After a day in Furano sorting out leaving admin, we hit the road once more, this time heading West.
We drove all the way to The west coast to Otaru which is famous for its little canals and Venetian glass (Japan’s Venice). The canals are pretty small but used to be used to get everything from the port to warehouses. Some of the old buildings remind me of Liverpool or London. Lots were built with local granite in the late 1800s and are now preserved.
One street really reminded me of Edinburgh.
The town is also known for Le Tao chocolate and cheesecake and lots of people were queuing for their afternoon tea. There is quite a food street and also lots of seafood.
We had a look at the Music box museum which had reallynold music boxes and organs from all over the world. You could buy a modern one for a small fortune.
Next we visited the steam clock which plays music every 15 minutes. It was created ny the same guy who invented the clock in Vancouver which we have also seen chime. Small world!
After a night in a lovely spacious room and some travel work for Taylor Made Travel, we drove a coastal route. We stopped at a lighthouse near Shakotan and then drove to Cape Kamui where the wind reminded us of home.
We stopped for our picnic lunch watching the sea birds and suddenly Pete spotted a raccoon passing us by. We jumped out the car to take a closer look – he was moving at some speed.
Our journey continued towards Kutchan where they have a huge construction project on to connect the area with shinkansen bullet trains from Tokyo through Kutchan to Sapporo and maybe even Obihoro – wow!!! What a massive project!! That would take the IOM decades to do but I imagine here a year or two.
We drove into the Hirafu part of Niseko – the rich part where all the posh pads are being built. We were staying at a little hostel / pension called Pension Locomotion.
We met Greg, our former colleague and Club Med Survivor, for an onsen and cheap ramen.
The onsen had outdoor pools looking over Mount Yotei which looked lovely as the sun was setting.
Lots of people think it is Mount Fuji and try to recreate the famous Lawsons Fuji photo too.
The next day we had a look around the other parts of Niseko (Annupuri, Niseko Village and Hanzono) and then drove to take a look at Rusutsu. The Spring snow conditions didn’t tempt us to ski or board here and we drove on to to Lake Shikotsu.
Most people were here to eat or were guests of the very posh hotel and spa. A few people braved a canoe trip (2 canoes lashed together) or had a go in the shallows on a SUP. We ate a roasting hot ramen to warm up and carried on to our accommodation. We had booked a really cheap (£20 a night) brand new portacabin hotel. It was all done out in a wood finish and was the poshest portacabin I’ve ever seen. It even had a washing machine and tumble dryer!!!
And the beds were really comfy. It was very near Chitose airport if anyone ever needs an overnight stay.
We found a local onsen over the road which had a very reasonably priced cafe. That was dinner sorted.
Next morning we drove back to Furano and the end of season packing and cleaning commenced. Pete waxed all the boards and skis for storage while I packed the luggage and boxes to stay.
Just time for one last meal with Dan, Brian, Charles and Dan.
And then Pete returned Minnie, our car, to the garage while I cleaned. One last trip to the gym to say goodbye to Alice and then our last night with Craig and Hilary for one last Surya. We are still trying to get the smell off our jackets now!!!
Farewell Furano – until next year …..
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