day 75 - okinawa
65 km - this is it for japan. if all goes well, i will hop on a ferry in an hour or so and arrive in taiwan tomorrow afternoon. please check out my taiwan blog from now on. BYE BYE JAPAN. you have been great.

75 days

5535 kilometres

day 74 - okinawa ferry to naha okinawa
10 km - from the ferry port to the best guesthouse in the world - base okinawa.

day 73 - yakushima to kagoshima
28 km - rode up a big mountain (kind of by accident) and saw some super waterfalls and big cedar trees. then hopped on the ferry back to kagoshima. tonight ill be on the ferry to okinawa. oh, the warmth.

day 72 - yakushima - kurie to miyanoura
72 km - no monkeys today, had a couple of hot spring baths instead.

day 71 - kagoshima to kurie (yakushima)
50 km - yakushima is apparantly world heritage wilderness. does that excuse the rude behaviour of a boy monkey who chased me down the road for interupting his love life? i mean, it is a road.

day 70 - kagoshima
by the way, after cape sata i had to ride back about 100 km to sakurajima, where i camped with a great view of the volcano and the city, kagoshima. today i arranged ferries and stuff. from here i will visit the mountainous jungle island yakushima, japan's first world heritage site, and then onto okinawa, ishigaki and taiwan.

day 69 - sata - cape sata - sakurajima
119 km - with only about ten km to the cape i felt no pressure. an easy (and sunny) morning to complete japan - north to south. just two km shy of the cape, a toll booth attendant had other ideas. "no bikes allowed", a sign apparently read. "you can get the bus", he said. "NO". i tried to get to the road another way, and while i managed on foot, it would have been near impossible to carry my bike up that route. i was about to head back, when plan C came into action. so i walked along the coast, over the rocks, just like on an aussie summer holiday, for about an hour, until i came to the real southern-most point of kyushu, and past where the road finished anyway.

I MADE IT - CAPE SOYA TO CAPE SATA -
after 2 months and 5000 km

day 68 - ebino kogen to sata
156 km - top speed 66.1 kph - average speed 25.6 kph - today i had planned a quite short ride to the west. i climbed a volcano in the morning, thinking i had a relaxing ride ahead of me for the afternoon. unfortunately, the wind had other ideas. before i knew it i was flying south, straight towards cape sata, my final destination for this ride. down from ebino kogen, i passed autumn leaves and boiling hot pools, hitting the coast of kagoshima bay in no time. the ride along the bay was flat and fast, and volcanic vistas made it a pleasure. i passed one campground and then another, wanting to make the most of the wind. darkness fell and i rode just a little bit more. found a lovely picnic ground not to far from cape sata.

day 67 - shiiba to ebino kogen
122 km - more fantastic kyushu nature, including deer, a japanese weasel! and two tanukis! up and down and up and down and then very up one last time to the 1200 metre ebino plateau and a cold and windy night. it was all made worthwhile but the amazed looks and smiles i got from the passing motorists, and by my odometer hitting 5000 kilometres in a stunning location.

day 66 - aso to shiiba
97 km- the centre of kyushu is very hilly. and starting to get quite cold. all day was up and down, up and down, until a random meeting with a friendly kiwi couple left me with a bed and a home cooked meal and a view of a very big dam. thanks anna and richard.
but go slow and take care, for the dangerous kyushu koalas are hungry this time of year.