Aburatsu Port and Obi - Wednesday 21 August

Back on the island of Kyushu and to the Port of Aburatsu. This port is a significant commercial port - and very obviously a major site from which logs and wood chips are shipped, as there are massive amounts of logs, big chippers and huge mounds of chips awaiting shipping.
Some good advice from a WA couple (Bunbury) who have been before, saw us make a change of plan and we headed for Obi, a small town about 15km away (and said to be the Kyoto of Kyushu) via the ship's shuttle into Aburatsu, then a local bus, and we were in Obi before 10am. Obi is a very neat small town with a tourist friendly approach. It has about eight tourist sites, from a castle, to museums and old merchant houses etc, and wraps everything into a comprehensive pass, including five vouchers which can be redeemed for food and/or other small items from more than 30 local shops and cafes.
The town is in a setting similar to Bright, surrounded by hills and trees, very neat streets and housing. It also has a small moat (gutter) running permanently through it, and with some gates for deeper water with observation points for large coloured carp.
Most of the castle no longer exists (It was originally built in the 1500's), but the grounds are wonderfully relaxing with huge trees and a cooling breeze. Parts of the castle grounds remain (gates and steps) and a number of museums have been established to tell its story and highlight its samurai past. The Obi elementary school is also within the grounds, with big playing fields, views and woods.
We then walked through parts of town, visiting a number of the other museums, merchant houses etc and redeeming our vouchers for food, drinks - and even a small bottle of on-site produced Soy Sauce. Most of these shops are very small, and on a number of occasions, no one was around, but their shops were all open (perhaps at lunch??) - with everything there for the taking!!!
The further you are away from major cities, the less English is spoken but it is always possible to get information and locals are ever helpful. One interesting experience today was exchanging a voucher each for one of three items (two food & one non-food). I wanted one food item for me and the other food item for Pat, so we could each taste both - not sure why, but the lady seemed to think this was quite stange, but of course obliged. One was a cold bean soup, the other, quite solid blocks of custard (looked like cheese) - both very nice.
Local bus back to Aburatsu Station and shuttle back to the Diamond Princess.
Beautiful day today, clear blue sky, with a high 20C temperature and much reduced humidity. We again set sail to the sound and sight of a vibrant drum band, with accompanying samurai warrior. One of the highlights of this cruise has been the amazing port greeting and departure performances (much more so than any other cruise we have been on). We have more often than not been on the "right" side of the ship to witness from our balcony.
Heaven came in the form of dinner tonight, with escargot, baked calamari, lobster and creme brulee - I don't believe life could get better!!!  The show this evening was another outstanding performance, with a full house. "Bravo" featured a brilliant set, large orchestra and 14 very talented singers - and the night was topped off with the traditional 3 deck balloon drop in the Atrium.