Touching down in Naha, basking at 25C, it really felt like a different country, and as it is 1,000 miles from Tokyo and a good way further south of the capital the vegetation is of a nearly tropical character. I was surprised to see that the airport was not overrun with foreigners as I expected: there are thousands of Americans stationed on the island. After a hasty lunch in the terminal we made the bus transfer to the car hire depot, which was situated behind a bizarre treehouse bar.
As Nick was a bit hungover and extremely weary, I took the wheel of the rental car. Naha is a busy city, and I was a bit stressed at first, but I soon relaxed into the drive, which took about 90 minutes. Once we got onto the two-lane expressway we made swift progress to Nago, enjoying the fantastic landscape. There was so much lush, verdant plant life, and coming from still-wintry Tokyo it really lifted our hearts. Some of the hills looked quite jagged, too young to be weathered and eroded yet. As we neared Nago we skirted a bay with patches of astonishingly light turquoise water. Our destination was across on the east coast though: Kanucha Bay.
Another 20 minutes brought us to the huge, sprawling hotel/villa/golf course resort. Our car was taken away to be parked and we were ushered into the large lobby, which has a balcony overlooking a pretty bay. We were offered a golf buggy to drive to our room a few hundred metres away up a hill, but we declined in favour of stretching our legs, while the bellboy drove ahead with our things. I thought the resort buildings had seen better days as some of them were a bit streaked and patchy outside. However, our room, one of about 100 spread along the hill on four floors, was of a decent standard and a good size, being nearly as large as our apartment. It had three double beds and a cot, plus table and chairs, a desk and a large south-facing patio with furniture and parasol.
Emily had slept all the way in the car, so was now very lively, and wasted no time in leaping on the beds and bouncing in the cot, before we went out onto the patio to cool off. The sun lounger also made a good trampoline.
After relaxing out there with a cuppa we went off to investigate the beach. The bellboy had left us the buggy anyway, so we decided it would be fun to try it out.
In fact, most guests were using one to get around the complex, though there are also two courtesy buses circling the site continuously. Part of the beach was out of bounds as they were piling it up with new sand. Large lorries thundered down through the resort with their heavy loads of sand, and a big digger was moving it onto the beach. However, by cutting across the miniature golf course we could go further along and explore. Sadly, the season doesn't start until April 1st, so the outdoor pools weren't open, and also Nick was told that we couldn't swim in the sea. We had a lovely time down along the shore though. It was littered with coral debris and pretty shells, and the rocks were very attractive too.
We found that there were many small hermit crabs scuttling about. At first Emily was intrigued by them, but Nick picked one up and then yelped as it suddenly emerged from its shell; after that she was scared of them, though they were only an inch or so across at most.
Emily was blissful, paddling in rock pools and a small stream that cut across the sand from the base of the cliff. I felt really happy, to see her face lit up and so intent on what she was doing.
Nick couldn't resist the lure of the sea and as he had his trunks on he went in for a few minutes. It was a trifle cold for my liking, but if I'd had my swimsuit on and it had been calmer I would have braved the surf. We found some interesting fruit growing at the back of the beach that we thought might be bread fruit, as the foliage was not that of pineapple, though the latter is an Okinawan speciality.
We'd only had a light lunch so by now I was shaking with hunger. The sun was starting its slow descent so reluctantly I suggested that we had better return and find some sustenance. We made our way back to the golf cart, stopping to admire what must be the world's smallest digger.
Mum drove the buggy back up the steep hill to our room. We swiftly changed into warmer clothes, as at 6pm it was cooling down now, then walked a couple of hundred metres to an Italian-style restaurant which is right next to a large outdoor pool (sadly empty until April but a pleasant setting for all that). We took a table outside and enjoyed the fact that we could do so in March. Nick made the right choice and took the all-you-can-eat option, while Mum and I ordered separate starter, main and sweet, which turned out a little disappointing. He returned to the buffet time and time again, bringing many tidbits for Emily (a few found their way to me too! ). Best of all was a fabulous selection of fresh tropical fruit, and Emily gorged herself on watermelon, while we all tucked into starfruit, passionfruit, papaya and pineapple.
After the feast we went straight to the room, pausing to admire the night sky, as it was clear and starlit. Emily had lots of fun with the shower in the massive bathroom before reluctantly going to bed. She seemd to still be very energetic, but she dropped off quite fast, and Nick did too as he lay in the dark room alongside her while Mum and I sat out on the patio. Having all had an early start we turned in before 10pm for a big catch-up.
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