Brilliant day today. Superb. One photo summary!

The weather was warm and sunny. The wind left us alone most of the time. The views were beyond our expectations. The infrastructure amazing. We’re a bit sunburned. 92 very enjoyable km.

We predominantly followed the coastline today. The body of water on the map is the Seto Inland Sea, and it separates three of Japan’s main islands (Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushi). It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan, and contains over 3,000 islands.

Leaving our accomodation by 8 am we stopped to pull the camera out countless times. Let’s get started!

First stop just up the road was a breakwater with paved top and lovely views.

The scenery to our left as we headed towards Imabari.

We liked the ‘eyes’ on this boat.

Shrines are very common. We must have passed at least 50 or so today.

Just beautiful.

Having time to ‘kill’ today we took a few detours, including this one to Kamoike Beach. A really cute bay and inviting to swim.

The jut of land to the left is Cape Kajitori and we headed out there winging it. We certainly did not see any wildlife depicted on the board.

Shimanami kaido fast approached. What is the Shimanami kaido you ask?

it is a 70 km cycling road between Onomichi (Honshu) and Imabari (Shikoku).

It attracts cyclists globally to Japan due to its uniqueness. The cycle highway connects six islands Seto Sea via seven bridges.

I first learned of the route from this book.

In planning this trip it was determining what we could ride in addition to the 70 km. That’s when I discovered an official around Shikoku route and the mapping started to incorporate both.

Heading from the south, the first bridge is the most impressive. The Kurushima-Kaiyo bridge, which is 4 km long, opened in 1999. the worlds first three continuous suspension bridge. It crosses Kunshima Strait.

The cyclists circle up a ramp multiple times to gain the required height to access the bridge.

Here we’ve started the climb but are underneath it still. You can see a few spans.

Once on the bridge, this is the cyclists path.

Tony took a video for part of the first crossing.

Spectacular views to the left.

Clear signage.

Exiting the first bridge.

On the descent looking back towards Imabari.

My GPS data showing how the path descended.

Walkers can also use the pathway!

We wandered around the first island descent, with plans to do a small loop but an elderly man in his garden indicated a big NO as we went past his house, so we turned and headed back in search of food.

We found a place but it was mainly deep fried and neither needed or desired that. We would look for a Lawsons!

This more distant view of the first bridge gives you a bit more perspective of its length.

Tony found himself a comfy seat, reminding me of those baby seats.

Making our way to the second bridge more nice beaches.

The second bridge is Hakata-oshima an was built in 1988. It was the first bridge with box girder structure adopted!

More sea views! We rode around this island and climbed a hill and found a lovely rest spot, providing wonderful views to chill for a while. We were still well ahead of schedule time wise, and check in was not until 4 pm.

Tony’s bike looking snazzy.

As mentioned earlier, the signage is excellent. An example below for the next bridge crossing. On the road, there is a solid blue line painted next to the solid white line, indicating a cycle route.

We will cross this bridge tomorrow. We are staying on the island of Omishima tonight and tomorrow will cross to do a loop to Ominichi and return.

Shimanami kaido will rate in our top ten best ever rides. I can see a blog one day with my top five or ten.

I found it hard writing tonight as I was overwhelmed with so many scenic pictures. This region of Japan just keeps giving. 😊❣️

Thanks for reading and smile on 😊