The next morning we got the metro to the airport and made the short flight to Okinawa - a group of tropical islands south of the mainland (and also the home of Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid films!). After picking up our rental car we drove North in search of our hostel. A couple of hours later, having driven from one end of the island to another, we found it but we were far from impressed with what we saw! Situated in a rundown neighbourhood the hostel was nothing more than a shabby old house and not remotely welcoming. A quick drive-by was enough for us to decide we didn't fancy staying there so we went looking for somewhere else to stay. Unfortunately, the sat nav address search was in Japanese (the only reason we'd found the hostel in the first place was because a lady at the rental place typed it in for us!) so it wasn't remotely helpful in pointing us towards new accommodation. We drove around aimlessly for a while, stopping at a few places to see if they had any vacancies but everywhere was supposedly 'fully booked'. I say supposedly because it was obvious some places had availability but the Japanese don't like people just turning up (they think its rude) and would rather turn away good business than accept walk-ins!

It seemed our only option was to stay in the place we had just run away from so reluctantly we headed back. The owner, Yoda (seriously), was a very friendly, laid back guy and showed us around what was essentially just his house with a few guest-rooms upstairs. Our room was very basic - just a double mattress on the floor - and all ablutions were traditional squat-style. We headed out for dinner at a place we'd passed while driving and picked up some supplies before heading back an hour or so later. Back at the 'hostel' Yoda was having a bit of a party on the patio with some of his friends and invited us to join them. We thought it might be a bit awkward but we had wine and didn't fancy sitting in our room so we took him on his offer. Everyone was really friendly - one lady spoke very good english and Yoda bits and pieces so it was easy enough to chat with them. Yoda was intent on finishing a huge bottle of Sake and in between teaching us how to swear in Japanese, continually told us what a lazy beach bum and piss head he was! As midnight approached, Kate decided to announce it was my birthday the next day and a battered Yoda broke into song immediately. Realising he was a bit premature he laughed at himself, poured another glass of sake and told me how honoured he was to have me there on his birthday...at which point I told him he was probably to drunk to even remember my name! When twelve o'clock did arrive everyone sang Happy Birthday (in English bizarrely) and I was thoroughly embarrassed! They did give me a beer as a birthday present though so I was happy enough. Around 1am we turned in - despite our original apprehensions it had been a really good night and a pretty cool way to see in my birthday.

In the morning Kate cooked me the first bacon and egg sandwich I'd had in months before we said our goodbyes and got back on the road. The Okinawa Aquarium - with its huge indoor tank housing giant manta rays and 3 whale sharks - is supposedly one of the best in the world and was a short drive away so we headed there to check it out. After a couple of hours gawking at their impressive collection of fish and a dolphin show headed to the nearby Emerald Beach to enjoy the afternoon sun and go for a swim. When we got back to the hotel, Kate had left some presents for me on the table but it was a good half an hour before I even noticed them, so intent was I on laying on the bed watching TV! After opening my presents (a couple of tshirts and tickets to the sumo) we had a couple of beers before catching a shuttle bus to a nearby hotel for dinner. The hotel was fancier than ours and the restaurant served a luxury all-you-can eat buffet that included some local delicacies. It was all pretty tasty and we were thoroughly stuffed afterwards but I'm not convinced it was worth the inflated price!

The next day we drove southwards, hugging the coast so we could do some island hopping. The views were spectacular and on these tiny islands where traffic lights and road rules seemed not to exist, it was perfectly ok to stop in the middle of the road any time you liked to take a photo! We drove to 3 or 4 islands (including Miyagi Island!), each connected by long bridges and some so small it was possible to drive the whole way round in 15 minutes. Late afternoon we stopped at a beautiful beach in one of the many bays - a much needed break from driving and a chance to cool off in the sea - before heading back to the mainland. In stark contrast to the beauty of the places we'd seen during the day, our room for the night was a shabby, poorly lit and over-priced! The days heat had taken its toll though and after a hearty dinner of instant noodles and doughnuts we crashed out watching bad cable TV.

On our final day with the car, we drove back north and then west, along the coast as far as Cape Zanpa where we stopped for a picnic at the top of the cliffs. Okinawa well and truly explored, we drove back south to the capital, Naha, where we checked into our hostel before dropping the car off by the airport. From there we took the monorail downtown for a wander around the main shopping districts. There was a pretty cool fish and meat market which sold whole puffer fish, giant shrimp and pigs faces (wtf!), but apart from that there wasn't too much going on. So, the only thing left to do was to go for a few drinks! We found a place that served very cheap beers (100yen - 65p) so settled in there for a while, despite the fact it was completely empty. Suitably sozzled we had some taco rice (chilli con carne) before staggering slowly home.

With only a couple of days left in Okinawa, we took the ferry to the nearby Kerama Islands - reputedly some of Japan's most beautiful islands. First stop was Zamami, just two hours away. As soon as we got there we were amazed by the beach and sea views - a tropical paradise straight out of a holiday brochure! Hoping to find some cheap accommodation we made our way to a campsite on Ama Beach. It was half an hour walk in the blistering heat -easily pushing 40 degrees - or 10 minutes in the island's only bus and brainwashed by the scenery we stupidly decide to walk! We arrived at the campsite exhausted, soaked through with sweat and faced with the unenviable task of having to pitch our own tent. It was not fun! Half an hour later and on the verge of passing out, the tent was finished and all we wanted to do was dive into the sea to cool down! Luckily for us the beach was just metres away and too hot to even get changed we took the plunge in our underwear. After cooling down slightly (the sea was warm and shallow so didn't quite do the job), we had cold showers, dressed, downed cold drinks and caught the bus into town to get supplies. There wasn't much in the way of groceries in the only shop in town so we bought some snacks, grabbed a burger and caught the last bus back to camp (it was only 5pm!). By now the tide had come in quite far and the sun was going down so we took another swim - this one much more refreshing! Finally cooled down, we grabbed a couple of beers, sat on the beach and joined the hordes of emerging hermit crabs in watching the sunset. As the darkness closed in and Kate's concern grew that any minute a hermit crab would emerge from his hole right under her, we retired to our tent for the night. It was only 8pm but we had no campfire so after an hour of playing cards and eating snacks by torchlight we went to bed. Unfortunately for us the tent had not cooled down remotely during the evening and was now ridiculously hot and humid. Add to that the constant sounds of rustling in the bushes and huge insects trying to get into the tent, its fair to say neither of us slept much that night!

The plan had been to stay for two nights at the campsite but the heat and lack of sleep persuaded us to look elsewhere for the next night...preferably somewhere with air on! After packing up the tent we were picked up by a local guide to go on a snorkelling trip we'd booked. The trip was run by a nice middle-aged couple and the boat was small so it was just us and another Japanese couple. A short 10 minute ride from the port took us to a small uninhabited island across the water from Ama Beach. They couldnt find a wetsuit big enough to fit me so i had to make do with squeezing into a wetsuit top several sizes too small...it was not a good look! The snorkelling was very good though and in a couple of hours swimming we saw lots of different fish, squid and coral around the reefs. By the time were back on land I was pretty burnt (in all the places my wetsuit didnt fit!) but we caught the bus to a beach on the other side of the island to chill for a couple of hours.

Furuzamami Beach was absolutely stunning with its clear blue waters, white sands and coral next to the shore but it was so hot we hid in the shade the entire time we were there! Late afternoon we caught a shuttle ferry to Aka, a small island half an hour from Zamami. The town in Aka was tiny with no more than a few hundred inhabitants and we found our accommodation just a few streets away from the port. It was a quaint little Minishuku (essentially someone's house with a few guest rooms) and the our room was pleasant enough - Japanese-style decor, sliding wooden doors with paper panels, thin mattresses for sleeping on the floor, even a small TV. Plus, it had air con, which in the heat was a godsend! The owner was a little old lady who couldn't speak a word of English but she seemed to find everything hilarious, chuckling away to herself every time she saw us!

We took a stroll to a nearby beach before heading into 'town' in search of food. After a couple of drinks in a tiny little pub we found The Beachhouse cafe on the waterfront. It was fairly busy and had a nice local atmosphere so we stopped there for some Okinawan ramen and a few more drinks. Everywhere on the island closed by 10pm and there were no street lights so we headed back to the Minishuku just before lights out hoping for a good nights sleep in our nice quiet, air conditioned room. Unfortunately for us, sleeping on the floor wasnt overly comfortable and there were cockroaches scuttling around so it wasn't quite the restful night we had in mind!

Early next morning, around 7, a hooter went off to signal to everyone in the village it was time to get up. Ignoring that, we checked out a few hours later and returned to The Beachhouse for some brunch. We then caught the 11.30 shuttle ferry back to Zamami to spend the day on Furuzamami beach. After hiring a parasol and snorkel masks we jumped into the water to cool down and escape the midday heat. The water was really clear and the snorkelling was amazing - probably better than the guided trip the previous day! Even though the coral was so close to the shoreline we ended up going quite far out and as we turned around to swim back I saw a giant black Moray eel skirting around the coral, it's huge mouth gaping. I didn't point it out to Kate or tell her about it until we were back on the beach as I think it might have freaked her out! Late afternoon we caught the ferry back to the Okinawa mainland - it was a relaxing ride back, sitting on the top deck with the wind blowing, listening to a random japanese hippy playing playing his harmonica! Back at our hostel in Naha we cooked ourselves dinner and had an early night.

The next day it was, unfortunately, time to leave Okinawa and fly back to mainland Japan. Our flight wasn't until the evening so after getting up late we had a wander around main st and a few drinks before the hostel owner kindly took us to the airport. There was a typhoon heading our way so we weren't sure if we'd be taking off but thankfully the weather held out long enough for us to leave. It was sad to be leaving the tropical paradise of Okinawa but I had me some sumo to watch...