May 31, 2017
Kunimi to Matama Beach: An unexpected act of kindness.
After spending some time doing some work admin and getting my journal up to date, we left the Youth Hostel at about eight o’clock and setoff in the direction of an onsen about 18 Kms away. The road to the onsen was through lovely countryside – forests, rice paddies and general farming. It felt good to be out in the country again and the climb of almost 200m went almost unnoticed. The onsen attendant was a very friendly chap who chatted to us enthusiastically when we arrived. We chose this particular onsen because it had outside pools. It was also nice and quiet with only a handful of local folk using it. Afterwards we cycled back down to the coastal enjoying the long downhill.
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While cycling towards Bungo Takada a car stopped in front of us. It was the wife of the onsen attendant and her young son. her husband had called her on her mobile phone to tell her to keep a lookout for us. We have found the folk on Kyushu to be incredibly friendly and have heard more English spoken here than anywhere else so far.
After about 40 kms we reached the outskirts of Bungo Takada and we stopped at a 7-11 for some lunch. While we were eating outside, a Japanese couple a few years older than us came over to talk to us. To cut a long story short, they insisted we turn back in the direction from which we had cycled to spend the night with them at their home at Matama Beach. Mikio and Toshie retired to Kyushu from Hiroshima 3 years ago and lived in a lovely house overlooking the sea just south of the beach. Mikio, who is about fifteen years older than me, was incredibly young at heart and Toshie, a few years younger than him, was incredibly bubbly and full of energy. Mikio was leaving for eastern Russia in ten days time for what seemed to me another of many motorcycling touring holidays that he enjoys doing. Toshie was staying at home to look after their two Russian Wolfhounds (Borzoi) – Anthony and Barbara.
After some iced tea, they bundled us into their car and took us off to another onsen up in the mountains – two onsens in one day ! This one also had outside pools and Mikio and I enjoyed the men's outside pool while we chatted on a variety of subjects relating to Japan. Once back at there home and it had cooled down enough to take the dogs for a walk, we wandered down to a beachside restaurant for a lovely supper followed by digging for pencil bait (Ensis sp. - razor clams) on the beach. Once back at the house Leigh and I crashed – it had been a full and active day for us.
Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 1,121 km (696 miles)
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