Japan Exodus - Day 39: An Australian Beach In Japan

Do you ever wonder why on some days there is not a single cloud in the sky? The is magnified by their absence. Without any cloud to reference or provide semblance to the scale, the sky emerges boundless, encompassing as far as any eye can see in all directions a gradation of very appropriate hues to put anyone in a marvelous mood in the morning. Me, at least. 

Go too. And the grass we camped over and through the night was so naturally think and soft that I had not unrolled my sleeping mat, waking up much more comfortably than usual. I did not even have to stretch. Fitting that today starts out so well, the day will be the last time I get to spend with my friend for the short foreseeable future. Not sad in the slightest, we both move forward!

The scope of the open sky is daunting on mornings such as this. It is our window into space.

This photo will go down as one of my favorites along my whole journey. I will have to make a non-specified top ten or twenty photographs of my trip when I return. 

In the middle of the park sat one try upon a small mound. Alone, but not lonely. I can relate. The tree gave off a balance of shade and light, staying cool under its protection and letting pass some patches of sun through its leaves. Looking up at this effect is surreal. The unlit side of the tree which I faced maintained obscure. The dark leaves of the tree danced, swayed, shuffled, letting only small pieces of sun rays sneak past them when the wind came. It was like watching the opposite of a camp fire.   

The meal we ate last night was a feast. Veggies, meat, snacks, a little wine, and more grilled meat. We had bought too much, and saved a little for now. Breakfast called for my new stove again to grill up some morning cow tongue to fuel the first part of the day. 

Perhaps it is the gradual change in hue that fascinates my interest with the sky on days like today. I get lost between looking at both ends of the spectrum - both clearly different hues of blue. However, the line that divides them does not exist. 

Its a metaphor for binary choice. When you see a binary opposition or are asked to choose between one and the other, it is easy to see the two different points clearly. Even the most basic distinctions, for instance in choosing either One or Two. But when we look a little closer between the choice or opposition, there almost always tends to be a gradation of choice, hue, decimals, and so on. 

Now cycling through the South Western side of the Wakayama mountains, Go left a decision to stop at a local fisher's market up to me. I, of course, decided we should go and see what we could see from the sea. 

Urchins, crustaceans, fish and all matter of sea life made available. And with the diversity of aquatic life present, so too did a myriad of questioning push through my mind. Do these creatures get hunted out specifically, or do the fisher-people cast a wide net and just sell whatever they pull up (or something in between...)? How do you cook a lot of these guys, how do you eat them, what do they taste like, and really, how do you suppose it went when the very first time a person had to eat one of these things for the first time ever?

Fresh tuna shashimi anyone? Stopping at the market turned an excellent break. The market, as all good markets do, provided free samples for people to try. Go and I made a quick day of it, and tried almost everything that was offered to us. 

This snack being my favorite of the free samples. Raw garlic in fermented plumb sauce. Now this is the way to go. I am already a fan of eating raw garlic, its so good for you despite tasking like you just chewed up a beetle or something you weren't supposed to. The plumb sauce kills that reaction, and sweetens it. These are so good, I could eat them like I do a bag of popcorn!

We reached our goal point for the day a little past noon. Perfect beach time. (Is there a bad beach time? I have two aunts and handful of friends that would say "no"). Here is a rare picture of me courtesy of Go and his expensive camera. Don't let the dark lines fool ya, under the shirt and shorts there is a big contrast in color!

The water was cold, but hey, we had just cycled for half a day in the heat - jump in!

Take a moment and guess the reason for the title of this post again. Australia is Japan's Mexico to the States. Except, more expensive, not as much history, and no churros. Just as many poison animals and tequila though. Point is, if you want a vacation from Japan and looking to avoid the hassle and small probability of getting a US visa, you go to Australia. At sometime at some point some one thought, "heck, lets just bring Australia to us!" And they did. Ship after ship made the nearly 7,000km journey from Japan to Australia just for, and carrying nothing but, white sand. 

It is from this white sand that the beach gets its name, simply enough. "shi-ro/a" is "white" (depending on grammar) and "ha-ma" translates into "beach." So there you have it. Today we cycled and relaxed at the beautiful Shirohama.

Another one of my shadow. Do a quick count, there might be more pictures of my shadow on this blog than there are of me. 

To wash of all the sticky sea water, free showers are made available. We could have done that. We could have taken the train here too. Go, I think, prefers the more challenging challenges in Life, and the finer things too. An outdoor onsen awaited us. 

This bath was the best view I have ever had while soaking up. Right near the water. If you got up from the bath, walked 10 paces, you would be in the ocean again. 

Do you see that piece of wooden fence there to the right side? On the other side of that is the onsen where you can wash up, sit in the natural onsen (the sulfer can be smelled entering the small road on the way in), and rest upon the rocks to let the cool ocean breeze cool you down before warming up in the bath again. I felt like a giant sea-lion, enjoying the water to the point where you pull out and pass out on the rocks, before rolling over for no reason at all after a nap and submerge once again into the warm water, again and again.

Thank the makers for count down timers on camera phones, or we could not have pulled this one on our own. One thing that I think about now that I look back on the last two days of cycling, Go and I go for opposite looks. I cover up my top half and let my legs get crisp and dark. Go pulls the other way and covers his legs but man oh man are his arms red at the end of the day. Like a lobster!

Anyways, a good time with an excellent friend. And like with all my friends I am trying to meet along my way out the Japanese door, I say "see ya!" and never "good bye."


See ya!

-A