A surf trip to Japan?

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Having recently returned from what I think is a pretty unique adventure I thought I'd have a crack at writing my first trip report here!

This first post will be a little back story on the trip and the details before getting into the proper review when time permits.

The inspiration for this trip was 2 fold. Having previously lived in Hokkaido and chased winters in Japan during 2015/16 and 2016/17, I had wanted to surf in Japan. I had heard amazing things about the culture, coastline and wave quality and have had this on the bucket list since then. I previously had the chance to go surfing in Shonan, just out of Tokyo, back in late 2016 but decided to forego it to spend some more time with my mum who was battling cancer at the stage. It was always a regret to not take the opportunity but if you read ahead you'll understand why.

The second and probably more important reason was to take my Dad away on a surf trip. We lost my mum last year after a 17 year battle with with the big C, and dad hadn't been overseas since 2019 due to Covid. Into his septuagenarian years and with knees failing after a lifetime of abuse from surfing, rugby and triathlon time was somewhat of the essence to make this happen. We had been to Hawaii a few times prior to Covid, and that was an option however with the terrible AUD and (in my personal opinion) Waikiki not being as appealling as 5 years ago for various reasons we decided to look elsewhere.

This is when the inspiration for heading to Miyazaki began! I first poured over maps, instagram, blog posts and the like to check out where would be a good option to surf there. I then found a cracking deal on SQ flights from Sydney to Fukuoka and jumped on those to get the ball rolling. The trip was on!

Our first destination was Hyuga in northern Miyazaki, home to a few surf breaks and a small city as well as a goodf jump off point for one of the more famus Miyazaki tourist attractions. We found a fantastic little AirBnB across the road from the beach here. The second half of the trip was spent just south of Miyazaki city in the beachside resort of Aoshima at the ANA Holiday Inn. Finally we spent a night in Fukuoka before flying home.

I'm not yet sure how I'll structure this trip as I'd like to include some quasi-reviews of flights and stays, as well as a somewhat chronological report on our trip. So bare with me and thanks if you got this far!

(I'll add a couple of photos of the surf just to prove the trip was worth it!)

 

[VPS]

Great start so far - keep it up

 

[drron]

When working in Tasmania one of my registrars was a Japanese surfer so I heard lots of tales of the Japanese surf scene. He cam to Tasmania to actually hone his skills as a photographer. He learnt quickly and is no longer in Medicine. He goes on National geographic excursions and is one of the official photographers at the Venice Biennale.
The work is lucrative so he spends the time in between surfing now mainly the Margaret River area but does go back to Japan occasionally.
So I am looking forward to this report.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 1 (Part 1).

There was a lot that could go wrong on this trip, which meant a lot of prior planning. Before even leaving on Friday the 22nd three boards had to be carefully packed, straps remembered, wetsuits and towels dried and sorted and a number of other items essential for a surf trip packed. But fortunately when Friday rolled around it was all done.

We left the beaches at about 6:30am headed for Sydney T1 with a boot full of suitcases and 3 x surfboards on the roof of our Prado. I had already worked out we would be overhright for P7 valet so after getting a relatively traffic free run I dropped my partner, dad and the suitcases and surfboard bags at the departures level for T1 before doing a loop back to drop the car off at valet. This was all fuss free and the first of many anxiety inducing hoops to jump through completed.

After returning to the bags we headed for the Business class check in for SQ. It was about 7:40am at this stage for an 11am departure however the check in desk remained manned even in what I guess would be described as the dead zone between SQ212s check in finishing and SQ232s beginning. Cue my 2nd moment of anxiety... On a previous trip to the Maldives flying Y on SQ we were charged over $1000 in excess baggage for surfboards, so we were pretty keen not to repeat that. Armed with my DYKWIA Velocity platinum status and our Business class bookings we approached and without sweat had the bags checked through to Fukuoka, board bags tagged and were sent on our way to the oversized baggage check in, all without any additional fees! (I will admit 1 of the board bags was likely over 32kg, but wouldn't fit on the scales, so who's to know?).

With all that said and done a collective sigh went through our group and we headed through fast track, stopped in at duty free to collect some semi redundant US travel adaptors (Same as Japan but with an earth pin, meaning laptops can be charged if you find one of the few 3 pin Japanese outlets that exists). Once that was done it was straight to the SilverKris Lounge. We spent the next couple of hours here and I was pleasantly impressed. Food was rotated swiftly and was of quite a good quality for breakfast, drinks were abundant and though no champagne the Mumm/Marlborough made a good base for some mimosas. The barista station served what my dad described as an adequate coffee which is faily high praise from him. Most of all despite the small size and relatively full flight the lounge never felt overcrowded, unlike the Changi lounge we visited later!


SK Lounge Entrance

Breakfast Buffet

Buffet and drinks station to right

Barista Station

Seating in main part

Seating near entrance

Our aircraft being towed to gate

We also paid a very brief visit to the Air New Zealand lounge. A much larger space however I wasn't all that impressed. The food did look a little better presented but I think the SQ lounge feels a lot more homely and luxurious where as the Air NZ lounge felt very sterile. That said it did have a lot more natural light and was much larger so can understand why some people would prefer it if the SQ lounge was chockers!

Air NZ lounge Entrance

Air NZ seating area

After a quick couple of hours passed we headed downstairs to re-enter the chaos that is an airport terminal at the start of school holidays! Made our way to gate 57 which wasn't the easiest to find and joined the prioirty queue right on the indicated boarding time.

Flight review to follow!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 1 (Part 2).

After trudging up the jetbridge and parting ways with the 100 families starting their school holiday trips when turning upstairs the excitement started to build of our first SQ business experience! (And I think my dad's first international business class flight period).

The staff at the door were friendly and showed us to our seats in row 14. First impressions were wonderful. Other than the tight squeeze to get through each bulkhead the cabin was clean, very spacious without the centre overhead bins and looked very tasteful and luxurious... Until I sat down. Now I had my reservations about this seat based on reviews and unfortunately it lived up to all the negatives I'd seen... The seat was overly firm, to the point that 10 year old unrefurbished EK seats felt like clouds compare to them, and the lying/sleeping angle was horrible...



So how was the flight? Amazing... Being a daytime flight the seats weren't too much of an issue and the crew was amazing. Hot towels and champagne pre departure were as expected but always make you smile.

Pre departure champagne

Pre departure hot towel, recently re-introduced I believe and very welcomed!

Being the avgeek I am i poured over the BTC menu for months before departure. No lobster thermidor out of Sydney meant that was nixed (and not even consumed on this trip after some further reading turned me off it). About a month before departure some new items were added, of which my dad and I picked the beef rendang, while my partner stuck with salmon with lime butter sauce.


Entree of (I think) lightly seared tuna, Also served on the return flight to Sydney.

BTC Beef rendang. Maybe a 7/10 for meals I've had on flights. Definitely bested by the catering out of Fukuoka and Singapore.

BTC Salmon with lime butter. Another 7/10 I'd say. Salmon was dry but the butter helped, meal was quite flavourful and above expectations for red fish on a plane!

Cheesecake for desert was superb, an 8/10!

We also asked for the Penhaligons amenity kits.



I'm not sure if I've been spoiled by being lucky enough to get 4 Emirates x BVLGARI amenitiy kits this year, but these were pretty dissapointing. I do get a lot of the additional amenities are available in the lavatories but I just feel for the status of SQ these could be a little more filled with things like deoderant, perfume etc...!

All in all it was a very pleasant way to start our trip. The crew was amazing, flight was quick, Krisworld is an unrivalled entertainment system in my opinion and the plane was very clean for an ex-syd departure!

After disembarking in Singapore we quickly changed into more tropic appropriate clothes, and with a 7 hour layover decided to venture into the tropical heat and glaring lights of Orchard Road. Clearing customs was a breeze having completed the e-arrival cards before leaving. Taxi queue was short and only 20 minutes after de-planing we were on our way. The trip in was pretty awful with Friday night traffic and the driver taking a very roundabout route into the city.

We walked around Takashimaya, then down past the Hilton and into Orchard Central. Had a bubble tea and some GYG chips (very singaporean things to do...)

Friday night on Orchard road, Hot and busy!

After this we jumped in a cab to head back to the airport which turned into a bit of a disaster. Going 90 along the ECP the back right tyre deflates rapidly. The driver pulls over on the curb but with very little room, and it being the right tyre anyone trying to change it is exposed to oncoming traffic. The triangle marker he put out was flat out ignored by most drivers which led to us holding out phone torches and waving them trying to signal to drivers to move out of the lane. Couple this with the driver being an elderly, overweight and apparently very unfit gentleman and it was a particularly stressful 30 minutes! The jack for his car was a scissor jack but half the attachments for winding it were missing and having to dodge the odd car/bus/truck coming flying at you it took 20+ minutes to get the car up. By this stage my dad and I had taken turns on the jack given the drivers seeming inability to do it. Eventually we got the car up, new wheel on and threw everything in the boot to get on our way.

Our drivers position of choice... About 100 mtrs further up was an on ramp with 10% the amount of traffic going 50km/h (Not 90+). But he refused to go any further apprently willing to risk his life over a damaged rim...

Eventually we were dropped off at T3 and back through passport control with heart rates finally returning to healthy levels!

Silverkris lounge and SIN-cough flight review to come next!

(Ironically this is my 2nd horrible experience with cabs to and from Changi and likely my last given the last one was another elderly driving falling asleep at the wheel and jolting in and out of lanes while doing so at 2am. Grab will be the go-to from now on I think.)

 

[Flyfrequently]

Day 1 (Part 2).

After trudging up the jetbridge and parting ways with the 100 families starting their school holiday trips when turning upstairs the excitement started to build of our first SQ business experience! (And I think my dad's first international business class flight period).

The staff at the door were friendly and showed us to our seats in row 14. First impressions were wonderful. Other than the tight squeeze to get through each bulkhead the cabin was clean, very spacious without the centre overhead bins and looked very tasteful and luxurious... Until I sat down. Now I had my reservations about this seat based on reviews and unfortunately it lived up to all the negatives I'd seen... The seat was overly firm, to the point that 10 year old unrefurbished EK seats felt like clouds compare to them, and the lying/sleeping angle was horrible...

View attachment 349022

So how was the flight? Amazing... Being a daytime flight the seats weren't too much of an issue and the crew was amazing. Hot towels and champagne pre departure were as expected but always make you smile.
View attachment 349023
Pre departure champagne
View attachment 349024
Pre departure hot towel, recently re-introduced I believe and very welcomed!

Being the avgeek I am i poured over the BTC menu for months before departure. No lobster thermidor out of Sydney meant that was nixed (and not even consumed on this trip after some further reading turned me off it). About a month before departure some new items were added, of which my dad and I picked the beef rendang, while my partner stuck with salmon with lime butter sauce.

View attachment 349027
Entree of (I think) lightly seared tuna, Also served on the return flight to Sydney.
View attachment 349026
BTC Beef rendang. Maybe a 7/10 for meals I've had on flights. Definitely bested by the catering out of Fukuoka and Singapore.
View attachment 349028
BTC Salmon with lime butter. Another 7/10 I'd say. Salmon was dry but the butter helped, meal was quite flavourful and above expectations for red fish on a plane!
View attachment 349029
Cheesecake for desert was superb, an 8/10!

We also asked for the Penhaligons amenity kits.

View attachment 349031

I'm not sure if I've been spoiled by being lucky enough to get 4 Emirates x BVLGARI amenitiy kits this year, but these were pretty dissapointing. I do get a lot of the additional amenities are available in the lavatories but I just feel for the status of SQ these could be a little more filled with things like deoderant, perfume etc...!

All in all it was a very pleasant way to start our trip. The crew was amazing, flight was quick, Krisworld is an unrivalled entertainment system in my opinion and the plane was very clean for an ex-syd departure!

After disembarking in Singapore we quickly changed into more tropic appropriate clothes, and with a 7 hour layover decided to venture into the tropical heat and glaring lights of Orchard Road. Clearing customs was a breeze having completed the e-arrival cards before leaving. Taxi queue was short and only 20 minutes after de-planing we were on our way. The trip in was pretty awful with Friday night traffic and the driver taking a very roundabout route into the city.

We walked around Takashimaya, then down past the Hilton and into Orchard Central. Had a bubble tea and some GYG chips (very singaporean things to do...)
View attachment 349032
Friday night on Orchard road, Hot and busy!

After this we jumped in a cab to head back to the airport which turned into a bit of a disaster. Going 90 along the ECP the back right tyre deflates rapidly. The driver pulls over on the curb but with very little room, and it being the right tyre anyone trying to change it is exposed to oncoming traffic. The triangle marker he put out was flat out ignored by most drivers which led to us holding out phone torches and waving them trying to signal to drivers to move out of the lane. Couple this with the driver being an elderly, overweight and apparently very unfit gentleman and it was a particularly stressful 30 minutes! The jack for his car was a scissor jack but half the attachments for winding it were missing and having to dodge the odd car/bus/truck coming flying at you it took 20+ minutes to get the car up. By this stage my dad and I had taken turns on the jack given the drivers seeming inability to do it. Eventually we got the car up, new wheel on and threw everything in the boot to get on our way.
View attachment 349033
Our drivers position of choice... About 100 mtrs further up was an on ramp with 10% the amount of traffic going 50km/h (Not 90+). But he refused to go any further apprently willing to risk his life over a damaged rim...

Eventually we were dropped off at T3 and back through passport control with heart rates finally returning to healthy levels!

Silverkris lounge and SIN-cough flight review to come next!

(Ironically this is my 2nd horrible experience with cabs to and from Changi and likely my last given the last one was another elderly driving falling asleep at the wheel and jolting in and out of lanes while doing so at 2am. Grab will be the go-to from now on I think.)

Great start with your TR @HirafuHeartAttack , following with interest as Flyfrequently daughter #1 and her husband are keen surfers having just come back from G - Land and looking to explore other breaks. They are keen to get to Nazare after our recent visit there.

Enjoy and terrific that you can share this journey with your Dad

PS : Taxi drivers in HKG must go to the same driving school after our recent experience!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Great start with your TR @HirafuHeartAttack , following with interest as Flyfrequently daughter #1 and her husband are keen surfers having just come back from G - Land and looking to explore other breaks. They are keen to get to Nazare after our recent visit there.

Enjoy and terrific that you can share this journey with your Dad

PS : Taxi drivers in HKG must go to the same driving school after our recent experience!

It was an unforgettable experience! Not quite as exotic I guess as those locations but the culture and stoke of the Japanese surf community is incredibly unique and more than made up for it!

I can also attest to the HK taxi driver nightmare as well! We were suspect that an uber driver told us they were dangerous, however after a particularly wild return from Stanley to Central and the front desk staff at the Four Seasons advising uber over taxis in HK I started heeding the advice!

 

[Flyfrequently]

It was an unforgettable experience! Not quite as exotic I guess as those locations but the culture and stoke of the Japanese surf community is incredibly unique and more than made up for it!

I can also attest to the HK taxi driver nightmare as well! We were suspect that an uber driver told us they were dangerous, however after a particularly wild return from Stanley to Central and the front desk staff at the Four Seasons advising uber over taxis in HK I started heeding the advice!

Am sure they have YouTube 'd it but don't know if they have considered Japan as a surf destination, it's wherever the waves go - and what they can afford!!

We did Uber from HKG Airport and thought he drove a bit fast, so took taxi back to airport and "Uncle" gave his red Toyota Crown a pretty good workout, I clutched Mr Flyfrequently's hand tightly and closed my eyes when the speedo hit 140 kmh on N Lantau Highway!

We survived!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 2 (Part 1).

After returning to the airport and passing through passport control we made a beeline for the Silverkris Business Class lounge for a shower to refresh and change for the last flight. The entrances beautiful batik motif to this lounge I had seen before during an 8 hour overnight changi layover (never doing that again with a oneworld airline at least) but it was even more special being able to access this new lounge for the first time! The excitement was peaking right up until entering what can only be described as a zoo...



While there's no doubt the lounge is huge, food abundant and drinks amazing, it still simply isn't big enough to cater for the mid-late evening bank of departures from T3. Also the bar and barista hours are very strange. We spent about 10 minutes wandering until we eventually had to hover over a kiwi couple who were departing and offered us there seats. These only accomodated 2 but thankfully the couple on a larger sofa next to us offered my partner a spot. We then set off to get shower buzzers and after about half an hour wait we were finally refreshed and ready to wait out the next hour or so until our 1:20am departure. Given how busy the lounge was I didn't really take any photos other than of the shower rooms so I'll put those below for anyone interested.



The shower facilities did impress me! Maybe not quite as nice as the Qantas first lounge at Changi but on par with our most recent experiences in the EK F lounge in Dubai and the CX wing first in Hong Kong!

Finally at around 12:30 we set off for the gate for SQ656 to Fukuoka on an SQ 787-10. This was my first time on a dreamliner in over a year and my first red eye on one ever so I was interested to see how I felt after what is one of the more optimal flight experiences.

Again, it seems SQ just cant quite nail business class seats. These are a fantastic seat, albeit a little narrow, but the biggest drawback is the huge wing between centre seats which makes communication with your seatmate rather uncomfortable. I'm also realising now that in my zombie like state I took no photos on this flight! My apologies. All in all it was a reasonable flight. Given the departure time we skipped meals and went straight to sleep after take off. I think I managed about 3 hours which is very good for me on a flight. Unfortunately my do not disturb button didn't work so I was awoken about 2 hours before landing to be asked if I wanted breakfast. (I did not...)

We landed around 7:30am local time and disembarked without fuss. Having already completed Japanese arrival cards immigration was a painless procedure and nothing like what we experienced at Narita last December. We collected our checked suitcases and surfboard bags (shoutout and apologies to the ladies working for JAL at baggage delivery who tried to move our double boardbag) and headed through customs and out into Japan!

The final airport hurdle was collecting a WiFi box and organising pick up from Times Rental Car. I had sent them an email a few days earlier just to let them know of the ridiculous amount of luggage with us but they said it would be fine. Finally after traversing 2 sets of escalators with 2 10ft boardbags we got to the shuttle pick up point and were met shortly after. Formalities out of the way and after a minor heart attack from the Times staff about how we were going to fit the boardbags we got the car loaded and our 27 hour travel day was somewhat over and the holiday proper could begin!

A big thanks to this Nissan Serena which took 3 of us, 3 suitcases, and 3 surfboards without issue!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 2 (Part 2).

We hastily set off from Fukuoka and straight into holiday traffic. I didn't realise that the Autumnal Equinox holiday was celebrated on the weekend we had arrived with a fair few festivals on and a lot of people travelling. After weaving through the highway traffic and a short detour that google maps suggested due to an accident we were lucky enough to accidentally travel past a large sunflower festival just outside Fukuoka in Asakura.

From there we drove east towards Beppu with an intended lunch stop at an absolute necessity of any Japanese trip... 100yen sushi train! I had always heard about Beppu being an onsen paradise and the steam emanating from city certainly made it feel otherworldly and beautiful. The road in was equally as spectacular with mountains and valleys giving off huge amounts of steam. I will definitely be back here to spend at least a night or 2 in the future!

Mandatory first meal at my favourite hyakuyen sushi chain, Kappa Sushi!

The only shot of Beppu I managed given I had driving duties for the whole trip.

We had a brief stop before getting back on the road with another 150km to go to our final destination of Hyuga, Miyazaki-ken.



We finally arrived at about 4pm, 34 hours after leaving home. I booked an AirBnB called The Villa Share. It was a great little house with full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 2 toilets as well as an outdoor shower, huge deck and ample parking for our little van! Downsides were the fairly onsostent road noise for the semi-major road right next to one of the bedroom windows and the rattle of trains off in the distance and the beds and pillows not being the best designed for those used to western comforts.


We spent the afternoon exploring the nearby beaches and a shrine.


Before tucking into another necessity - CoCos Curry (pork cutlet, normal rice, spice level 1 and add cheese) IYKYK and a beer!


Finally it was time for a well deserved sleep in a real bed after the long couple of days to get there!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 3.

Our first full day started rather leisurely. My partner decided to go for a walk to the historic village of Mimitsu, while my dad and I were eager to get in the water and have our first surf. The night before while checking out the above temple we found a small beach called Isagahama which was far more protected from the northerlies predicted that day than the other 2 options close by so after a quick stop at 7/11 for a coffee we headed straight there and parked at the south end, which was a bit of a no-no we later found out.



The surf wasn't great but it was good enough to be fun, the weather amazing and the water warm. I caught a few reasonable waves so I was happy, but the old boy not so much as he lost a fin about 30 minutes in. After getting out we headed back to the car and tried to use the bathrooms but were (politely) denied by an old japanese woman who explained surfers are supposed to only park at the northern end of the beach as she tried to avoid us dripping salt water and sand all through the bathrooms she just cleaned.

We headed back and I drove south towards Mimitsu to pick up my partner who wasn't to keen on the 5km walk back in 31 degree heat. We cruised around the Mimitsu area and a little further south and found another spot with a few people out but just watched for a while.

We then headed back and picked up my dad to go to Stairs of the Sea for lunch. There's a few take away spots and seats and some cool little shops in here so if you're ever in Hyuga it's a must see! We ended up getting burgers which were pretty all time.
Teddys Bigger Burgers Double Cheeseburger. I think they are a Hawaiian chain but as most know the Japanese absolutely love anything remotely Hawaiian!


The view from the lawn of Stairs by the Sea, similar to the above this area does have a very Hawaiian feel, though I guess the volcanic coasts all share similarities.


Also spotted at Stairs of the Sea, had a laugh as these are pretty rare in Japan so to see them on our first full day was a funny shock.

After that we headed into Hyuga proper for a bit of a look around but to be honest it's not all that much of an exciting city. There's a cool little bar district that my partner and I may have checked out if we were staying closer but I wouldn't say the downtown is a must do. My dad also got a fin from a surf shop which was necessary but exhorbitantly expensive like most things related to surfing are in Japan. It was something like a 50% mark up vs what it would've cost here.

Napped in the arvo, then had a beer during the sunset. Picked up a few different types I hadn't tried throughout the trip. This was a Suntory Amber Ale, pleasant enough, not my go to, but hard not to enjoy in this situation!


Finally we went to a Miso ramen spot for dinner. Given that Hokkaido is like a 2nd home to me it's hard to turn up a Miso Butter Corn ramen so that's exactly what I got, washed down with a Kirin!

 

[trendwhore]

Looks so nice! Also stoked to see Teddy's burgers on there I have them on my list to check out when I'm over next; they have a few around the place

 

[1022]

Loving your TR so far. My short stay in Japan a couple of months ago was way too brief. I'm keen to get off the beaten track and see more of Kyushu, so I'm making mental notes as I read!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 4.

Woke up to very average weather, which turned even more sour as the day went on. Given we knew the surf was going to be bad this day we planned to visit Takachiho Gorge. Jumped in the car around 8:30am, compulsory stop at Family Mart for coffees and breakfast and began the 90 minute drive from Hyuga to Takachiho.

This was hands down one of the coolest drives I have ever done in the world, period. Climbing up from sea level to about 800m then back down to 300m at the gorge we crossed multiple bridges 200+m above rivers in deep lush forests. The weather being damp and misty added to the beauty of these valleys. If you ever get the chance to visit this part of Kyushu i would 100% recommend it.

After 90 minutes we passed through the town of Takachiho... And got sent straight past the lower parking lot for the falls/gorge. This was unfortunate as it meant several hundred stairs and a few hundred metres of walking which all but ruled out my dad seeing the falls. My partner and I headed down the slippery stairs and to the falls. We were blown away. Took a whole bunch of shots and headed back to the car. After rendezvousing with dad we decided to try our luck at getting him down there, which we were fortunate enough to be able to!

Start of gorge from the overflow car park walk


Heaps of these fellas around, some easily a metre plus!



These last 3 are from what we be described as the main part of the Gorge and whats often seen in promotional material.

The bottom of the gorge is fairly accessible friendly and has a bunch of restaurants and souvenir shops, including some fairly well known soba spots where you catch the noodles with chopsticks flowing through freshwater from the gorge. We didn't partake in a boat tour either as we didn't fancy the 3 and a half hour wait.

After finishing up at the gorge we headed to a Teishoku restaurant called Tomoemaru which I also highly recommend! I got the gyudon and it was easily some of the best beef I've ever had, and my first try of Miyazaki-gyu which is rated up there with Kobe and the other top quality wagyu producing prefectures. (The wagyu only got better throughout ther trip though!)



The main street of Takachiho.

We left Takachiho and headed back towards Hyuga in what was some of the most torrential rain I've ever experienced. We checked out the city of Nobeoka on the way back, which was fairly uninspiring to be honest. Got back mid arvo, rested, more balcony beers then headed to an izakaya in Hyuga called Kaisendon-ya which I would again highly recommend if only for the Hyuganatsu Sours, of which my partner managed to polish off 4 or 5 in 90 minutes. Hyuganatsu is a fruit I'd never heard of but as the name suggests is from the Hyuga area and is somewhat of a hybrid of Yuzu and a pomelo. That is to say an amazing accompaniment to shochu and soda apparently!

 

[Flyfrequently]

Great TR and beaut photos @HirafuHeartAttack , your Dad must be loving it too!

 

[Seat0B]

Do you know if you can visit the Takachiho gorge by road in winter? We are possibly going to be on Kyushu in late Feb 24 and might rent a car rather than take the trains, so that would make this a possibility, assuming we even get to Japan (pending my health).

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Do you know if you can visit the Takachiho gorge by road in winter? We are possibly going to be on Kyushu in late Feb 24 and might rent a car rather than take the trains, so that would make this a possibility, assuming we even get to Japan (pending my health).

I believe so! Given how far south it is and that it's only at 300m ASL I don't think it gets much, if any snow! I do know their is a ski resort about 30 minutes drive away but this is at a significantly higher altitude (1600m+).

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 5.

Day 5 was a bit of a funny one to be honest. For context the surf was supposed to be big and the winds from the north. 2 days earlier we had gone into a surf store to get dad a fin and struck up a conversation with the owners. The wife spoke quite good english and was stoked to have overseas visitors. It turned out she was fully self taugh and listened to TV/Movies/podcasts to learn her english. She told us about a beach an hour and a half north in Oita prefercture called Motosaru and suggested the surf could be good there this day.

So again we packed the car and headed north towards Motosaru. The start of the drive was fairly rudimentary Japanese highway, which for those who haven't been means a tunnel every km or so... While I appreciate the efficiency of the Post war mircale and its infrastructure building it also means that long highway drives in Japan are A. Expensive and B. Fairly boring.

Anyway we turned off the highway and drove through some stunning small fishing towns to reach Motosaru. We turned over the last crest only to find it nearly completely flat... And certainly not worth paddling out.

Unfortunately the swell had dropped and didn't have enough South in it to break here. Assessing our options I pulled up google maps to see whether there were any accessbile bits of coast here that may be getting waves. Lo and behold about 20 minutes south was an east facing beach called Hatozu which showed some potential. We drove a very sketchy, mostly single lane road down the coast and to our surprise and excitement saw a bunch of vans in the carpark and people in the water!

The surf was pretty average but it was a cool experience, especially when we struck up a conversation with a guy in the line up who said he'd never seen another foreigner surf there given how fickle and remote it is!

We got a couple of ok ones and headed back towards Hyuga and stopped in for our second 100yen sushi train of the trip, this time Hamazushi. Another chill afternoon, did some remote work with a beer then went to an udon chain for dinner. Was alright but nothing spectacular. Finished the night with a bit of packing as the next day we were heading south to Aoshima.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 6.

Moving day! After spedning the first half our trip in Northern Miyazaki prefecture based out of Hyuga, the second half was to be spent based in the resort town of Aoshima, just south of Miyazaki City.

We got up early as the surf forecast looked good for this day. A bit of swell was coming through and there was next to no wind so we got what was one of the best surfs of the trip in early at Okuragahama, before heading back to Airbnb to re-pack the car and get on the road!

For the drive we decided to break up the monotony of Japanese Highways and take the B-Roads which provided some beautiful views of mountains, the ocean and Japanese farm land. One other interesting thing we drove past was the Tsuno Solar Way. It's a several KM long stretch of former Maglev test track that has been converted into a large scale solar farm and looks quite sytopian set against the coast. For those intersted I'll put a link below.

https://www.kkc.co.jp/english/cms/pdf/rep202306/20110404.pdf

We entered Miyazaki City and found a Cafe Gusto for lunch. I was craving Hamburg and the novelty of being served by robots is yet to wear off! After this we finished the drive 20 minutes south of the city to Aoshima and checked into the ANA Holiday Inn Miyazaki Aoshima. Someone collected our bags while we took care of check in duties. The website to book was quite confusing so I was pleased to know we had been assigned 2 superior rooms on the top floor of the hotel with sweeping ocean views!



The hotel itself fed some weird obsession I have with Japanese Economic miracle built buildings that seem to be a shell of their former selves, with the bar no longer operating, the buffet and only open for breakfast, a cinema now disused, and the pool and hot tub drained and innaccessible. I think this all started with Rusutsu resort and the obscenely strange theme park within it, and was only further fed by visiting the Yuzawa area and seeing things like a gondola station and shinkansen combined building as well as random 30+ storey apartment towers in the middle of the Japanese alps... That being said the Hotel was comfortable, rooms large, staff very helpful however with limited english and the access to the beach was unreal.

After unpacking I decided to go for another surf as the waves were too inviting and made use of the Hotels complimentary surf rack behind concierge. We booked dinner at a local well known Izakaya called Amimoto as it was my dads birthday. It was a relief to be able to enjoy a night out and not drive with the restaurant across the road from the hotel. Many beers, sashimi, tempura and miyazaki beef later we called it a night!


Miyazaki-gyu in a teriyaki butter sauce. Lived up to all the hype the local beef has surrounding it!


The aftermath! May have over ordered...

I have additional photos to add here but my phone has had a meltdown, so they may get added, they may not, I may also have a personal meltdown... Who knows?!

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 6. (Additional photos)

My phone is still a huge hunk of junk so after 45 minutes on the phone to telstra I've got a new one on the way... Anyway more of day below!


Waves right out the front as soon as we arrived!


What looked like a beautiful pool was just a waterfall, which was fairly annoying at night!


Sashimi at Amimoto!


Whole fried fish, was amazingly delicious!