Christmas Eve – Aoshima Cinqmale, Miyazaki

We decided to rent a car for a short road trip down to the southern Miyazaki prefecture for Christmas. We used the toll highway to dive the 350 km distance down to Aoshima to stay at the Aoshima Cinqmale Resort right on the ocean.

Our ocean-view Japanese style room…

We went for a walk outside at low tide before dinner.

The burning torches that surround the outside are fuelled from natural gas venting from the earth around the hotel.

The rocky ocean floor had been etched away by the tide almost in the shape of waves reaching the shoreline.

At Christmas Eve dinner…

And a private, ocean-view, hot spring bath under the stars before bed. We left our window open all night so that we could fall asleep listening to the waves.