During the Golden Week break Jodi and I went camping with Reni and Syd. We were a bit nervous about it as it was our first time to take the boys away with us. We needn’t have worried; we had a great time together.
Our trip started at the golden arch. Reni and Syd are quite big fans of McDonalds – not only for the food but for the promotion toys that come with the kids’ ‘happy sets’. Jodes is also quite a fan of Maccas, so who was i to deny them?
The boys were stoked with their ‘i-dog’ toys that they got with their lunch. After they’d played for a while in the playground attached to the store, we headed off down the coast to Hiwasa (now known as Minami).
We arrived at a beach just past the town in the mid-afternoon and set up camp. Once we’d managed to erect the tent we headed off in the car again for a hot spring bath. The normally quiet hotel i had planned for us to bathe at was very crowded however so we gave up and went sightseeing instead.
Our initial plan for the evening was to have dinner then make a campfire and toast marshmallows. Dinner was delayed slightly however after Syd put his shoes and jacket down on the beach and we had to search in the dark for them. After eventually retrieving them we enjoyed spaghetti for dinner.
It was quite late by the time we finished dinner. Reni and Syd were tired and went to bed without mentioning the campfire and marshmallows. They soon fell asleep.
Jodi and i set about trying to light a fire but there was a slight problem – we had nothing to light it with. We had intended to light some paper using the camp stove but the flint wouldn’t spark to ignite the gas. The other people camping on the beach were not around to borrow a lighter from so we gave up and retired early too.
The next day I woke early hoping to view the sunrise. The steep rocky headland on the right side of the beach offered a good view. It was quite a challenging climb to get up there. It amazed me to think that fishermen had been climbing up and down here during the night. There were places where one mistep could have been disastrous.
The boys and Jodi woke up early too. There were a lot of plastic bottles on the beach. Since i had a spare garbage bag with me, i decided to pick some up. Reni kindly assisted me with the beach-clean.
After breakfast we packed up camp. Although it was only mid-morning, it was already getting quite hot. With the exertion of carrying the tent, bedding and belongings back up to the car i was sweating considerably. I decided to take a brief dip in the sea. The water was so cold though i barely lasted a minute.
We headed south down the coast along the ‘Skyline’ road, enjoying the spectacular scenery along the way. At the town of Mugi we stopped to check out the ‘Mollusc’ aquarium. Although the display was only small, we all enjoyed checking out the various marine creatures. From the aquarium we went down to the beach for a stroll. We were surprised to see a red tide washing the shore. Apparently the tide is an algal bloom which is particularly harmful to molluscs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tide).
After our beach excursion we drove from the port into the centre of the town to get some lunch. Following a hearty feed of noodle and rice dishes we set off on the long drive (2 hours or so) home. Exhausted from their exertion, the boys dozed contentedly in the back while Jodi and i listened to music and chatted, bringing to an end a successful adventure.
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