When I woke up the rain had cleared. Still a bit blustery, but cycling through the last island was still really nice. The very final part of the Shiminami Kaido isn’t connected to the mainland by a bridge but the final island is only about 800m from the shore and a small ferry shuttles back and forth all day to connect the two.

on the ferry back to Honshū

It was about 80 km over land to Hiroshima. About two hours worth of climbing through the mountains, but it wasn’t particularly steep.

At some point during the afternoon I saw a sign for Shiminoseki, not my immediate destination but it is the most southerly city on Honshū. It felt like a good milestone to me, sometimes on tour you just get into a cycling groove and don’t realise how much distance has been covered until confronted with it.

Got into Hiroshima, checked into my hostel and went out to try Hiroshima style Okonimiaki. Didn’t take any photos but I think I prefer hiroshima style to Kansai style, it’s a bit lighter on the batter, has more cabbage and includes noodles. Delicious.