Dawn at Byron Bay

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Sand between my toes


Today I went to Zushi and loved it!



After arriving in Zushi by train this morning(about 90 minutes from tokyo) I was walking along a quiet back road that had led from the bustling town centre, trying to find my way to the beach (by heading in the opposite direction from the mountains and hoping it got me there!) and I started to spot surf boards and fishing nets in the backgardens of the houses i was passing so I thought yes!! im getting closer. Soon after that, I reached the brow of a hill and was greeted with a stunning view of a gorgeous beach! It was one of those moments when I thought of Grandma and her brilliant belief that "everything happens for a reason" because if I had gone to Nikko I would have been wandering around looking at temples I wasn't really that bothered about... Instead, I looked at a map and put my finger on a seaside town east of tokyo and decided to go there and it paid off... what a gorgeous little town. Again, virtually no english and im sure i took a few very very long routes but enjoyed the de-tours because the views were beautiful. I bought a salad from a shop and ate it on the beach with my toes in the water. Bliss! They musn't get tourists in Zushi because everyone looked at me as if I was a different species!
The beach was really quiet except for a few people coming and going with windsurf boards and kayaks etc and then later on there were about 50 school kids running along the beach front - P.E was never that fun when I was at school!
I collected some shells etc.. and a woman who was also collecting shells with her son came up to me and said "hi" - now this always confuses me because "hi" in japanese means "yes" so im never certain which language im being spoken to in! Anyway it turns out she was speaking english and she held out a really pretty pink shell to me and said "this is for you" she explained that it was a type of shell which is well known to be found on the beaches in that area - the shell comes from "Sakuragai" - Sakura meaning cherry blossom (which I suppose is because of the pink colour of the shell). She pointed out a hole in the shell and she said that other clams attack the Sakuragai and make a hole in their shells and then they die and their shells get washed ashore. And that was it, she wandered off. Really sweet I thought! I added it to my collection which I dont really know what to do with as I guess I won't be allowed to take stuff like that into Oz and NZ and it will take up valuable backpack space!
I came back to the hostel this evening and i've checked into my dormitory which im in for 2 nights now... my room mates are 2 japanese ladies in their late 50's and they speak english and seem v sweet :) I am now waiting for the really annoying american woman (who doesn't shut up moaning) and her husband to vacate the kitchen/dining area which they have been hogging for the last hour so that i can eat my noodles without being attacked by her!

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