Ready to begin my route down south through Kyushu, the last region, I loaded up my bike and first detoured to the Oita Castle ruins. There I found this plant, and I stared at it for a minute thinking that there was no way anything like this is growing in Hokkaido. It served as a reminder of how far I have come! After exploring around the castle for a short while, I got back on the bike to head out, but my body decided that it needed a rest day. I ended up booking a room in the same hotel I stayed at the previous night to rest up for the final leg of the adventure.
Day 75 – Saiki, Oita
After my day of rest I was finally ready for real this time! My original plan was to go up to the mountains of Aso-Kuju National Park, but a severe headwind was coming from that direction so I rerouted to head directly south. It was still mostly a mountainous route that crossed over from Oita to Miyazaki Prefecture. This picture was taken near a lake formed by a dam, but there were a lot of really nice viewpoints along the way.
Day 76 – Hyuga, Miyazaki
Now in the penultimate prefecture, I cycled along the bright blue waters of the Miyazaki coast. I knew that Kyushu was more tropical than the rest of Japan, but I really was surprised by the number of palm trees along the route! Another thing to note is how lucky I’ve been with the weather. Ever since a rainy day coming into Okayama City nearly 10 days prior I’ve had nothing but clear skies and 70’s Fahrenheit (mid 20’s Celsius). The forecast is expecting this to continue for the rest of the trip!
Day 77 – Miyakonojo, Miyazaki
Yet another beautiful day with barely a cloud in the sky. With only limited time left before I have to leave for America, I decided to take the most direct route towards Cape Sata which involved going over some mountains. After coming down the other side, I was rewarded with views of Kirishima Kinkowan National Park. This region is really cool because there are relatively small mountains, but then these gigantic volcanos come up out of nowhere. In the evening I crossed over the border into Kagoshima, the last prefecture of the journey.
Day 78 – Shibushi, Kagoshima
With Cape Sata just out of reach for a day’s ride, I knew I would have to stop somewhere. I ended up stopping pretty early for a rest, but not before first taking a short detour to the 志布志市志布志町志布志の志布志市役所本庁志布志支所. For those that can’t read Japanese, it’s a city hall with the official name “Shibushi-shi Shibushi-chō Shibushi no Shibushi shiyakusho honchō Shibushi shisho”. With such a ridiculous sounding name I had to stop by for a picture.
Day 79 – Cape Sata, Kagoshima
This was it, the final day! Cape Sata, the southernmost point of the mainland of Japan, was approximately 60 km away from my hotel which is usually a pretty easy ride. However, reaching the cape involves going over a lot of steep hills and cliffs. Fortunately I found myself with a lot more energy than the previous day and was ready to give it my all to reach my final goal. It was a tough ride, but before I knew it Cape Sata was in sight! After taking some pictures I did a short hike to that observatory you can see in the distance on the right side before getting back on the bike to cycle 5 km back over the mountains to camp. To my surprise I saw John, one of the American cyclists I had met a week ago, camping at the same spot! We had the small campsite to ourselves and enjoyed the beautiful, light pollution free night sky before getting some much needed sleep.
Day 80 – Cape Sata, Kagoshima
I woke up just after sunrise to the sound of rain on my tent. After a continuous week of cloudless skies, it was refreshing to get a little rain! The sunrise was beautiful for just a moment before the sun hid behind the clouds. I packed up my things and began backtracking the route I took the previous day. From here I will make my way up to Kagoshima City for a little sightseeing before catching a flight home next week.
