Hokkaido

22nd June 2018
Air Hostel, Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan
20c

It seems every 7 or 8 days we have to check into a hotel/hostel because of the weather.  The last time was because I had a urinary tract infection, oh, and night-time temperatures were down to freezing plus the wind and rain were relentless.  Apart from that, we've been camping all around Hokkaido.

We arrived in Sapporo having been well and truly mugged by Eastar Jet, it's going to take a while to get over THAT one I'm afraid.  We had an Airbnb in the burbs, a cozy little apartment, but perfectly formed that had everything we needed to settle into my birthday celebrations.  We discovered fresh crab in the local supermarket and couldn't get enough of it.  For just over a quid we could buy enough crab to fill us both up, or, as I did on my birthday, chuck it in with spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, capers and white wine, delicious, but not very Japanese I'm afraid.

Dave havigha nap in our cozy apartment

We headed out of Sapporo on a mean and moody morning, along the cycle path heading north towards Wakkanai.  It was like we'd been transported back 6 weeks to our arrival in Osaka; Wisteria coming into flower, Rhodies bursting out of every garden and the Skylarks getting their thing on bobbing around in the air, it was all strangely comforting.

Rhododendron, I think

Beautiful Flag Iris on the side of the road #gorillagardening

The western coastline is rugged with beaches that stretch for miles and often not a soul to be seen, traffic is also very sparse so finding spots to camp is easy.  We had heard of Rider Houses but either we have found them and they've been locked, or, we've found them and didn't know we'd found them till the day after.  Rider Houses are all over Hokkaido, cheap accommodation for motorcyclists (originally) but now tourers and people on foot, IF you can find them.  We're going to have another go at finding them when we head south tomorrow.

One of many tunnels, not many vehicles though

We ate local fish and crab in several places along the coast, mostly tiny little shacks that you wouldn't know were restaurants, either that or we've been paying local people for including us in their lunchtime meals!  Deliciously prepared meals, simple, no fancy sauces just the way we like it.

As we moved further north the emphasis is clearly on protection from the elements and wildlife.  There are snow shovels in every home, shop and bus stop.  Refuge shelters for vehicles along exposed coast roads.  Metal barriers for wind, snow and presumably tsunamis.  Flexible outbuildings, concertina-like, that presumably flex when there's an earthquake, and don't fall down.  Evacuation and Safety Zones are advertised everywhere and in the far north there are signs showing Tsunami Inundation areas.  Snow sticks identify deep snow with their pretty red tips and rubbish is collected on street corners from bear and fox-proof cages. 

Beautiful sky

Lunch out of the wind

A shobshfor all occasions

I wonder if these were here 10 years ago

Nobody, however, mentioned Crows the size of a Jack Russell.  The Japanese woman who came running into the supermarket to tell us about the first 'mugging' called them 'Blackbirds'.  They had somehow got into my Cordura bag strapped down with two bungies, dragged out the plastic bag with hard-boiled eggs, a sushi triangle, half a loaf of bread and a new stick of deodorant and disappeared into the sky.  Another time, while camping close to a forest, we had to choose between keeping our food under the fly sheet, thereby inviting bears to come and find us, or, take our chances and hang the food from a tree in something not as attractive as a white plastic bag.  They ripped our Sea to Summit dry bag to bits.  I can confirm Crows love butter, particularly Hokkaido butter (who can blame them, so do we) but they're not so keen on dried spaghetti or raw potatoes.  We reckon they've cost us about 50 quid in food and bags, not to mention DEODERANT, beware the Crows!

There is still snow on the mountains and the polytunnels which grow a wide range of foods protect the most vulnerable by 'double bagging', a tunnel within a tunnel.  Bear bells are a common sound, people have them permanently on their shoes or backpacks, I suppose so you don't forget to put them on when you go out foraging, a common thing to do in Japan.

Snow capped mountains

We've met a few other cyclists in Hokkaido, mostly Japanese, all of them very friendly and with the assistance of Google Translate we usually manage some conversation.  We were introduced to the camera function on the app by Faye and James who we met in Osaka.  Hit the Camera function and hover over the word you want to translate and hey-presto, up comes a whole load of gobble-de-gook.  OK, so not ALWAYS, sometimes it actually works but mostly it just gives us a laugh, try it next time your on holiday, hours of amusement.

A friendly Japanese cyclist

Public facilities in Japan are second to none.  I've mentioned the camp sites previously but in Hokkaido there are 5 star bus stops that could easily become refuges and even bedrooms for weary travellers.  There are full on lodges, with cooking facilities, toilets, heaters and an emergency telephone, which are clean and welcoming, and are there purely to make the traveller's journey more comfortable.  Michi-no-ekis are rest areas all over Japan and we've used them a lot.  What with free wifi, 24/7 toilet facilities and a permit to sleep at them, they are fantastic.  I can't begin to imagine what Japanese tourists in the UK think of our lack of public conveniences.

When you spend as much time outdoors as we do the wildlife we see is inevitable.  We've seen several Hokkaido Foxes, one came into the fire pit at a campsite one evening, just laid down and had a little nap.  Another day we saw a vixen wandering along the road, she had been hunting and had about 5 or 6 mole-like creatures in her mouth, she didn't seem bothered by us at all.  Sika Deer are all over Hokkaido and usually skittish, but they have wandered into our camp on occasions and have been brave enough to get within 50 feet, but blink and they're off, wiggling their milky white bottoms.  The Eagles are also huge here (I think they are Sea Eagles) but they don't mug us like the Crows and the butterflies are simply beautiful.

While we were in Wakkanai the weather changed for the worse it also coincided with my contracting a urinary tract infection, so our trip to Rishiri was cancelled.  We managed to lay up for a few days on the east coast, south of Wakkanai, in a hotel at a Michi-no-eki where the antibiotics did their thing.  The forecast for the coming week was not good, particularly on the east coast which is where we wanted to go, so instead we went inland and headed south towards the lavender and flower fields in Biei and Furano.  We were too early for the Lavender but I managed to find one patch where it had flowered.

Come back in July please

The weather improved and we had some gloriously, sunny days interspersed with low cloud and mist, but nothing like the drop in temperature we had experienced in the far north.  The mid section of Hokkaido is where all the growing takes place; there's rice, wheat, melons (at 15 quid a go), potatoes, green leafy vegetables that look like Chard, but longer and skinnier.  Tomatoes, strawberries, rhubarb, peppers, onions (millions of onions) and a whole load of other stuff I couldn't identify.  It's extremely fertile.  They specialise in dairy farming and the butter in Hokkaido could give Devon clotted cream a run for its money in terms of its fluffiness and taste and we have managed to buy crusty, French bread on a couple of occasions, we were in heaven for a while.

Rice paddies, but oh so beautiful

We hit rolling hills along this route, meandering up and down with forest on both sides, no convenience stores for miles.  Unfortunately the traffic became heavier, trucks mostly, until we hit Expressways and then it all tapered off.  We spotted bear prints by the river one morning, but neither of us was brave enough to go down there and take a close up photo.  We sang a little louder that day.

We are now in Chitose, having our weekly wash, and have managed to wash everything we own ready for the next week or so.  Tomorrow we head towards Lake Shikotsu which is meant to be very beautiful.  Our intention is to wiggle our way down to Hakodate from where we can take a ferry to Aomori.  Oh my goodness, we'll be back on the mainland heading south to meet up with Dave's cousin, Luisa, in Chiba early August.  Doesn't time fly?

Laters