The plan for the next two days was to visit Oshima Island and see it by bike. As we had caught the ferry the night before the ride started when we got off the boat… uncovered the bike and put the bags on… and cycled just far enough to eat breakfast.

Eventually we set off… and it was hilly within the first 2 minutes. I was at the back – I usually need 5km before I feel good on the bike (this is my excuse and I’m sticking to it).

After spending a good 30 minutes where Kym was fixing my bike (thanks again Kenneth..!), we cycled about 100 meters to one of the first planned stops. this is a natural phenomenon… and the path leads up to someone’s house. Now that’s what I call an entrance.

After spending time taking photos… we got back on our bikes and continued for another 20 minutes.

We stopped at the Camilla Park museum and zoo… as it was only 8:30, and the lunch place we planned go to knew was not opening until 12. Time feels slower when you are up at 5:25am. The Camilla museum had a very large number of preserved flowers on display- who knew there were so many! There was also a trunk of a camellia tree that had been 65+ years old. As it was still early we went to the zoo.

It was free to enter as it is funded by the local government. After a wander around we decided to head back get on the bikes and on the road.

It say it was hilly is an understatement… but when you are cycling to your accommodation you have your route and you just go. along side of the road were many trees and the ocean in the distance.

We stopped at a spot where you could walk to the dessert which was towards Mt Mihara. It is interesting to see the landscape change the closer you get towards the top as plants grow back. As it’s an active volcano (yes you read that correctly- but where isn’t in Japan..?) they have seismic monitoring equipment. The walk was a short 1.3+km nice to do for a change of pace.

Earlier we had decided to go to a local cafe near Habu port… and thankfully it was on the out of the town so we did not have to go down the hill (and back up after lunch. we got to the cafe around 1:15pm – and we were hungry.

The cafe was brilliant, the option for lunch was steak lunch set or chicken lunch set… and also was able to be paired with French press coffee (he thought coffee was better as French press to retain the oil).

The cafe itself was set up as part antique, part lounge, bar, coffee shop and played a mix of country and 70/80’s music. Such a good stop – we agreed the place was a real find! Well done Mayumi!

We left at 2:45.. and had to ride the 14km quickly to Montamachi Port to meet a taxi at 4:30 to take us to the accommodation. Given the hills we had encountered earlier we had our fingers crossed we would get there in time.

Along the route was this amazing feature – called the Great Road Cut. It was discovered when they were constructing the new road… and we came across it when the light was just perfect. I recall my geography lessons back in high school reading about these types of formations- but this was truly an amazing sight. We stayed to enjoy peace’s of the baumkuchen cake – which Mayumi had especially brought as a surprise for us. Oh it was delicious.

We did the last small hill and it was a smooth downhill ride to the port…. And we made it with 15 minutes to spare before the taxi was due to collect us.

While it was a very hard day on the bike (Strava tells me so) it was totally worth all the hill climbing for seeing amazing sights and having great experiences with friends on the Brompton.

Oh.. I forgot to mention the ride was 43+km with an elevation gain of 921 meters…