Getting to Ōkunoshima
Oh my word it's been a LONG day of travel, but my goodness it's been worth it!
Up early & on the shuttle bus from the hotel to the station at 7am, just Chris & I, then trains;
From Shin-Osaka to Himeji (75 minutes)
Himeji to Aioi (21 minutes)
Aioi to Okayama (66 minutes)
Okayama to Mihara (95 minutes)
Mihara to Tadanoumi (22 minutes)
Ferry from Tadanoumi to Ōkunoshima (15 minutes)
Bus from ferry port to hotel (3 minutes)
Five trains, two shuttle buses, & a ferry, totaling over six hours, we finally made it. When we got to the hotel, I was in two minds as to what to do - I was so tired after the long journey, but really wanted to go & see all the bunnies!
We checked in & my small amount of Japanese came in handy here as they don't speak much English, & we were given our room key, letting us check in a little early. Because we were in a traditional Japanese room, our bed hadn't been laid out, so we decided to go straight back out & feed the bunnies before bed. I took a floret of broccoli & a bunch of banana & we went out to the front of the hotel. I sat on the grass & was quickly greeted by a dozen rabbits, including a bunch of baby kits. Several bunnies didn't know what to make of banana to begin with, but after a sniff & a nibble, they quickly learnt that banana = amazing! Many of the rabbits have health issues; suffering from crusty noses & sore eyes, along with torn & tattered ears from fighting. A lot of people would be horrified & I was upset to begin with, but at the end of the day, these rabbits are not pets; they are wild animals, despite climbing on your lap for food. If people didn't feed them, they would still be ill, but starving as well. After a while, we ran out of food & it was starting to get dark so we headed back in.
Around 6pm, while chilling out, there was a knock at the door & two staff member came in to make up our bed, & we went down for dinner at 7pm as planned, & were greeted by probably the only staff member who knew any English! They already had our table & information ready & knew exactly who we were, because I think we were pretty much the only English people in the whole hotel! There was quite a selection of food on offer, & there was also about 50 kids being very loud, but it wasn't annoying loudness; they were all just cheering & having fun with a teacher. It was actually quite entertaining. We're planning on getting up early in the morning so we can feed the bunnies breakfast!
