Zero temples pilgramage of Shikoku

Last week I went on a road trip around Shikoku, Japan's fourth largest island. Shikoku is famous for the 88 temple pilgrimage which about 100,000 people do every year. I am not religious and have seen my share of temples and shrines in my three years in Japan (btw my favourite temple is Zenkoji in Nagano city) so I had no interest in that and saw zero temples on my trip.
I drove down avoiding the toll roads so it took 11 hours to get from Matsumoto to Kobe where I stopped for the night. The next day I drove across to Shikoku via the world's longest suspension bridge and Awaji Island to my first destination of Tokushima. I stayed at the marvelous Tokushima youth hostel. It's a wonderful place to stay; run by a lovely Japanese couple who have a yappy dog called Run and who's official job titles are "hostel parents". They act like parents and the 'mother' is a wonderful cook. The rooms and baths are traditional Japanese style and, best of all, the hostel has it's own beach. I highly recommend it.
I visited Tokushima at the right time to see cherry blossoms in bloom and saw some lovely views from Mt Bisan. I drove down the coast and saw a sea turtle museum in a small town called Hiwasa. I came too early in the year to see sea turtles laying their eggs on the beach unfortuately. I drove to the southern cape and got some great views of the Pacific Ocean and the wierd rocks and cliffs around.
Onward I went to Nao shima, an island that has become something of a living art gallery. In and amongst the town and the beaches of the Island are various art galleries. The giant pumpkin sculpture on a beach by Yayoi Kusama has become something of an icon of the island and is a wonderful sight to see.
My final destination was Chiiori in the middle of the Ina Valley, Japanese biggest. It is a 300 year old traditional Japanese thatched cottage that was bought and restored by American author Alex Kerr in the 70's. Incredably remote, 40 minutes by car to the nearest shop, and very impracticle to live in it is one of only a few surviving old thatched cottages in Japan. It was lovely to stay there. I worked in the garden, helped with dinner which the guests all ate around the fireplace in the centre of the house. I also visited a nearby onsen which has a funicular railway to take the guests up to the bath. The next day I was running low on money and so I spent the last of it on petrol to drive myself home and bridge tolls.
I clocked about 40 hours driving during the week. I visited many wonderful places and met some lovely people but my favourite part of the trip was the driving. The freedom of it all. The views. The Inland Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Naruto whirlpools, huge bridges, beaches, walking pilgrims, cliffs, statues, cherry blossoms, pirate themed restaurants, ships in the distance, surfers, farms, traffic, valleys, gorges, rivers, waterfalls, rusting abandoned cars, delapidated houses, money no object gleaming bridges, tunnels and roads, ridiculous love hotels and Pachinko parlours. And through it all my tiny Suzuki Alto never complained or let me down.