Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
Aaaaaaand konnichiwa from Okinawa.
And due to the vast amount of aviation hardware painted various shades of grey, it’s a bit of an av geek’s paradise.
JSDF F-15s & P-3s from the flight in. Excuse the poor pics but it’s just my humble iPhone, plus through the window behind me as mine was crazed beyond belief. Note to ANA, if you expect me to look out that window to assess whether we are going out that way in the unlikely event that you are not landing at the advertised airport but in the sea, I’ll need a better window for the emergency exit seat window to see out of, please!
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Highlight of 4 hour bus ride from hotel to S tip of island (each way) was 4 F-35s taxing ready to go out and fend off Kim Il Scary.
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And a nice Osprey display, sadly a tad far from our bus. Must have words with the USAF to sort it out. Or the USMC. Not sure which as he was too piggin far away!
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And lots of nice circuits by a USN P-8. Saw more Poseidon action on that bus ride than we have seen from Grantoon in years, considering the RAF ones are based just to the N.
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And final bit of snooping on our old Colonial Cousins, the USNS ship we saw in Yokohama is here to greet us. The Guam. Looks like they might have even washed it, but that might be the light. Did I say it was tropical and balmy here, back to blue skies (mostly) and mid 20s.
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The non snooping part of todays was a loooooooooong bus ride to the Okinawa Peace Park, will update on that shortly as more food is needed. Alcohol is food, honest!
And final bit of snooping on our old Colonial Cousins, the USNS ship we saw in Yokohama is here to greet us.
And you think it's a coincidence? they've either got you down as "a person of interest" OR NigeTheCat has sent them to report back your location so he can judge how much time he can take loading up with logs !
15th Nov 2023 12:33 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
He’ll be sending round the black helicopters. Once they’ve finished lugging firewood.
15th Nov 2023 2:32 pm
Moo D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 14041
Forget the firewood. It’s long gone
If I were you I’d stay out there and keep travelling. There’s not icy worth coming back to, the U.K. is broken New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!)
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
15th Nov 2023 3:10 pm
LT
Member Since: 31 Dec 2005
Location: South West
Posts: 23481
Spotted driving away from the vicinity of Del’s Scottish residence-
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2006 D3 HSE (Original & still the best)-GONE
2010 D4 HSE (A bit bling)-GONE
2014 D4 HSE (Almost too bling)-GONE
2015 D4 HSE (A heated what?)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Written Off)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Surely the last!) PD1881 rims-GONE
2017 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography (now semi-retired)
15th Nov 2023 8:04 pm
PROFSR G
Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
Location: Lost
Posts: 4788
Oh dear, has Nige pinched his new 4x4 now as well? yµ (idµ - eAµ) ψ=mψ
15th Nov 2023 8:29 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
Boooooootiful morning here, even beat the sun today.
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Lovely view from the room, deffo the best view we’ve had on the trip.
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15th Nov 2023 11:14 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
A few non spooks-r-us pics from the last few days.
We took the ferry from Kobe airport to Kansai. Pretty fast and weaved our way through the traffic.
Our steed from Kobe to Kansai. No pics of the actual boat (forgot ) but was fun following our “ship” on the tracker. Strangely we were always ahead of ourself!
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Luckily the warnings were a bit off, it was a pretty smooth crossing, though in anticipation of a rough trip I was feeling a bit queezie before we left Terra Firma.
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The views weren’t that great.
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Our steed to Okinawa. Windows look fine from in that pic but ours was on the other side.
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And for once we were on a flight where the ground crew lined up and bowed. Not that you can see that clearly due to the naff window!
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Flight looked round the S of Okinawa over the Peace Park where we were yesterday, pics to follow.
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Talking of the Peace Park at the very southern end of the Island. It’s the main memorial area for one of the last battles of WW2 and a must-do for us, despite 4 hours to get there by bus combos and the same back. It was an interesting place, my ideas of how the battles unfolded was way off (ie sequence of events) and some of the interpretative plaques in the museum were along the lines of “we only lost due to American firepower”. Always good to see the other side of things. However the museum didn’t hold back on the treatment of local populace by the military, as SWMBO said “they didn’t like their own people very much”. The museum didn’t hold back much re images.
Couldn’t photograph inside but here’s some pics from outside.
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JSDF destroyer passing through.
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Lots and lots and lots of school kids, reinforcing my theory that all schools have secretly closed and they just keep the kids moving from one site visit to the next like marauding packs.
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Lots of names, US, Japanese, Korean (slave labour) and Brits.
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And individual memorials from prefectures. This was from Okayama where we watched the cranes fly, seems like years ago.
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Really good if exhausting day, 8 hours on buses and that’s with good connections. Was good to get back to the hotel.
Will bung up pics from today, subject to battery on phone lasting out!
16th Nov 2023 10:49 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
Battery is at 14%, this is going to be tense!!
Today bus trip up to NW of Okinawa to the Churaumi aquarium. Again, long bus combo to get there (2.5 hours each way). We have 3 days “season tickets” for local buses and monorail (24hr and will be using that tomorrow) so deffo getting our money’s worth.
It’s 2 large tanks and they are fab. Not a lot of peeps in the frame but the school groups were deffo there.
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There is a fish in the centre of this pic, honest. The eyes give it away.
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These eels were fun to watch.
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And this is not a pic from the local seafood joint.
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10% battery left, getting tense.
Last edited by DSL on 16th Nov 2023 11:26 am. Edited 2 times in total
16th Nov 2023 11:09 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
And the big tank with the big boys, and girls. Fantastic seeing a whale shark, a first for us.
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Then back to the hotel for a coffee, soak in the tub and watch the air show. 1 x Kc-135 doing circuits (while I was in the tub ), a USAF C-17 and USMC Huron. Plus a USMC Osprey just before sundown. Good end to the daylight before tea (well wine) and nibbles.
Last edited by DSL on 16th Nov 2023 11:33 am. Edited 2 times in total
16th Nov 2023 11:16 am
PROFSR G
Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
Location: Lost
Posts: 4788
Wow Del love those Whale Shark piccies.
Keep em comin yµ (idµ - eAµ) ψ=mψ
16th Nov 2023 11:18 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
Whale shark was deffo the star, never seen so many peeps freeze and watch when it swam past. It’s just so big, you don’t grasp that until you see the window with the peeps UC&P to the Perspex, and they really add to the pic. We were wrong season for seeing whale sharks when we were in WA in 2020 but our niece made up for that by swimming with them earlier this year.
16th Nov 2023 11:31 am
nigethecat
Member Since: 11 Sep 2016
Location: Marnoch
Posts: 4170
Well I’m back home again tonight after a brief sojourn to the bright lights of the big smoke.. I didn’t want to say too much as there are individuals on this forum who may have popped round to my gaff while I was out and had it away with my log pile (perfectly legally acquired if “finders keepers” is a recognised legal principle?).. I’m sure Del would agree with me on this?
Ps.. you missed pointing out the C-5 in the background in the photo and of the F35… not too many of those around now I want to see the sweets before I get into your windowless van... I'm not stupid!
Corris Grey D4 Commercial SE 2016
Zermatt Sliver 2007 D3 SE manual (gone)
Indus Silver D4 HSE 2015 (gone)
Bonatti Grey D3 HSE 2006 (gone)
White D3 S (LHD) 2007 (gone)
Firenze Red D4 HSE 2014 (gone)
Black RRS 3.6TDV8 2008 (gone)
Rusty Green Defender 110 1997 (gone)
Black FL2 HSE 2013 (gone)
16th Nov 2023 10:07 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72868
Oi you lot, you can lay off the wind dances, it’s here!!
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And talking of food, here’s breakie with view of breakers. For those feeling peckish!
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Yep, C-5 in the background. Well spotted.
16th Nov 2023 10:54 pm
LT
Member Since: 31 Dec 2005
Location: South West
Posts: 23481
nigethecat wrote:
Well I’m back home again tonight after a brief sojourn to the bright lights of the big smoke.. I didn’t want to say too much as there are individuals on this forum who may have popped round to my gaff while I was out and had it away with my log pile (perfectly legally acquired if “finders keepers” is a recognised legal principle?).. I’m sure Del would agree with me on this?
Ps.. you missed pointing out the C-5 in the background in the photo and of the F35… not too many of those around now
It’s a ‘bit nippy’ up your way tonight Nige according to the weather report.
Good job that you have plenty of fire wood. 2006 D3 HSE (Original & still the best)-GONE
2010 D4 HSE (A bit bling)-GONE
2014 D4 HSE (Almost too bling)-GONE
2015 D4 HSE (A heated what?)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Written Off)-GONE
2016 D4 Landmark (Surely the last!) PD1881 rims-GONE
2017 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography (now semi-retired)
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
) but was fun following our “ship” on the tracker. Strangely we were always ahead of ourself!
