Hokkaido (part 4): Shiretoko to Tokyo

It had been a wet night, and the fog of the night before had now become the morning fog of the next day. It was time for me to get out of this damp little corner of Japan, and find the sun again. I had wanted to head further up into the peninsula on the easterly side, but with visibility at about 50m, I figured there was really no point. My aim now was to ride until I found the sun. And just outside Shibetsu (50km away), there it was. Suddenly, the perfect weather that I'd been having before Rausu was back. Off to the east, I could clearly see the 'disputed' Russian Kuril islands. I have a friend in St Petersburg now, and it is funny to think that I was looking at the same country, yet about 9 time zones apart.

After leaving the coast, I headed up to Kaiyodai to take in some views. From here, I could see the Shiretoko Peninsula, still surrounded in cloud (poor little Rausu), the Russian islands, and off into the distance almost as far as Kushiro, my next destination.

Kushiro is known for its Marshlands, home to many a migrating bird, the most famous being the Japanese crane. I believe the best viewing is had in the winter, but I stopped off at the observatory nonetheless. Instead of going inside, I hiked to a viewing outpost, about a 2km hike away. Here the views were amazing; just the vast size of Hokkaido continued to amaze me. From the lookout point, it was a hundred meter drop straight down to a massive plain, that looked somewhat like what I imagine the African savanna to look like. And off into the horizon the view went.

Back on the bike now, and a tough westerly ride straight into the sun. I wanted to make it to the Tokachi plain tonight so that I could have two nights in the area before taking the ferry back to Tokyo. I have no idea how this trip turned into two weeks, but in the end it had.

The sun now was very low in the sky, and I had a choice to make; stay on the main road, or take the longer more interesting route 1080 along the coast. 1080 it had to be. What an incredible ride. I just wish the sun was behind me, instead of almost directly in front. But as it lowered in the sky, the mountains to my right gave me some protection. What a great road, and I had it all to myself, 30 minutes or so of high speed twists and turns, watching the surf pound the shore, and with not a single car anywhere in sight.

Obihiro is known for the massive Tokachi plain, located just to its south. This is a huge area of land that produces a lot of food for Japan. I spent the day riding along roads that were dead straight, which is quite unusual for Japan. I took in the farms, and smelled everything that goes with them. It was a nice day of riding.

Obihiro town where I spent the night, is quite nondescript (as far as I could see). That evening, I strolled along the one and only main street and found a lively restaurant that served up some quite strange fare. Known as a 'hormone' restaurant, most items on the menu were tricky (think heart, brain, raw lamb stomach and such), but I navigated through managing to find some amazingly tasty dishes. A couple of beers followed by a hotspring at my hotel, and it was lights out.

Before I started the final day's ride of the tour, I had to stop in at one of Obihiro's two Starbucks coffee shops. After a quick caffeine hit, I was headed through the westerly Tokachi plain, on my way to the Hidaka mountains. I'd planned to cross right over this mountain range, but unfortunately the road was blocked, so I had no option but to take the highway and go around the hills. Exiting at Shimupappu, I took 237 almost all the way to the coast. Before getting to the ferry however, I wanted to see one more interesting region. Just to the east of Chitose airport (main gateway to Hokkaido), there is an area famous for its horse breeding pastures.

To an Australian or American, this probably wouldn't seem so unusual, but in Japan, its not every day that you see big open meadows with horses galloping around freely. Riding through these horse towns was awesome. Rolling green hills off to the left and right, my final fix of countryside living before boarding the ferry and heading back to the big city that is Tokyo. All in all another fantastic trip.