There is a pattern to living in the camper – up earlyish, breakfast & onsen followed by whatever else we want to do in the day and then, if we are on back to back camper nights, what are we going to have for dinner and where are we going to park for the night.
Typhoon Hagibis might have been several hundred miles north of us, however the tail of the typhoon still made for quite a blustery night. In the end we had to shut all the windows in the camper, as the shutters and doors on nearby buildings were rattling so much it was keeping us awake. It did make me extremely thankful that we were nowhere close to the eye of the storm. It also meant we were awake quite early.
The next day was still windy and cooler, Robert decided against his early morning swim (the sea was looking quite lively) and so, after I had coaxed another hot coffee out of the vending machine, and we had demolished a sushi breakfast, we went in search of a bath. This time we had two little old ladies to deal with, one of whom got what we were looking for immediately (a private bath) and dashed off, beckoning me to follow, to show me the options available, while shouting to her companion to extract 1800 Yen from Robert. It was a real community bath, well worn, but some how charming and we had a lovely soak. I had a great picture of it, which I carelessly deleted and only managed to retain the blurred one – doh!
Post bath, I had a cunning plan in place, which involved a drive into the mountains to a pottery festival and so I am probably the only person not too upset about the cancellation of England v France, as it gave me plenty of time to trawl the various pottery outlets, without my trusty companion getting fidgety.
He did need regular stops for coffee, noodles and barbq’d chicken (well we think it was chicken) on a stick, but other than that he was very supportive.
After this small dose of retail therapy, it was on to Fukuoka, because let’s not forget it was game day and we had Ireland v Samoa to attend. I have to say now I have not had much experience of Irish supporters, somehow I have always missed out on the England v Ireland games. Well the Irish get the prize so far for best singing, not only the national anthem, but also stand up for the boys in green and the fields of athenry (a new one on me, but lovely) and in addition to that they have an opinion on everything, something I am entirely comfortable with. They did not shut up from start to finish and beyond and I love you all.
The people we have rented the camper from kindly let us use their parking lot as our home for the night (thank you Watanabe San). It was 15 minutes walk from the stadium, terribly convenient and although a little noisy as on a major road through Fukuoka, after several pints of Heineken, neither of us noticed the noise or really cared.
