Hokkaido Day 3 and 4

Despite sitting around the campfire until late on the night we arrived we were out of bed early the next morning for some action on the rivers of Hokkaido. In the morning we put on wetsuits and canyoned in a...well, canyon of course. Basically it's like rafting, but without the raft. The river was pretty narrow and shallow for the most part, but there were some short cliffs to jump from and a few rapids that we were allowed to float through. There were 3 of us and 4 guides -not a bad ratio.

We went back to the hostel for lunch and then in the afternoon we went rafting on the Mukawa. There were two other small groups that day and there were enought guides available that we could each have our own raft. It was a pretty good afternoon, I've done bigger rapids in Jasper, but our guide made sure to make the most of what we had to work with. We definitely got wet! At the end, the guide trusted us enough to go it alone for the last bit as he went up to get the bus. It's a bit different than steering a canoe, but we managed just fine.

Thanks for the pic K!



The only injury sustained that day was Amy's finger when she got it stuck in her helmet...














We were a bit tired after the day and instead of pushing on to the next destination that night like we had planned, we opted to stay one more night at the hostel. We had a great Thai Pad dinner thanks to Kirsten and had an early night. Our goal was to make it all the way to Wakkanai the next day -the northern most city of Japan.


Our room at the hostel.







We packed up the Beetle, said goodbye to HOA (Hokkaido Outdoor Adventures) and were on the road as bright and early as Amy would allow...first stop: Furano and the lavendar fields. We took a gondola to the top of a little hill that overlooked the valley. I'd say the view was pretty good.





Another stop in Biei for some strolling and lunch and we were on the road again. We opted for expressways and bypasses when we could find them so we could at least do 80km/h. Otherwise the speed limit it 50, which makes for slooooow going.

Thanks for the pic K

Much to our surprise, we were in Wakkanai before the sun set! We found the port which we would need for the next day's trip to Rishiri Island. Then we made our way to a campsite on top of a hill which gave us a great view of the sea! We set up camp, hit the onsen and then came back to camp for instant potatoes, red adn green curry and red wine. A pleasantly surprising combination!

Unloading my Baby at the campsite in Wakkanai


The camp site



Then it was off to bed -our first night in the tent.

Here's a few more pics from K.