Shodoshima Island.A must see!!!!!

[Nick]

Welcome to Shodoshima island.The second largest in the seto(inland)sea between Shikoku and the main Japanese island of Honshu.

A bloddy great Sudnay was had on the skywave!!!!! Best of all.You guys are invited to hop on the back for this wonderful tour,brought to you by SKYWAVE.

The day trip was as easy as cooking toast(I stuff that up sometimes).The expressway from Osaka to Okayama prefecture past Kobe and Heimji gets you to the ferry port in about 1 and half hours at 120km/h.The journey accross the sea to the island takes 50 mins.

Set back and scroll down to discover one of Japan's many isalands.

THE MAP

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Nickkyobashi/setosea.bmp

After a nice cruise down the Sanyo expressway,I arrived at the small ferry port of Hanase.Lined up and ready to go,the bikes for the journey to Shadoshima

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Here she comes.Nice and easy into the dock

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Ready to unload

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Some of the locals from the island off-loading for a day's fishing on the mainland.

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Tour buses,many of them,make the journey to Shodoshima island on day trips from Oskaka,Kobe,Okayama and cities on the island of Shikoku

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The back of the ferry.Ready for departure.

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Some of the tourists settling in for the 50 minute journey

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Hey fellas!!!! go easy!!!! its only 10 am in the morning.......I would be doing the same thing if I werent riding.

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The port of Hanase disapearing in the haze.The weather,although nice,wasnt the best for viewing long distances today.Its rice buring season in Japan.Alot of haze results from it.

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Nice homes by the water.All on a small island.If the haze werent there,it could be scene right out of Middle habour or Pittwater in Sydney.

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Family snaps.21st century style.Click and send anywhere in the world at that instant!!!!
The new phones have 3 million pixels now.Mine is very old,4 years,and is about 30 times less quality than the current models today.Considering I have a Cannon Coolpix 5600 I see no need to upgrade my phone.I plan to keep it and its crapy picture sending quality for sometime yet.

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Back trail,looking beyond to the mainland.I managed to fit in a few emails to family and friends on the phone while looking at this view.Just magic!!!!

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All the bikes tied up and ready for unloading

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Shodoshima island in the distance.Famous for the great views of the seto sea from its peaks,lots of monkeys and olive trees.

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First stop in Sadoshima.The stones that built Osaka Castle in the 1600s.From here they were quarried and then shiped by sea to Osaka.

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Welcome to Tonosho.The largest town on the island.Today was market day.

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Some of the locals cooking up some yukisoba.

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How about some local gyoza(Japanese style chinese dumplings for you non Japanese residents)

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Or some baby fish perhaps?

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Or maybe you will would like some.............dont know?

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Here is something I understand.What about some tasty cooking stoves :)

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Nice view with a bit of good old November haze.This picture was taken from the southern tip of the island.The light house does its job guiding ships in one of the world's busiest waterways.Ships from all over the world and within Japan use the inland sea to arrive in Kobe and Osaka,some of the biggest ports in the world.

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Olive trees.Plenty of these on the island.Just one picture to prove this to you.

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The village of Tanoura.Famous for the movie 'Twenty-four eyes',according to my trusty loney planet guidebook.Ive never seen or heard of this movie.But will make to effort to see it after visiting this village.Just magic!!!!!

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A street in the village.

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Feeding the carp fish.A popular pastime.

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The school where the movie was filmed

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THE BEST PHOTO FROM THIS TOUR !!!!!

taken from the village looking out to sea.

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Pogo man having a bit of fum amusing himself.We all have our ways of achieving that.

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The reason why Shodoshima and this village is famous all across Japan.The class from the movie.If anyone has seen this film please reply.I would like to know more about it.

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A bit of seaweed.Mmmm.It comes in so many different varties in Japan I couldnt possibly tell you what this type is.It smelt good!!!!

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Time to head to the mountainous areas of the island.Autumn has arrived in the higher altitudes.The topography rises 900m above sea level.Incredible for such a small island 15km long and about 10km wide.

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Im speechless!!!!!!!! Looking over the northern part of the Island

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Breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The southern side of the island.Monkey magic!!!!!!! Pigsy,Sandy and Tripatata would feel at home in this location.

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Same place.Different angle.

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One more time.Looking down at Ikeda.The second largest town in Shodoshima.900 m above sealevel

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I could of taken a thousand photos of the coastline.Most of you,who have seen my pictures,have seen it too many times.Here is a token shot of it with the skywave on Shodoshima just before arriving at the ferry port for departure.

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The skywave and other bikes lined up for the ferry.

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I love my skywave.But thats a bike!!!! look at it!!!! Im not sure what model it is.The label read 'American low rider'.Very nice.

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Some mini's.Alot of people in Japan collect and hot-up minibikes.

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On the ferry and back to the mainland.

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What a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to Osaka.

I hope you enjoyed anthoer tour of Japan.Brought to you by.......

SKYWAVE
I will go where you take me

[Vapour]

Hehe lucky Nick is back on 2 wheels :D I knew there were olive trees in Japan, thanks mate for providing evidence :cool: You're very skilled in picturing Japanese people :)

[Nick]

Hey Vapour.Nice to hear from you.How's Tokyo going?

Sorry about my long absence.Ive been up to other stuff and havent had too much time for the internet.

[Nick]

Im freezing my ???? off at the moment.Its so cold!!!!

Looking at this picture warms me up a bit

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[Vapour]

Okonomiyaki :drool:

[coldstar]

Nick san, It's always my great pleasure and amusement to see your wonderful tarvel photos !!

BTW, useful links about 二十四の瞳(Twenty-Four Eyes) I think all the Japanese know this famous story.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804814627/qid%3D1003261258/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/104-4981338-5465560

The movie of 'Twenty-Four Eyes' won the Golden Globe Award (Best Foreign Film) in 1954.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/04/33/twenty_four_eyes.html
synopsis
http://www.willamette.edu/~rloftus/24eyes.html

[cjfjapan]

Nick-san,
Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures...I spent a weekend hiking near Ooboke and Koboke in Shikoku a few years back, and your pictures made me very natsukashii--a stunning part of Japan--thanks again!

[Mackerel]

In this island, there is silver line noodle (very thin noodle)
1 kg flour becomes 1 km noodle.( at top quality )
And olive is famous in this ilands.

[P.T]

Looks like a really beautiful place. Great pics.

[citypia]

Lovely, lovely, lovely
Thanks for lovely trip here :)