Day 86 — Kumamoto to Kuchinotsu - Tom and Marilee Retire to the Road

November 27, 2025

Day 86 — Kumamoto to Kuchinotsu

Marilee here.

With both bikes now in good working order again, it was time to make a second attempt to leave Kumamoto. But first, breakfast! We are already making lists of the things we will miss when we leave Japan, and the hotel breakfast buffets that we’ve been enjoying so often and so extravagantly are pretty high on the list (just under “onsens”, actually).

We filled up, packed up, and hit the road with an hour or so to spare before our ferry to Shimabara was due to leave. Shimabara is a city on the eastern side of the peninsula below Nagasaki, and from there we planned to cycle around to the western side and begin some island hopping south for a few days before heading inland again towards Kagoshima, the Kyushu end point of our north-south odyssey.

It was 15km to the ferry terminal, some of it through town on little back streets, but then a long way on the highway, climbing up overpasses and along deserted roadside bike paths.

Finally, we made it to the terminal and were able to board almost right away. This ferry was one of the fancier that we’ve been on so far, like a mini cruise ship with a real 80’s vibe, with wicker furniture to lounge on and bestrewn with Christmas decorations. And unguarded outlets! Since we would be camping for several nights we were already on the hunt for power sources at every opportunity. We also got in the cruise ship spirit and treated ourselves to coffee and pastries, as though we hadn’t just been pigging out at the breakfast buffet an hour earlier.

Snazzy ferry furnishings and decorations.

After relaxing on the ferry most of the morning we were eager to get going and headed off through town, picking up some lunch supplies on our way at a combini. It wasn’t long before we became aware of the environmental condition that would dominate our day: WIND. A strong gusty headwind that at times turned unpredictably and alarmingly into a strong gusty sidewind that did its best to push us into traffic along the narrow coastal roads. We didn’t have a lot of mileage to cover for the rest of the day, thankfully, but every kilometre was a struggle against that wind.

We passed this fellow tucking into a bowl of noodles outside a government building in Shimabara. A local mascot?

Taking shelter from a sudden brief squall.

After the rain: fishing boats in late afternoon sun.

A rainbow over the ocean after the sudden storm ended.

The wind brought clouds and sun in quick succession all afternoon.

The powers that be in Shimabara were building a cycle path along a disused rail line, part of an extended route that will eventually loop the peninsula. It will be amazing once it’s finished. For now, it’s in bits and pieces — and so new that it didn’t show up on any of our navigation apps. We jumped on it when we could and would follow it for a few kilometres, enjoying the velvety brand new paving, until it would abruptly end and we’d have to find our way back to the highway. Then we’d spy it again later, and hop back on. This went on for much of the afternoon, a little game to distract us from the killer headwind.

We had lunch inside, out of the wind, at a disused rail station along the cycle path.

And this fellow, also pretty thoughtful, on the side of a factory chimney.

By the time we arrived at our seaside campsite it was almost sunset, and the wind was howling. The campsite was a narrow slice of ground between the beach (which was being pounded by huge surf) and some rather decrepit looking condos across a narrow road. We positioned the tent in the most sheltered spot we could find, tucked behind some bushes, and did our usual — headed off to the nearest onsen for a nice end of day soak. In this case the onsen was in another apparently empty hotel, being run by one pleasant elderly lady who was very happy to see us and show us to the onsen changing rooms. Once again we had private spa experiences!

Then we headed back out into the wind to cook dinner and hunker down for the night. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach sent us to sleep.

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 4,326 km (2,686 miles)

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