Thanks to a last-minute invite from a friend I finally got the chance to take part in an evening of stargazing at Japan's southernmost observatory. Definitely recommended even if you only have a passing interest in astronomy.
You don't have to be interested in aircraft to find the view of jets soaring above Maezato's main intersection impressive. This weekend I finally got around to taking some shots of my favourite 'man-made' sight on the island.
Today Banna park had something special waiting for me in one of its forest clearlings - a giant fruit bat, something which I'd never come across in the daytime.
Despite having seen many bats at night in Ishigaki's city center, this was by far the closest that I'd ever managed to get to one of these incredible creatures. Fortunately it was willing to pose for a few shots.
On September the 18th Ishigaki was hit by what will hopefully turn out to be the only typhoon to visit the island this year. I decided to brave the weather in order to bring you some pictures and video of the island when the weather is less than hospitable.
After having spent the last year taking photos for this website I decided that it was finally time to break out my video camera. I rode up to Banna park and was fortunate enough to spot a Crested Serpent Eagle perched in a tree above me. The video tells the rest of the story.
I went down to Ohama to check out a huge boulder which was washed inland by the devastating 'Meiwa' tsunami which hit Ishigaki Island on April the 24th, 1771 and killed over 13,000 people on the island.
After months of procrastination I finally gave in to temptation and treated myself to a Sevylor Colorado inflatable kayak. I carried it down to Maezato beach to give it a test run on a warm winter's day.
We spent a few hours jungle trekking with one of our friends, Mike Quinn, who operates a range of adventure tours on Ishigaki island. This was no average trek however as it included the use of steel zip-cables which allowed us to sail through the jungle and over waterfalls.
It's been a year since I arrived on this beautiful island and the novelty still hasn't worn off. I rolled down to the local beach and took some shots of the sun setting over the surrounding islands. I was treated to the lovely sound of traditional music courtesy of a local girl who was playing the sanshin.
Ishigaki's annual two-day festival was held this weekend and the heat returned with a vengeance with the temperature hitting about 29 degrees centigrade on Sunday. Up until now November has always been the one month of the year that I've always dreaded. The clocks in England go back at the end of October, the nights draw in, the weather becomes wetter and the spring feels like it's an eternity away...
On September the 18th Ishigaki was hit by what will hopefully turn out to be the only typhoon to visit the island this year. I decided to brave the weather in order to bring you some pictures and video of the island when the weather is less than hospitable.
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