Awaji Adventure

Took a long overdue break last weekend, and drove down to Ajwajishima, to visit my Aussie mate Darren. I was expecting the drive to take around 2 hours, but we made it to Sumoto in a little over an hour. The Island has a great vibe.. very laid back and quite rural. My friend lives in a spanking new house, tucked away in the mountains above Sumoto town, overlooking Osaka bay. Initially, we had planned to camp on a quiet little beach, but with the weather forecast looking so bleak, we decided to opt for the more conventional. Yes, we gave into the weather and slept in his spare room. The first evening was really pleasant, and we just sat around on the deck chatting, eating and of course supping a few ales. On sunday we woke early and
ate some homemade yogurt with fruit, followed by Emi's freshly baked bread... Mmmmh! The folks on the Island are pretty self sufficient and grow their own seasonal fruit & vegetables. There's even a dairy farm in the south, where you can buy fresh farm milk and even try your hand at a spot of milking.

Sunday was a real scorcher, and really quite contrary to what was forecast. So, with that, it was game on!.. and off to the bay-side for a spot of fishing. We stopped by a small shop to pick up some new tackle & frozen prawns for bait. You've got to be careful with the bait, as it smells awful & is a nightmare to wash off your hands and clothes. Luckily, Darren is an old hand at fishing, and recently bought an inexpensive, self-filling bait bucket. Genius little contraption!.... must find out where to get one for our next fishing trip.
With all the gear packed, we then drove down the coast a little and found a small jetty to set up base, and got right into it... wasn't long before we started to catch a whole heap of Chariko. They are a small, black sea bream like fish, which are good for deep frying. Later, Darren was deep casting and managed to catch a good sized Sillago. The waters around Awaji are surprisingly clean and hold a vast array of critters, but you really need a boat to get into the deeper water, and at the larger sized fish. I think there may be a plan in the making! Later that night we had a BBQ on the deck, and ate some grilled beef, curried chicken and of course our deep fried catch of the day, washed down with a few more ales....burp!