Come Away with Me

Roadtrip

Day 1

Over the weekend, we rented a car (a powerful little white Toyota which Sharon affectionately referred to as her 白馬王子 after having driven it for 2 days) and went on a sightseeing roadtrip around the island. Armed with a pretty good map and my memory, we took on the island's narrow and winding roads!

Our first stop was Takaitabi Beach (高井旅海水浴場)where my base school Narao Junior High(the one that is right on the beach remember?) is located. Since it was en route to where we were heading,i brought the two of them there to have a look at where i go to work most of the time. Before we managed to arrive at the school though, Alvin and Sharon were so wowed by the beautiful scenery along the way that we got down to snap a few shots first.
It was wonderful weather that mid-autumn October day. The sea, the sky and the 3 of us =)


Hmm, not sure what he was trying to do. Embracing the vastness of nature perhaps? ;p

Sights around Takaitabi beach. That's my school on the top right hand corner. Sweet little school : )

Next, we went north of the island where i seldom had the chance to go on my own since i do not drive. We stopped for lunch before continuing with our journey. Since we are on Goto, whose other main industry is fishery, Sharon insisted that we must have sushi with the freshest fish. I shared the plate with Alvin. I thought they looked exactly like those plastic sushi you find outside restaurant's window display. You can't see the rice beneath cos the fish slices were such generous portions!

After lunch, we found our way to this nearby waterfall called 一二三滝森林公園. It was so secluded that we drove till a point where we didn't see any cars anymore. The waterfall was not particularly spectacular but the surrounding forest area was so quiet and peaceful, in Alvin's and Sharon's words, very 'zen'. The whole hour we were there, wondering around leisurely and posing for pictures, there was not a single soul in sight. As such we began doing strange things.


Our last stop for the day was to look for this observatory deck where we can view the island from on top of the second highest mountain. The drive up the 400m over mountain was really precarious. The weather took for a turn after we left the waterfall and the sky was rather dark by the time we found our way to the foot of the viewing deck but we decided we would press on till the end. It was a strenuous drive and half the time i didn't dare to look out from my side of the window as we crept slowly but certainly higher and higher up the mountain. I didn't dare to express my secret anxiety for fear that it might affect Sharon's driving. But i sure was relief when we made it safely up and all the way down.

The view that awaited us at the top was indeed worth all the effort afterall. It would have been breathtakingly beautiful I am sure if the weather was good that day. The sky was grey and there were heavy clouds looming overhead. What greeted us was almost malicious looking. I was both awed and inspired what came before my eyes. Alvin thought it reminded him a little of Middle Earth, or rather what his imagination of Middle Earth is like. I think he had an overdose of J.R.R.Tolkien, what do you think? :p

Love this picture.Everything looked surreal.

The sunset would have been stunning had the sun not been partly covered by the clouds. Then again, an overcast sunset looked rather unique and mysterious too...

We didn't stay at the viewing deck for that long as the dark clouds loomed threateningly. Jumped into little car and went for dinner at this little yakitori eatery run by an elderly couple who served possibly the best grilled bacon-cheese on the island, looked at Sharon's happy face! =)



Day 2

The next morning, we got up earlier to explore another part of the island called Wakamatsu (若松)as we had to return the car by noon. I teach at Wakamatsu Junior High twice a week and the scenery there is even more gorgeous than the northern part of the island. This part of the island is a designated National Park and boasts rolling hills with rugged coastline and sparklng blue sea.

See the white bridge in the background? That is the bridge that connects Narao(where i live) to Wakamatsu. It was built some 11 years ago so before that people from these area took small boats just to get to somewhere within Goto itself.



We got off the car and went all the way down to do some exploring. Can you spot Sharon in one of the picture?



As we drove on in search of our next destination, we chanced upon this little chapel at Doinoura and went in to take a look.

Some more sights along the way. It was quite a hot day and the shining sun made the sea sparkles! The different shades of blue and green in the sea was really amazing!

Soon it was time to return the car but not before Sharon posed for some pictures with her beloved prince :p

We actually got into a little parking accident the night before so were anxious when we drove it back. There was some misunderstanding and miscommunication regarding payment of repair cost and insurance coverage. Let's just say we were lucky and managed to get away by paying the minimal repair cost. A great ending to our wonderful 2 day roadtrip round the island. Otsukaresama!

posted by テレサ @ 12:26 AM