Nature is my new best friend. Of course I had to bribe it a little…..

So it’s happened. I have finally turned into an all out one-with-nature, tree-hugging, bird-loving, Disney song singing, outdoors enthusiast. Can you blame me though? To see what I mean you will have to scroll to the bottom of this entry and look at the pics.

So it all started with a little trip to a nearby secluded waterfall. Let me just say that I had no idea what to expect, so when I was confronted with the full mind-blowing beauty of this natural phenomenon, I was temporarily at a loss for words. That is until I realized that I could swim in the thing and with a loud yelp I quickly stripped down to my bathing suit and jumped right in. It was freezing cold, but given that it was so damn hot outside I welcomed the sensation of my heart temporarily stopping from shock. By the way, the pictures do not do it justice, but will at least give you all a small idea of what I experienced.

Kara’s friend Big John was here for a visit that weekend (this was now a few weeks ago) and so we all went to the waterfall together. Afterwards we went to an Oceanside onsen (a hot spring bath) and relaxed whilst staring out quietly over the calm sea. I took some pictures there as well, but alas, due to censorship they are not for public display. Later that night we all went out to Shin’s and I also made plans for fishing two weeks later. Me, fishing? I know!

The next weekend I went up to mount Unzen by myself since I really felt like some hiking and it was the first day that wasn’t sweltering hot. Everyone else was all over the place but I kinda wanted the alone time. So I set out and drove up the mountainside until I reached the place where you could climb to just opposite the huge volcano. Well at this point I left the car, put on my brand new top of the line hiking boots (thanks Dad), donned my backpack, and started up the trail. Now, I noticed that most people were heading off to the cable car to take them to the top, but I figured that I had lots of time and even though the top seemed like a far way off, I really wanted the exercise. Well after about a half an hour of climbing the trail went from horrendously steep to well-I-didn’t-know-I-would-need-mountain-gear-and-saftety-harness -to-get-to-the-top steep. There was also at some points no foliage to either side of me, so a slight misstep would have resulted in a very painful and bloody descent down the jaggedly rocky mountainside (no doubt resulting in some very traumatized Japanese witnesses). I was also now very tired (I guess the air is thinner in the mountains as well) and I was red in the face, sweating like a pig, and wheezing quite loudly. I had to take frequent brakes. An hour later though, I finally dragged myself up to the viewing deck, my shaking hand grasping at the railing as I pulled myself up to face the startled and concerned faces of the Japanese tourists. A few of them ran over to ask if I was ok. And I answered that I was. It was then that I realized that once you get to the top there are a whole bunch of trails that you can hike on for hours, and that’s what most people do. As far as I could tell, no one else was dumb enough to actually climb all the way up the mountainside like I had (no wonder that trail had seem so out of repair). Ah well. At least it was an experience (and I slept amazingly well that night let me tell ya.). When I finally recovered from my steep climb, and waved away the offers to call an ambulance, I looked around at the beautiful sights. From the summit I could see the ocean below as well as the other surrounding mountains. It was gorgeous and inspirational. Feeling revived I decided to tackle some of the other nearby trails. The hike was gorgeous (and incidentally much easier than the trek up). I ended up spending two more hours on the trails before finally deciding to hike back down (again taking the mountain trail rather than cable car since I figured it would be a lot easier on the way down). The way down only took me a half an hour but I was jogging down for part of it. That is until I tripped and almost slid off the edge. Sometimes I am like a dumb hamster – it often takes me several near death experiences to finally get the message. I was a lot more cautious after that though.

When I got back to the car I saw a message on my cell that another friend of mine was going to the waterfall again and I decided to join her. I thought it would be the best way to end my little hiking adventure. Since then I have made numerous, almost obsessive visits to the waterfall. Could it be that I’m actually starting to enjoy all this healthy shite that I have for so long scoffed at? Is the mountain air getting to me?? Stay tuned for more insanity.

As for me, I just saw a chipmunk in the yard and I feel the overwhelming need to go sing to it. “Wait, Chippy! Don’t run from me my little friend! I just want to love you! (singing) It’s the circle of life! Whooa oooh…..”