Japan

Ogasawara Islands: Miyanohara beach

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One from the archives – return to Ogasawara Islands. One of the most amazing trips I did last year was to the Ogasawara islands. Here are some pics from one of the many beaches I went to – Miyanohara beach. Chichijima island was amazing – so many amazing beaches and very few people. Practically had almost every beach to myself. I walked to Miyanohara beach in time for a sunset swim.

From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach

My own private beach:

From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach

Coral not so colourful but there were some fish:

From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach

A giant fish right here:

From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach
From Ogasawara day 3 – sunset beach

 

Aokigahara Hiking

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Autumn always feels so short. Never enough time to get more hikes in to see the autumn leaves.

Was lucky and scored a perfect autumn day – clear skies, dry and views of Mount Fuji.

Got to finally see the Aokigahara woodlands, also known as the Sea of Trees (Jukai), so called, because when viewed from the sky, it looks like a sea of trees. Also, incidentally known as the suicide forest. Unfortunately, it is the site where many Japanese people go and never come back. The government has tried to prevent as many suicides as possible from happening there. And upon arriving there, there were signs and surveillance cameras warning those who enter to reconsider their options. The woodlands were formed by the trees that grew on the lava flow from volcanic eruptions.

Despite it’s grim history, the woodlands actually features a beautiful easy walking trail to some great lookout points.

The day requires an early start as it takes about 3 hours from Tokyo to get to Kawaguchiko station.

Riding the Fuji kyuko train:

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

Got to see Mount Fuji along the train trip.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

From Kawaguchiko station, you’ll need to take a 45min bus trip over towards Lake Saiko – which is a crazy name for a lake, am I right? (you get it don’t you?).

At the starting point from the Fuketsu lava caves, there’s a surveillance camera as you enter the woodlands. They basically keep an eye out for suspicious entering the trail (ie someone wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase).

You’ll also come across this sign, very early into the trail:

From Aokigahara hiking

Translation:
Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Please think of about your parents, sibings and children. You are not alone. Talk to someone.

And the phone number of the suicide prevention team of the local Fuji district police dept. phone name is given.

The woodlands is a sea of twisted trees and roots around the base of the Mount Fuji area and five lakes district. Surprisingly very green.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

There is a clearly marked trail which you should stick to. Wandering off the path is tantamount to getting lost. Those who go to end their life there do so by getting lost in the forest and then committing suicide by hanging.

From Aokigahara hiking

Along the route, is an ice cave which is pretty lame. And yes, entry is going to cost you.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

The highlight of the trail was going out to Sankodai lookout point (which means View of 3 Lakes). A view of Lake Saiko, Lake Motoso and LakeShojiko and also Mount Fuji. Simply stunning.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

And the autumn leaves were in their prime.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

A most interesting looking plant specimen:

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

Lake Saiko:

From Aokigahara hiking

The plains below:

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

There’s also a bat cave:

From Aokigahara hiking

Although me thinks they don’t actually have any bats there. They just tell you that “they’re sleeping”. “Sleeping”, my left foot. They are making a racket, charging 300yen entry for bats that aren’t even there.

Inside the bat cave:

From Aokigahara hiking

Be warned, the tunnels are insanely low. Not for the old folks or those with bad backs and knees.

From Aokigahara hiking

A really awesome hike. Well, not so much a hike as a nice trail walk with a few hills. Various lookout points with stunning views and various caves along the way. Highly recommend going in Autumn.

From Aokigahara hiking

Doable as a day trip, provided you make an early start and aim to get to Kawaguchiko station at about 9am. And buses only run about one an hour from the station to Lake Saiko area. Quite a fascinating area. I will admit I was super curious about visiting this forest. Had heard it was a little bit scary given its reputation. Definitely worth visiting. There are plenty of attractions at Lake Kawaguchi. Here’s a post where I was there 3 years ago.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

Autumn hiking

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Went hiking on the weekend. Perfect autumn day. Sunny, clear sky, autumn leaves were at their peak and got stunning views including that of Mount Fuji.

Went out towards Fuji 5 lakes district.

Here’s just a few pics for now. Full write up to come in due course.

From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking
From Aokigahara hiking

Afternoon tea in Fukuoka

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Hisashiburi afternoon tea. It’s been ages since I’ve done an afternoon tea in Japan. Did one recently, but not in Tokyo.
I went to Kyushu for the long weekend last weekend and caught up with an Aussie friend from my Fukushima days who now lives in Fukuoka. Met him and his wife and his new baby for a nice afternoon tea in Fukuoka at the Grand Hyatt hotel.

The hotel is in Canal City, one of the shopping districts near Hakata.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

Here is the hotel:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

The back entrance:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

The afternoon tea was pleasant enough. The hotel was pretty nice too, considering it ain’t no Tokyo.

All your tea essentials:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

They only had about 4 to 5 teas on offer and very standard ones (English breakfast, darjeeling, early grey, assam). I went the assam, with hot milk in a jug.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

On offer was the Caramel afternoon tea set – a seasonal tea menu for autumn. It was actually pretty good.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

You can’t really go wrong with caramel.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

Everything on this plate was delicious:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

The vanilla ice cream was amazing with a hint of caramel. The caramel sponge cake roll was so moist and fresh fruit added a hint of citrus to offset all the caramel sweetness.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

The sandwiches were neither fancy nor gourmet, bu they were decent enough:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

Only one scone and a small one at that. But we essentially got two plates of desserts.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

Notice something missing in the above two plates?

I’ll give you a minute to think about it.

Notice the absence of jam! No jam for my scone. Tsk Tsk.

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

The hotel was quite nice and there was also a live pianist who did some decent cover music:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea
From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

The Terrasse Lounge:

From Grand Hyatt Fukuoka afternoon tea

It was a nice afternoon tea. My first one in a while. No tea sampling but free hot water refills allowed. Service was good, and it was excellent value for money. Approx. 2000yen plus tea. Given there are probably limited afternoon tea options in Fukuoka, it’s probably the best option. We whiled away a few leisurely hours there. A pleasant day indeed. Need to save up my pennies for a some very pricey afternoon teas that have been locked in, coming up in a couple of months.

Swimming WITH dolphins in Japan

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Swam with dolphins yesterday. Dolphinitely an amazing experience.

So many wild dolphins. I could have spent the whole day chasing after them.

From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming
From Dolphin swimming

Travel notes:
Overnight ferry from Tokyo to Miyakejima. Join the dolphin swimming boat tour. Boat takes you out to Mikurajima where all the dolphins live. Swim with dolphins. Chase dolphins. Repeat several times. The water was deliciously warm at 27 degrees. Air temp was 21 degrees. It got quite cold in and out of the water and on the boat as we chased the dolphins. Actually did this same dolphin trip last year but was unable to swim with the dolphins due to my burn injury. Was so happy to have been able to go into the water this year and actually swim alongside them and get lots of underwater shots this time. Got quite close to them as well.

Seeing Red: Hitachinaka Seaside Park

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Ticked off another thing on my Japan bucketlist and went to the Hitachinaka seaside park yesterday in Ibaraki prefecture. A nice way to enjoy the long weekend.
Had timed the visit so it fit in perfectly with the autumn kochia season. Last year, my autumn trip was to Oze. This time it was to the Hitachinaka flower park. A massive spanse of an area dedicated to flowers. Key times are spring and autumn where they plant seasonal flowers for en-masse viewing. There’s a 10km cycling route and a ride theme park area as well. You could spend the large part of a day there. Spent about 3 hours there and still didn’t see everything. I wouldn’t mind going back in spring.

I came for the red kochias there and they were pretty awesome. Cosmos flowers were also out. Lots of people on a long weekend though but still got to take lots of pretty pictures.
You’ll be seeing red. And lots of it!

From Hitachinaka seaside park

Brace yourself for the throngs of people:

From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park

These flowers are called cosmos:

From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park

These burning bushes are kochia:

From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park

So that’s where my shoes went!

From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park

The saddest fountain ever:

From Hitachinaka seaside park
From Hitachinaka seaside park

After a day walking around, there’s only one thing for it – an onsen.
Highly recommend this one: http://www.ajigauraonsen.jp/

Ogasawara: Ohama beach

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Continuing on from the Ogasawara trip a couple of months ago, I cycled around the whole island and beach hopped.
This was beach number 1 that I visited: Ohama beach. It was like my own little piece of paradise. White sand and beautiful pristine waters. The water clarity at the Ogasawara islands is unlike any other. Visited by few people, the water was amazingly clean.

From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches

Swimming bliss:

From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches

Chilling in paradise:

From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches

Crystal blue water:

From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches

Check out the fish:

From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches
From Ogasawara day 2 – beaches

Hard to believe that this is Japan. Albeit, 1000km away from Tokyo. Will eventually get around to posting up the beaches when I have time.

Ogasawara Islands: Day 1

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Ticked off another destination on my bucketlist – the Bonin Islands, otherwise known as Ogasawara Islands – truly paradise.

It’s about 1000km away from Japan yet is still part of Tokyo. It is Japan’s southermost spot.

The Bonin Islands mean “uninhabited islands” and are an archipelago. Two of the islands however are habited – Chichijima (father islands) and Hahajima (mother island).
They were designated as World Natural Heritage sites a couple of years ago.

The ONLY access to the islands are by a 25-hour boat ride from Tokyo. There is no airport on the island. Boats only depart once a week so the basic itinerary is 5 nights. 2 of which are spent on the boat and 3 nights on the island. If you miss the boat or want to stay longer, you have to wait for the next week’s boat departure. Life on the island, as I discovered, revolved around the boat’s island arrival and departure.

I was lucky to go there during August – summer holiday and the end of Obon. Managed to get a spot on the boat, but even harder was finding accommodation. Given that accommodation is limited and it was peak season, a lot of places were filled up. And I had left it last minute. I only decided to this trip 1-2 weeks prior. I did end up finding a small minshuku to stay at.

The only departure to Ogawasara Islands is on a Saturday so I left on Saturday morning and would not arrive on Chichijima until Sunday lunchtime.
Tickets are not cheap. About 30,000yen one way and that was for the cheapest class which was basically a mat in an open-floor room. If you want beds in upper classes except to pay a lot more. And even more for the suites. I ended up getting a spot in the Ladies-only room which suited me fine. The general sleeping floor area fit about 100 plus people in the lower decks. They had a couple of ladies-only room which were smaller closed rooms that fit about 30 ladies. Considering I was traveling on my room, the ladies room was a better option. Got to avoid sleeping next time to snoring men and loud groups of people.

The boat was more like a cruise ship – restaurant/cafeteria, shower facilities etc. I normally quite like boat rides, but there wasn’t a lot of space on this boat – not a lot of free seating area. A bit tight in rooms filled with lots of people and not a lot of personal space.

I was looking forward to the 25-hour boat ride. Plenty of time to chill out and catch up on some reading. But I ended up getting seasick and threw up 3 times within in the first 5 hours. Napped a bit and ate some cup ramen on the deck. Ended up just sleeping through the majority of the trip to ward off vomiting. I got through one movie on my laptop and was in bed by about 7:30pm. Lights were turned off at 10pm.

A pretty long and uneventful boat trip. No wifi or phone reception on the boat either. Was ready for land.
Got some fresh air on the decks, enjoyed the views until arrive on Chichijima.
The Ogasawara Islands were amazing. Well worth the 25-boat ride.
A ticket to Ogasawara:

From Ogasawara boat

Bon Voyage:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

If you’re in second class, your beds are allocated as you bed. I got number 24.
My sleeping mat and pillow:

From Ogasawara boat

Out to sea:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

The next day:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Approaching the islands:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Everyone from Ogawasawara village on Chichijima comes to greet the boat on its arrival and all the accommodation owners come to pick up their guests.

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Look for your accommodation sign:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Welcome to Ogasawara:

From Ogasawara boat

Checked in my tiny room at the minshuku:

From Ogasawara boat

Ate lunch at a local cafe:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Chichijima – a small beautiful remote island located in the Philippine Sea, 1000km from Tokyo, and World Natural Heritage Site:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Next up is some dolphin spotting!

Ogasawara Islands: Snorkeling paradise

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Ogasawara Islands was a snorkeler’s paradise.
On the boat trip they took us out to a special spot where all the fish are. Didn’t get as long a time that would I have liked here, but that’s only because we were lucky enough to see dolphins and spent more time dolphin watching which cut into snorkeling time. I ended up going back out this to snorkeling spot on another boat trip on my last day.

The snorkeling was amazing! So much fun.

From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling

Snorkeling is awesome.

Some cool cloud photos:

From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling

Onjuku OWS 2014

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I finally got to swim the Onjuku open water swim race.
I entered in this a few years back but it was cancelled because of a typhoon. They still sent us a race t-shirt though even though the race was cancelled. Wanted to do it last year as well but was back in Sydney when the race was on. So finally got to do one of the few Japan swim races left on my bucketlist.

Onjuku is a great beach. Probably one of the beaches most closest to an Aussie beach.
The swim was 3.84km but was a bit over 4km.

The swim was the entire length of the beach and swimming into each of the fishing ports on each end of the island.

Nice swim. Long though. A little bit choppy.
Sighting and navigation is still really difficult for me. I think I swim way more than I need to.

Was a good day out with a bunch of us doing various distances throughout the day. A handful of us did the 3.84km, a couple of others did the 1.5km and the guys did the relay as well.

My overall time was 1hr 25min for about 4km. Was happy it was under 90minutes but still a slow swim for me.

Check out this crab on a wall:

From Onjuku OWS

A great day for a swim:

From Onjuku OWS

Beautiful white sand beach:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Onjuku open water swim:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

The course around the whole beach:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Lifeguards ready:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Post-race, enjoyed some SUPping!

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

Wipe out!

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

We tried to tandem SUP:

From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS
From Onjuku OWS

The end of summer.