Our host mentioned how he had a yearly event for guests and locals while he was driving us to the station a couple days back. One year, it was a survival hike, where they went hiking for a full day. This year, the theme was survival camp.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect since I've only gone camping in Canada before. One of our hosts left early to go set up with the guests and locals while we stayed back to take care of the morning chores after breakfast. We spent a good deal cleaning as much as we could before our other host told us to get ready to head to our destination.
It was about an hour to our destination. Our host drove through mountains and forests for a while before we got a glimpse of the sea. I always wanted to see Shimonada Station, which is an unmanned train station that has a beautiful view of the sea. We stopped by a Lawson's that faced the sea, which was close enough in my books to my initial dream. After picking up some food for lunch, we headed off to the beach where our other host and guests were at the moment.
I haven't been to a beach since Mexico in 2014. Our host had some paddleboards that he had placed aside for us to use. We'd never been on paddleboards before, so we ended up just sitting on one of them while we paddled around for a while. The beach was quiet (with only our group and another group a distance away from us) with a relatively clear sky. It was a surreal moment to say nonetheless. After spending time paddling, we got the opportunity to go snorkeling. I never snorkeled before, but it seemed similar enough to scuba diving, which I had done in Mexico. I was unable to wear my glasses, but I could relatively see in front of me. We snorkeled further out and I started to notice more aquatic life. I admit, I did freak out when I saw jellyfish and ended up pushing my girlfriend towards a pile of rocks as I tried fleeing from one. (She did end up with scratches on her leg.) After having enough of snorkeling, I went back to shore. It was about this time that everyone else started cleaning up and getting ready to move to our campsite.
Once we arrived at our campsite, we were broken down into two teams. The first team was responsible for cleaning the fish that they caught for dinner, while the second team was responsible for collecting pieces of wood to set up a bonfire. We both ended up on the second team, thus headed down towards another beach to collect driftwood. My mistake was not wearing socks (since I was woefully unprepared for this camping trip -- didn't have my swimming trunks with me so I ended up just wearing a pair of shorts) since they were wet from changing back to some clean clothes back at the other beach. I ended up getting blisters on my ankle from my shoes as I collected the various pieces of wood. It was hard work, but rewarding nonetheless. One of the guests, who seemed to be a close friend of the hosts, came down after cleaning the fish to help us set up the bonfire.
Once the bonfire we set, we headed back to the campsite to eat the fish that they caught. There was sashimi and fish soup all around. I didn't want to eat too much, so I ended up drinking mostly the soup. It was surprisingly not fishy and quite tasty. Once we finished eating, we cleaned the table before heading back down to the beach.
Sunset was approaching, so a bunch of them started some tinder to get the bonfire started. Once the bonfire had enough steam, we sat back and enjoyed the scene. This place was quite remote, so there wasn't anyone else besides us on the beach. People were happily talking to one another, or taking pictures beside the fire. Our host even showed his physical prowess by jumping across the bonfire! As it got darker and darker, some of them went back to their tents to get changed back into their swimsuits. They proceeded to head into the beach, under the moonlight. I opted to stay dry, but it was oddly peaceful enjoying the beach on a dark night with people splashing around.
Once everyone got out of the water, we went back up to camp to head off to the local Lawson to purchase snacks. We had a challenge to see what we could purchase with just 500 yen (so around $5 CAD) each. I don't recall exactly what I got, but I managed to get a popsicle, a drink, and some other snacks. It seemed like most people got ice cream or instant noodles. Unbeknown to most, we still had snacks from lunch time. >=)
We headed back to the campsite to eat, before some started to prepare for the night. I got ready myself by brushing my teeth in the bathroom nearby. Being a campsite, I was surprised they had running water, but there were literally insects in all of the sinks and toilets. My girlfriend and I had our own tent (that we had trouble setting up, so fortunately some of the locals helped us). We went inside and tried to sleep. Most of the others were sleeping on concrete while we got a location with grass. It was a bit rough, but I did manage to drift off to sleep.
That marked the end of the first day. I would have never expected to camp in a different country, let alone with local Japanese people. I had the opportunity to paddleboard, snorkel and experience how people from another country camp.
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