Day 1 - Time to head to Hokkiado
Bike is all packed and ready to go. For this trip I am taking my Bike Friday to Japan. I am going to be using the train a few times to get to some of the more scenic places I want to visit, as the bike can be folded up reasonably quickly it should be a lot easier than taking the Surly.
This morning I was up early (5am). My flight didn't leave until 8.15am. But I like to get to the airport early and relax in the lounge. The weather in Sydney is miserable. So I’ve timed my escape well. With the bike neatly packed in a suitcase, checkin was super easy. The flight from Sydney to Tokyo was long but very relaxing. Once I arrived in a Tokyo I had to go through immigration and catch my connecting flight to Hokkaido. Again everything went smoothly and my flight landed at about 8.30pm. Once I rounded up my luggage I headed to my accommodation in Chitose. I am staying at the Khaosan Family Hostel. I booked a room for myself. After a long day of traveling I went to sleep pretty quickly. Tomorrow I will assemble the bike and will have a short ride day. |
Day 2 - Chitose to Lake Shikotsu - 45kms
Last night I grabbed a bit of food from the 7/11 next door to where I am staying. After I went to sleep pretty quickly. This morning I was up around 7am and put the bike all back together. Seems it survived and took about 30 minutes to reassemble.
I was not in a great hurry, as it is raining today. I left my suitcase here at the hostel, as I'll be staying here on my last day in Japan. I rode out around 10.30am and stopped at the supermarket to grab some fruit for the next couple of days. Once I had got my provisions I headed to the river to join the cycle road. This road would take me to Lake Shikotsu. Even though it was a wet start to the trip, the scenery was so lush and green. Not a car in sight. The next 25kms was cycling nirvana! I arrived at the lake just before 1pm. The rain had just stopped when I got to the lake. With the cloud the view was quite dramatic. I was originally going to camp tonight, but due to the inclement weather I'll be staying at the hostel next to the lake. As check-in was not till 3pm I had a ride to the other side of the lake. The road hugged to the foreshore and the views were great. Hardly any cars. And when there were they were super good at passing. A fisherman from Hakodate stopped for a chat. He was actually from Turkey and had been living in Japan for the last 15 years. He even offered to give me a lift into town. Which I politely declined. I got back to the hostel and checked in. It's a big building with not many guests. Well just me. Well that was until 5pm when I had a companion in my room. He is a Japanese gentleman in his 50s. He can't speak a word of English and I can't speak a word of Japanese. But some how we decided to go to the onsen at the hostel and then had dinner. By showing pictures, maps and lots of smiling the gentleman was able to tell me he is doing a lot of walks in Hokkaido. I was able to show him a map of where I am going and he said "beautiful". That made me smile. Today has been a great first day. Tomorrow I've been told there should be a bit of blue sky. |
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Day 3 - Lake Shikotsu to Lake Toya - 108kms
This morning I awoke to blue sky. So I was able to get a few pictures near the lake before breakfast. Breakfast was traditional Japanese. So I was watching the other guests on how to eat what!
After breakfast I was riding just after 7.30am. I got a few extra views of the lake before I came to my first tunnel. Japan seems to love building tunnels. This one was about 1.5km long and had a sidewalk I could ride down. Traffic was very light, but it was so loud in there. I had two more tunnels today, these ones were shorter but had no sidewalk. Besides the tunnels I had a couple of nice scenic climbs as I headed to Mount Yotei, which is a perfectly shaped volcano. I noticed some cloud getting caught on it's peak. I got to the small town at about 1pm. This was going to be my stop for the day, but the campground was very exposed in a field. So after I had a look around I rode on to Lake Toya. Which was another 35kms away. The rain clouds decided to open, so it was a soggy ride. But by the time I got down to the lake it was dry. The lake looked stunning. I picked a spot along the foreshore, which was about mid distance between the shop and onsen. Once I got the tent setup I got dinner from the shops. After dinner I had a short walk up the hill to the onsen. I think this was the best part of the day. After a long day riding I soaked in the hot water enjoying the views of the lake. |
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