We ended up hiring a car for 24 hrs, pick up at 8am. It was a comfortable 20 minute walk from the boat and we were there a bit early so we could get started on our day. So it was a big surprise when 8am came and went and the shop was still not open. Japan is rarely late for anything. We were third in line with another three people behind us when finally the young man in front of us cracked it at the poor car attendant, who also seemed quite agitated that the office people hadn’t arrived.
I am not sure what words were exchanged but whatever the attendant said left the complaining man silent and scowling and his girlfriend walking away, and the three men behind us chuckling. I really wanted to understand what was said!
Anyway at about 8.30 two very frantic people arrived and opened up the office. I felt really sorry for them as they ran about serving everyone. The lady served us. She took us over to our car and asked if we had any questions. I realised she hadn’t returned my credit card and when I explained the poor thing ran back to the office in her heels with Dean trailing behind to pick it up. It was a bad start to their working day and I tried my best to exude calm, hoping it would rub off.
Dean had forgotten his phone so I drove him to the boat. Then we had to drive back to the care hire place to get them to change the GPS system over to English. Finally we were away.
This was probably the busiest conditions I had driven in, in Japan, but I was quite comfortable by now driving here. We had hired the toll card that you slot into a hole in the car so with all the tolls looked after, we didn’t have to worry about what roads we went on.
When Dean had hired the car he had asked for a small one. Then when he asked about tolls they said the car we had couldn’t go on toll roads! We got a larger car, no extra cost. Thank god he asked, I would have been driving some putt putt car that had a lawn mower engine around Hokkaido.
Part way down the toll way we pulled over for a rest stop. There was a cafe but it didn’t open until 10am, but we were able to get a warm drink out of a vending machine. It was a huge park looking over the sea, and showed the building clouds giving a hint to what our day might become.
I know I am back to toilets but these toilets were amazing. They had these sliding curved doors that fitted into the wall so you didn’t need to squeeze past an opening/closing door. When you locked the door a red light came on outside above the cubicle to show it was in use. I am talking about a room with 6 toilets, not the parking station at the airport! As the lock came down a little table folded up so you could put your mobile phone safely on it out of harms way. And outside had mini hand basins that the children could use, as well as adult sized ones. And it was immaculately clean. Oh and heated toilet seats, ahhhhhh.
Although we were in an enormous parkland area, there were cubicles at each quadrant that smokers had to use. Another feature was once you drove in you could only access your half of the carpark. This meant you could only exit in the direction you were already heading and couldn’t accidentally head the wrong way. Great idea for someone like me with a terrible sense of direction and who can’t read the Japanese signs.
So after that little side adventure we got going again. While Western people tend to hate foxes, here they are quite loved. And there were the cutest road signs warning to watch out for foxes. I actually got to see one as I flew down the freeway. Top speed sign posted at 80km/hr, minimum speed 50km/hr, most people travelling over 120km/hr. So once again I had to pull over when I could to let the line of cars behind me past. I am just not comfortable speeding that much in a foreign country when I don’t understand the unwritten rules.
There were also signs warning of another strange animal. What is that?? It is a Tanuki! A Japanese raccoon. Remember those mystical fella’s that you see their statue all over the place? We didn’t get to see a real one, not even road kill, so I am not sure how prevalent they are!
We were headed for Niseko, a place we have spent time in during the snow season, and thought it would be nice to see it in summer, and we planned to have lunch there. As we drove down the road large arrows up above pointed down to show where the lanes are. It is hard to believe that in winter the snow is so thick you need them so you can stay on the road and in your lane.
This is not the same road, it is in the village when we previously visited, but you get the idea why these arrows would be needed in snowy conditions. The snowfall is really high.
This time of year the town is virtually shut down. We couldn’t find anywhere open to eat at. And by the time we got there, the weather had closed in so we didn’t have much of a view either. But we went for a little explore to see what we could recognise.
I thought it would be fun to show you our current summer photos with similar winter photos from our previous holiday’s here.
Below shows the ski slopes as we saw them. Well what we could see, a lot had disappeared up into the cloud!
Here they are in winter, this time looking down into the village from the top.
Volcano? What volcano? Somewhere behind us in current time, is the volcano!
And here is us with the volcano in winter.
We also found the bar where we had cocktails. You enter through a fridge door.
Here it is in winter!
After we found ourselves lunch we headed for Otaru our final destination for the day. We had fond memories of this pretty little port town and wanted to visit it again in summer. Again I will put our summer and winter photos together so you can see the differences!
The first thing you notice about Otaru are the beautiful canals lined with old warehouses. Although we didn’t have snow this time around, when you were in the wind it was still pretty cold. But maybe not quite as cold as winter, as in those photos I am wearing gloves and I didn’t feel the need to this time around. I am wearing a puffer vest and a puffer jacket though!
So this time around the canals were lined with plants pots overflowing with flowers instead of piles snow and beautiful vines climbed up the sides of buildings instead of icicles hanging down.
The view looking straight down the canal while very different, still had about the same amount of tourists wandering around!
The canal boats were running in summer.
But you will notice in winter that they have a roof and blankets!
There is a lovely shopping street with all kinds of different shops to poke through. One of the specialities of the town is glassware so there are an awful lot of those. When we visited previously I bought my favourite glass I use on the boat. I got a new one this time, in case I ever break it.
Looking up you can see fences up on the steep hillside. At the moment they just look pretty amongst the grass and flowers. But the winter photo shows their function in stabilising the snow drifts.
After we left Otaru we headed back towards Niseko via Mt Kenashi. From the lookout at the top of the mountain you get a wonderful view of Otaru and the Japanese Sea.
The mountains looked stunning with cloud tumbling down the valleys. Of course I also had to drive through that cloud, so as I went up and down this road that was like a racing track I was also driving through fog at times!
Here you can see we are approaching some fog. You can also see the huge gates that they use to close the roads in winter.
As we moved towards Niseko we kept getting glimpses of the ski slopes and the volcano. While we hadn’t seen any snow close up, from this distance we could see there was still some patches of snow at the top.
While we did get a glimpse of the volcano by the time I could pull over the cloud had descended again. With the fading light we wouldn’t be able to see it anymore; today it was going to remain elusive! This was the best we did.
We did get a pretty sunset as we headed towards home though. The clouds were quite dramatic and looked like they could give us a duming of snow! There were lots of warnings on illuminated signs regarding lightning, so I was keen to get home now. But that was still a good 2.5hrs away.
As it got darker the red arrows above the road became illuminated. They must light up all year round, not just in winter. It took me a while to get used to them, at first I found them quite distracting, but before long they were just part of the landscape.
It was a long day, but a good day. I am sorry our time on Hokkaido was cut short but I know we will be back again. Most likely by plane next time! Maybe we will make our next visit Autumn then we can compare the winter, summer, autumn views.
Petrol stations don’t stay open the way they do at home, so we had to fill the car up with petrol in the morning before we returned it. The petrol station right next door to the car rental opened at 8am and I was supposed to have the car back at 8am. But I didn’t feel bad because I had got it a bit later. I was still a bit early to the petrol station, probably 5-6 minutes. Rope lines are laid out to prevent you driving in until it is open, so I just waited in the drive way. At precisely 3 minutes before 8am, the guy started winding up the rope. At precisely 1 minute before 8am I could drive to the bowser. At precisely 8am the man filled my tank. I had to explain it was a hire car, otherwise he would have cleaned my windows too!
So it was a couple of minutes after 8am I returned the car. The manager spoke to me and with much bowing was asking me to sign something. I didn’t understand a word, but it was obviously an apology for them opening up late the day before, and I got refunded some money. So that was a nice surprise as I really couldn’t have cared less. I so wish I had understood what had gone on though, but I will have to be content with it remaining yet another mystery in my life!!
Run to Paradise 