animal guard dolphin
29/07/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Tsugaru Peninsula　津軽

Day 40, October 2016, Today we will tour the Tsugaru Peninsula. There was rain in the night or rather early this morning but my nocturnal peregrinations were not inconvenienced. This morning, there are many camper vans in the car parks. One of them is especially swish and I see some people get the guided tour. We have can coffee and left-over bread. This is the first time we have not been fully prepared for a meal. D. wants to wait until the michi-no-eki vegetable stalls open so we hang around. I walk across the road over to the sea. There is a small, pointed island with the ubiquitous shrine just […]
Historical area in Hakodate
10/06/2018 / Last updated : 06/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Northern Fisheries Museum and Hakodate town walk　函館

Day 37, October 2016, The morning breaks cold and damp but the weather is fine as we eat breakfast with a superb view of Hokuto and the sea. By the time we finish and are preparing to pack up, very ominous clouds appear over the mountains. Within 10 minutes, it is pouring with rain. We delay the clearing up and packing and wait for the worst to blow over. Eventually we check out of the Kijihiki campsite and descend into Hakodate but it is raining solidly again, so we go to an art museum. This is very disappointing, as the exhibition is very small and of limited interest. A few […]
animal guard at construction site
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 […]
Historical Village of Hokkaido
12/05/2018 / Last updated : 05/02/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Historical Village of Hokkaido and Sapporo Beer Museum 北海道開拓の村

Day 29, October 2016, Wake to a cloudy morning but we prepare and eat breakfast outside before the rain starts in earnest. My back is still bothering me so, to be on the safe side, I pass packing up the bedding duties to D.. I take over the mopping the condensation from the windscreen task from her. We are not sure why the windscreen is so prone to condensation. It has a silvered, quilted cover, in common with the other widows, which are essential for this kind of travel. Commercial products ,for most vehicles that you are liable to sleep in, are available, but they are pricey.  D., being practical, […]
rainbow Shihoro town
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 […]