After yesterdays route problems everything was triple checked and Today was faultless. It was your standard sort if day 1st 20 miles - 1000 ft climb followed by a 2000 ft climb ! 2nd 20 miles - Descend fron the mountains 3rd 20 miles - Difficult urban roads It was a warm morning as I set off at 9:30 straight onto a climb whhch I breezed up and I was pleased to see today there was a sign of recognition at the top displaying an elevation of 717m. I reached a junction where I would turn left and onto the big climb - there were a few houses here but no obvious shops so I was right to have already bought lunch at a 7-11 in Hita. I passed the Sarutobi Sentsubo gorge which wasn't massive but was impressive looking with waterfalls and water polished boulders. Other than that it was just grind out the climb, I was up to 1500ft and had about 900 more to do feeling well but that last 900 ramped up and was tough, I took frequent stops and water intake each time. I had hoped to summit by 1pm which would be plenty time to do the last 40miles ... I was at the top at 12:45 All was good. A fast descent with wicked bends was real fun and at about 30 miles I reached the Irahara Dam and the drscent slowed, the main road started to get boring sweeping past lots of littke communitirs so I turned off at every opportunity and used quieter parallel roads passing through all the village life. Witb 25 mikes to go I passed a shrine - it was a nice place to stop for lunch and the chicken bento box I had bought hit the spot just fine. The kast 25 miles were awkward passing through the built up areas of Yukuhashi, Kanda, Kusami and Kitakyushu with an ever busier riad heading towards the Meraki Strait crossings. One last climb a d two tu neks brought me to the end of Kyushu, I was at the strait looking at a huge suspension bridge towering above which goes across to the big island Honshu. There was however a Pedestrian tunnel which I took across, it's much like the Tyne Pedestrian tunnel but it's much longer and was built 7 years after the Tyne Tunnel in 1958. You were also not allowed to ride so I gad to walk the 1280 m across. I was about to cycle off at the other side Shimonoseki, when a guy was shouting at me, apparently its 30 yen for a bike, even though you cant ride it ! I embarrassingly paid ! On the Shimonoseki side there is a snall park with a few canons and statues which commemorate the Dannoura Battlefield of 1185 which ended tge Genpai war. My garmin went haywire at this stage, probabky because of losing gps in the tunnel, but I knew my hotel The Grand was on the waterfront 1 mike west of the bridge so it was essily found. The Meraki Strait is about 10 miles long and 1mile wide and is a natural passage between the southern island of Kyushu and the middle island of Honshu and is a busy shipping channel connecting Tokyo, Osaka and the Eastern cities with the Yellow sea and Korea. Kyushu Stats ... 350miles 20906 ft elevation 45 Tunnels I have really enjoyed the 6 days cycling in Kyushu. it's a beautiful island almost tropical in the south. As a mark of respect I have writted the following Haiku クシュ、ああクシュ ここにいられた時間は短すぎた 君の美しさに感謝します Kushu oh Kushu My time here has been too short Thanks for your beauty