Hokkaido Dream'n

The Hokkaido Dream came to fruition two weeks ago when Linea, Amy and I packed the coolers with more food than we could ever eat in a week, strapped on our bikes, and stuffed Bertie (the red VW) with anything and everything we might need. We left after school in the pouring rain and drove 2 1/2 hours to Niigata City to catch the Nihonkai Ferry to Tomakomai! We weren't expecting much on the 18 hour ferry ride, but it was like a cruise ship. It was fabulous. There was a jacuzzi, a sauna, an onsen, a movie theater, restaurants, a game center, and lots of space to sit and relax. We got on the ferry at midnight and heavily drugged ourselves to avoid sea sickness. In the morning we found the sun deck and spent the rest of the day reading and eating homemade burritos, banana bread and fruit. We were actually disappointed when we got to Hokkaido. We all wished we could have spent another day on the boat!

For the next week we spent a lot of time in the car. We drove from the Southern port of Tomakomai all the way up to the Northern most city of Wakkanai and back again. Needless to say, we got a bit nutty in the car. Amy made a cave for herself in the back seat between coolers, bags, helmets, and wine bottles. We played 20 questions and told stories and listened to music. We also made a sign for the back window. We got a few looks and laughs. But no offers!






We didn't need to stop at restaurants because we had so much food in the car. But we had to eat a few local specialties. Hokkaido is famous for ramen--so we had a ramen lunch on Rishiri Island. I'm not usually a fan of ramen, it's too oily for me, but it was delicious! Linea got the super size seafood bowl of ramen. It could have feed a family of four, but Linea managed to eat most of it! Nice work lady! Soft Cream (soft serve) is all over Japan. And sometimes you can find really unique flavors. So we went on a hunt for new flavors. We found a few: lavendar, Hokkaido milk, Hokkaido melon, and some other flower flavor. Lavendar/Hokkaido milk mix was delicious.





The main inspiration for our road trip was to get Amy to Wakkanai, the start point for her bike across Japan trip. We tied her carrot mascot (it's a vegetarian bike ride) on to her bike, packed up her bags, and met her team before saying a teary good-bye. Luckily we'll see her again next month when she passes through Toyama.

Linea & I brought our bikes up too. Before leaving Amy we went to Rishiri Island, off the coast of Wakkanai and did a ride around the island, about 60km. There is a fuji-like mountain on the island--spectacular backdrop for a bike ride.




Linea and I drove down the coast rode and had two more nights of camping before our ferry back. Our first night we decided to get some distance and drove until well after dark making it difficult to find camp sites. We ended up camping in the middle of a sandy field flooded with lights next to the highway (and the beach) crowded with tents. It was like a shanty town. I'm not sure why anyone would want to camp there, but it looked like they were there for awhile, not just passing through. There was no grass, no trees, no nature. Just sand, big shower/toilet buildings, some cooking/cleaning shelters, and a highway! It was horrible. We ate, slept, and packed up as quickly as we could. Our last night on Hokkaido was perfect!! We found a lake before 12noon, got our gear unpacked, and laid by the lake and read all afternoon! We jumped in once to cool off...it was COLD! But it was beautiful. Crystal clear! And there were mountains all around us. The bathing situation was less than ideal. All the nearby onsens closed to outside guests at 4pm, we had gotten there at 5pm. I begged our way in and one kind soul gave us 45 minutes to bathe! It had been 3 days...I think he could tell we were desperate!

Unfortunately the next day was cloudy and cool. So we packed up early and tried a few hiking trails...all were closed because of a typhoon a few years back. So we drove around the lake and finally found an outside bath! It was right on the lake! Absolutely beautiful and the last thing I really wanted to do before leaving Hokkaido---sit outside in a hot bath!

We almost missed our ferry back to Niigata--always check how many ferry terminals there are and which one you're supposed to be at! But we made it with minutes to spare. The night on the ferry was really rough, but we made it through with drugs! The next day was another day of lounging and reading! But all good things come to an end!

You gotta get off sometime!

Back to sitting at a desk!