Vaucluse Dreamer

One thing that is rather lovely about being in the campervan, is going to bed wonderfully early, as both of us would rather be up with the lark, rather than try to stay awake.

After finding last night’s park-up by the beach, we were lulled by the waves and were asleep before 9pm, looking forward to a solid night’s sleep, before heading on again today.

It was all going so well, until the early hours (shortly after 2), when it felt as if something had started rocking the van, coupled with the sound of wind howling through the open windows and vent.

It seemed to come from nowhere. When we had been sitting on the beach earlier, the sky was clearing and everything felt settled. Even the full moon made an appearance from behind the clouds as we walked just after 8. It had been a beautifully calm evening.

Now, the gentle sound of the waves had been replaced with a constant roar, with the added booms of waves hitting the breakwaters too.

We did our best to turn over, and just settle back to sleep, but failed, as even after shutting the windows, all the blinds rattled and banged, with the van rocking, as each gust caught it.

We were really exposed on the front of the beach, without even a tree to act as a buffer against the increasing gale, coming straight towards us. We could just give up, and accept that we weren’t going to get any sleep, or just move back to where we had stayed for the last few nights, which we knew would be a little more protected.

So, with pyjamas on, we abandoned the warmth of our bed and drove the few km back to our little park-up by the lake. We’d been right. It was a lot more protected there, but the van was still rocking, with the wind whistling around the windows, and we were now wide awake, giving up hope of much more sleep, before morning.

We may have dozed, but not much, and by 6am, we had our coffee and were back down by the boats, watching the ducks and the new arrival of a little goose too.

It was going to be a very long day, but the sky had cleared and the blue sky was enough to brighten our tired eyes.

After breakfast, we took a walk out along the beach and around to the nearby fishing port, watching the white-horses dash across the bay, whipped up by the howling wind.

It was a stunning, atmospheric sight, and we felt our weariness after such a disturbed night lift a little, as we chatted about our plans for the day. You can see a little video from our walk here

Originally, we had planned to take the road over the Rainbow Line, a route that leads to a viewing platform on the highest point of the little peninsula, offering incredible views across the bay. But, we decided that taking a 3m tall, unwieldly vehicle up, whilst it was this windy wouldn’t be the best move, so plotted another route on, along the north coast.

We paid a last visit to what has become our local Onsen for the last 4 nights, and managed to do another load of washing, whilst we were there too. We’re starting to appreciate the value in finding places where the amenities we need, are almost next to each other, which was the case here.

With us and the clothes washed and dried, we set off, heading towards Amanohasidate, a pretty town, with a pine-covered sand-bar that we could walk, or perhaps take the bikes out for a ride to the fishing village of Ine, a little futher around the coast.

But, after stopping at one of the most picturesque Michi-no Eko (service stations) we’ve found so far,

we decided that we were too weary to get there today, so found a little park-up overlooking the sea again, at Kanzaki Park.

It’s proved to be a perfect spot, with some trees to break the wind a little, as it’s still roaring, and it’s wonderfully quiet too. We have found that so many of the places we have visited have been ‘closed for the season’, and whilst I’m sure that this is a bustling and vibrant place in mid-summer, it’s really very peaceful here now.

Just after we had got back from a little walk along the beach, an elderly man came to the door of the van and asked where we were from. We then had a rather lovely conversation (thanks to a Google Translate) with him asking us where we had been, where we were going and offering us some suggestions of places to visit too.

He was delighted to hear that we loved Japan and he finished by saying ‘please stay healthy and travel around Japan. If we meet again, please greet me. Thank you very much’

Another rather lovely end to the day, and we’re now working out what may be a reasonable time to go to bed tonight. Our eyes are bleary, and the 5pm chimes have only just been played over the loudspeakers.

This is such a part of Japanese life that we hadn’t heard of before and now miss it, when we don’t hear them

If we’re lucky, we may get to 7.30, but I won’t hold out too much hope!