Beautiful, beautiful Hokkaido! So, so, so much fun. And so, so, so much delicious food. I think I just might have to split this into 2 different posts - one for all the fun we had and one for all the food!
As we were trying to figure out our summer travel plans, we were looking for 1) a few days escape from the heat and humidity of our first Tokyo summer, and 2) a way to recreate the nature adventures we used to have in Tahoe.
Last August, the boys and I were lucky enough to spend a whole month together in Tahoe, and I look upon this time so fondly that I was itching to try and re-capture some of that. Or maybe just get out of the city for a few days, but either way, we had a grand time...
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| Mt. Yotei in Hokkaido - we were able to see this beautiful mountain every day! |
We knew that Hokkaido is typically cooler than Tokyo, but I must admit, I think the clincher came when Kevin learned that there is good golf there. Whatever works, I suppose.
Anyway, we got some travel advice from the family of my English student, whose great-great-grandfather was one of the original settlers of Hokkaido 150 years ago. So on their suggestion, we headed to a place called Niseko - and we loved it! Found Freedom Inn in Niseko online, a hostel in Sapporo in the Lonely Planet guidebook, cheap flights and we were set!
Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan, and it has been said that it is the least "Japanese"of all the Japanese islands. It is 20% of Japan's land area with only 5% of the population. It feels very rural, almost back road North Carolina style - farms, fields of corn (it's a "specialty" of Hokkaido), rusted-out tractors, dilapidated buildings, and not very many people in most of the places we went... We felt right at home - and worlds away from Tokyo.
Niseko is well- known as a ski resort in the winter. Supposedly the best powder around, especially for Australians. But we were happy to explore it in the summer when there were far fewer people around... in fact, we hardly saw any "foreigners" the whole time we were in Niseko. Most of the tourists we saw were Japanese...
On our way...
Unfortunately, the cheap flights were early in the morning, so imagine the 4 of us at 4:45 AM trekking to the train station with 3 roller bags, 3 backpacks, and 2 car seats. Despite the time of day, we were all in good spirits as we started our adventure.
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| At our Gakugeidaigaku train station headed to the airport... |
We flew into New Chitose airport, rented a car, and drove 2 hours (part of it along the coast of the Sea of Japan) to our home away from home, the Freedom Inn in Niseko.
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| Roadtrip! Our Hokkaido-mobile... small, just like many other things in Japan... |
Our basic m.o. for our 4 days in Niseko seemed to be:
- Big breakfast at the hotel - kids were in 7th heaven because they could have cereal and fruit everyday (to be honest, I was actually starting to miss the rice and seaweed we often have for breakfast at home)
- Outdoor activity of the day
- Naptime in the afternoon
- Wake Ryan up from his nap to go to dinner
- Fabulous feast!
- Food coma...
How is it that I am talking about the food in Hokkaido AGAIN? That will simply have to wait for its own blog post...
Here's a sampling of our Niseko fun...
Here's a sampling of our Niseko fun...
Whitewater Rafting
Rafting was Ethan's First Choice of Things To Do.
And I think we're all glad that he wanted to do it so badly because we all had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there are no photos as we were camera-less on the river. But, that's probably a good thing because there is simply NO WAY to make those helmets look cool.
Weather was ideal. Scenery was beautiful. Reminded us of kayaking the river behind our house in Tahoe.
And I think we're all glad that he wanted to do it so badly because we all had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there are no photos as we were camera-less on the river. But, that's probably a good thing because there is simply NO WAY to make those helmets look cool.
Weather was ideal. Scenery was beautiful. Reminded us of kayaking the river behind our house in Tahoe.
Rock Climbing
A rainy day forced us to a cafe that doubled as an indoor climbing wall. Kids couldn't resist, so Kevin and I got our first lessons in belaying and harnessed 'em up. It was Ryan's first time to try it, and Ethan's second (he had gotten an expert rock climbing coaching session by Uncle Mike last summer). It was a fun way to spend an afternoon (and resulted in niiiice, looooong naps afterwards).
Apparently, the rules of rock climbing are in English, as the instructor told them to say "tension" when they wanted us to bring them down with the ropes. No matter how many times we told them this, both Ethan and Ryan insisted on yelling "Attention!!" every time they wanted to get down - as in "pay attention, mom and dad, get me down from here right now!" It sorta backfired as I was too busy laughing to maneuver the ropes very quickly, but alas...
Fishing was Ryan's First Choice of Things To Do.
In fact, he's been asking us to take him fishing for a couple of years now, so I was quite pleased that we were finally able to make it happen. Except for the small problem that Ryan didn't catch any fish. And Ethan did (after having his rod in the water for only 2 minutes). It was a tough lesson in the cruelties of life and fishing... Ryan has bounced back and was eager to explain to his yochien teacher that he ALMOST caught a fish and that the fish ate his bait.
Ethan was beyond excited about his fish. It was a small rainbow trout, and it's almost all he has talked about when he tells people about our trip to Hokkaido.
Apparently, the rules of rock climbing are in English, as the instructor told them to say "tension" when they wanted us to bring them down with the ropes. No matter how many times we told them this, both Ethan and Ryan insisted on yelling "Attention!!" every time they wanted to get down - as in "pay attention, mom and dad, get me down from here right now!" It sorta backfired as I was too busy laughing to maneuver the ropes very quickly, but alas...
Fishing
Fishing was Ryan's First Choice of Things To Do.
In fact, he's been asking us to take him fishing for a couple of years now, so I was quite pleased that we were finally able to make it happen. Except for the small problem that Ryan didn't catch any fish. And Ethan did (after having his rod in the water for only 2 minutes). It was a tough lesson in the cruelties of life and fishing... Ryan has bounced back and was eager to explain to his yochien teacher that he ALMOST caught a fish and that the fish ate his bait.
Ethan was beyond excited about his fish. It was a small rainbow trout, and it's almost all he has talked about when he tells people about our trip to Hokkaido.
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| Getting schooled in the art of fishing... |
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| Ethan's Big Catch |
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| It was a feisty little thing... |
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| Ryan looks on longingly... |
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| His own special fishing style... |
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| A little quiet time on the river |
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| Leaving the river fish-less... sadness prevailed for Ryan... but it was nothing that a little ice cream couldn't cure... |
Hiking
I must admit, hiking was my First Choice of Things To Do. We got in a very nice hike, after a morning rain storm, only a few minutes from the front door of our hotel. Couldn't be more perfect than that.
We hiked along a wooded trail, crossing several small rivers along the way, ending at the wetlands and a small pond. The scenery all around us was green and lush and actually reminded us of the North Carolina mountains more than Tahoe (Tahoe's mountains and scenery are a lot more rocky and dramatic whereas NC is more gentle and rolling).
We hiked along a wooded trail, crossing several small rivers along the way, ending at the wetlands and a small pond. The scenery all around us was green and lush and actually reminded us of the North Carolina mountains more than Tahoe (Tahoe's mountains and scenery are a lot more rocky and dramatic whereas NC is more gentle and rolling).
Hot Springs
On the recommendation of our inn host, we headed to the Goshiki Onsen for a truly traditional onsen experience. Again, no photos because a) they are public baths, and b) I'm guessing that taking pictures of (or near) naked strangers might not be the best idea...
At first look, the onsen is basically a glorified shack on the side of a beautiful mountain road. Once you go inside, it still looks like a shack, but we were prepared for that. We put our money (600 yen) in the little ticket vending machine and we were on our way.
Kevin and the kids headed to their onsen and I headed to mine. The water comes straight from the earth and is very hot coming out of the pipe with a slight smell of sulphur (remember the black eggs cooked in volcanic sulphur water from our trip to Hakone). It is not treated in any way and we heard that the color of the water "changes from creamy white to green depending on how angry the volcano gods are." They must have been in a fine mood the day we were there as the water looked very much like... ummm, well, water.
There is an indoor onsen and an outdoor one. The outdoor one was the favorite of the four of us as it had large rocks in the middle - sort of looked like a Zen rock garden in the middle of a fish pond with a view of Annapuri Mountain (ok, there are also several naked people sitting in the pond, but disregard that part from the image).
At first look, the onsen is basically a glorified shack on the side of a beautiful mountain road. Once you go inside, it still looks like a shack, but we were prepared for that. We put our money (600 yen) in the little ticket vending machine and we were on our way.
Kevin and the kids headed to their onsen and I headed to mine. The water comes straight from the earth and is very hot coming out of the pipe with a slight smell of sulphur (remember the black eggs cooked in volcanic sulphur water from our trip to Hakone). It is not treated in any way and we heard that the color of the water "changes from creamy white to green depending on how angry the volcano gods are." They must have been in a fine mood the day we were there as the water looked very much like... ummm, well, water.
There is an indoor onsen and an outdoor one. The outdoor one was the favorite of the four of us as it had large rocks in the middle - sort of looked like a Zen rock garden in the middle of a fish pond with a view of Annapuri Mountain (ok, there are also several naked people sitting in the pond, but disregard that part from the image).
Gondola up the Mountain
It was our last day in Hokkaido, and so we figured we should do the obligatory gondola ride up the ski mountain. On clear days, there is an amazing view of Mt. Yotei, but it was a bit cloudy, so we just took the ride up for fun...
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| The cloudy view from the top... |
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| Headed back down the mountain... |
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| Wheeeee.... roller coaster time! |
Some Hokkaido Dairy place...
Can't really tell you much about this place except that many Japanese tourists buy their omiyage here (obligatory souvenirs, often local food items). We just ate ice cream and played on the random farm equipment scattered around...
Wow! What a great adventure--something special for every member of the family! Wish we could have been there. Reminds us of North Carolina---(which is where we happen to be right now).
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom and Dad
Come on over - you're welcome anytime. After you do your duties at the DNC, that is! Go Mom!!!
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