26/05/2018 / Last updated : 19/03/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Esashi, Kaiyomaru then Hokuto　江差から北斗

Day 33, October 2016, Oshamanbe Park　長万部公園 Wake to another day of uncertain weather but it remains dry enough for us to breakfast next to the stream. We explore Oshamanbe Park finding signs of salmon in the stream some live and still more dead fish. Sadly the trail is closed with yellow do not enter tapes. Typhoon damage, presumably, has rendered it impassable or dangerous. The tent nearest to us on the river bank has a chimney smoking vigorously something I have never seen before. Unseki Pass Leaving Oshamanbe, we cross the mountains to the Japan Sea coast along route 277 through Unseki Pass. This proves to be a magnificent drive […]

18/05/2018 / Last updated : 19/03/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Michi-no-eki ‘Maoi no Oka’ to Lake Toya

Day 31, October 2016, Michi-no-eki ‘Maoi no Oka’ & ‘Salmon Park Chitose’ We wake to a rather cold morning but we used our new duvet for the first time and very warm it was. The michi-no-eki ‘Maoi no Oka’ is very busy. Cars are constantly pulling in from the main road to take advantage of the incredible vegetable market. Some of the produce on display is extremely large. Huge hakusai (Chinese cabbage), for example, but there are many other fruits and vegetables at what I believe are called “competitive prices”. We had noticed that the pressure looked a little low in the front nearside tyre and, as luck would have […]

04/05/2018 / Last updated : 05/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Mikuni Pass to Higashi-Daisetsu　三国峠から東大雪

Day 27, October 2016, Mikuni Pass We emerge into a windy but dry morning and decide to return to Sounkyo gorge to check the autumn colours. The day is fine but the closer we get to the mountains the more the weather deteriorates. It is very windy with frequent heavy showers. Numerous rainbows prop up the clouds for kilometer after kilometer as we skim along very straight roads boarded by mixed, but mainly birch, forests. It is all very pretty despite the muted autumn colours and the background threat of serious rain. That eventually envelopes us as we cross the Mikuni Pass, the highest road(R.273) in Hokkaido. The pass itself […]

02/05/2018 / Last updated : 05/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Lake Akan – Ainu art　阿寒湖

Day 26, October 2016, We return to Tsuruimura , there is no action at the bridge, but we can hear activity in the fields a bit further down the road. We drive a little and stop to take pictures of about 60 tsuru(Japanese crane) in a field just for the record. They are too far away for a real photo; just dots like sheep on a hillside. Tsuru viewed, we are off to Lake Akan having had enough wetlands. However, Lake Akan proves to be a big disappointment given its fame. Lake Akan & Ainu Kotan The dismay begins with eating a lunchtime sandwich, on a damp bench, looking out over […]

22/04/2018 / Last updated : 05/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Kushiro, Japanese Crane and Norokko train　釧路

Day 25, October 2016, Fox and Japanese Crane The damp of the previous evening lingers in a foggy morning with the sun trying valiantly to break through. I step outside but fail to locate one of my Crocs. This is indispensable footwear for this kind of trip where you are constantly stepping in and out of your vehicle. Thief in the night I had been warned, by various signs in the campsite, not to leave things outside as a couple of young foxes in the area were liable to make off with any item that took their fancy. Habits die hard however and, of course, I left my crocs outside […]

15/04/2018 / Last updated : 05/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Kiritappu – Kombu – Kushiro City　霧多布

Day 23, September 2016, Cape Kiritappu Wake up to a bright, sunny morning in Cape Kiritappu with panoramic views of the beautiful, blue bay dotted with small boats harvesting Kombu (Kelp seaweed). After breakfast (coffee, toast and yogurt – what else would you want?) We walk to a nearby lighthouse where the view of the ocean from the cliffs is magnificent. Rakko sighting – sea otter There are lots of cormorants and gulls but we are amazed to see a Sea Otter (Rakko). At first, we thought it was a seal but on closer inspection, through binoculars, we could clearly see it clashing shells together on its chest in classic […]

12/04/2018 / Last updated : 19/05/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Shunkunitai-Cape Nosappu-Cape Kiritappu　春国岱

Day 22, September 2016, Shunkunitai From Betsukai-cho we travel on to Shunkunitai. After parking in a nondescript car park, we find a nature centre hidden in the trees. It’s a tourist spot, but they don’t seem encourage casual visitors. At the nature centre, which has a view out over the salt marshland, we get directions on how to get to the place clearly visible below us. This clear, we retrace our steps, a little, and set out along the inevitable wooden walkway over the marsh. We have a large expanse of open water on our left and, across the sea of reeds and sandy scrub, to our right the sea itself. […]

11/04/2018 / Last updated : 19/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Notsuke Peninsula and Betsukai-Peat hot spring　野付半島

Day 21, September 2016, We breakfast and pack up as usual. We bid farewell to our Osaka gent but of our young cyclist there is no sign. His tent is tied up tight but, I suspect, it barely contains the raging hangover within. Notsuke Peninsula Leaving the Odaito fureai campsite, we drive a short distance to Notsuke hanto(peninsula) The drive along the peninsula is of some distance before we come to the barrier that is the limit of vehicular traffic. From the car park, we walk along the track with high reeds stretching out on either side. These reeds, for the most part, obscure the pools of brackish water. We […]