Miyakejima Magic!

What a magical weekend! Once again, words fail me.....sugo-i (terrific),  tanoshi-i (enjoyable),  oboe yasu-i (memorable), omoshiro-i  (fun), utsukushi-i (beautiful)!!  

Apparently, locals are not particularly impressed by the breathtaking beauty of Miyakejima but for visitors no words can express the beauty that nature displays here. Miyakejima (Miyake Island) is located 180km's south east of Tokyo and is part of the Izu Island chain. It can be reached by small plane from Haneda, helicopter or boat. 

Because it suited our schedule we travelled by boat, which meant we arrived very early Saturday morning and enjoyed two full days. The boat departed from Takeshiba Sanbashi Pier, near Hamamatsuchō, Tokyo at 10.30pm. This meant catching three trains from Ishikawacho to Yokohama to Shinagawa and finally to Hamamatsucho, where we met Alex (an Australian engineer working on the project who we'd done our snow trips with also. Alex had completed her advanced open water diving course in Atami six weeks earlier). We then had a 10 minute walk to the pier. On the crowded Friday night trains with all our gear and in the heat and humidity, it was a sweat inducing journey. Phew!!  

We'd opted for reclining seats and optimistically anticipated a bit of 'shut eye', but sleep was only snatched in very short intervals! Steve ended up hiring a blanket (100¥ per blanket) and lying on the floor.  

The toilets were quaint!!

Bleary eyed and weary, we arrived at Miike Port on the west coast of Miyakejima at around 4.45am where we were met by Shuichi Taguchi san of Dolphin Club Miyake. An early check-in at our ryokan in Ako meant we grabbed some precious sleep before breakfast and the 9am pick up time. Flicking on the air conditioner, we rolled out our futons and fell fast asleep on the floor with no regard for the rice hull filled pillows or panoramic view. 

Our room

With a circumference of 38 km's, the island of Miyakejima sits atop an active volcano, Mt Oyama, and has been designated as part of the Fuji Hakone-Izu National Park. On average the volcano erupts every 25 years and the eruptions of 1983 and 2000 are still very evident. The volcanic emissions from both eruptions created tremendous damage destroying flora and fauna. The flowing lava buried villages and destroyed vast areas of the island. An elementary school, which was left standing, now only has lava flow filling the classrooms.....unreal! 

Down the hill!

The resultant poisonous gas emissions of the eruption in 2000 actually forced a total evacuation of the island for four and a half years. After the eruption, flights to the island were suspended for 8 years  due to the sulphuric gases and many inhabitants have now relocated to Tokyo. The population dropped significantly from around 36,000 but has slowly increased to reach about 28,000 currently. Only those over 19 years old are allowed to live in the newly opened regions and residents are required to undergo health checks twice a year. Hotels, shops and restaurants are not allowed  in the newly opened areas either. The volcano now permanently steams and the smell of the sulphuric gas subtly pervades the air. Even as we sailed from the island the gases wafted across the water.

On Saturday, Steve, Alex and I headed off for our dives with Taguchi and his 16 year old assistant, Haruka. We honestly could not have had  lovelier diving hosts for the weekend. Initially, the plan was to do a dive at Ofunato Bay but the after effects of the typhoon, the weekend before, meant it was still very unsettled. So after standing around assessing the conditions, it was off with the gear and back into the van to the next site, Okubo Beach. Located on the northern end of the island, conditions were perfect. The barren black beach gave little clue of the wonderful underwater world which lay beyond. 

With an abundance of sea life, we were literally 'blown away'. Remember, this part of Japan is not in the tropical regions and with its given latitude should be vastly different. The visibility was excellent and the water temperature was 28+ degrees. We dived and snacked during our surface intervals and returned home saturated with wonderful visions from the three dive experiences. Below craggy ledges, 'cleaning stations' housed many different varieties of moray eels enjoying their daily clean by the cleaning shrimps. Fish of all colours and types swam around waiting for the scraps. In one station, we saw five totally different varieties of eels all lying around enjoying the preening! It was beautiful! Our maximum dive depth was 23.4 metres and, as is often the case, the most prolific fauna and flora was at 5-10 metres. We enjoyed the swim throughs, wall and, of course, the wonderful freedom you feel on any dive. What's more there were very few other divers, actually none on dive number three. Tropical fish abounded, lionfish, cowfish, frog fish, nudibranchs (or Cinderella's as the Japanese call them) and so many different coloured Christmas Tree worms often all on the one boulder. 

A frog fish! They are not easy to see.

The eggs of a nudibranch.

I was surprised by the bright colours.....brilliant greens, vibrant purples, oranges, pinks to name a few. A turtle even guided us back to shore at the end of our first dive. Wow! There is no doubt, the 'Kuroshio' current (Black Current) which flows offshore has created a pretty impressive habitat. (Disappointingly, my photos were poor. Lots to learn about settings on my relatively new Canon S95)

Wearily, we returned to our accommodation at about 5pm. The ryokan was reminiscent of a rabbit warren; steep stairway, narrow hallways, rooms entered from various angles and even a room in a split level. An interesting design indeed. Our hostess, Mama san (as she is fondly called by all) was an absolutely delightful woman who could not have been more helpful. 

That's our hostess in the apron!

With nine guests for the weekend she bustled about cooking, cleaning and organising. The tariff of 7,700¥ ($95.00) per person covered an early check-in, two Japanese breakfasts, an amazing feast on Saturday evening complete with beer, sake and shochu, a lunch pack on the last day and a late checkout at 1pm. Unbelievable! 

Breakfast! Definitely not a Western breakfast!

Our Saturday evening meal was traditional Japanese fare. It was a real feast and so beautifully prepared. Our dining room was tiny and cluttered with the normal trappings of daily life. It was an office, dining room and living room all in one with only enough room to house two small tables which could seat a maximum of 10 guests. This weekend there were nine! With Alex and I testing our Japanese skills, we enjoyed a delightful couple of hours. Biru was available and, on this occasion, sake was replaced by shochu.  

Shochu is Japan's other indigenous alcoholic beverage, but unlike sake, shochu is distilled. It can be made from one of several raw materials...rice, sweet potato, even brown sugar, soba and more. Once considered an 'old man’s drink',  careful marketing saw the shochu market explode recently, with many young people, especially young women, purchasing large quantities of shochu. Unlike many other hard drinks, shochu is much lower in calories, making it a popular drink. The alcoholic content is usually 25%, although sometimes it can be as high as 42% or more. Ours was only 25%!! Hiccup!!

On Sunday, Mama san even gave us a departing 'green vegetable' gift which we had enjoyed at dinner. So typical of 'Japanese' hospitality. I believe it was ashitaba (Angelica keiskei), a mineral and vitamin rich green vegetable whose local variety is less bitter than others. The village government is  promoting the production of this vegetable as part of an effort to improve employment in the farming sector. In an effort to restore the economy of the island, all three sectors; farming, fishing and tourism are being heavily promoted. Japanese resilience and ability to fight back will surely shine through!

Saturday's dives were excellent but Sunday was something special. We were up very early for our 5.50am pick up, no rest for the wicked! We headed off, with the other ryokan guests, for the port where we boarded a fishing boat for our trip to Mikurajima. 

Taguchi gives us a 'pre dive' briefing.

Nearing Mikurajima.

About 200 dolphins reside permanently in the warm 'Kuroshio' current which bathes the island and keeps the water warm all year round. Mikura's dolphins are Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins but are apparently different from the bottlenose dolphins that are widely known. They are smaller and their beak is relatively longer and more slender.

We spent 4 wonderful hours on this dolphin adventure, which included the return transit from Miyake to Mikura (45 minutes each way). Mikurajima is only a small island and its craggy cliffs are punctuated with small waterfalls. As it is a carefully controlled industry, to protect the dolphin's habitat, there was only our boat and one other at the island and we were quite a distance apart. It was a bit like 'Moby Dick' as the boat patrolled around looking for the dolphin pods with Taguchi on lookout. When a pod appeared Taguchi called out and the divers, who were all sitting perched on the gunnels ready, plunged into the water together. The dolphins swam with us, under and around us. Their sounds filled the water, it was beautiful. 

As they moved away we returned to the boat and began a new search. We repeated the process eight times. It was so much fun, not only swimming with the dolphins, but simply plunging into the warm water over and over again. Magic!! Steve even saw a couple of turtles and Taguchi san got some great footage of him swimming with the dolphins.

To see other video clips of swimming with the dolphins and more information on Miyake click this link. The footage is beautiful and gives you an idea of what we saw.

http://www.dolphin-club-miyakejima.com/eindex.html

Heading home!

Taguchi san and me.

Miyakejima with the volcano concealed by clouds!

What a brilliant experience! At about 49,000¥ ($600.00) each for the weekend it was, without a doubt, worth every yen.  Alex also had the added expense of 5,000¥ for her diving gear hire. Prior to our trip, I'd made a visit to a local dive shop, Mic21 in Yokohama, to replace my dive computer battery and regulator swivel. I'd also come away with yet another mask....an Apollo Sports Bio Metal which has an aluminium frame and a wide field of vision. It was an excellent addition to my gear, especially this weekend....not one leak and totally comfortable. It would seem I have, finally, found my perfect mask. I can't wait to test it out again! Bass Strait ....Palau....wherever!

It's definitely an alien!!

Sadly, the time came for us to leave. With the sound of 'Auld Lang Syne' filling the air, we departed from Ako Port with Taguchi, Haruka and the ryokan host waving wildly. They continued waving until we were out of sight!

Depositing our bags downstairs, we decided to sit on deck rather than in the reclining seats we'd booked. With a blanket spread out on the deck, we sat in the balmy atmosphere snacking on noodles and icecreams. The six hour journey passed very pleasantly. The friendly banter of others filled the air. We pinched ourselves...yes it was real! We were there...on the deck of Camellia watching the coastline of Japan slip by.....yes, that was the entrancing Fuji san, forever vigilant, watching our progress....it was deliciously warm...we had dived with dolphins in Japan and shared their underwater world...and, once again, we'd had a fabulous experience with Japanese people. 

As official 'alien' residents, we'd been Japanese tourists again! From leaving Tokyo on Friday to returning Sunday night, we were the only 'gaijins' in sight! Not one on the boat and not one to be seen on the island....amazing! As we arrived back in Tokyo, welcoming music filled the air again! As usual, choreographed down to the last act!

Shumatsu wa subarashi kat ta desu!!