We were able to fill a short three day trip to Hokkaido with some of the interesting sites of the North Island.
Leaving Fuji in the distance
After leaving the warm morning clouds of an early autumn Tokyo, we arrive in Memanbetsu to an overcast and quite cool mid-morning. Once we collected our bags, got the rent-a-car, it was off to the World Heritage Shiretoko area situated in the North East of the Island. It was great to be heading to see some mountains, though the weather was leaving a lot to be desired. The closer we got to the Shiretoko peninsula, the heavier the rain became. Not a good sign for the few days we had on Hokkaido. It was interesting to see the Hokkaido farm houses and the large open fields of green, just a little different from the Tokyo urbanscape.
After arriving srounf Shiretoko, the rain onslaught began. When ever we attempted to venture out of the car, the heavens opened up with an even fiercer downpour. The three days that we were to spend there were looking fairly glum.
Awaking to the sight of blue skies from the hotels fourth floor was a welcome relief. So after tucking into as many of the breakfast buffet croissants it was time to head off to Shiretoko. We went to the area around the Nature Center, grabbed some information and then headed off for a short 1.5km trek from the center to the coast. It was an easy walk along some well trodded path… though made a little challenging by the fact that we had Emma in the pram.
After passing group after group of senior citizens making their way back along the trail we arrived at the coast. It was great to see the place where the cliffs met the sea. We didn’t see any wildlife, but just after we leisurely arrived back at the nature center around two hours later the walking track was closed due to the sighting of a bear in the vicinity. It would have been good to see.
To Continue with Part II… later