Day 97 — Higashi to Ginoza - Tom and Marilee Retire to the Road

December 8, 2025

Day 97 — Higashi to Ginoza

Another beautiful day dawned on Okinawa, including on the denizens of the Fukuchi River Seaside Park and Campground in Higashi, some of whom greeted the day in fine spirits, some of whom may have been in rough shape.

As always, I was up first, motivated by bodily urgency rather than moral superiority. Immediate needs taken care of, I bustled around making coffee. The campground we were at was both pricey and oddly restrictive in what our fees entitled us to. First, we were not entitled to the use of the picnic table directly beside us. That was for other paying guests. Second, as is standard practice, access to electrons was strictly locked down. There was even a notice that campers were not allowed access to electricity, not that free outlets were in evidence. Perhaps we’ve been here too long, but these types of rules, particularly when one has paid what might get you a whole hotel room elsewhere, start to make one a bit contrary. The previous evening, Marilee had spied unlocked-down outlets underneath the sinks in the bathroom. So while I made coffee, I recharged the phone. I just had to get that off my chest.

Marilee also mentioned the only other occupants of the campground had had a bit of a soiree the previous evening. I slept fine, but it was a fair bit louder and lasted longer than a typical Japanese campground grill fest. As I made coffee I surveyed the prodigious number of empty wine and liquor bottles. Pretty impressive. I was more impressed when the partiers roused themselves to clean up and vacate the site by 10 am.

This little guy was hightailing it away from my coffee

Technically, we weren’t allowed the use of the picnic table, and were contravening the terms of our camping permit by leaning our bikes there.

Our plan for the day was to move generally southward down the coast. From our perusal of the map, there were a couple of beaches that might be worth seeing, with Google Maps showing a campsite about 40 km down the road, which should give us a nice early end time to relax and chill.

The sun was up, it was warm but not hot, the wind was at our backs, and the road was spectacular. There was a long beginning stretch along the coast that was just amazing. From there, however, it turned inland and uphill. It was still a nice road, it was just a bunch more work. We slogged up and whizzed down, then slogged up some more.

It was all pretty picturesque, until we cruised into one bay which was one massive offshore construction site. Turns out this was the site the Americans are constructing for their new base in Okinawa. It was absolutely huge. We then pushed up the next hill, to come upon Camp Schwab, which definitely had no camping for us (campujo des ka?) as it was an American base, protected by fences and razor wire, with barracks and lines of military vehicles, the whole bit, as well as with encampments of Okinawan protestors outside. It was a bit jarring after the quiet tropical morning.

Anyway, encounters with geopolitics successfully bicycled past, we headed for HiiPii beach, the campground we had identified on Google Maps. It was a trick to find, but once we found it, seeing no apparent registration office and a bunch of other campers, we started setting up. When we had the tent half up, a man came running over with the dreaded crossed arms. No camp! Apparently we needed to reserve in advance, which would have vastly exceeded our Japanese telephone skills.

A bit stunned by this unprecedented turn of events, we sat and ate a late lunch and pondered what to do. There wasn’t much else in terms of camping in the area. A quick search of Agoda showed a resort with villas going for C$120 about 5 km away. The online pictures were as improbable as the name of the establishment: LiveMax Amms Canna Resort Villa. Well, what else are we going to do? Book it and let’s see!

Well it turns out the LiveMax Amms Canna Resort Villa was a for real resort, with villas during the high season going for $360, and this was very much the off season. Post check in, we declined the golf cart ride to our villa — we had our own rides after all, and settled into a hilariously large villa, then settled ourselves poolside. It was a tad better than the campsite that rejected us. Dinner was in the vast and empty dining hall, with 4 other guests in a room for 60. Then we tucked ourselves into our King sized bed, mildly agog at the turn of events.

And so ends another random day.

I doubt the Okinawans had much experience building snowmen

The bathroom alone was practically the size a business hotel double room.

Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 4,767 km (2,960 miles)

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