"Rocket Centre."
Thursday 11 October. Day 77. Weather Perfect.
At 10-00 am, Takao arrived. He drove us all, except Toshiharu who was working, south towards Shibushi and then west to Uchinoura where there is a disused rocket launching base and rocket museum.
The journey took about an hour. The country was very hilly so the road wound in all directions providing excellent views of nothing much in particular; forested hillsides mainly; sometimes gardens of soba, taro, sweet potatoes, banana; occasionally the sea. Fishing boxes are in the sea, just off the coast and people farm fish in them. The boxes are arranged in the water like paddocks and sometimes boats are in amongst them. Towns' postal numbers are cut into a nearby forest (or plantation) so the number can be seen from the air.
Twice we passed groups of road-menders at work. In each case, traffic was controlled by a worker bearing a "stop/slow" sign. Such is the level of politeness in Japan, however, that here the traffic control person bowed when our car came to a halt, and as we departed, bowed again and thanked us for stopping.
At the rocket centre, from which in the eighties some of Australia's ill-fated communications satellites had departed, we think, we saw a rocket, numerous buildings (many in poor repair because the rocket launching program had been abandoned), and a museum which contained models of rockets, tracking dishes, and explanations of all sorts of things to do with rocketry and the heavens (for which, happily, these rockets were intended).
This was all very interesting because we had never been to a rocket centre before, and our close-up acquaintance with rockets up till this time had been limited to the sort that once flew out of a bottle on Guy Fawkes Night.
Early in the afternoon, we returned to Kanoya, stopping first at a soba/udon noodle restaurant at a waterwheel quite near Kanoya. Here, Takao bought everyone lunch.
At home about mid afternoon, we walked off our delicious lunch by going with Toshiharu to a water tower on top of a nearby hill.
We walked along a one lane track that served a number of houses. First the track was bordered by fields of white-flowered soba, sweet potatoes, taro and so on. But as we ascended we found ourselves walking through a wood of young pines, rhododendrons, azaelas. Vines clambered from tree to tree. Here and there were clumps of bamboo. There is a lower storey of fern, tall grasses and small shrubs. All looks lush and growth is rampant. There is always plenty of very tall golden rod by the roadsides, and a grass with a tall feathery head called "susuki".
At the top of the hill we walked round the large water tank that supplies the local area.
We walked back down a different way. Near the edge of the wood, Toshiharu showed us a small spring. In a tiny grotto beside the spring was a little shrine for the spirit of the spring.
Our walk led us to the golf driving range. Toshiharu is very fond of golf and quite expert. He took Colin to the golf driving range on the first day. But Colin is most inexpert at golf: he only hit the ball sometimes; and they didn't go golf driving again.
Today we played three rounds of "ground golf" on a field beside the driving range. Ground golf can be imagined as a cross between golf and croquet. It was good fun. The ball was larger than the usual golf ball, and the "holes" were represented by hoops.
Before tea while Toshiharu and Colin were esconced in the snack bar Toshiharu had built at the side of the house, Shouko, Ritsuko, and I took our washing to a laundromat in the shopping centre at the end of the street.
Tea! Tonight we ate
pickled cucumber and octopus,
hot (chilli) squid (raw!!!),
chawan mushi which is a savoury egg custard including bits of prawn or chicken and mushrooms,
eel with rice,
egg soup.
I kept feeling astonished that I was managing to do this.