Over the last 1000 years, walking wasn’t the only mode of transport used by pilgrims. The Shingu river provided an alternative mode of transport, and as a break to our hike (and to allow Claire’s brother to join us for the last day’s hike) we had booked a traditional boat trip down the river. Unfortunately concerns regarding the typhoon of the night before had caused our trip to be cancelled, which meant we had a bit of a hole in our itinerary.
We decided to head straight into Shingu (where we would be staying that night) to drop off our bags and head to the tourist information centre to look at some options for the day. Having missed out on our boat trip (and given that it was now a beautifully sunny day) Claire was still keen to try and get out on the water so we focused our search on locations where watersports might be possible for that afternoon. We settled for a trip south along the coast to Kushimoto at the very southern tip of the Kii Peninsula which we had heard had a stunning coastline, and offered canoeing along a nearby river along with bike hire.
On the train journey there, we realised just how stunning this coastline was (why don’t more people rave about Japan’s coast?) and scrapped our canoeing plans in lieu of hiring electric bikes (it was very hot by this point and the coastline was hilly, plus they were the only option at the station) and heading out for a spin. It turns out that electric bike are one of the best things that have ever been invented; you can zoom uphill as well as down and trick yourself into thinking you’re an elite cyclist!
Our route took us past Shionomisake-todai Lighthouse and the most southern point of Honshu island (the main island of Japan). We looked out across the pacific to try and spot the next landmass (Papua New Guinea a mere 3,020 miles away) but could quite make it out!
The cliffs and rocks along the shoreline were spectacular and it felt like we had the whole peninsular to ourselves. As we sat having our lunchtime picnic we spotted a loop-the-loop bridge connecting Kiio Island to the mainland which we then had to go over of course!
Our detour to the bridge left us with just enough time to go to the incredible Hashigui Rock formation that you can walk out to at low tide, when we happened to visit, before catching a train back to Shingu to meet David (Claire’s brother) and Alicia (his girlfriend).
After a quick trip to the Kumano Hayatama Taisha temple (our second of the three main Kumano temples), we spent the evening catching up and sharing travel tips, watching rugby and preparing for our final day of the Kumano-Kodo trail.
Claire and Gareth go travelling! 