So far during our trip around Hokkaido we have been travelling with our awesome housemate, Marie, who just happens to be Japanese (major advantage!). But today we said goodbye to Marie and have began the next leg of our adventure on our own. We suddenly realised we should have spent the past 4 months more wisely, as our Japanese is extremely basic, consisting of: Good morning, excuse me, please, thank you, 2 more beers please, can we get the bill, delicious!, and goodnight. But I’m sure we will survive!

First stop, Lake Toya. It was a lovely morning, and quite warm (around 5 degree I think – which feels very warm to us!). However, it wasn’t super clear, with a haze around the mountains. This was a shame because the view of Mount Yotei and surrounds from across the lake would have been quite breathtaking I imagine. Having said that, Stephen and I really enjoyed the peace and calm and sat next to the lake taking it all in for quite some time.

Something I’d like to point out is that the local prefecture council have installed 58 (I think) different sculptural artworks around the lake edge. We didn’t see all of them, but what a great initiative!

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Next stop, Noboribetsu area. We had been recommended to check out Hell Valley (Jigokudani). It reminded me of Rotorua, smelling strongly of sulphur(?), but it was still really interesting to see and the walks around the surrounding area were lovely.

So here’s some fun facts about the Noboribetsu area…
– Hell Valley is about 6kms inland from Noboribetsu city in the river valley in a smaller town called Noboribetsu-onsen.
– Onsen is the Japanese term for hot spring and the town has a range of onsen for bathing, which are all fed by Jigokudani.
– 850 m above sea level, Hell Valley was given the name Jigokudani because of the steam from the hot spring that rises up everywhere along the vertical cliffs (similar to hell?). This is very unusual for Hokkaido, and attracts a lot of tourists year round.
– The surrounding natural environment is also very unusual, and is covered in snow for almost one-third of the year. The snow was melting while we were there, with some parts still quite deep, and other parts completely melted away.
– There is a large lake/pond called Oyunuma, a sulfureous pond with a surface temperature of 50 degrees Celsius and a smaller, even hotter, mud pond nearby.
– From the lake flows the Oyunumagawa river, which remains hot for quite a long distance.

The best part of our day was finding this river and making our way to a place where we could take our shoes off and put our feet into the hot flowing water. Pretty fun (once you get over the horrid smell).

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Bye for now.
M & S.

We spent yesterday afternoon and evening and most of today exploring Hakodate and I love it! It’s such a cool city with a great vibe. There is so much history and culture, and although it is a big city, it feels different to other cities around Hokkaido we have visited so far.

Here’s a run down on all things Hakodate:

1. Goryokaku.
   Goryokaku is a star shaped fort in the heart of Hakodate. It was designed in 1855 by and Japanese man named Takeda Hisaburo. His plan was based on the work of a french architect whose name I have forgotten already. It was purposely designed and built like a five-pointed star to allow greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and to reduced the number of blind spots where cannons could not fire. Clever.
   We went to the top of a purpose built tower to look over the Hakodate city-scape and see Goryokaku from above, which was really interesting.
   
   

   The tower

   

   

   The star-shaped fort viewed from the tower (as you can see most of the snow has melted here and the ground is recovering from the winter).

   

   In springtime (not our photo)

   

   Hakodate

   

   Spring is almost here!

    

2. Mount Hakodate ropeway.
   After we checked into our hotel we walked to the ropeway that takes you to the top of mount Hakodate. The view from the top was great at night, with all of the city lights sparkling and reflecting on the water.

   

3. Hakodate Morning Markets (Fish markets).
   We got up early and walked down to the fish markets. It wasn’t quite as big as Stephen and I were expecting, but there was still lots of fresh seafood available. We didn’t spend too long here (once you’ve seen one squid you’ve seen them all), so here are a few photos of the sorts of things you can find here.
   

   

   BIG crabs

   

   clams

   

   filleted fish

   

   squid, squid, suid

   

   giant octopus

   

   sea urchins

   

   check out those tentacles!

   4. Motomachi area.
   Motomachi was the first area really to flourish after Hakodate started foreign trading. This led to the Western-influenced streetscape which remains now. With sloping streets offering views of the port and western-japanese fusion buildings such as foreign churches and old consulate buildings, we really enjoyed our leisurely stroll around the area.

   

   

   British consulate

   

   The founding fathers of Hakodate city’s design and layout

   

   Old Branch Office of Hokkaido Government

   

   Former public hall

   5. Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse area.
   Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse was the first commercial warehouse built in Hakodate. It now houses over 50 restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops. It’s located down at the wharf near the dock and it has a cool funky vibe.
   
   You’re all Hakodate experts now. So let’s re-cap with these cute little tourist photo boards (note how Stephen is not in any of them! haha).
   M.

It’s spring, and the snow is starting to get slushy in Niseko. Stephen and I both have the entire weekend off so I really wanted to make the most of it and go to another mountain. Stephen went to Rusutsu earlier in the season but I’m still yet to have gone, so off to Rusutsu we go. We hired a car and Sam and Zane, a kiwi couple we’ve made friends with, came along with us, as did Marie.

It was such a fun day. Rusutsu is a huge resort! During the summer there is a theme park with ferris wheel, rollercoaster and huge water park area. But during the winter there are 2 main mountains, so the options for skiing and snowboarding are endless. We spent most of the day on one mountain and at about 2pm we moved over to the other. Stephen and Zane enjoyed spending time in the park, practicing jumps, while Sam, Marie and myself liked searching for powder in amongst the trees and taking advantage of the wide runs. One thing I have to mention is the spring vibe was so fun on the first mountain! They had a DJ playing outside, there were Red Bull give away girls handing out a new Red Bull product (which I didn’t try because I’m not a fan of energy drinks, but everyone else had one and said it was good). The highlight for me though was this BBQ area they had created. Lots of small crates had been placed out on the snow, with tiny little coal grills in the middle, you could buy a selection of raw meat and vegetables and then cook it yourself. It was so much fun, and tasty!

By 4pm we were all absolutely knackered and ready to go home so we walked through the main resort plaza area, got some more food, and headed back to the car. The plaza was an entirely different and quirky experience in itself, with lots of shops, a few cafes, a full-size carousel, a small arcade section, and a few random singing sculptures! Take a look at the photos to see what I mean, haha.

All in all, it was a great day, it was fun to have our own wheels and freedom and get out of Niseko, and the snow was better than that on Niseko mountain at the moment too. Thanks, Rusutsu!

BBQ times

cook your own