Omishima to Imabari

The itinerary for today was pretty chaotic and unclesr. In fact, we had no idea what we were going to be doing. Up until now we were singing the praises of Claudio (WAKKA tour organiser). We decided to go with the flow and see what transpired. We had breakfast at WAKKA on Omishima before being transported by cycle taxi to Munakata Port, approximately 30 mins away. We were instructed to take the Ferry to Okamura where we would meet our Guide for the day, Tom.
We have just loved being guided on these rides, even though they are hellishingly expensive ($AUD600/day) We don't regret one cent. The guides have value added to our experience enormously. We have loved getting to know these people too. Tom is probably early to mid 40's, mother Japanese and father English. He grew up in the UK. He is married to a Japanese woman and they have a 4 year old son. They decided to live in Mitarai and they have an online tea distribution business, a weekend tea rooms and Tom is a professional photographer. He also does cycling tours! They have lived in Mitarai for 10 years.
There are only 150 residents in Mitarai and 70% are over 75!
It is so sad to see so many of these properties deserted. The Government is doing all it can to revitalise these historic buildings. For example, the Government will pay 80% of the costs of external renovations if the reno's take the property back to its original condition.
We visited 3 of the 4 villages of Osakishimojima Island - Orcho, Kubi, Mitarai & Okitomo (didn't visit this last village). Orcho has terraced oranges trees and prior to the war supplied 40% of Tokyo's oranges. Citrus is big in this area. Older Japanese, well into their 80's still manage the steeply terraced hills growing citrus .
The community spirit in these villages is to be commended. We had lunch at one community initiative at Kubi called Mamena. The vision is to create a community without the need for nursing homes. They raise money for the community centre via their cafe. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of either pork or seafood, always with a bowl of soup and a bowl of rice.
After lunch we visited the fishing village ofToyohama on the Island of Toyoshima.
We took the ferry to Omishima where we are staying tonight. We went to a convenience store near the hotel and got some sushi, a custard each and some bananas which we are back at the hotel (with their complimentary wine). Cost $16 for our dinner! We think we might do this more often!
Tomorrow Ryu becomes our guide again for our last day of cycling these stunning islands.En savoir plus