Niijima or "Gone with the Wind"

My hard working friends had to leave the Izu island paradise after the extended weekend of course. Me , the lazy unemployed, decided to visit another island. After all the ferry ticket had not been cheap and on the other hand the campsites on the islands were free of charge and I would not spend more on food than in Tokyo. So as long as I'd find an internet connection I would be fine. After having met the tanned surfers heading for Nijima on the overnight boat this island seemed like a good choice... Little did I know there would be nothing like sun, fun and surf waiting for me.
Nijima is a 20 minut boat ride from Shikinejima and quite a bit larger. It is known for its large surf beach and is reputed as a party island. That is on weekends obviously... When I arrived I was lucky enough to be able to convince the bus driver to do a detour and drop me off at the campsite. The campsite was huuuge and almost completely empty, there were a mere 4 other tents. I rented a bike and started touring the island a bit. The famous surf beach next to the campsite was indeed beautiful and a few remaining surfers were still training. But overall the beach was incredibly empty, but stunningly beautiful, a picture perfect beach for a long walk.
The other side of the island featured a little village which seemed very sleepy, no one on the streets, barely any open shops. But I saw a few Izakaya red lamps, so there would be some dinner locations hopefully. Along the roadside there were stone sculptures craftfully cut into large stone blocks. Imagine some kind of Easter Islands light. But soon the rain started and made my bike tour less enjoyable. But the islands community center offered free internet for those able to fill out the Japanese registration form, so I proceeded to do some job search for the day.
In the evening I met the inhabitants of the other tents. A Japanese couple, a French teacher with his japanophile 15-year old daughter and British English teacher twins with a Japanese friend and embassy interns from Belgium. I went for dinner with the British and Japanese girls. We checked out a nice Izakaya which specialized in sashimi (not surprising for an island) and Ashitaba tempura. Dinner was delicious, that is except for the Kusaya that we tried. Kusaya is a dish horrible enough that even most Japanese refrain from eating it. Loosely translated it's "stinky fish" and please don't succumb to the illusion that it tastes better than it smells...
The night started with light rain only. I had Peter's warning in mind that the tent would not resist heavy rain, so I hoped it would not get worse. It did though and all I could do was roll myself up in the middle of the tent in order not to touch the walls. Still, I and my luggage woke up damp in the morning. The guy who was interning at the Belgian embassy left and he wanted to leave his tent behind too, so I put up that new tent for the next night and felt really lucky.
The second day on Nijima was even rainier than the previous one. Non-stop heavy rain, but we still cycled around as this was the only available means of transport. Thanks to the rain the eclipse of the sun was not visible either. Such a rare event and you would be in the right place and then... All we saw was a tv live transmission from Southern Japan at the Community Center. Greeeat - could have seen that back home in Europe too...
Despite the very rainy day I was positive about the night. With the new tent I was sure to resist the rain. Little did I know that the new tents fragile construction would bring new problems. NO, the tent did not leak. BUT it crashed over my head - over and over again. I had to get out in my nightgown with the flashlight and try to fix the poles. Minutes later it crashed again. And there was nowhere to flee - the kitchen area was flooded and the toilet did not seem an inviting place to spend the night. I got up veeery early and packed my stuff, enough was enough and it was definitely time to make my way back to Tokyo.
The boat left in the afternoon only, so all of us campers spent a sulky day at the surfer cafe. The French father and daughter couple wanted to stay on still. The island was obviously a concession to the fathers idea of a good holiday. The 15-year old was your typical japanophile Teenie who is obsessed with anime, manga and of course Japanese boy bands. She tried to strike up a conversation about the above topics with me and the British twins, but for our lack of both interest and knowhow the topic soon died. After a quick soak in the greek themed onsen we boarded the boat, happy to get our damp selves back to a dry and cosy Tokyo apartment.