We began our celebratory trip to Noto and Kanazawa by taking the monorail out to Haneda airport. The plane was nearly full, but we got lucky and were able to spread out across a row of three. We were also fortunate to be on the left side of the plane because it was a clear, sunny day and Fuji was visible as soon as we got off the ground.
As we progressed north west we passed over the rugged terrain of the Alps, some with a fair amount of snow.
One of the crew came round with freebies for the kids and Emily seized upon a Pikachu pouch bag with great glee. Though we were only 50 minutes in the air, she was fed up before the end though, which does not bode well for long haul flights to come. It was exceedingly hot in the cabin and she had bright red cheeks, which didn't help; amazingly many of the other passengers had coats on and blankets on their laps. As we flew up the Noto peninsula we could see water on both sides. It looked quite remote, and had a Scandinavian feel to it with its cover of snow and slopes of pines and cedars.
The small airport takes only a few flights a day, so it must seem a lot of effort to clear the tarmac in bad weather. I was more nervous than usual on landing as I could see slush at the edge of the runway. Even once we got off, Emily was very grumpy and refuse to walk. She has a lingering cold and possibly teeth coming, or is the start of the so-called 'terrible twos'? There was only one restaurant at the terminal, but we had a decent lunch as we looked out at the sun's rays on the sea and watched our plane re-load and take off.
After collecting our car we began to drive towards the tip of the peninsula; Emily was asleep in minutes. Aah, the magic of car travel. The roads were thankfully clear of snow and ice and really quiet. The rural scenery looked even better under a foot of snow, the houses mostly traditional wooden ones and with sloping rooves. There were lots of kaki (persimmon) still on the trees, and the orange fruit looked like jewels against the white background. Stubborn globs of snow clung onto some pines. We took an unplanned detour when we saw a sign for Mitsukejima, a large and shapely rock stack. It was especially picturesque lit up by winter sunshine with a bruised sky beyond and a snowy approach.
Emily woke up as we parked, and despite me giving her a new coat and hat to wear she was again reluctant to walk, especially on the snow. On the shore was a bell for couples to ring together, but it was rather loud and as Nick was holding her at the time she began wailing and was hard to calm.
She didn't want to walk on the beach either, but finally relented a little when I made her a small snowman, and when I discovered a stash of acorns she was all smiles again for a while.
It was only another half hour to Lamp no Yado, our accommodation for the night. The onsen retreat fills a small steep-sided cove
its little bay guarded from the full might of the surf by random boulders and rocks, from which spray was flying as the relentless waves broke upon them. It was only 3pm when we arrived, but when we were shown to our 'room' we felt so drawn by the view that we didn't go out again for a walk or drive as planned. The ryokan was very quiet so they had upgraded us to one of the miniature villas, which had a large room downstairs and another upstairs, plus an attractive bathroom that had an adjoining rotemburo: an oval cypress-wood bath for one in a little glass-sided room that afforded views directly onto the sea. We even had our own sundeck with access to the pool that runs along the front of the complex, which would be fabulous in summer. Apparently the ryokan is rated in the top 3 in the country for lodgings with a view.
Emily was very happy playing on the tatami while we drank in the amazing view, including a rainbow out at sea.
Nick and I took it in turns to go in the little bath, throwing open the window so we could feel the cold air as our bodies were warmed, and so we could hear the waves beating against the rocks. At six, we walked over to the main building for dinner; Emily was very proud of the red plastic slippers they had provided for her. We had our own private dining room, which even had its own sumptuous toilet attached. We were presented with a huge array of dishes, with a whole crab each as piece de resistance; more and more dishes were brought just when I thought the culinary assault was over. We tried to get Emily to eat some of the delicacies but she grazed on a pouch of baby food I had luckily brought for her, plus rice crackers and half a tin of beans. We were there for two hours but she did very well and didn't get upset at all.
Back in our room the futons had been laid out. We lay down with Emily on the middle one as usual, and waited for her to fall asleep. It took half an hour, by which time we were both on the point of dropping off ourselves. We had a booking to take a bath together in the romantic private bath that sits in its own little house in the middle of the pool.
It was wonderful to luxuriate in the hot water together with the window open on the sea below. Out over the ocean a storm was brewing so there was the odd lightning flicker. I was moved to compose a haiku on the power of the sea:
Inexorable
Man cannot quench surf's hunger
Legions attack shore
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