A ferry to Izu Managed to tweak my back this morning, as the hobbling had put it out of sync. This meant that the others had a sort of Frankenstein's Igor thing loping about with them during the day. We drove off to the coast to catch a ferry to the Izu Peninsular. Hiroko, who can't swim and doesn't like water wailing Oh God this is scary! as we sped over the ramp into the car ferry. But the sea was very calm in the faintly misty morning, and I felt more relaxed than I could remember for as we sat about drinking coffee. The Izu peninsular is very beautiful and has a distinctly different feel to the area Hiroko lives in. It has big bones - a mountainous interior with a craggy coastline that reminded me of Guernsey but on a much larger scale. And I really like all the rocks and small islands that complicate the shoreline. Our first stop was at a coffee house owned by a sculptor and his wife who Hiroko knew. The place had spectacular views down the cliff to the sea, and to Fu...