Defeated

A horrible ferry timetable from Matsuyama has ensured my defeat. I'm
not making it to Kyushu this time.

Time to go home.

Resting in Fukuyama

Yesterday I made a big push to cross Okayama prefecture finally
resting in Fukuyama.

BREAKDOWN
Aioi -> Okayama -> Fukuyama
Distance: 135.04km

I was looking forward to eating demikatsu in Okayama but when I arrived, I couldn't find a single shop selling it. The road to Okayama was winding and hilly. So far, it was probably the most difficult stretch of road I've encountered. Okayama reminded me of Taree back in Aus. It's difficult to get in and difficult to get out but the roads in the city are great. The paths in Okayama city were superb but after
leaving the city they are terrible.

Finally I entered Hiroshima prefecture late yesterday afternoon and had a bath before I decided to find a hotel to stay at for the night. Today, my plan is to find a cycle shop and do some minor maintenance on the bike before crossing the seven bridges to Shikoku.

Water under the bridge

After eating myself a good meal of Takoyaki in Kobe, I camped out in a
seaside park in the outskirts of Kobe. Then at 4am I rose to ride
another day.

BREAKDOWN
Kobe -> Himeji -> Aioi
Distance: 80.14km

After a short while cycling, I arrived at the Akashi channel bridge - the longest suspension bridge span in the world. Unfortunately it was still too dark to get a decent photo but the view was  nevertheless breathtaking. I continued along the coast to Himeji where I was really looking forward to seeing Himeji castle. I don't know where they put it but I didn't see any castle at all. Maybe it's invisible.


Anyway, I pushed on to Aioi which is a small port city about 60km from Okayama. There is an Aeon town here with a coin laundry and an onsen right next to each other. Sensing the destiny, I decided to wash my clothes and bathe here. I then decided to have a quick nap that ended up being an 8 hour nap. Now here I am writing this post.

On my way to Aioi I met another cyclist who suggested that I alter my route to Shikoku. I'm inclined to take his advice and ride the islands of the inland sea. I'll update the map with the new route when I next stop at an Internet cafe.

Onwards to Okayama...

The Great Escape

I finally managed to escape from the hotel and enjoy a day in Osaka without getting soaked.

I met up with Naka and Tsubasa again after I realised that today wouldn't be a good day for riding and we spent the day on the town. We were all quite hungry so we went out for a traditional Osaka Okonomiyaki lunch together. The food was great and the beer was ice cold - a perfect lunch on a hot steamy day.

Continuing with our sightseeing we went to Nanba in southern Osaka and paid a quick visit to Hozenji temple. There are three statues there and you can splash water on each of them. I gave it a go with an, "Ole!" for good measure. Apparently this temple is quite famous though I had never heard of it.

Following that, we went to Dotonbori where we crossed the famous Nampa-bashi (pickup bridge) and I took a photo posing as the Glico man. On the bridge we were interviewed for Kansai Television about recent news that had caught our interest. The reporter presented a list of stories but truthfully, I wasn't interested in any of them. Being a foreigner, perhaps the reporter thought I'd be interested in the car crash in Utah. Anyway, I simply said that the typhoon (#4) and the bad weather was what I am currently most interested in. Hey, it may be boring but when you are on a bicycle, it's the weather that counts!

Next I will take the train across Osaka to the far side of Kobe (I'm not riding my bike here - the drivers here are lunatics!). Hopefully I'll find a nice place to camp out for the night and then get an early start tomorrow morning.

Trapped in a Hotel

Record breaking rainfall has kept me staying in a hotel in Osaka. It
looks like it might let up this afternoon but when it comes to
typhoons, who knows?!

I decided to make the best of a bad forecast and took the opportunity
to do some laundry. However, with the laundry done and nothing good on
TV I'm bored.

I'm thinking of touring a bit of Osaka by train. Whatever happens,
I'll let you know.

Isewan

I'm writing this post as I cross Isewan.

BREAKDOWN

Hamamatsu -> Irago (ferry to Toba)
Distance: 90.56km (excluding ferry)

The trip so far has been full of trouble. It was raining along the Atsumi peninsula and that cost me big in time. I had to huddle under the eaves of several houses waiting for the rain to stop. The highlight so far was the magnificent views I observed from the beach at Akabane and the obvious view from the ferry. See the photos.

Next, it's the train (Kintetsu) to Osaka. I'm meeting Naka and his son there for a Korean style yakiniku lunch.

A Beautiful Inconvenience

Storms West of Hamamatsu have delayed my departure. The clouds are
very beautiful though they represent an obstacle. Hopefully the
weather will clear up soon.