Despite only having white shoji screens at the floor to ceiling windows, Emily didn't wake until seven, two hours after the sun came up and flooded our room with light. Nick and I lay on our futons for another hour while she pottered around the room and played. The view up the heavily-wooded valley was superb.
We had breakfast then packed, before heading straight back to the beach. This time the sand was blinding in the strong sun and rapidly becoming too hot to walk on. The sea looked a beautiful shade of turquoise.
We had to limit our time in the sea due to the risk of sunburn, but all had a great time in the clear water. Nick bought a snorkel set and we both had a go with it, but there was absolutely nothing to see under the waves except smooth white sand.
Emily loved it when we took her in but it finally ended in tears when a wave broke over her face and she got salt in her eyes.
It was time to leave anyway, so we made our way back to the pension, where the owner kindly let us use the shower. It was a bit of a rush down the hill then to catch the bus back into Shimoda. There we ate a decent enough and very filling lunch of soba noodles and tempura in the station restaurant before taking a taxi to a pier to go on a short boat trip round the harbour area. The craft was a replica 'black ship'; Shimoda was where the Americans landed and forced Japan to open up to foreign trade 150 years ago.
The ride was only 20 minutes long but pleasant enough and Emily had been tired but revived now. The boat was beset by seagulls and black kites when some men threw snacks.
Nick became quite concerned when we briefly left the safety of the harbour and pitched a bit with the big rollers coming at us, but I actually quite enjoyed it.
We found refuge from the intense heat for a while in the lobby of a museum and information office then walked back to the station, after a bit of hysterics on Emily's part when she fell over running around on the tiled floor. Parting with about fifteen quid for small cups of coffee and a couple of pieces of cake, we enjoyed the aircon of a cafe until it was time to get the train home. Again the Super View Odoriko did us proud and I hardly saw Emily for large chunks of the way. At one point we took up positions just behind the driver and watched the track ahead as we entered a series of tunnels, which she really enjoyed.
We had to get off the train at Yokohama and take the Keihin Tohoku for the final half hour to Tamachi. Nick gave Emily a shoulder ride home but took her down and put her head on his shoulder near home. Within a minute, just as we entered our road, she was fast asleep. We transferred her to bed fully clothed and she slept for 12 hours without waking once! That was most welcome as it allowed us to eat earlier and retire sooner after a busy weekend.
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