Minami to Ozaki

The Sunline Road

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the sunny backyard of our little cottage before heading off around 9am.  We stopped at the Tsunami Evacuation Area to admire the well-constructed concert structure and the views across the Hiwasa hilltops and up to the castle perched above the town

Our route took us towards the harbour where the coastguard was heading out of the bay and then we headed uphill along the Minami Awa Sunline Road.

 It was a long steady hill with a 9% gradient culminating in Observatory Number 1 with sensational views out to the islands of Kainagejima, Oshima, Syo Tsushima and Tabajima (which you can visit by ferry from Mugi).  The road continued to undulate and we stopped at Obervatories 2, 3 and 4, each with stunning views.  I saw a monkey soon after Observatory 3 but he disappeared as the others approached.

It took about 2.5 hours to cover the 18kms to Mugi, and admired its pretty bridge decorated with birds.  Simon navigated us through the back streets to the Alice cafe where we stopped for a rather late morning coffee and cake.  Both the coffee and cake were pretty ordinary, but an older woman brought us out little pots of persimmon mousse (made from the local produce) which were absolutely delicious,

There was no wind and the sun was quite warm as we cycled along the shoreline.  It was tempting to stop for a swim, but our slow morning meant that we had to push on.

We crossed another lovely bridge at Kaiyo, this one decorated with fish and decided it was time to look for a place for lunch.  We spotted a Fresh Food market and thought that might have some interesting options, then Julie spotted an Okinomiyaki Restaurant called Carrot with a flashing yellow light, so we knew it was open.  Three of us opted for the seafood option, whilst Simon had a mix of shrimp, squid and pork.  We were given a bowl of batter and cabbage which we mixed together, ensuring the egg was well beaten through, before pouring it onto the pre-heated grill.  The owner showed us what to do, announcing “Challenge, Challenge” every time we had to take the next step.  Batter poured, we waited for one side to cook, then had to flip it.  We took it in turns to follow the three steps: lift the pancake, move it towards you, then flip it over. It caused much amusement, with other diners laughing at our efforts. 

The finished pancake was topped in a delicious sauce and looked enormous.  A morning of hilly cycling meant that we had worked up an appetite, and we had no trouble eating our efforts.  We also tried a Sudachi soda which was equally delicious. A speciality of the Tokushima prefecture, the Suduchi is a small, round, green citrus fruit and made for a very refreshing drink.

By the time we left it was 2:30 and we had another 33kms to cycle.  Fortunately the terrain, whilst undulating, was much easier than the morning, and we enjoyed the short tunnels that helped us avoid the worst of the hills.  We took a detour along a newly painted green line to discover a quaint little fishing town before rejoining the main highway 55.  The last 25kms hugged the coastline, with the road carved into hills that dropped into the sea. 

We reached the little town of Sakihamacho around 4:30 and stopped off at a convenience store for a quick refreshment before riding the last 3.5kms to our accommodation at Minishuku Tokumasu on Ozaki Beach. We were greeted by one of the owners who said she had started to worry when we hadn’t arrived by 5pm - we were only a few minutes late.  There was a little ramp to help us take our bikes into the storage space and a special spot to hang our helmets. 

We were given a brief tour of the guesthouse and shown to our rooms and advised it was our time to have a bath.  The bathrooms had showers and a little bath which was most welcome after a long days cycling. 

We had a beer before dinner dressed in our yakuta and put our clothes onto wash before heading to the dining room for another amazing meal.  The centrepiece was black fish accompanied by tuna and two other types of sashimi, a taro root salad, other veggies and some beautiful vegetable tempura which went well with the local salt.  Simon poured the tea and we ended our meal chatting to a young French girl who was doing the Henro Pilgrimage around Shikoku with her partner.