Princess Island- Himeshima

There is a small island called Himeshima or Princess Island about 3km off the coast here which we visited while Dad was here. It wasn't officially my first visit there, but the first time in over 10 years and the first time finding my own way around. Not that it is particularly difficult! The total circumference of the entire island is only 17km and there is basically only one road! We took the car over on the ferry and spent the day looking at some of the "seven wonders". First stop was the lighthouse where we had a picnic lunch under the trees and under the loudspeaker which announced very loudly that it was 12pm with its daily song. We then drove around the entire island stopping off at "A sacred spring that the princess is said to have created. It has been said that after having blackened her teeth, she rinsed her mouth and where there was no water, she clapped her hands before praying and a spring was formed." The kids tried and were convinced they must be princesses as the water bubbled up. There was also a spot where butterflies come to socialise and finally the most stunning spot of all - Sennindo. You climb up a steep mountain (this is Japan, the land of stairs) and all of a sudden you find yourself at the top of a cliff looking out over the ocean and the rugged coast. Then right at the point there is a small building with a beautiful pine growing behind it where it is said that if you pray on New Years Eve you will gain assistance from 1000 gods in times of trouble. A quick prayer to help us to get down the hill safely to the car then an icecream from basically the only shop on the island, passed the only traffic light on the island (apparently put there to educate the children for when they have to go to the mainland) and back on the ferry for the 20 minute ride home.
There are about 2,500 people living on the island, but I think we only saw about 10 of them. We kept meeting up with the other 15 or so tourists on the island though - I particularly enjoyed a conversation one of them had with Dad where he asked Dad "How young are you?" - a nice way to think about age!