Kyushu Japan Day 9 Yakushima

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Day 9
The island of Yakushima
A short bus ride to the ferry terminal and we were on the Surf Jet to the island of Yakushima at full speed. We were amazed as it blazed into the harbour leaning over into the corner like a motorcycle. We had to strap in like on an aircraft as we sped across the Pacific Ocean to clear water to the south. The weather was good to us again, as it has been for most of the trip, with a clear sky and the sun lifting the spirits on this beautiful spring day. As we landed in Miyanoura Port we could see a road zig zagging up the mountain and this was the road our bus took for 9 km to the start of our walk in the Shiratani Unsuikyo National Forest. This was a 7km walk with 180m of climbing over the most demanding terrain and which took Martin and myself just under 2 hrs to complete including a short stop for a snack, giving the legs something to complain about tomorrow. The ancient forest was mixed woodland with a lot of old cedar dating back 7000 years, although most of these were just stumps but were the forefathers of some younger cedars present. The waters were crystal clear and were accompanied by a variety of mosses and ferns and some spring flowers just appearing. The walking underfoot set off quite easy with wooden steps and crazy paved ramps but soon gave way to boulders, small rocks and tortuous tree roots going up and down endlessly. It startled us to see a group of quite tame very and very small sika deer foraging on the mountainside and then a monstrous worm about 9" long before a group of red bottomed macaques half way up the mountainside eating peacefully at the roadside. Later we caught the bus back down and then to our hotel by the sea with our room overlooking the waves hitting some very impressive rock formations. These were vertical slices just a few inches thick all stacked together like a loaf of bread. I think they could have been there some time. The Onsen, the Onsen, the heat, the heat. I had better be careful or my little legs will be served up as lobster at dinner one night.

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