I saw some guests crouched over something near the convenience store on the resort. It was an adorable kitten who seemed to like the Japanese guests but hissed at me whenever I got close, much to the amusement of everyone there. I still thought it was a cute kitten.
After a quick shower and packing job, we caught the scheduled bus to the port. Had we known that the "port" was little more than an outside pavilion, we might have tried to bribe someone into taking us later than the scheduled bus. Luckily, we purchased some ice cream from the convenience store, so we were able to keep cool and satisfy our "sweet tooths" before boarding.
Here is the only picture of the ferry that runs between Okinawa and Yoron: the A-Line.
As it turns out, it runs the entire distance from Naha Okinawa to mainland Japan, stopping at most of the islands in between. This means that traveling with one's car is easy, because they have plenty of space and don't have to plan ahead in terms of cargo. It does create a bit of frenzy during boarding and disembarking, because they are trying to get to another port but can't leave until you get off. One good thing about a big boat is the vending machines. In addition to sodas and beer, the A-line offers a food vending machine from which you can get french fries, friend octopus, or any other of a unique selection of ferry food.
One of the fun things about traveling with Ryan and Ian is that they are playfully cruel to each other. There is no limit to the amount of inside jokes and work references that these two put out in a single weekend, but the usual bout is Ian pointing out one of Ryan's verbal missteps, and Ryan countering with some comparison of brawn over brains. One of Ian's lines that never fails to amuse me is, "You're lucky you're cute." Ryan is seldom as amused as the rest of us.
On the A-Line ferry, we opted for spaces in the larger room. The larger room offered "cubbies" in addition to our mats and blankets. I like the freedom to stretch out, snooze, or do whatever in this relatively generous amount of space, but it does remind me of kindergarten or my days in day care, when we were offered cots for our mandatory naps and cubbies in which to store our backpacks until Mom picked us up.
Some of us fit in our cubbies more comfortably than others.
The most amazing thing about a room like this is how quiet it is. There must have been over 100 spaces like ours laid out close together in this room, and there were more occupants than empty mats. There were also plenty of children, so we could not attribute the silence to the more advance average age of a shipful of adult passengers. It was just a reminder of how quiet and reserved the Japanese are, which begs the question: does the culture generate such close accommodations, or do the accommodations make the culture? Perhaps now I understand why Americans do not travel thus.
The A-Line does offer some outdoor seating for passengers, which I took advantage of before landing at Motobu port. No sea birds today, but a nice view of the northwest side of Okinawa.
We disembarked and decided to try a new burger place in Nago before heading to our respective homes. The burger joint was AMAZING. We've decided that any trip up north should also include a trip to Captain Kangaroo's. Yep, that's the name. Locally-owned, but a name that calls to Americans. After satisfying our carnivorous cravings, which were substantial after a weekend of traditional Japanese food, we jumped on the expressway for home. On the way, I saw Darth Vader in her car.
We may have to head back to Yoron, because we spent more time on land than in the water, AND because we never made it to the other side of the reef. There are lots of reasons, really, but we will have to see how the pull to new islands competes with a repeat visit to Yoron. Pricia Resort was good to us.
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