Apologies to everyone who is receiving this post a second time. We know that the photos were still causing issues for some readers in the original post. Hopefully this will work for everyone now.
Here we are again on a ferry, which is clearly now the best time for blogging (or at least writing the text, the actual posting is happening a few days later…)
Sadly we are waving goodbye from the top deck to Shikoku – the island we have spent (most of) the last ten days.
I might look back on what I’m about to write and blame it on being over-excited… BUT I think that the cycling we have done in Shikoku is the best. Ever.
So good in fact that Matt has been taking even more pics than usual… so we have had a blog editorial meeting and decided that Shikoku deserves two posts accordingly.
Our arrival point onto the island (the fourth largest in the Japanese archipelago) was Yawatahama. We were straight up our first climb on Shikoku (after a quick stop at a konbini or convenience store – still our favourite hang-out for those who remember me waxing lyrical about them in Thailand. Japanese konbinis are the best yet). The winding narrow road we took through dense forest with stunning glimpses of the valley below (and over to Kyūshu and latterly Honshū) was nearly completely empty of traffic and just stunning.
Of course we were both sweaty messes by the time we got to the top but after a coffee stop with a view, we enjoyed a long descent and some faster valley riding to our destination for the day – the historic town of Uchiko. We had arranged to stay the night at Will and Tamie’s place – via WarmShowers. From reading their profile on the app we thought we had a few things in common – Will is British and they had both spent some time living in New Zealand. As it turned out, we had more in common than we thought as Matt had actually met Will before! Will worked at Mount Eden Cycles in Auckland when we were living there so Matt had cycled with him previously, and probably had his bike tuned up by him. We were all a bit amazed by this connection (it really is a small world) – but things really got spooky when we also realised that Will grew up in the village that Matt’s brother Chris and family live in. What’s the chances?
Apart from conversation centred on Auckland and Nottinghamshire we enjoyed a really lovely night with Will and Tami with delicious food and lots of helpful recommendations for routes/destinations. Uchiko itself is getting itself on the cycle touring/tourism map (helped by our hosts who work in cycle tourism) and was a great place to spend the night – we would definitely recommend!
One of the cycling recommendations involved (of course) going up another climb the next day. This was a big one, topping out at 1,300m in the Shikoku Karst area (a high plateau with lots of limestone and dairy cows!) It was another stunner of a ride to get up there.
What was brill about this climb though was that there was a free campsite right at the top, which meant we could make the most of the elevation we had gained and the associated lower temperatures.
So enjoyable in fact that we stayed a second night and had a day of chilling out (literally) and admiring the epic views (before the fog rolled back in). We weren’t the only ones escaping the heat though. Unbeknownst to us, our stay coincided with a bank holiday weekend in Japan (the Monday being Respect the Aged Day). This meant that we were joined by a lot of locals who had driven up to this beauty spot with more camping kit and equipment that we have ever seen in one place before. Camping in Japan is definitely a bit of an art form which takes hours of careful set-up, followed by a few hours of admiring your handiwork, followed by hours the next day taking everything down. We watched bemused from our rather more bijou set-up (an enjoyable day was had by all).
Coming down from the mountain meant an epic descent of course.
But with it being Japan, you can’t have a day which is just flat, or going down – there is always an up – so after quite a lot more climbing we were happy to chow down at a Kai-ten Sushi place (conveyor-belt sushi), followed by some sightseeing on our bikes around Matsuyama, the biggest city on Shikoku. Having not showered for a couple of nights we both had a good scrub in a public onsen – the busiest we’ve been to yet.
Onwards the next day and we were heading onto yet another ferry, this time over to Honshu (Japan’s largest island) for a brief cycle along the coast before joining onto the Tobishima Kaido – a route taking in several islands in the western side of the Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku.
This was another recommendation from Will and Tami and we absolutely loved it. Stunning blue skies, quiet roads and breathtaking scenery as we explored several islands over the course of the afternoon.
We spent the night near a closed beachfront campsite (somehow September is ‘off season’ for some campsites despite it still being incredibly hot). All good though as we had the beach to ourselves and made use of a covered platform giving us a room with view!
The next day we were joining the most famous cycle route in Japan (and possibly one of the most famous internationally) – the Shimanami Kaido. This route again involved island hopping via several impressive bridges and it really was totally stunning. The way we approached it meant we cycled north on the route towards Honshū before doubling back with some repeated sections and some coastal island riding to mix things up.
A long but very satisfying day for my birthday-eve and rounded out with another special campsite near the beach (this time with a very handy konbini next door to assist with the purchasing of birthday treats!)
My birthday itself started with a lovely surprise. Matt had worked out how to post on here (!) and so I woke up to loads of lovely birthday messages. Completely unexpected and I was very (very) touched. Thank you all for filling my virtual mantelpiece! After an extra special breakfast of fried eggs we were off again for a shorter day wending our way back to Shikoku via some absolutely amazing bridges and island cycling.
Early in the day we caught up with two French Canadian cyclists – Carl and Francis, noticeable for their matching t shirts (!) and very smart bikes with cool panniers/racks etc. This was unusual on the Shimanami Kaido (and in Japan in general for us so far) so Matt was very keen to chat to them (he must be missing male company…!) We bonded over konbini goodies shortly afterwards and exchanged contact details with the expectation of maybe seeing each other again (Matt later shared our planned route for the rest of Shikoku which the guys were very appreciative of!)
Our destination for my birthday was a lovely hotel in Imabari, back on Shikoku – after crossing one of the longest suspension bridges in the world, at 4.5km long.
Our hotel didn’t disappoint and with a castle visit thrown in, plus soaking in an onsite onsen, plus a bottle of actual French fizz, plus (sort of) actual French cheese, plus watching Strictly (my birthday request to Matt) it was a really special and memorable birthday.
I had been slightly worried about the birthday blues coming on with being so far from home. After all of the life-adjusting decisions, events and sometimes sadness of the last 12 months I didn’t know if my birthday might bring all of that to the surface. It did of course – I haven’t spent my life so far expecting to kick off my 40th year just the two of us, on a fully loaded bike in Japan after all. But it was pretty brill all the same 🙂
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