John: ‘What day is it today?’

Sue: ‘Tuesday … why?’

John: ‘You just put on your rain jacket’

Just like clockwork – rain … our bikes were in the basement of the hotel with all the big guns (cars). Just about to head off and I noticed a few drops of rain … enough to think about rain jackets.

Late leaving as we had just booked a hotel for tonight. We only have 2 weeks left and trying to get the most of our time in Hokkaido so heading northwest.

The climb out of Otaru along the coast … the rain spoilt the wonderful views today and overcast sky. Lots of trucks and 1 tunnel. Spectacular views to be had on a clear day of the coast and hills

After 11km we had done our hills work for the day and proceeded to bypass the centre of Sapporo through the suburbs and small rural areas. The new suburbs add a bit of colour in their homes with striking colour schemes.

Komoot took unnecessarily on a gravel road … not happy!!!

We passed a big factory … ‘John, that smells like chocolate!!’

Sure enough … a google search ‘Roycé Chocolate Factory’ … if only I’d known.

Just as I was thinking it was a little lack lustre, we rode through rural areas … the smell of cattle … agh … a dairy farm.

A bridge and on a levee for several kms the main road was safely in the distance parellel to us as we saw the trucks rolling passed but no noise … meanwhile we were on our lonesome enjoying the farmland of rice paddies and grain. It appeared to be large farms with farmhouses and sheds spaced far apart

This was reminiscent of The Netherlands so flat and straight roads. I thought garmin was faulty as there was a vertical red line and arrow and no movement for several kms while in navigator mode.

Komoot wasn’t on my side today and sent us on yet another gravel road … no way!!! I found other options …

More wonderful farming areas and we get to Mikasa a little damp but the onsen is a nice end to the day.

A lovely evening at the Youth Hostel with a family from Sapporo a retired couple and their 21yo daughter all pharmacists. A chat in broken English and google translate filling in the gaps. A lovely family and we also shared breakfast.

A clear sunny day and short 50km ride into Otaru – the coastline stunning as we weaved along the coast between bays, villages and tunnels. 14 tunnels today – the longest 2.228m, collectively 12.278km.

We were stopped at a convenience store with people interested in our travels.

We met a NZ couple treking/walking nice to have a chat with them. A few hills but nothing serious always nice to see the view at the end.

Otaru – what a find – lovely town nestled in the bay surrounded by hills.

We first venture to the railway station for local information and sights. A great bakery is ideal for lunch. A fish market next to the station is busy selling all sorts of seafood – live crabs sitting in tubs by the many for sale and queues to dine at the restaurants.

A walk down by the port, a ship is docked. A small canal seems to attract the tourists, refurbished old warehouses are now eateries and we find the Otaru brewery, the brewer is of German decent and is the third generation. It has a german beer hall look. The town is very touristy as we go to the main shopping street, glass shops, cafes, restaurant all attract many tourists here today.

The town is known for glassworks, music boxes and sake distilleries.

We check into our hotel – the onsen and sauna is my go to. Dinner at the brewery with a nice beer, the canal has attracted the tourists this evening as they queue for canal boat rides. Tripods are set up along the few bridges to capture the reflections on the canal along with people posing with their mobile phones in hand. It’s a very still mild night, perfect for an evening stroll.

A tough day in the office … stunning scenery …

A lovely sunny morning and through some rice paddies and great reflections then hugging the coastline.

The far off mountains had scattered snow and the coastline had some very interesting rock formations. The hills and mountains as green as you get. A stunning day of scenery on the bike.

Lots of hills dripping into the sea but the Japanese are masters at building tunnels so our proposed climbing resulted in going through tunnels; 21 in fact – a total of 17.5km of tunnels – the longest was 2560m. The best thing today – we didn’t see a truck … maybe as it’s a Sunday or it’s not a truck route.

Many opportunities for snorkelling, the water is crystal clear and the sea grasses looked like a forest. The sea is calm and a gentle tailwind later in the morning.

We pass many fishing villages – the common theme is aqua/blue roofs – against the trees they look stunning.

One small village had a few restaurants it appeared that their speciality was sea urchins – they were well patronized around lunchtime.

A nice beach attracts families picnicking – a great day for it.

We vear away from the coast inland through the forest and hills and don’t lose sight of more scattered snow. We are staying at a Youth Hostel and are early at 1pm … we venture to the next village of Bikuni on the coast just 7km away … a wonderful 2.3km decent!!!

‘Wow … that was nice John’

‘Yes, and we have to go up it again!!’

Strangely after a convenience store lunch the return didn’t seem that bad.

The youth hostel is set out in the middle of the bush and very quiet amd calming with the chirping of birds around … serenity!

Everything looks greener after rain … or are my eyes seeing clearer in the morning …

Before we head off, our host wants to take John on the beach buggy, thankfully they only get across the road and back – this guy is a bit of a ‘lad’.

The sun’s out the hills are all around and very green, a touch of snow can be seen from the far off hills. We have a slight climb and are pushed along with a gentle tailwind. It’s quite magical out here today … we are on route 5 not much traffic, good wide shoulder and wide path, a little patchy in places but mostly very good.

We are heading inland to cross over to the western coast. Midway we join route 9 to the coast then 229 along the coast. Our cruising no effort speed ranged from 25 – 28km/hr. Lovely coastline following fishing villages and lovely green hills on our right. I lost count of the tunnels however there were 2 long ones; 2.574km and 3.570km – both with no cycle path – scary stuff particularly when there are trucks passing you.

We made it to our destination in record time despite many photo stops. The predicted threatening rain and lightning didn’t eventuate. Not a lot to see in this town, but we did venture to see ‘The Great Buddha of Kikoin’ in the temple we met the 43yo 11th chief priest Kenichi Narita, lovely chat he referred himself as ‘the big boss’ …