10/10 – effort, scenery, weather, route.

I couldn’t resist and had a dip in the spa this morning … the sun was streaming in the window giving the heated bath an amazing appeal.

2 bananas and a coffee and were off to discover ‘the Noto Penninsula’.

It’s a Saturday and the customary baseball game is underway as we head out of our bush retreat towards the coast. We are happy to have very little traffic on Route 249 with little diversions to hug the coast a little more.

As soon as we pass the Nuclear Power Plant the coastal road is in our sights.

The rugged coastline with cliffs and rocky outcrops – perfect conditions.

Lovely quaint fishing villages – I just love the wooded houses with varying degrees of colour – mainly dependant on age as the dark lacquer stain begins to deteriorate. The black gloss tiled roofs are particularly attractive.

We headed inland through a valley and then turned into some serious climbing through amazing forests of pine and bamboo just the 2 of us – the odd car no trucks.

Heading towards the coast again, sheer cliffs and climbs … well worth the effort for the scenery.

Wajima in our sights – a turn inland and quickly we are here … lovely wooden houses … a tidy town award is due here.

Such a nice place – I’m looking forward to the morning markets tomorrow. Wajima is famous for lacquerware, it’s quite a tourist hub here judging by the amount of gift shops. A night display of Gojinjo-daiko – a Japanese drumming style is at the Art Museum – we attend – that keeps John awake!!