I'm normally intolerant of Sunday drivers, but as our little car winds its way up the two-lane coastal roads of eastern Okinawa Island, I find myself pleasantly inclined to just that kind of unhurried progress. The motorcycle riders who have suddenly appeared in our rearview mirror, however, seem less enamored of our languid pace.
"Stop up there and let them pass," I suggest to my companion, Andria, who is behind the wheel, as the posse of bikers swarms behind our vehicle. Obligingly, she chooses a pull-off that just happens to be next to a deserted beach of blindingly white sand. The bikers — ever courteous — flash their hazard lights in thanks as they speed onward to some two-wheelers' locale further up the road. Andria and I smile and wave them on, before congratulating ourselves on the good fortune of finding yet another picture-postcard setting all to ourselves.
We've been traveling north from Naha on Okinawa's eponymous main island for almost an hour, searching out some of the lesser-known local hotspots. Most of the island's visitors stick to the south, with its abundance of cultural theme parks, historical sites and shopping opportunities. Being island residents, however, Andria and I have already ticked off the typical tourist destinations and, as a mini-typhoon dumps rain on the southern portion of our adopted home, we're finally taking the time to properly explore the island's less-populated northerly reaches.