Relaxation and fun in Miyakojima

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Sun, fun and fantastic company, that's what I've experienced over the last few days, how about you? Let me make you feel even more jealous! Where do I begin?

Well, I caught a ferry from Ishigaki to Miyakojima on Thursday morning, a 6.45am ferry so it was a very early start. I didn't have any problems this time, I had doubled checked the day before where the ferry would be leaving from and I went to the ticket office to get a boarding pass and room number so all was fine this time! The boat trip took 6 hours but because I had got up early that morning I spent the whole time sleeping as did mostly everyone else. When we arrived in Miyakojima it was a beautiful day (and it has been beautiful weather ever since then too). The little guesthouse where I am staying is just opposite the ferry terminal and it is the best, I know I said that the best place I stayed in was in Hagi, the little Ryokan, but this guesthouse is even better in terms of atmosphere and the people.

It's called Diego and is run by a guy in his twenties and his girlfriend. The house is located on the 2nd floor and the stairway up has a big mural on the walls, paint splotches everywhere and shells and sailing rope and when the guy greeted me (his name is Tetsu, but everyone calls him Techan. Chan is like san, but you usually use it for close friends and little kids, it sort of means your good friends, but he asks all the guests to call him this) he only had on a pair of shorts and he told me to go into the living room where a few other guests were so I could fill out the form etc. From the very start it was a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The house also has been converted into a guesthouse and has dormitory style sleeping quarters, a shared bathroom and kitchen and living area, there are photos everywhere of previous guests and paintings on the walls, there are big branches and shells decorating the walls and ceilings and they constantly have music playing. The place is kind of messy but in an organized way, and has such a homey feel, I don't know how to explain the atmosphere, just that it is fantastic. All the guests are on holiday I suppose so that makes for relaxing conversations and Techan and his girlfriend are also very laid-back people.

Anyway, on my first day I only had the afternoon and I wasn't that familiar with the island so I just went to the beach that is pretty much across the road from Diego and walked around the town looking at the shops for a while, just trying to get a feel for the place. It is just as beautiful as Ishigaki, the town is a bit bigger, as is the whole island. I went to a little Italian restaurant for dinner that night and it was fantastic, it was across the road from the beach and had a very beachy feeling, I was seated at a table that faced a tropical fish tank and so I sat there eating my dinner and sipping on a cocktail, watching the beach across the road and the fish in front of me. Very nice. When I went back to Diego that night I was sitting in the living room reading a tourist guide of Miyakojima and little by little everyone came home from whatever they had been doing all day and we all sat around and chatted. Once again it just felt like staying with a group of friends, Techan got out his musical instrument and played that, a Shamisen, sort of like a guitar but not, much smaller and only 3 strings, hard to explain. But it felt so good to be relaxing there. Techan also introduced me to Miyakojima sake, which I have to say I'm not all that fond of but it was good to try.

On Friday, Techan said he would take me and a few of the other guests to his "secret beach" where we could go snorkeling, so around lunchtime he took me and his girlfriend, another girl guest and 3 guy guests to this beach, and it truly was secret. Techan has this little old car which we all squeezed into and we were driving along the main road when all of a sudden he turned off and started driving in a tropical rainforest, which has a small path winding down to a little beach. However I am absolutely certain that it is not meant for cars! Luckily his was small enough it fit. We parked the car and walked the rest of the way through long grass and then, all of a sudden, there it was. A tiny little beach that was surrounded by cliffs so it was secluded from the rest of the coast. It had a small area at the back where you could get out to the ocean but that was it. A hidden little gem! It had gorgeous tropical fish and coral which I imagine weren't bothered by humans much. We spent a few hours there snorkeling and the guys also did fishing but that wasn't for me, it was so cool, something that not many other tourists would do because it was a "secret beach"! After that he took us to a much bigger beach which was full of people but gorgeous still, white sand, aqua water. We spent the rest of the afternoon there, swimming and playing beach volleyball. The guys were jumping off the wharf that was there and being stupid really. It was funny to think that guys are the same anywhere, I could see Australian guys doing exactly the same thing at a beach in Oz.

That night we decided to have a BBQ for dinner, a few more people had arrived at Diego、it has been full capacity every night so far. We sat around, eating and drinking and talking and sharing experiences of places where we had all been and it was good because now that I have been to a few places I can give advice to other people. Everyone is so nice, I met another Aussie girl, it was funny because she has Chinese parents but was born in Australia, so she's Asian looking and at first I assumed she was Japanese but she started to talk English to me and I found out that she's from Brisbane. A few other people that I met gave me their contact details and said when I was in their part of Japan to give them a call and they'll show me around, so that was nice.

Two of the people that I met, a girl called Miyuki and a guy called Aki said they wanted to go exploring the island the next day so we all decided to rent a car and go together. We woke up late (as we had been up til about 2am the night before) and called a car rental company, rented a car and set out. It was a fantastic day! First we went to the top of Miyakojima to a place called Ikemijima, which is actually a small island but it is connected to the main island by bridge, we found a tiny little beach and spent some time there and I actually met an American guy who is living in Miyakojima for a couple of months teaching English. He spends most his time at the beach, what a life hey! I'm envious, although I can't really complain about my lifestyle at the moment! Anyway we drove around there for a while and saw beautiful scenery and then we went and got some lunch at the cutest place I have ever seen, it was a tiny, tiny little beach shack along the road, a curry place, which sounds weird eating curry on such a hot day, it was about 36 degrees yesterday. But the Japanese say that it's actually good to eat curry on a hot day because it makes you sweat and thats good for you, I don't know if I really believe that but it was delicious. We sat outside on this little verandah with sand everywhere, the wind blowing and hibiscus scattered around, it was so cute!

After lunch we went to the most popular snorkeling point on Miyakojima called Yoshino. It is a beach but has, I don't know what you call it a table of coral or something? Anyway it was full of coral and so half way out you could stand on the rocks and the water was only up to your knees. It was amazing! The tropical fish that we saw were so pretty, tiny little nemos, and these electric blue fish. They ranged from about 30cm to about 2cm, all swimming together and amongst the coral and other sea anemone, they weren't afraid of people either, they would swim right up to my goggles, so close you could have touched them!

So we spent a good few hours there, swimming amongst the fish, laying on the beach and collecting shells and coral, Miyuki has a fascination with collecting shells. After that we drove out to the south-eastern tip of Miyakojima where there is a light house and walked around there and then stopped off at another famous beach here called Sunayama on our way back to Diego. Sunayama means sand mountain, and named so because you have to walk over a big mountain of sand to get to the beach. The beach was beautiful though, and by this time the sun was starting to set so the sky was a lovely orange colour, I took so many photos yesterday, I wanted to take more too but I didn't want to go crazy. When I get back to Hakodate and get them developed I will share them with you!

So that was our day of touring Miyakojima, it is gorgeous, the people are really friendly and laid-back and the weather was fantastic, we all got burnt, even though we had suncream. Aki's back was a bright pink this morning! When we returned home (well it feels like that) a couple of new girls had arrived and we all went out to dinner together. The food was delicious. Once again it was a late night, I don't think I've gone to bed earlier than 1am since I got here but it's been so much fun! And I can sleep in so it doesn't matter.

Today is my last day here in Miyakojima, this morning I lazed about the house, laying on the floor with the sun streaming in the windows, the wind blowing, music playing in the background, relaxation is the best! I love this place! It is beautiful and the weather is gorgeous! I don't want to leave tomorrow! I will definitely have to return, if only to stay at Diego again. I have made some good friends and I have only been here since Thursday.

I might go down to the beach again this arvo before it gets dark, one more time before I leave. I know it's hard to imagine and get the real feel of this place through a blog, but I hope I did it some justice.
OK, bye for now!

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Comments

[Tom]

Fun Times
Thanks for posting the blog. I love Miyakojima, been there 2 times. Glad you had fun there.