Starting off in Hiroshima meant that we didn’t have to wake up as early to go to our destination for today: Okunoshima. The last time I went was in 2015, when we were staying in Himeji (if I remember correctly). Our hotel in Hiroshima offered a bread and coffee breakfast, so I headed downstairs to grab us some food before we prepared to leave for the day. The selections were all similar: three different selections of bread, so I ended up grabbing a few bags to bring back to our hotel room.
At Hiroshima station, we purchased some ekibento on our way to Tadanoumi station. I got a beef tongue bento, and a curry bun from the nearby bakery within the station. After about an hour or so, we made it to Tadanoumi station. Like the past couple of weeks, the sun was blazing down on us as we made our way to the ferry. I can’t recall to well, but it seems like the ferry port had an upgrade: there was a building now where you can purchase ferry tickets to the island. Also, purchasing food bags to feed the rabbits, and bringing back the food bags ensured a complimentary postcard.
After purchasing our tickets and rabbit food, we waited for the ferry to come pick us up. The ride itself was around 15 minutes. Once we arrived at the island, we took a bus to the hotel, and thus our adventures began on the island. It was very much like the time in 2015, though there seemed to be less rabbits from what I remembered. Also, the rabbits seemed a bit more aggressive, in that some chased other rabbits when you offered them food. After a couple of hours, we went back to the hotel on the island to grab a bite to eat. Once full, we headed back out to explore the island.
After we had our fill of the island, we went back to the pier to hitch a ride back to Tadanoumi station. It was relatively uneventful on the ferry. As we approached the ferry pier, we traded our empty rabbit food bags for our souvenir postcards before making our way to the JR station. The difficulty with unmanned stations is not knowing which side we needed to be to catch the train back to Hiroshima. Unfortunately, we did end up on the wrong side, but the train conductor was kind enough to wait for us and another tourist to cross the overhead bridge to get to the correct side.
Once we arrived at Mihara station, we transferred onto the shinkansen back to Hiroshima. Dropping off luggage, we proceeded to find an oyster bar/izakaya. I would normally not venture to such a place, but fortunately, my girlfriend was able to speak and read the menu on my behalf. We got a variety of dishes, with the chicken cartilage being my favorite. Once we finished dinner, we headed to the nearby 7-11 so I could grab some chocolate mint ice cream.
Not as many places visited today, but onto the next leg of our journey tomorrow! It'll be my first ever homestay/workaway/volunteering experience in Japan.
After
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