hearted konichiwa! We sat in his cafe with a beer in our hands sharing stories of meetings and travels we had both taken..... which reminded me that I had a prearranged rendezvous point and shouldn't be sitting around drinking with a new acquaintance.

I left Nobu to wander the streets of Inujima and make my way, ever so nonchalantly, across the island to my meeting point, to be kayaked across to Awesomeness. On my way I enjoyed the flowers of spring and ran into one of the old chaps from the boat. He was rambling on about a mirror and how it would be a good photo and angles and what not......... pff like I really knew what he was saying - I took another picture of what he was pointing at, thanked him, and said see ya.

I made it to the rendezvous point and sat down with a certainty that it had been too easy to find.... this certainty led to me wandering about and asking a woman (in correct Japanese I might add) while showing her a map - "Where am I?" She had no idea what I was going on about.......... so I just waited in the sun.

I had been correct all along, and a friend Ross arrived not long after to ferry me across to the island in his kayak (after him and Haydn madly kayaked from the main land). We arrived to meet Haydn who was enjoying a spot of fishing as I soaked up the goodness of this little widely unknown secluded environment.

I would find it tough to describe the island in full, so I shall leave it at a most memorable moment. It was around 11pm at night and the ocean lit up with every small but breaking wave. Ross pointed and yelled to Haydn (whom had both been before) "look its happening, its happening again, that glowing shit is here!" Now I was aware of the "glowing shit" but both Haydn and I assumed that with a skin full of beer and wine, Ross had begun to see things, but I speak for myself when I say I doubted him yet I entertained him and went to the waters edge to inspect.

To his credit - he was right and I stood there in amazement as the water glowed like someone had dumped a heap of nuclear waste in the water. It was very strange to say the least and would only light up and react when you touched it. There was no moon and no nuclear power plant nearby so I failed to explain it.

The next day arrived and the night before had left me feeling a little worse for wear but we had to depart our camp and farewell the wild things on this land of secludedness.

The Asahi river is a major river running through Okayama and an enjoyable location for those who like to do nothing (me) to sit on the banks of, and those who like to kayak (Mariko and Haydn) to paddle away a Sunday afternoon.

As the other two floundered about in the water I took a stroll and photo graphed a duck and a boat amongst a million other photos of god awful birds.... it was a good day sitting in the sun but I didn't enjoy reviewing a literal thousand photos of birds doing stuff like flying and sitting, when i got home...... yeah birds with wings not the other type of bird, that wouldn't find me complaining.

As a small consolation to a day of bird (with feathers) watching I did managed to capture the sunset.

The last thing I have decided to talk about is the waterfall near a place called Tsuyama. Coming from New Zealand I didnt expect much and when we arrived I was pointed toward a dribble of water over a rock and was told that it was the waterfall.......

not expecting much I said it looked great but had a resounding scoff noise echoing in my head. We walked up to just past where you buy your tickets (tickets for a god damn waterfall??!??!?!?) and I soon realised the shaking bushes were full of monkeys! We round the bend and follow the stream only to discover not ten but hundreds of the little buggers walking about and grooming themselves amongst us people folk! Oh and there was one monkey who had staked his claim to a rock and was defending it with his life.

We continued up the path, passed the fish, passed the monkeys, and to the waterfall. Upon arriving I couldn't help but find it humorous that one little boy was checking his brochure just to make sure he hadn't been lied to, and that the picture in the brochure was in fact of the actual waterfall.

Monkeys are cool, waterfalls are nice and the sun is warm. It was a good day again so I was happy.

I will end it here but finish with a parting thought. This time was mostly spent during golden week, which is just that - one whole week of time off for everybody and I think New Zealand should look into this.

Until next time - behave padres.