しまなみ海道(二日目)ーShimanami Kaido - Day 2

しまなみ海道(二日目) － Shimanami Kaido Day 2

Got up at 5:30 to catch the 6:40 ferry. It's only a 2 or 3 minute (about 300m) walk from the car park to the terminal. It's another stunning morning.Today's plan is to catch the ferry to Onomichi, catch another ferry across to Mukaishima Island, then ride my bike to Sunset Beach, Ikuchishima Island and then back to my car. About 40km. Along the way I want to stop at Mt. Shirotaki on Innoshima Island and climb it. I eat a banana and head over to the ferry.
6時40分の渡船に乗るため、5時半に起きた。駐車場から乗場まで歩いて２分か3分しかかからない。300メートルほどある。また素晴らしい天気です。今日は尾道まで渡船に乗って、向島までもう一つの渡船に乗って、そして生口島のスンセットビーチまでサイクリングして、車に戻った。約40キロメートルでした。途中因島にある白滝山に登った。バナナを食べて渡船乗場に向かう。

2nd night's car park. My dark blue hotel. 二日目の駐車場。私の紺色ホテル。

Ferry from Setoda, Ikuchishima Island to Onomichi 生口島瀬戸田から尾道までの快速船

Ferry terminal 渡船乗場

Ferry 渡船

You can take your bike on this ferry. There is no need to book it and you just need to get on a few minutes before it leaves and pay the guy when he comes to collect the fare. It takes 39 minutes to Onomichi and stops in front of the train station. It cost me ￥950 (￥800 per person plus ￥150 for a bike). The ferry timetable is HERE (in Japanese).
この渡船に付加料金で自転車を持ち込んでもいいです。予約する必要がないです。出発する数分前に乗ったらいいで、船内で運賃を支払う。尾道駅前まで39分がかかる。運賃は￥950です(一人￥800、自転車￥150。）時間表はここ

From Onomichi to Mukaishima Island 尾道から向島へ

There are apparently 3 ferries to take people across the short stretch from Onomichi to Mukaishima Island. It takes a few minutes. The one I got on left from right beside the ferry that I'd just got off. It was called 'Ekimae-tosen' literally in front of station ferry. It cost ￥110. Very easy and very convenient.
尾道から向島まで渡船が三つあるみたい。片道は数分かかる。私が乗ったのは先ほど降りた渡船のすぐ隣でした。「駅前渡船」という渡船でした。運賃は￥110でした。

Video - Mukaishima Island　 ビデオ- 向島

Innoshima Bridge - 因島大橋

Innoshima Bridge is unique along Shimanami Kaido for being a double tiered bridge. The main highway is above and mopeds, bikes and pedestrians go underneath. It is a suspension bridge, opened in 1983 and is 1,270 meters long.
因島大橋は二段建構造としてしまなみ海道のユニークな橋です。上は高速道路で、下は原付と自転車と歩行者のためです。1983年に開通された吊橋で、長さは1270メートルです。

Toll gate 料金所

Video - Innoshima Bridge　 ビデオ- 因島大橋

Innoshima Island - 因島

Some of the sights just down from the bridge .因島大橋の近くに見えるもの。

Mt. Shirataki & 500 Buddha's Statues - 白滝山と五百羅漢

Sign from cycling road pointing to mountain path entrance. サイクリング道にあった表示。

Mountain entrance car park 登山口駐車場

To top: 520m. Takes 25 minutes from mtn entrance. 登山口から

Temple gate

Gate Guardian

There is a 360° panorama view from the top of the 227 meter high Mt. Shirataki, and the 500 Buddha statues make it a must to go up. There is no entrance fee. There are 2 routes up. One is by road from near Innoshima Bridge cycling entrance to near the top, where it is a very short but a little steep climb up some stone stairs to the top. The other is to climb up a 520 meter path from Innoshima Flower Center, which in my mind seemed the more interesting option. I planned to leave my bike at the bottom, but I ended up carrying it up the hill with me. After cycling about 100kms in the last couple of days it was a bit of a crazy thing to do, but at least I knew my precious bike was safe. It reminded me of Mt. Yuragadake. Each statue is said to have a different face. They were carved by Denroku Kashihara at the end of the Edo Period (1603 - 1868). After almost dying, he decided to carve them and apparently bowed three times after each chisel stroke.
標高227メートルの白滝山の頂上から360°の素晴らしい眺めが楽しめる。上まで道が二つある。一つは頂上の近くまで行く道路です。この道路の入口は因島大橋のサイクリング道の出入口の近くにある。もう一つのは尾道市因島フラワーセンターからの登山道です。登山道は面白そうだったので、そっちを選んだ。自転車を下において登る予定だったけれど、結局自転車を運んでいた。こういうことをするのが大丈夫かどうかわからなかったけれど、大事なマウンテンバイクは無事だったということで安心できた。この時、由良ヶ岳を思い出した。(笑）

Innoshima Flower Center
Innoshima Flower Center has about 95,000 flowering plants, including rare and new ones.

500 Buddha Statues
From the mountain gate to the top peak 700 statues that were made up to 420 years ago line the path. It is said that one of these Stone Buddhas definitely has a face that resembles yours. 

Lookout Rest Area
From the lookout, the beauty of the many islands of the Inland Sea comes leaping up at you from below. Poet Yoshii Isamu wrote about this beauty 「白滝の山に登れば眼路広し、島あれば海、海あれば島」( I'm no poet, but a literal translation is, 'A wide field of vision if you climb Mt. Shirataki, if there are islands there is sea, If there is sea there are islands')

At the top 頂上

360° panorama photo 360°パノラマ写真

Temple Bell

Mt.shirataki 白滝山

Video - Mt. Shirataki & 500 Buddha Statues ビデオ - 白滝山と五百羅漢

Ikuchi Bridge - 生口橋

Video - Ikuchi Bridge　 ビデオ- 生口大橋

Ikuchishima Island - 生口島

Kosanji Temple looks quite interesting, but at ￥1,200, quite expensive. Information in English can be found HERE.
耕三寺は面白そうけれど、￥1,200でちょっと高いかな。耕三寺ホームページ - 

Across from the Temple gate 耕三寺前

Kosanji Temple 耕三寺

From Setoda to Sunset Beach 瀬戸田からスンセットビーチへ

Video - Riding along Ikuchishima Island's Coast ビデオ - 生口島の海岸をサイクリングする

Lunch at Sunset Beach. Deep fried prawn set menu. ￥800. スンセットビーチで昼食にエビフライ定食をたべた。

From here I rode back to my car. In one and a half days I rode 120 km and climbed one mountain carrying my bike up. I had an fantastic trip. I recommend Shimanami Kaido to anyone. ここから車に戻って全部で40キロメートルぐらいサイクリングした。1日半で120キロメートルを走って自転車の運びながら一つの山に登った。満足です。しまなみ海道を皆様にお勧めます。

On my map I saw a place on the other side of the island called 'Citrus Park Setoda', so I drove over to check it out. It's a place where you can learn all about citrus fruit. And there are a lot of varieties around the world.
生口島の東南側に「シトラスパーク瀬戸田」というところがあって見に行った。ここではシトラスについて学べるみたい。世界でシトラス類が多いですよね。