Our aim was to have a look around a mangrove forest we'd read about, before turning south for the airport. The mangroves turned out to be much further up the coast that I'd recollected so it was all a bit of a rush. We stopped there for about half an hour: enough time to watch dozens of people exploring the trees via hired kayaks (next time...), then stroll along the raised boardwalk a while.
We saw many mudhoppers, which are fish that behave more like amphibians, as they spend long periods out of the water and can move very quickly over the mud using their fins. There were also a lot of small crabs that seemed to be in mating mood, as the males, which each had one much-enlarged pincer, were rushing towards each other and waving them menacingly, the one with the smaller pincer usually backing down and retreating into its small mud hole.
We had decided that we would cut short our visit so that we could eat our picnic by the sea before we had to make for Naha. On the way there, we had noticed a great beach behind some trees next to the road and there were a few pull-ins we could use to park. We had a mile or so of beach completely to ourselves, and a very picturesque one at that, with lots of shells and coral pieces, and tree-topped rock stacks in the distance.
The sea was just too inviting, so although we only had a little time before we must make a move, we all changed and went in for a swim. It was still cold, but once immersed it became comfortable quickly, and it would have been wonderful to stay longer, though Nick would have soon burnt to a crisp in the strong sunshine. Emily was a bit reluctant at first but Nick took her in and she seemed to enjoy it. We all air-dried in the warm breeze then wolfed our food.
Emily slept most of the way back to the city, and we made good time getting back to the rental place, but it was rather stressful navigating the traffic to track down a petrol station and back at the rental outlet it was chaotic, being the end of a holiday weekend and with several full 747s about to transport the hordes back to Tokyo. I could not relax until we were finally in the airport terminal and at the gate, with only 10 minutes to spare before boarding. Emily was again very good on the flight, though a lot of it was spent on foot once more. By the time we got back to the apartment we were all worn out.
Switching on Skype, we had a call from Fi, who had to pass on the news that Grandad died yesterday (21st). While not unexpected, I suppose I had thought he might make it until Mum got back. Maybe it was better that she wasn't there at the very end. Both Fi and Sarah had seen him at the hospital and I would have liked to have gone too, though perhaps it is preferable not to have my final image of him in such a state; he looked bad enough last summer. He was very peaceful at the end, Fi said. It is somewhat of a relief for Mum and John, really, as they have been under immense strain for a few years and especially the last one. By all accounts, poor Grandma was not taking the news in, though I am sure there will be lucid moments when it hits home. I am very lucky that I knew all my grandparents and they were fun to be with. We used to love it when they visited, or we went up to Braintree for a holiday.
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