Day #7 (Sunday 29th)

So I figured I should write about today since I’ve been slacking off and haven’t shared any of our recent trips (Shuri Castle, limestone cave, etc.), although - connection permitting - you’ll hopefully see pictures from them.

After the torrential rains we experienced yesterday, we thought today would be the perfect day to make the 2 hour drive up to northern Okinawa and visit the aquarium. Churaumi is famous for being (I’m quite sure) the only aquarium in the world to host whale sharks. Well, not one hour into our trip the clouds broke up enough to give us the most sunshine we’ve seen all week and, while we were very thankful for the nice weather, we arrived in Motobu facing a decent walk with no sunscreen. Not only are we all VTers, but those of you who know us also know we are all so pale we practically glow in the dark, so sunscreen is not an option – it’s a necessity. Unfortunately, sunscreen also costs about $12 for 60 mL (about 4 oz.)!! We bit the bullet and bought the damn stuff…grrrrrrr.

Anyway, Churaumi itself was amazing! Their central tank (which was roughly 5 stories high) held TWO whale sharks as well as devil rays (my favorite), sting rays (…sorry Steve. worst. luck. ever….), manta rays, lemon sharks, black tip reef sharks, puffer fish, eels, and dozens of other gigantic so-ugly-their-cute ocean dwellers. Their shark tank also rocked. As a kid, I was one of those who checked out every single shark book from the kids’ section of the library and am still a fan (woot for Shark Week!!). In the shark section they have, all in one tank mind you: bull sharks, tiger sharks, white tip reef sharks, sand sharks, and several more I can't recall. They also said that their next goal is to be the first aquarium in the world to host a megamouth shark. Now, considering there have been only 4 megamouth specimens found in the world, that’s a pretty tall order. If they do actually acquire one, you’ll be sure I’m finding my way back here to check it out.

After the aquarium, we made our way to Pineapple Park for basically a free lunch. See, at this park, you meander through three or four large rooms filled with every conceivable treat made from – you guessed it: pineapple. And every single item on display has free samples *wink wink*. We filled up on varieties of pineapple pie, cookies, chocolate, cake, jelly, and juice. My favorite was my pineapple wine creemee. Mmmmmm.

Last, but not least, we decided to take the rest of the day to finish the drive north and end at Cape Hedo: the northern most tip of Okinawa. By the time we got there, the clouds had returned, but the water was still breathtaking!! I have never seen water that blue in all my life, not even in the Caribbean. I can’t imagine what it must be like with the sun out.

So, considering Gushikami is less than 10 km from the southern tip of Okinawa, we can now say we basically drove the entire length of the island (and back) in a day. Sweet.