Kuroshima - 黒島

For the final two nights of our holiday, we had booked accommodation near Ishigaki Port. Ishigaki is a huge island, and a hire car is a must if you want to explore it. We didn't fancy spending the remainder of our journey stuck in a car, trying to program a Japanese sat-nav, and so we explored the town on the first day, and took a 25 minute ferry journey to nearby Kuroshima (black island) on our second and final day.

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This could almost have been my home in Norfolk.

Kuroshima is mostly a farmland. The island has the approximate shape of a heart symbol 「♡」when viewed from the air, and is marketed as "Heart Island". We rented bicycles, and I was surprised by how much it felt like Norfolk, except with the Sun turned up to 11.
 

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There are apparently more cows than people on Kuroshima

Cattle raising is a major economic activity and a yearly "cow festival" is held. Sometimes the island is marketed as "Island of Cows" as well, as there are more cows than local inhabitants. We visited the sea-turtle research centre, which was rather small, but allowed us to escape the heat and intense sun for some respite.

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Lighthouse at the southern tip of Kuroshima

Standing on the small cliffs at the southern tip of the island, the next land mass across the ocean is the Philippines. 

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Farms and clouds - UK or Tropical Japan?

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Clouds mimicking bushes...

We ended the day with a dip in the richest green-blue water I've ever seen. It was so cool and refreshing after cycling all day. I can hear the waves lapping at the shore right now...

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Possibly the best beach I've been to... so far

This concludes the "photo-journal"  style posts from our holiday. I hope you enjoyed the series!

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