We enjoyed the ferry journey, but waiting on the car deck to disembark is somewhat like being a caged animal about to be released. I felt like I was rushing out into a bull ring, except there was  no matador, just the  quiet Shibushi port area. We passed lumber yards and went straight for a small road to reach our first shrine of Homanji within 3 kms. We made some wishes and carried on a back road and passed our first love hotel at km5. It was all looking up but at km9, we joined the main Shibushi-Kushima road (#220/448) and found it to be busier than expected. It is a nice seashore road, but we kept mostly on the side path. We went off and on it, but by km15 of our day, we left the main road altogether and we breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Kushima port area was sleepy and then we rode the lovely Fukushima River road and then backtracked into town. We made a tour of a couple of supermarkets and had lunch of a salmon sashimi bowl at the Kushima Michinoeki (road station).

We took some nice side roads out of Kushimi and joined the #448 at the Kushima Hot Springs. There wasn't much traffic thereafter and we worked our way over the first pass of the trip, albeit only 150m, down to Toi village, where we had rented a house for two nights. We checked out the quiet village, found a vending machine that dispensed cold beer and later rode down to the sea to have a quick look at the local sea shore. We settled in for the night, still shaking off the effects of jet lag. We rode 45km with 250m of ascent, plus a few more to/from the seashore.

It rained hard overnight and we were rewarded with clear skies by morning. I had "discovered" Japanese bacon (lean) at prior breakfast buffets, so we often purchased bacon and eggs when we had rented houses/apartments. We got rolling for a day ride by 9:00am and soon after, we were riding uphill to access Cape Toi. The roads are well built with a dribble of domestic tourist traffic on a sunny Saturday. We checked out the visitor's centre lighthouse, and I rode down and back up to the Misaki Shrine. Horses run free at Cape Toi.

 We were done by noon and we headed back to Kurishima Onsen for lunch and a soak. Our lunch was really good and the soak was a little busy as it was a Saturday afternoon. I rode a couple of kilometres to a small grocery store that was closed. We had stocked up in Kirishima but we were a little short on carbohydrates. We bought some yams at the onsen shop for dinner and breakfast. We rode to the coast on a small side road without traffic and returned to our rental house that cost about ¥8,000/night. The day ride totalled  44km with 800m ascent.

I looked forward to riding the Cape Toi to Nichinan coast and it did not disappoint. We were rolling before 8:00am on a clear morning with showers forecasted for the afternoon. We rode over a small pass, past Miyanoura village to reach the east coast. Traffic was negligible and the beaches were pleasing on the eye. We rode a few tunnels, without any traffic. We reached Kojima Island landing and met another touring cyclist, who was from Hong Kong. We passed under many palms and some beautiful coastal views. We collected light traffic between Nango and Nichinan. We stopped in at the Nichinan fishing port before heading into town. We bought supplies at the Direx Supermarket and with somewhat limited restaurant offerings close to the coast, had lunch at Joyfull.

We had ridden the Aoshima-Nichinan section the previous year, so we had a one day scenic coastal overlap. Clouds rolled in as we departed from Nichinan. The #220 seemed a little busier than we remembered, and we mostly rode the side path. We made a brief stop at Udo Jingu. We had been there previously and thereafter, at the entry to the wonderful Sun Messe Moai statues, a crackle of thunder encouraged us to take shelter immediately. The pouring rain changed to hail. We waited the rain out and carried on north to our destination of "The Little Garden", a guesthouse at the top of a steep hill. It rained hard once again, but we were in the shelter of the big view, large common room and kitchen. We had a spacious room and as there were no nearby restaurants, we self-catered with our supplies from Nichinan. There were a few other foreign tourists staying at the guest house. 69km with 700m of ascent.

We were greeted with sunshine and we were rolling well before 8:00am. We rode through Horikiri Pass, a scenic spot that was closed when we rode north to south the previous year. We were on the Aoshima pathways by 8:30am. We had stayed in Aoshima the previous year and didn't stop at the Aoshima Jima . We took a rural route, made our way around the airport before reaching the Miyazaki City sprawl. We were in the central area by 10:00am. Miyazaki is a city with palm trees, apparently it is more interesting at night, but we had places to go. We routed past Shineiji Temple, a 5 tiered pagoda, had a look around the Miyazaki Jinga to work up an appetite and we chose to eat at an upmarket place, Origami Cafe. The food and atmosphere was excellent. Getting to the Heiwadai Park involved a steep climb. The Tower of Peace was built in 1940 to commemorate the Japanese empire (Hakkō ichiu, "all the world under one roof"), but later re-branded for peace. The tower was the inception point for the torch relay of the 1964 Summer Olympics.

We made our way through narrow streets down to the Ōyodo River  where we picked up the Miyazaki-Aya Cycling Road (path) near the Ōyodo and Honjo rivers, out of traffic but not away from the strong headwind. After 15 kms, we entered Aya City and we made our way up a few more steep pitches to the wooden castle and a look around and inside. The castle was originally built in 1300's but destroyed in 1615. It was rebuilt in 1985. There were no other visitors when we were there. 

Our accommodation  was 6 kms out of town, and we stopped at the Max Valu before heading up into the hills south of Aya to the "Miyazaki Old House Hinatabokko". Our hosts were on hand, working in the garden. They were nice people who showed us around and they left us with all kinds of vegetables and fresh eggs. Thank-you. Then they drove home and we organized ourselves in the classic old house. 69km with 300m of ascent.

We were out of the house just after 7:00am and we rode the 6 kms to Aya through a convoluted landscape (up & down). The #26 started wide with two lanes at least to the Aya's Teruha Suspension Bridge (we passed the entrance before opening time). We encountered no traffic, which sometimes indicates road closure. By 8:30am, we reached a construction site with specified open hours. We had a, limited by language, conversation with the traffic controller and he kindly called ahead and allowed us to proceed ahead of the scheduled opening time. Thank you. Thereafter, the #26 climbed steadily along the Honjo River, sometimes narrowing. When we saw our first vehicle beyond the dam, and we knew we had passed the first test.

We followed the #265 and the #143, with some light traffic that disappeared as we climbed. With the #143 closed for rehabilitation, we picked up an unnumbered road to about 850m of elevation. It looked good, however vegetation started to encroach on the road as we descended, then cedar fronds covered the surface and we hit a closed sign. At that point, retreat would have meant a 100km detour (via Kobayashi and Ebino), so we pressed on.  All toll, we went through three landslides, each of which took some time to get through with the third looking hopeless. We found an overgrown logging road that skirted the slide and we got through. We passed an active construction zone and then came across more road closure signage but there were alternate roads available. We were quite relieved and happy to reach a main road (#43) at the bottom at 200m. 

Thereafter, we followed mostly the #43 and then #388, both fairly quiet, into Mizukiso. We checked into Minshuku Kawahara at 4:30pm. We were the only guests that night and we were provided with a splendid room and later fed with local food including trout and venison. All's well that ends well. 94km with 1300m of ascent.