The golf course to Hirono

The pricing for hotels on Booking.com, Trip.com, and Agoda is sometimes hard to comprehend. The price for the very ordinary Nomad Hotel was $15 Can. more than what we paid at the Golf and country club and this hotel included a lavish breakfast buffet . We can usually get a good deal if we use more than one online booking platform. Saturdays are another story with consistently high prices.

It has been lovely staying at the Onihama Golf course and Hotel. Our room suited us and gave us lots of space to relax and self cater lunch and dinner.

There are three wings of the hotel all facing the ocean.

We were given a covered area to park our trikes under cover near the area where guest’s golf bags were stored and then loaded into golf carts for their tee times.

Perhaps our next trip will be touring Japan on an electric golf cart.

Yes, he’s having fun, but his heart belongs to his trike.

It has been such a good experience staying here. As always the hospitality and personal service provided is excellent. We have said this before, but it is astounding how reasonably priced it can be. Getting a room like ours is under $100 incl. tax.

We could get used to this….the flowers planted along the road are so pretty and brighten your day.

This certainly doesn’t brighten our day but we will find a quieter route.

And as luck will have it, we found signs for a cycling route which offers infrastructure and good signage. We saw this sign and followed the route through most of the day. It was great.

We have to get through some industrial areas and traffic from the port, but the generous lane for bikes with the painted blue arrows on our lane kept us safe. However, we were surprised with the lack of traffic on the day that we rode this massive road.

We are pretty excited as this bike route seems to be following the sea. It is far better than what we could have come up with in making our own route.

This is the first Konbini where we could find this really good hot lemon drink with honey that we like. Yeah.

This man hole cover suits its location which is by the fishing port.

Really liked this manhole cover with its images representative of the coast like the lighthouse, gulls and the pounding surf.

The harbour has many types of fishing boats, from huge ocean going ships to smaller individually owned ships. This ship looks like it could be at sea for some time

What a sight to see these really big fishing vessels up close.

This goat was tied up right next to the route. It reacted the same way that many people react to us and our trikes. When Mary Ellen went by, the goat just stared and tried to figure out what we were all about. And then later when I came by the goat became even more curious and kept looking at Mary Ellen and then back at me. What a character.

Mary Ellen loves beachcombing for rocks and shells.

We watched this surfer walk and then swim into the heavy surf.

Mary Ellen particularly liked the red ones, a bit beaten up but an interesting colour.

This statue of a surfer looking out to sea is about being optimistic about the future but not forgetting the tragic past

Just below the lighthouse was a tribute to one Japan’s most famous singers.

Misora Hibari sang a song entitled, Shioyazki, that became a nationwide hit. This place is associated with Hibari. The monument has become a popular destination for fans. When you got within 1.5 metres from this monument a recording of her song would start. As we stood there people were singing along to the song.

Standing here we could feel the love and respect people continue to have for this icon. A number of people were lined up for their opportunity to have their photo taken with her commemorative statue. It was a somber and a joyous moment watching them pay their respects.

The song contributed greatly to the tourism in the city of Hikiwatari.

Massive sea walls like this were built all along the coast for hundreds of kilometres to protect people and property if another tsunami hits this area.

This is our first rest stop after almost 30 km. Fortunately, this excellent Michi-no-Eki (roadside rest station) had lots of choices of food as we were quite hungry, plus one could consider an alien’s costume.

Managing the power of the ocean and mother nature

There were five small restaurants serving a variety of food items

Mary Ellen had tempura with a spicy sauce

The Michi had a real sense of community with local schools creating interesting art

Touring this area, one is filled with different emotions. Sombre, in respect for the tragic impact of tsunamis in this area and awe at the natural beauty of the area.

Very cool! Rice made toothbrush is free as part of the amenities

A Lego creation is featured in the lounge of our hotel.

Free items that you can request for your room

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 1,589 km (987 miles)

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