Shikoku is the smallest of Japan's four main islands. It's a bit hard to describe the islands, because Shodoshima is so small it doesn't show up on a map of Japan, but when it comes to the islands off the coast of Takamatsu it's one of the bigger ones. Even in the map above, there are so so many tiny islands that are not there! We were looking forward to it so much because we'd booked a place right near the sea and after the somewhat uncomfortable experience in the smokey hotel in Okayama, we were ready for some fresh sea air.
Shodoshima did not disappoint.
We had to get their via a ferry, honestly with no real idea about how to do that with a car, but we loaded up as quick as we could out of Okayama and did our best to make the 10:10 ferry. If we missed it, we missed it. We pulled into the parking lot at exactly 10:10 as the ferry crew were putting the chain across to wrap up boarding. Seeing us though, they frantically waved us over and asked if we wanted to ride. I was so happy for helpful Japanese people right then, since the next ferry wasn't until 11:20.
I leapt out of the car to sort out tickets and Steve drove the car on. The staff in the ticket booth saw us coming and did all the button pushing for me, which made the ticket purchase so quick. When we had been driving in, we had honestly resigned ourselves to having to do the hour wait, but suddenly, everything was sorted and we were on our way!
The ferry ride was about an hour and a half, so we were soon off the boat and onto the island. Given that we had some time to kill before we could check into our place, our first stop was a lookout that was nearby to the ferry terminal. I think Steve and the girls would have been happy with a different lookout, but I think it was worth the stress. The road up was a very windy, one lane with no gutter edges to offer support. Steve was driving with one hand, since he was still sporting his broken hand bandage at this stage too.
When we got to the parking area, I asked the lady at the tiny refreshment stand which way to go. She very kindly told me straight up, 380 stairs and then a scramble over the rocks to get to the top. Apparently it was only a ten or fifteen min walk. It was 11:30 by this stage, so pretty peak heat, but I was confident we could manage it.
The trip up was painful but short and the views! Oh my goodness. The islands and the ocean were just stunning. So different from the Japan we had experienced in all the big cities so far. Tokyo, Nagoya and Okayama - nothing was like this. Despite the heat, the beauty was undeniable. We tracked back down the mountain and had a cool drink from the refreshment stand. Steve tried his best to cool his bandaged hand off, but it was pretty uncomfortable for him.
Then we went off to find some lunch. Ended up at a little place with gyoza and somen noodles. We ordered three types of gyoza: seafood, olive oil and wild boar. Pretty delicious. We had noticed all the olive trees on the island as we had been driving through. It was a bit nuts to see them in Japan; something so iconically Mediterranean.
Then we found a beach for a swim. This was the "Olive Beach". I can't say much for the actual beach sand, Australia is better there, but the ocean was so cool and just amazing to be in. Again, we all felt sorry for Steve who only went in up to his knees before retreating into the shade. The girls and I got to experience the bliss of the cool water on the hot day.
Such perfection. We were pretty worried about sunburn, especially for our pale daughters, so we only stayed an hour or so before getting out of the water.
We went to a grocery store for supplies and then on to our place for the next four days. This house ended up being the biggest one that we would stay in for Japan. It was a beautiful old Japanese house that had been renovated. The kitchen sink stood at a modern height and we had a table and chairs to eat at. There was also a small couch in the living room as well as huge tatami rooms to sleep in. I loved that it came with a backyard and the hosts had a composting system for us to use too.
The owners ran a small coffee shop on the street in front of the house and lived close by. We saw them during our stay and even met the owners parents when they were around in the evenings. The whole community vibe of Shodoshima was beautiful. Everyone greeted us as we walked along the water front, which was so different to the cities where there is much more "avoid eye contact" going on.
We were trying to take it a bit easy here, so we didn't do a lot some days. The first day was a bit rainy anyway, but we went out to an "Angel Walk" in the afternoon.
The water was again beautiful to be in.
Outside afterwards we were brave enough to try the soy sauce flavoured ice cream. Kind of caramel-y, like when people add miso to brownies.
This is when the tide goes down and you are able to walk the sandbar connecting the main island to other smaller islands. It was pretty fun to do this walk in the cooler evening. Steve skimmed rocks on the water, and Rachel enjoyed looking at all the sea creatures. Lots of crabs, snails and fish in the water. We also saw a stack of jelly fish (just like in Ponyo!)
After this we had some more grocery shopping to do. As we drove over this bridge to get to the shops, I noticed the sign said "World's Narrowest Strait". Steve and Rachel went back to get a photo. There were a number of places where if the tide was high, the water would cut off one side from another, so Shodoshima seems to be a few islands that are connected by bridges more than just one island.
The days are a bit of a blur, since we enjoyed a few home days, or broke up days with mornings at home and arvo out, or vice versa. We explored the Olive centre of Shodoshima more and had this olive flavoured soft serve. Strangely good!
And we took a cable car to the top of one of the mountain ranges for this view. A bit cloudier than when we first arrived, but still beautiful. It was amazing to see beach and ocean and then huge mountains. I wish we had done more walks in the mountains, but the days were still pretty hot and Steve couldn't do anything that might result in him falling and needing to save himself with a broken hand. Better to be safe.
At the top of the mountains we had maple flavoured ice cream. This was Rachel's favourite. Possibly Sophie's too.
I went for a mountain walk near where we lived one evening, slightly traumatised by a less than well maintained trail that had me turning around because it was so over grown it was un-walk-able, and then the subsequent trails being inaccurately represented on both Google Maps and Pokemon Go. I did consider, more than once, that I might be the next Australian to make the news because I've gotten lost and needed a chopper rescue, or worse, fallen right off the mountain and died. I'm not sure the view was worth it that day, but I did feel like I had achieved something by putting my joggers on and giving it a go.
The girls recorded their Soran Bushi dance at the beach in front of our house one evening. I was so proud of them being brave enough to do it as locals were walking their dogs along the water front. The cafe that the owners of our AirBnB ran had kakigoori (shaved ice), which we enjoyed one afternoon. This was hands down the best we had in Japan. It was enormous and had real fruit on it, rather than just flavoured syrup. Amazing.
There was a soy sauce factory museum on the other side of the island, so we went out for a walk through there too. It was super interesting to learn about the soy sauce making process (it takes over a year because of fermentation and what not) and also compare traditional to modern production. The girls were not impressed at us dragging them here, but Steve and I had a good time. Rachel joined me for the dress up photo shoot at the end where we pretended to be hard working soy sauce factory employees.
That evening was our last day, so we had an extended play in the water at the beach. Rachel caught all manner of animals, including this fish. Sophie sketched some landscapes of the mountains and ocean.
I made dinner and brought it out for us to enjoy while the sun set. We could not have been more thankful for this time.
After the girls were in bed, I was packing up things in the living room and noticed the bookshelf had some picture books of fish, so I pulled them off the shelf to see if I could find out what kind of fish Rachel had caught earlier that day. Turns out she caught a poisonous puffer fish. Ops! Is it bad parenting that I didn't consider the wildlife could be poisonous or that I encouraged her to try to catch the fish in the first place? Both probably.
Anyway, I had a mild panic and Steve asked Gemini how worried we should be. Gemini told us to seek immediate medical attention, but calmed down slightly when we told it that the fish was not ingested. It's a funny story now, but I did check on Rachel early the next morning to make sure she didn't die in her sleep from my neglect.
Whew. We left Shodoshima with the same amount of daughters that we arrived with. I can 100% see us returning to Shodoshima one day. It was such a beautiful little getaway place and I hope other people can enjoy it as much as we did.
