Following on from A 2,000 km Year-End Road Trip in a Porsche Boxster 【Day 3】, my husband has written about Day 4. We hope you enjoy reading it.

Boxster, Day 4

Our trip with the Boxster was nearing its end. Perhaps it was because yesterday we tackled the terrifying Route 265—a notoriously narrow, hard-to-drive road—but I think I slept exceptionally well.

Today, we planned to explore the Satsuma Peninsula, so we set off from the hotel. Our first destination was the Ibusuki Skyline, known locally as “Ibuska.” I have a vague memory of driving it in an Audi TT nearly 20 years ago—or maybe I didn’t. Either way, it was one of those legendary roads I was determined to revisit.

We headed south on K36 via R328, joined the expressway at Kagoshima IC, and continued toward the Ibusuki Skyline.

Ibusuki Skyline

We turned south onto the Ibusuki Skyline at Taniyama IC. Traffic thinned out almost immediately, and soon it felt as though we had the road to ourselves—just me and the Boxster. I blipped the throttle, matched the Boxster’s rhythm, and let out the clutch. First, second, then third.

I pressed the world’s most wonderfully controllable brakes, slowing exactly as I’d imagined as I approached the corner.

I dropped it into second, blipped the throttle, and let out the clutch. Once again, my timing was perfectly in sync with the Boxster, and the downshift landed beautifully. It was one of those moments when the Boxster felt like a living thing—a true partner. I wasn’t simply driving the Boxster anymore. We were driving together.

That’s why I can never get enough of the Boxster.

The Ibusuki Skyline was even better than I’d imagined. If this isn’t a legendary driving road, what is? It’s wide, with excellent pavement, and a succession of medium- and high-speed corners, along with plenty of elevation changes, makes it an absolute joy to drive. The Porsche came alive after spending too long cooped up.

As we continued south along the long Ibusuki Skyline, Mount Kaimon came into view. Its beautifully symmetrical cone was a sight to behold, so we decided to take a detour. Along the way, we stopped at Lake Ikeda, famous for “Issie,” a lake monster said to live there. I’d heard about the lake on the news as a child, and it was a revelation to realize this was the very place.

By this point, the temperature had climbed considerably. Even though it was the end of December, the Boxster’s outside temperature gauge showed 18–20°C. The warm air and fragrant breeze felt like spring, with a distinctly tropical atmosphere.

When we arrived at Mount Kaimon, we found the Kaimon Sanroku Nature Park. Apparently, the toll road climbing the mountainside takes you as far as the area around the third station. I asked the attendant whether we could drive all the way around the mountain, and he advised us: “The road on the south side is narrow, so I wouldn’t take a nice sports car like yours down there.”

It wasn’t part of the plan, but we paid the toll and drove up Mount Kaimon instead. Past the toll booth, Tokara horses were grazing freely in several spots. This wasn’t a road that tempted you to put your foot down; with scenery this beautiful, it felt like the perfect toll road for a relaxed cruise.

We pulled over at several viewpoints to take a break. We passed a few groups of tourists, but for the most part, the place was quiet and peaceful.

Leaving Mount Kaimon behind, we headed west along the Nansatsu Panorama Line. The road runs straight through the countryside, making for a wonderfully relaxing drive. The Boxster is probably better suited to a winding road, but there’s something special about cruising along a straight stretch like this with the top down.

The area is crisscrossed by regional farm roads, which should appeal to anyone who enjoys long, straight roads.

We should have made more stops along the way, but the road was so enjoyable and traffic so light that we got carried away and covered more ground than planned. We headed north again on K262, then took another run along the Ibusuki Skyline.

The road was simply too much fun to resist, so we changed our plans and drove it back the other way. It made me want to come back and drive it in a GT3, too. This is a truly outstanding driving road—and at just 100 yen for the toll, it’s an absolute bargain.

I’d happily pay around 4,000 yen to drive it! That’s how good the Ibusuki Skyline is.

We stopped at a few of the viewpoints along the way. Sakurajima, which had been obscured by clouds earlier in the morning, was now peeking out. It had been a while since I’d seen the volcano, and it seemed to radiate an incredible sense of power and presence. As we took in Sakurajima’s imposing silhouette, I prayed for a safe journey and prosperity in the years ahead.

After that, we cruised along the expressway with Sakurajima to our right. We’d had a full and rewarding day behind the wheel, so we headed to the hotel a little early, driving the Boxster toward Miyakonojo, where we’d be staying that night.