Sakura and Palm Trees

It was nice to see the Sakura, after considering them dead and finished. They build up to Sakura is huge, and I went out and took a million photos of them this year, mainly because as soon as they are there, they die and are gone again. Of course, Hanami is fun, but over quickly! I couldnt decide if Okunoshima was tropical or not...bunnies just dont seem to fit with a tropical image, but they have massive palm trees there, right next to the sakura trees and the beach. To be honest,I really liked seeing the Sakura right near the beach. And the ones here were a really vivid pink colour.We saw them all over the island, in random places, and we even saw one set of photographers covering a bunny in Sakura so they could take a photo of it sitting in all the petals....that was kinda weird...I felt bad for that bunny! It was a sunny day, more like summer than spring, so it was nice to have that beach, springy feel to the air!

Okunoshima - Bunny Island

Facebook is terrible for getting travel envy. Especially lately, when everyone is off to places like Malaysia for Golden week. A little while ago, Laura and some of the Yamaguchi JETs had gone to Okunoshima, the bunny island, and taken some amazing photos. So I knew it had to be on my list while the weather was good.
I was joined by Julianne and Wayne, and we spent the entire day feeding the bunnies. They are addicted to the bunny food, and not scared of humans in the slightest. They will climb on your lap, and just nibble right out of your hand. They are all over the island too, so wherever you go, you see some.

I found a favourite fluffy bunny, who sadly wasn`t very friendly, but adorable none the less.　He would eat from my hand, but not let me stroke him! It made me really want a bunny. If only I had someplace to keep one! I did consider putting one in my exceedingly large handbag...he might have fit!

On the ferry

I`m quite a big fan of ferrys, especially ones which go out to little tiny islands. The Okunoshima one wasn`t anything special, but still fun. Inside was a nice warm area, considering it was very windy. Wayne loved it, posing like Leo and Kate from Titanic, and I had to snap his photo.

Mihara Castle Ruins

When we stepped off the Shinkansen, we could see what looked kinda like Hagi Castle ruins. We knew it was right by the station, and althought we searched for how to get in, we could only get to the moat and the edge of the castle. And of course, to this sign!

Mihara Station Octopi

At the weekend, I spent a great Friday night with Jamie and the boys, and then Saturday, Wayne, Julianne and I headed to bunny island. We had to change trains in Mihara. It is just a little station, but it does have a Shinkansen!They also have a strange facination with octopi, which were all over....not sure why, but they sure were cute! I love how all over Japan, little random places have somthing famous. Hagi is pretty small, so it doesn't have a character per say, but Mihara appeared to be much bigger. They had those daraemon dolls and apparenly there was even a massive one somewhere in the city! I am quite in love with the little red octopi, especially the close up of the eyes on the giant one in the station. It is so much bigger than me!Blogger seems to have reverted to this weird format, and I'm not sure how to change it, so it looks like I will be having much longer blog posts from now on!

All the way for a Starbucks

Monday was a really fun day. I finished work early, and ended up having lunch with Wayne, had ice cream on the beach and sat in the sun. Later, Wayne came to Hagi and decided he wanted to drive to Sanyoonoda. It was amazing. They had a Starbucks, a Subway, and a foreign foods store! Possibly the best mall ever! Certainly in Yamaguchi!

Courtney's Party

Courtney had one last girly night before she leaves. It was so much fun, lots of fondue, and magazines and lots of lovely people. I am very lucky to meet all their lovely Japanese friends. Once her and the O'Briens move, I'm not sure how much I will see them! I love this photo of Courtney and Ikimi!