Getting Up Close With Nature

So this weekend—or Monday and Tuesday rather, since we had a long weekend—we took some time to head up north and hit various small sites of interest.  We drove up Monday and had lunch at an awesome little place called the “British Wine and Tea Shop” where the chef serenaded us with Phantom of the Opera and gave us a proper British tea lesson.  We hit a few of our to-do’s that afternoon before staying the night at Okuma, a military “resort” facility.  (I use the word “resort” loosely because, even though it was very nice, it certainly wasn’t a four-star hotel or spa.  We had a cabin with a bed (BYO linens), AC and a micro-fridge, and communal restrooms across the road.  Comfortable, convenient, fun, but not exactly pampered.)  Got up Tuesday, checked out a few more places and headed home.  It was a quick trip but we had a great time!

Our first stop was NEO park, basically a gigantic petting zoo.  There are four different enclosures but the boundaries are only to keep various species of animals separated; there are almost no animal-human boundaries.  You can buy enough food to feed nearly every species in the park for only 200 yen (about two dollars)!  For example, we got to wander among the ibises . . .

Feed the goats . . .

Peek at the ostriches . . .

And chase the miniature kangaroos . . .

(This is what they looked like when they weren’t hopping away from Logan)

There were also llamas, pigs, lemurs, tortoises, a variety of birds, etc., but one of the things Logan was most excited about was finding something with wheels tucked away in a corner.  “Vroom-vroom” he says.

Next stop—Hedo Point, the very northern tip of the island, for some dramatic views despite the nasty weather.

I have no idea why there’s a statue of a chicken here . . .

But Logan seemed very amused!

If I had been quicker I could REALLY show you how up close with nature we were able to get when this HUGE spider dropped down next to the picnic table at our cabin, but I was too busy ooh-ing and ahh-ing at a safe distance to think about the camera right then.

On to day two . . .

We found the Nakijin Castle ruins.

And these really unique hibiscus flowers.

Then we went to a butterfly garden.

Where Logan, as usual, was intrigued.

And that was our weekend in a nutshell!  Hope you enjoyed hearing about it.  Hope also that life is going well for you and that you are enjoying your own adventures!