After almost a week of not cycling, five night in the city then two out on Nogata I left early on Sunday morning ready, refreshed and eager to resume the cycle. This was the start of the final leg, in less than a week I would be finished.

Nogata to Beppu was a pleasant cycle, mostly flat as I followed a river. There was going to be a climb at the end of the day that loomed over like a dark cloud, but I enjoyed the easy riding in the morning, trying to forget I had to go over a mountain to get to my destination.

I passed by a shipping container that had been out by the side of the road and turned into a diner. I thought it looked cool, so I stopped there and had lunch.

The climb before Beppu wasn’t as bad as I had expected actually, the mountains I had seen on the map and thought I had to go over were divided by a small pass that the road and railway followed. There was some climbing, sure, but not half as bad as I expected.

an old theme park I passed while coming into Beppu

Beppu is a city famous for its hot springs, both those you can bathe in and the scalding hot springs that pour out of the earth. The latter was one of the reasons I came through Beppu, to see the famous “hells of Beppu”.

This was a short day of cycling during which I backtracked some and then started to cross inland from the west coast over to the east, this side of Kyushu I wanted to cycle along (it’s less populated and, I had been informed, more scenic)

Nogata was the destination here because it was where David, my friend from back home lived.

There wasn’t a whole by way of scenery from Fukuoka to Nogata, Although I found Nogata itself to be a pleasant city situated in a river valley framed by mountains.

The ride was less than 50km, so I wasn’t sure whether to include it in its own post or not, but I suppose I made progress on the journey, so I have.

I was looking forward to crossing onto the final island of the trip, Kyushu. The ride from the campsite to Shimonoseki, the city where I could cross over, was an uneventful one through farmland and urban sprawl. A low hanging cloud threatened rain, but soon cleared off a d the sun came out.

fist sighting of Kyushu and the bridge that connects it to Honshu

At Shimonoseki the distance between Honshu and Kyushu is at its smallest: only 700 meters!

For bikes and pedestrians who aren’t allowed on the bridge there is a tunnel that connects the two islands.

It wasn’t too l g a ride from Shimonseki to Fukuoka. I took the shorter, less scenic route that brought me through a lot of towns and cities.

Arriving in Fukuoka felt fantastic, I had finished all of Honshu! My host there, David, brought me out to a yatai, a street food stall, something for which the city if famous.

the yatai we ate at

Tonight would be my last night spent on Honshu, and the final full day of riding on the main island. Much of the day was spent on the Route 2, which went from busy three lane highway to single lane mountain road. After lunch the road I was following became I cars-only route, but a smaller track followed the exact same path and wasn’t as traffic heavy at all.

the highway providing shade from the afternoon heat

following the smaller route that ran parallel to the main road

Most of the day was spent inland until just before I arrived at my campsite when I merged back with the coastal road that.

rice paddies before getting back on the coast road

The campsite was a bit hard to find. It was right at the back of a public park. Free as most of the campsites have been since September, but busier I think because it was a Saturday.

My final Honshu sunset

I took an early boat off the island, not before getting a photo of the gates at high tide. This was my second last day on Honshu and it was absolutely beautiful, riding along sandy coast in the sun with a stiff tailwind.

I followed the same coast road almost all day, riding inland only for about 15K to save travelling around a long peninsula. After this the coast became a bit rockier but just as picturesque.

There was an island very close to the shore that I thought would be nice to camp on as the end of the day approached.

the bridge onto Kasadoshima

I found a really nice beach to camp at on the island. Another place I think would be full of people at high season, but I had it too myself mostly.

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.

It was raining and pretty windy when I got out of the tent this morning. I think it was the tail end of a typhoon that was passing further north. I considered waiting it out and cycling route the next day, but at 9 it had cleared up some.

The Shiminami Kaido is a cycle route that goes through the inland sea, hopping between islands that dot the water via large ( and pretty high up) suspension bridges.

the start of the route

approaching the first bridge

It was a really enjoyable cycle between the islands. Hopping between each one was great for variety throughout the day. While leaving Oshima Island I saw whirlpools created by the tide going out quickly between the islands.

It was hard to get a good photo…

crossing the bridges between the islands

After lunch it got rainy. I wanted to camp on one if the islands. The second to last island, Innoshima had a nice campground. Once again I was the only one there, but the groundskeeper there let me set up in what I think is used as a lunch area during the high season. It was great, provided shelter from the rain and wind.