Far Away Near

My surfboard is floating. After spending nearly 6 months building my wooden board it is finally complete. I had it out a couple of time in various sizes and its scary! It hurts when it hits you and I have developed a habit of diving as deep as I can and waiting for a few seconds on the ocean floor before emerging after a wipe-out.

The verdict so far is mixed. It paddles like a longboard and catches unbroken waves easily. Once you are riding it feels like a tank, really slow and difficult to turn but super fast. I spend the first 3 rides falling of the back because of the acceleration. The low rocker also takes some getting used too. The board pearls a lot and finding the right position is somewhat challenging. The overall verdict is it floats and it even surfs, but after having taken my short board out again today after having surfed wood for some time, I have to admit, I am not a shaper.

After a couple of hours of noisy hammering and cutting we finally have a little tree house. Celebrated with a Havana (thanks Kamil) and a can of lager.

We always wanted to make our own bread from our own flour. Finally its harvest time and although we were late putting seeds in, there might be enough for a few loafs.

Has it been a year again? Nina has turned 11 and we are camping at Urata again. Check out the fish we were given by a local fisherman. Straight of the boat!

Although my mum and one of my 2 brothers could not make it, my oldest brother and his family came to see us on our little island. It was great to see the kids play and roam in the wild and we had a fantastic time. As an added bonus, Yukie’s sister and her family turned up at the same time!

Last year I was over the moon to see Nina dance a local traditional dance. This year both Nina and Anna were dancing on 3 separate occasions. The pictures are from their last performance outside the primary school in Nishino. The cultural experience is surely one of the reasons we moved here in the first place.