On the afternoon of the eclipse I got a lift over to the other side of the island to see the Ohko-no-taki waterfall. Took the big camera and tripod, and before it started to rain I got several shots. This image was the best as it has some foreground interest (man looking up at waterfall) and even a tiny man with a tripod near the falls to show a sense of scale. The following day before heading back to the ferry I went to the Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine. A long steep windy road takes you from the town of Miyanoura up into the misty mountains. A 424 hectare area of ancient Yaku-sugi cedar forest has been designated a “forest recreation area”. Visitors who don’t have the time or stamina to trek for hours or days into the centre of the island can follow a 90 minute loop on well kept trails, past waterfalls and through verdant forest to a couple of the ancient cedars the island is famed for. One unexpected photo opportunity on this trip …

Waking to the sound of pouring rain is not a good thing if you are hoping to see an eclipse. Other campers were already out of their tents patiently waiting for a miraculous parting of the clouds. Some had their eclipse glasses at the ready to protect themselves from the blazing rays of the sun. Unfortunately the miraculous uncloaking of the sun never came. At 10.56 we all stared up at a continuous mass of clouds. Although we couldn’t see the sun, the effects of the eclipse were still very much noticeable. From about 10.56 to 11.00 it was as dark as night, not just a little darker, but as if someone had turned off the light (or blocked it with a large moonlike object). At 11.00 the light returned and the longest eclipse of the 21st century had passed. It was disappointing, but everyone at the campsite was surprisingly upbeat. Only minutes had gone by before people were talking about the upcoming total eclipses at Easter Island in 2010, North Australia in 2012, and …

All accommodation  on Yakushima for the week of the eclipse was completely full months if not years before I tried to book. Luckily I managed to find some space at Jerry’s Campsite – Mandala on the southern coast beside the village of Onoaida. Camping in the summer heat and humidity is not really a great idea,  (the campsite is normally closed in the summer months during which the owner lives in Hokkaido) but luckily we were lent a large well-ventilated tent that made things more comfortable. On the 21st, the weather was cloudy with occasional rain. Left the big camera and took the waterproof point and shoot on the hike up to Janokuchi-taki (Janokuchi waterfall). The trail started at the Onoaida-onsen (hot spring) and climbed up the mountainside for 4 kilometers. Once in the forest the trail was marked by bits of pink ribbon tied to trees. I am not sure if this is also done on the longer hikes into the center of the island, but it made it easy to follow the trail. …

I’m now back in Okinawa. Had an interesting time on Yakushima, and although not everything went as I’d hoped, it turned out to be a very useful trip in terms of planning future visits to both Kagoshima and Yakushima. Learned many  useful things… 1) Kagoshima Airport is not close to Kagoshima City. It’s 45-60 minutes by expressway bus from the airport to the city center and then a 10 minute taxi ride to the ferry port. 2) You can get to Yakushima by plane, slow ferry, or high-speed Toppy ferry.  Plane is a great idea if you are in a hurry and already flying in to Kagoshima Airport from elsewhere in Japan. 3) I had booked tickets on the Toppy. Usually it is around 11,000 Yen for a return ticket from Kagoshima to Yakushima. As this was a couple of days before the eclipse I had to pre-book the tickets months in advance  and they cost around 22,000 Yen return. The Toppy ferry is fantastic.  It is a jet-foil which means it can go up …