Shimanami Kaido cycling

We were up pretty early to get organised for our cycling trip. After breakfast from our favourite little bakery, we organised our luggage transfer to our next hotel at Setoda Port on Ikuchijima Island.

We went to the bike rental company, and they are very organised with QR codes to assist with booking in English. Unfortunately, the choice of bikes was limited, but Gayle got a bike with a basket, and I got a medium-sized cross bike (a hybrid) - my bike was a bit small 😳 It could have been worse; I saw this guy that was like 6"4 on a medium sized bike and he looked super uncomfortable.

The first stop was to take a ferry to Mukaishima Island; we cycled around the coastline until our first bridge. You wind your way slowly up the hill to get on the bridge; it's actually a cycle and pedestrian bridge underneath the motor vehicle bridge. They're so clever here.

We then cycled through the middle of Innoshima Island to bridge no.2, taking us to Ikuchijima Island. It was cloudy but still hot, and we stopped multiple times to load up on water. We rode along the coastline to our destination for tonight, Setoda Port. We dropped our bike at the drop-off centre at the Tourist Information centre and wandered along the main shopping street - the place is small, it was the shopping street!

We were able to check-in to our hostel - yep, I booked us into a one-star hostel😄 and laid down to recover. Our bottoms are a little tender as we haven't ridden in a little while. We had a couple of beers at the hostel lounge in the arvo to rehydrate.

Our bags arrived right on time at 6pm; I was a little nervous about the whole luggage transfer process 😬

With fresh clothing, we headed out to a nearby okonomoyaki restaurant, continuing our pursuit of the perfect okonomoyaki. We had a seafood okonomoyaki, and it was very good - the restaurant was very local and filled up with locals during our time there. I also tried a local lemon beer, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We then went to Bar Ochi, which was just around the corner; a lovely little bar run by an older gentleman. We had a lovely chat in broken English and enjoyed a couple of cocktails.

It's time for me to climb up into my bunk bed - living life on the edge.Læs mere