Unexpected addition to our itinerary, to try and avoid Tropical Storm Kong-Rey.

We were here last year and we met up with one of the local volunteer guides, Midori who we have kept in touch with. It was short notice but luckily Midori was free and offered to take us to her favourite places, as a friend as normally they are not allowed to use their own cars to transport visitors.

Midori collected us in her Suzuki box like car, very popular in Japan, surprisingly roomy interior and economical, as it is a hybrid. We set off for the Niyodo River, which has the clearest water in Japan and has its own colour named after it, Niyodo Blue. Our destination was the Nagoya Chinkabashi (Submersible) Bridge, which during flooding is fully submerged, but unless it is damaged by debris in the floods, becomes operational again, once flood waters receed. It’s only one car wide and there is the odd platform sticking out for pedestrians to avoid the cars. We saw a local fisherman on his way to his fishing spot.

Nearby you can get a pleasure boat along the river for an hour, to the bridge and back. We had lunch at the Nozo Cafe, overlooking the river, which is very popular with locals. Another beautifully set out Japanese meal of Ginger Pork for £12.50 for the 3 of us.

This area is where Midori’s family originates from, she is descended from a samurai who worked for the local Warlord, whose castle was on a nearby hill, only ruins remain now.

We set off then Makino Botanical Gardens, which are on Mount Godaisan, created by Dr Tomitaro Makino in 1958. The gardens are set out in a natural style, unlike a lot of gardens here, it also has a large conservatory (greenhouse). Dr Makino collected over 400k plant specimens, 45k books and gave names to over 1,500 plant species. It was a wonderful garden, with an exhibition at the centre of the work of its creator. The 1,400km Shikoku 88 Temple pathway, goes through the gardens and nearby we visited an Shrine No 31, Chikurinji Temple, which has a rare 5 storey Pagoda.

Last but not least a view of our ship from above, near the Kochi sign. Midori then dropped us off at the ship and we said our goodbyes until next time. We had a wonderful day with a wonderful lady and so unexpected.