Mon 28th April – Hike (Kitayamazaki Cliffs to Hiraiga Fishing Port)
CR:
I have a bit of a freak out this morning due to: insufficient lunch plans for tomorrow, poor sleep as a result of tatami mat again last night and tonight, sore knee, cold (max 12 degrees today), room temperature fish for breakfast again and then the cab driver says, in broken English, ‘ooooh, your walk today is very hard’.
Declan does an admirable job to restore morale over the first hour the walk. He finds me a walking stick and waits frequently for me to ascend/descend.
The walk is quite challenging today. It’s only 10kms but just took a similar time to other days as we were either climbing or going down a coastal cliff. There were also a few scrambles and caves.
A not insignificant amount of the track had been eroded away, making some sections harder than they needed to be. When walking along a cliff contour, it could be pretty scary. Some sections were skinny with very little between you and a sheer drop down to the ocean.
The end 3km were on a road that follows the coast back to our hotel and we’d never been happier to see pavement!
Tomorrow is the last day of the hike. We fly out on Saturday morning.
DW: The day starts where we finished yesterday. We have a 200m descent to kick it off. CR: This photo only captures about 20% of the full descent to start the day.DW: Followed immediately by a 200m ascent. DW: Caitlin’s friend for the day (Steve the Expedition Stick) is clearly visible here. Steve was requested early by Cait as a mitigation against gammy knee issues. I located Steve and he worked well for Cait. CR: It did help, thank you Dec.DW: There were two extended cave sections today. These came straight off the beach and tunneled straight through. Presumably to avoid too many 200m ascent/descent combos in a row. In case you are wondering, yes, there were bats. CR: These were pretty spooky. We turned our torches off for a bit and it was pitch black.DW: The steps out of the bottom of the cave just sort of end. I think anything you put in this area is not able to withstand the ocean over a long period. CR: This rock scramble was probably the most dangerous walking of the day. Easy to see how you could have a fall.DW: Being at sea level is not good. It means you will have a climb to get back up on top of the ridge at some point soon. CR: The astute reader will notice a theme here. Down then up then down then up then … I am always in frame today because I am always behind Declan. He must have taken a lot of these pics as he waits for me.DW: This marker is at the height the 2011 tsunami reached. The fishing village below was completely destroyed and has been rebuilt since.CR: There is a very nice hikers hut at the tiny village. We retire here for lunch. Quite windy (cold cold cold) so we are grateful this is here!DW: I am aware it’s the same Pacific Ocean from Australia, but it doesn’t feel the same.DW: Thank you Steve (insert respectful bowing emoji). Steve now lives at the intersection of some bear’s territory and a french restaurant with coastal views. Enjoy your new life brother!CR: It might look like a long way away but it’s so exciting to see the hotel from a distance, especially given it’s all tarmac from here on out. I can feel the warmth of the onsen from here.DW: This section of the seawall is left as a memorial to the tsunami. The 9m high seawall collapsed over a span when the tsunami swept over the top of it. They have built a newer taller seawall behind it.DW: Caitlin claims to still hate tatami life, but this improved upgrade has elements she definitely enjoys. I continue to embrace tatami culture. CR: I am conflicted between loving the view and hating the mat. Huge advantage of this place is we get real seats (in the alcove where Declan is sitting) which provides respite from the mat.DW: We have some insane feast again. I am contemplating what lives these crabs had before they ended up on my plate. I say a thanks to the fisherman who delivered me this bounty of Neptune. Lullabies play all dinner over the speaker PA system for some reason. It does this 24/7 on all floors.
Oh my God Caitlin that trek sounds horrific. Well done on getting through it and not disappearing over a cliff edge 😱 thank you Declan for helping – did you also find it hard?? Did you guys have any idea beforehand it was going to be that difficult? How long was the tunnel – would have freaked me right out.
The scale of the tsunami is terrifying and hard to comprehend. I is very sobering to think of heights above 9m. No wonder the force was so destructive. I think I would be pleased to be finished tomorrow.
Your hotel looks impressive and gains an extra star for the chairs. That feast looks amazing hope you enjoyed it all. What a giant shrimp 🍤.
My favourite photo was the sixth one of Caitlin at the bottom of the stairs. Proof of her capabilities and that she can do anything she sets her mind to ❤️
Well done both of you. Another stellar blog day. Love mum xx
I didn’t know it would be difficult! I thought that we were going to have pretty chill flat walking and that we’d only really be walking three hours a day. It wasn’t extremely challenging like that hike in FNQ but it was quite tedious with all the ups and downs.
The tsunami is a real constant of this trip. Everywhere was impacted, and the constant warning signs are sobering. It’s amazing that there was already so much prevention in place when it happened in 2011 and still managed to do so much damage.
Caitlin, every part of your first paragraph made me feel concerned.
The first photo would have made me give up. That’s more steps than I climbed in the last year combined.
Sorry to hear about your knee. How is it now.
Was the cave natural or man made.
The height of the tsunami is hard to comprehend. I always remember reading about how people saw wild animals going to higher ground before the water reached land.
Fantastic photo of the tree after the photo of the hikers hut.
Caitlin, you look very happy with Steve.
How much does the room with the view cost. Could you hear the ocean all night.
The feast was quite a spread but the restaurant looks quite empty.
Will finish the blog tonight as I have to return to work.
Cave must have been man made. It’s like when they were planning the walk they wanted you to be able to reach the next town in a day and you wouldn’t be able to do that if you went up and down every cliff, so they chose to blast through a few to speed up the walking.
Declan’s got a YouTube documentary on the tsunami to watch now we are back in Sydney.
The room with the ocean view was included in the cost of the Auswalk package, so am not sure how much it is per night, it all got rolled into one lump sum charge.
In terms of the restaurant it is possible they had a room just for international tourists, as the hotel was fairly busy.
Oh my God Caitlin that trek sounds horrific. Well done on getting through it and not disappearing over a cliff edge 😱 thank you Declan for helping – did you also find it hard?? Did you guys have any idea beforehand it was going to be that difficult? How long was the tunnel – would have freaked me right out.
The scale of the tsunami is terrifying and hard to comprehend. I is very sobering to think of heights above 9m. No wonder the force was so destructive. I think I would be pleased to be finished tomorrow.
Your hotel looks impressive and gains an extra star for the chairs. That feast looks amazing hope you enjoyed it all. What a giant shrimp 🍤.
My favourite photo was the sixth one of Caitlin at the bottom of the stairs. Proof of her capabilities and that she can do anything she sets her mind to ❤️
Well done both of you. Another stellar blog day. Love mum xx
I didn’t know it would be difficult! I thought that we were going to have pretty chill flat walking and that we’d only really be walking three hours a day. It wasn’t extremely challenging like that hike in FNQ but it was quite tedious with all the ups and downs.
The tsunami is a real constant of this trip. Everywhere was impacted, and the constant warning signs are sobering. It’s amazing that there was already so much prevention in place when it happened in 2011 and still managed to do so much damage.
Caitlin, every part of your first paragraph made me feel concerned.
The first photo would have made me give up. That’s more steps than I climbed in the last year combined.
Sorry to hear about your knee. How is it now.
Was the cave natural or man made.
The height of the tsunami is hard to comprehend. I always remember reading about how people saw wild animals going to higher ground before the water reached land.
Fantastic photo of the tree after the photo of the hikers hut.
Caitlin, you look very happy with Steve.
How much does the room with the view cost. Could you hear the ocean all night.
The feast was quite a spread but the restaurant looks quite empty.
Will finish the blog tonight as I have to return to work.
Cave must have been man made. It’s like when they were planning the walk they wanted you to be able to reach the next town in a day and you wouldn’t be able to do that if you went up and down every cliff, so they chose to blast through a few to speed up the walking.
Declan’s got a YouTube documentary on the tsunami to watch now we are back in Sydney.
The room with the ocean view was included in the cost of the Auswalk package, so am not sure how much it is per night, it all got rolled into one lump sum charge.
In terms of the restaurant it is possible they had a room just for international tourists, as the hotel was fairly busy.