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"Was bus that just pulled out" quick gasp for air "going to Shichirui?" and another, I asked the group of 3 that were waiting at the Sakaiminato bus station.

"No (in English)" one of them says , "That one leaves from over there (in Japanese)".

I had pulled up in the carpark on the wharf side, and thinking the bus was due to leave at 8am I ran, only to see a blue and white bus ("the bus you need to get will probably be a blue and white one") pull out of the depot.

After taking a few minutes to catch my breath I wandered over to the queue and started chatting to the afore-mentioned bearers of good news, who incidentally were waiting for the same bus.

Who did I see later when I headed to the upper deck, with a couple of friends, to wait for the rest of our group? Yep, my new friends who although they were heading to a different island for the weekend, were on the same ferry. They were also traveling back a couple of days later on the same one as myself.

After lunching on Vietnamese-style filled rolls (thanks Erica) by the wharf on Nishinoshima it was off for an afternoon's sea kayaking.


Never mind the rest of it, can we get out here?

The water around Nishinoshima is amazingly clear, and apparently is like that nearly year-round. Hmm, this looks like a nice place to 'capsize'.... Our guide took us out to see a few rock formations, and fortunately it was calm enough to get through some of the narrow cave entrances, though one nearly claimed a sacrificial 'offering' of that most valued piece of outdoor equipment - sunglasses. Obviously feeling neglected after being shoved back on the owner's head when the bats clinging to the roof of the cave grabbed her interest was too much for them to bear, and deciding there was no longer any purpose to their existence they flung themselves over the side of the kayak never to be seen again - they thought.

Some of us searched for them by torchlight for a while, but then gave up. We had left the cave when we heard what we thought was our guide who was still in there, calling for help. The runaway eyewear had been spotted and were about to be taken into custody by our guide extraordinaire. He deputised a couple of the 'crews', handed his torch to one, his vest to another, capsized his kayak, and dove down to cuff the offender.
(They weren't mine by the way. I probably would've started paddling straight for the mainland to buy a replacement if mine had gone permanently awol).

Kayaking wouldn't be kayaking without a race somewhere in the afternoon. Fun, but we didn't quite take line honours unfortunately.

A casual get-together with the locals the first night was outdone by their invite to a barbeque at the dive centre on the second night. Maybe you wouldn't expect sushi (raw fish) to be served at a barbeque, but that was the best sushi I have tasted!! Plenty of good drink, great food, and even better more new friends. Great evening, with a 'time-out' to welcome back the night divers.

西ノ島、ありがとう!! また会いましょう！！

My new friends from the outward journey had saved me a seat on the ferry back Monday morning :-) and joined me on deck to watch a personal send-off from my friends not returning until later that afternoon(choreographed by Carole) - worthy of a Nishinoshima Academy Award, thanks guys :-)

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