Without barely moving a muscle I posses the ability to sweat!

...that can only mean one thing. Summer is still here, and doesn’t look like it’s going to leave any time soon either. Still, life goes on and it’s time for the “autumn” term at school to begin.

Today marks a week back in school after what was a glorious long summer break. Really, it was spectacular. I’ve never had such an extended period of time off from work. All those wonderful plans I made during July in the buildup to the break came off perfectly.

Let’s start at ...well...the start. Day 1 of the summer break, Michiko and I were up at just before 4am to greet the morning, and get ourselves over to Kansai airport to board the first flight up to Tokyo. It wasn’t the longest visit to the big city, but it was packed to the brim with fun!! That is one thing I love about being with Michiko, we always have such fun together! We ate at Tokyo’s finest pancake restaurant, had a wonderful dinner date, and topped the whole trip with an AMAZING day out in Disneyland. The schools hadn’t officially finished for the summer, so the park was ours! Tokyo Disneyland has a reputation for it’s 2 hour+ waiting times for attractions...the longest we had to wait was 15 minutes...score! Also, Michiko is slowly overcoming her fear of roller coasters! I got her on the fastest roller coaster in the park (Space Mountain) twice! I am now in no way ashamed to admit that I love going to Disneyland!! Hands down the best day out of the entire summer!

Bills Pancakes, Harajuku

Splash Mountain

Plonker the pirate

After returning to Yamamoto, I took a week to just recharge my batteries and prepare for my adventure to Kyushu.

Kagoshima and Yakushima. My, what an amazing trip that was! I flew from Kansai airport down to Kagoshima. Decided to try Peach Airlines, a new discount airline company here in Japan. Not too bad for the price, smaller more uncomfortable seats, a very basic set up, and both flights were almost 30 minutes late departing....still, for the price (about ½ that of flying with ANA or JAL) I didn’t complain.

Arriving in Kagoshima I instantly noticed dust everywhere, on buildings, cars, and streets...it wasn’t until I got into Kagoshima city and saw the mighty Sakurajima shadowing the city, and pumping out ash into the skies above the city, that I realized where it all came from.

Kagoshima was great, a really decent vide to the city, and nice people. I took a day trip over to the volcanic island of Sakurajima. Stunning. The volcano was quietly erupting during the entire day I was there. Blue skies, with a chimney of volcanic dust being thrown into the atmosphere. As a physical geography nut, I was in awe.

Posing it up on Sakurajima

So this is where all the ash comes from!

The mighty Sakurajima

After 2 days in Kagoshima, I boarded the the high speed ferry to take me to Yakushima. Boy was I excited!

Yakushima didn’t disappoint....not in the slightest! It really was everything I expected and so much more!

After hopping off the ferry with delight, I made my way around the port area to my hostel. The sun was shining brightly, and the warm welcome I received when I arrived in my hostel was equally satisfying. Yakushima Portside Youth Hostel, for those who are curious of the hostel name.

After dropping my bags in my room, first stop was the local hiking rental center, to hire some sturdy walking boots, and a bicycle.

I was so full of beans that I decided to then head straight into the mountains to begin exploring. All that stood in my way was a 10km bike ride. A 10km bike ride that I soon discovered was 10km uphill....all the way....and not a gentle climb either! It was quickly obvious to me that my 6-speed bike was never going to handle it. So I pushed the bike most of the way, dammed if I was going to miss the chance for a 10km downhill ride back to the hostel!

I arrived at Shiritani. It is difficult to express in words the beauty of this area. Words such as exquisite, dream-like, and breathtaking, simply don’t quite cut it.

I was just where I wanted to be at that very moment in my day, week, holiday, life!!

Stunning, deep green forests. Silence surrounding me. Perfect.

Then the heavens opened and boy did it rain!! Not that I cared, wearing my waterproofs, nothing was going to put even the slightest dent on my day.

Shiritani. Wow.

The second day was forecast for strong winds...strong is not nearly a strong enough word. I’ve cycled into a head wind or two in my time, but when it’s pushing you back up a hill, then you know it’s time to quit. And that’s exactly what I did. Yes, I am a quitter. On that day, I decided that my plan to cycle around the island was never going to work. 6-gears and weather which changes by the minute....not what I want to be dealing with. So yeah, I headed back to the hostel, retuned the bike, and hooked up with a few of my new hostel friends, and successfully blagged a seat in a car for the afternoon. We drove around the east side of the island, taking in seawater onsen along the way. Sat in a naturally heated tidal pool with the waves breaking over to cool the water down. Very enjoyable.

Day 3 saw me rent a car and venture off into the island alone. I was keen for a bit of solo time, and greatly enjoyed seeking out new places. I discovered some beaches, some breathtaking forest roads, and some stunning waterfalls.

I came across deer and lots of monkeys. The highlight of the day, was discovering a river flowing around huge boulders in a valley bed. The river was pretty fast flowing in the centre, but due to the huge boulder, it channeled off areas to swim in. Deep, crystal clear waters, and barely a handful of people there. Diving off a rock into the water, a definite highlight of the day and the whole trip.

On the evening of the 3^rd day, I drove back to a beach I’d driven past earlier in the day, for this beach is home to some very special little creatures. There on the beach in Yakushima, through the mid-summer months, you can watch baby turtles hatching and making their journey to begin life in the ocean. It felt like something from a BBC nature documentary watching those little turtles.

For day 4, the clouds set in and the sunshine left for a while, so I decided to get out into the mountains some more, and hike a trail around some very old, and very impressive trees. A nice day to myself, lots of peace and quiet was just what I needed.

Me and my friend the tree

Magical creations

In the late afternoon, I headed back to my hostel to rest the feet, make some new friends, share some dinner and some well-earned beers.

Day 5, my final full day on the island and I decided to sign up for a ½ day tour. I registered for the canyoning tour, something I’ve never tried before.

Ready to bomb some waterfall pools

Canyoning is when you walk up a river, and climb up the waterfalls and other obstacles as you come across them. So much fun! The water was cold, but we were kitted out with good shoes, life vests, and helmets, so although cold, we were safe. The climb up the river was a nice challenge, but the main fun started when we turned around and came down the river. Jumping off rocks into waterfall pools, sliding down small waterfall channels like a water park. I loved it.

In the afternoon, I returned to my hostel, met up again with friends and we all went out for food, and a few drinks. All 12 of us then made our way to the beach with extra beers to chill out. A prefect ending to a perfect trip!

Yakushima is hands down the most beautiful place I’ve visited in my 6 years here in Japan. Can’t wait to return!

Once back in Hyogo, things slowed down into the summer holiday pace I love, days of just chilling out, doing nothing, and not feeling an ounce of guilt for it.

On August 19^th, Michiko and I filled the coolbox with frozen drinks, jumped in the car, and headed over to Summer Sonic Festival in Osaka. It was a really fun day, the first music festival Michiko and I have done together...long overdue.

We caught some really good music, and managed to stay fairly cool under the baking August sun. The headlining band was what I went for. Although there were moments when Michiko thought about choosing Green Day, I knew I’d get my way, and I did.

We saw Sigur Ros on the second stage, and they were just as spectacular as we both expected. Amazing!

In and around August I got to meet up with my old Kita Hiroshima coworker, Creag. Good times in Chinatown. Also, my good friend Barney came to stay for an evening, and we had a suitably beer filled fun evening catching up. Good times with good friends. Michiko and I also squeezed in a day out to Kyoto, as well as other simple, but happy days together in the neighborhood.

So, there we go. That was pretty much the summer break for me. Not too shabby, right?! I feel very fortunate to have a job with allows me to save the cash needed to have a summer like that.

Wonderful!!