We arrived at Okinawa aboard the Cunard QE, after a 12 day cruise which also stopped in Rabaul on the way.

I woke early and looked out the balcony door, to see the city lights of Okinawa. The ship made a slow progression into Naha Harbour, berthing gently without a bump. Amazing manoeuvrability for such a large ship. Everybody had to disembark and get their passports stamped and visas sorted here and those going on shore excursions went to their allotted buses. What a difference to Rabaul.

We had big, air-conditioned coaches and no crowding. Our tour guide, Eriko, was one of only three Okinawans acting as guides, with the remainder being made up of Japanese who travelled down from the main island of Honshu. She was brilliant, regaling us with folk songs whilst playing on the Sanshin 3 string instrument and the Sanba ‘castanets’.

She also played on a Tsuchibue, which is a small potato shaped flute made from a variety of materials such as bamboo, clay, a hollowed out gourd and many others. At one stage she had Beryl accompany her on the ‘castanets’.
Our first stop was the Zuisen Brewery. If you enjoy wine tasting, you’ll enjoy awamori tasting even more. After the tasting, they will let you tour around the place and show you a documentary on how it is made. They also have a little museum that you can check out. Alcohol content is 49% that was aged up to 21 years. Aged up drinks are expensive but worth the price, apparently. The wine is made from special Thai rice grains and is reputedly the best in the world. I must admit it wasn’t to my taste. I asked Eriko about the plum wine, which I did like, and she said – yes the ladies wine. It is also good. I must be getting in touch with my sensitive side. I like ‘ladies drinks’.
Our second stop was Okinawa (Shurijo)Castle was built between 1429 and 1879. It was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed. After the war, the castle was re-purposed as a university campus. Beginning in 1992, the central citadel and walls were largely reconstructed on the original site based on historical records, photographs, and memory. Although Japanese, Okinawa has much Chinese based architecture and beliefs. It is located with the East China Sea on the western side and the Pacific Ocean on the east. The southern end of the island consists of uplifted coral reef, whereas the northern half has proportionally more igneous rock. The easily eroded limestone of the south has many caves, the most famous of which is Gyokusendo in Nanjo. An 850 m-long stretch is open to tourists.
Our third stop was to Okinawa World, where we were entertained by a Taiko Drum group singing traditional songs and belting out impressive sounds on some very large drums, one of which must have been 3 metres in diameter. I was flabbergasted to hear one of our Aussie tourists say to her friend that the basic performance was what you would expect from a third world country. I wanted to turn around and ask her to compare our technology to theirs, but Beryl wouldn’t let me. A great performance. We walked next door and had a buffet style lunch, before heading off on another short stroll, to the 5Km long Gyokusendo Cave, which was discovered in 1967.

Although the Gyokusendo Cave totals an underground maze of over 5km, the accessible walkway only runs for about 890 meters. Walking this 890 meter pathway will still take more than one hour especially if you stop and take time to observe all of the amazing features along the way. Limestone can be damaged by the oils on a person’s skin and I was yet annoyed again, to see people grabbing onto stalactites. The signs of massive damage can be easily seen, where new growth has started where tips have been snapped off. Beryl got a bit aggro and using sign language, forcefully told someone not to touch. That’s my girl.

As we boarded the bus, Eriko excused herself and ran off to the souvenir shop and bought everyone some traditional biscuits and a small jar of Okinawan coral sand. What a sweet lady. She told us that the visit of the Cunard Queen Elizabeth was a big deal for Okinawa and that the news helicopters and reporters would be there to capture the departure of this big ship. A group of Taiko drummers were also there to play as we left the dock on the 13th May and there in the background, was   Eriko.