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.

I came to Shikoku because I wanted to cycle off it. There is a 70KM cycle course that runs from the city of Imabari, over half a dozen islands on the inland sea via large suspension bridges and then connects back to the mainland of Honshū.

It wasn’t too far from Matsuyama to Imabari where the cycle course ( the Shiminami Kaido) began, only 60km but I wanted to spend the whole day on the crossing. I took a leisurely pace leaving Matsuyama in the morning and headed for a campsite not to far outside Imabari. This way I could spend the whole next day on the cycle route.

The road to Imabari was scenic and, I’ve noticed in the last few days of cycling, not as busy as other scenic routes have been since the holidays have ended.

As I was cycling towards the campground I noticed something I felt was a significant milestone for my time in Japan: it seems like rice harvesting has begun.

Cresting the last climb of the day I caught my first glimpse of the bridge that connects Shikoku to the islands of the inland sea: the start of the Shiminami Kaido.

There were a few people at the campground given it was a Saturday.

camping outside Imabari

This was a pretty short cycle today, only 65KM. I had covered most of the distance the day before. The only real difficulty was the mountain I had to cross to get to Matsuyama, but the road followed the course of a river valley that ran between the mountains so it wasn’t a huge climb.

The mountains that speared me from Matsuyama.

The descent down to the city, visible in the distance.

That evening my host took me up one of the hills for a great view of the city at sunset.

Takamatsu to Niihama was a really nice cycle. It wasn’t too hot, wasnt raining at all. The road was easy to navigate and the scenery was pleasant. Everything you want when touring.

I started off cycling along the Inland Sea coast for most of the morning, purposely taking the longer route than the shorter overland route mostly because I wanted to get a better view of the Seto Ōhashi Bridge a huge suspension bridge that connects Shikoku with the mainland.

I then turned back inland instead of having to cycle through urban conglomeration of Sakaide and Marugame by the sea.

I found a campsite near Niihama. it was completely closed down since the high season ended, but the water taps still worked which was all I really needed so I set up.

The ride from Isumisano to Wakayama port was a short but wet one as heavy rain passed over. At the port I drew the attention of a bus load of kids while eating my cup noodle on a bench at the ferry terminal. I few of them asked for photos with me, it was cute.

my bike on the ferry to Shikoku

It was clear skies after I got off and a really nice ride to Takamatsu. Mostly along the coast with a bit of inland riding towards my hosts place. I hoped to see some whirlpools as I passed through Naruto, but the tide wasn’t right.

very well defined bike path on Shikoku

the road to my hosts place

Nothing of much interest happened today. I didn’t take any photos either so… I guess this will be a quick and boring post.

I left central Osaka and travelled about 60KM south to Isumisano, which is still part of Osaka. It’s where the Kansai airport is located. I stayed there with one of the airport’s air traffic controllers. I was only there so I could be close enough to catch the ferry to Shikoku the next day from Wakayama port, 20km down the road.

There really was not much of interest around here. Yosuke, my host, told me the locals joke that the city motto should be “Isumisano – clear to land”.