Back from Hokkaido

Did do as much as I had anticipated on the trip. We only (shamefully) took the bikes off once to ride oround Rishiri Island right before leaving Amy in Wakkanai for her BEE ride. The ride around the the island was just under 60km and it took us the good part of an afternoon to do it. We started off in a nasty head wind on the north side of the coast on a bike trail that lead us to a flock of gulls straight out of a bad Hitchcock scene...there were birds flapping everywhere, except for the dead ones that littered the path. Amy rode over one that was already injured, Kirsten was in front getting the worst of it I'm sure. It was a little hairy to say the least. Not long after we got out of that little nightmare the pathway ended and we had to ride the main road around the rest of the island. Not that that was a bad thing, plenty of shoulder room for us. We took frequent breaks after big hills, watched some surfers, stopped at a volcano with a lake which had been taken over by tourist booths selling flowered flavored soft ice-cream and took pictures of a temple gate near the end of the trip. It was a sunny day, pretty warm and we were all worn out by the end of it.

We did manage a day of canyoning and white water rafting on the second day of the trip. Lots of fun. But when K and I tried to to a hike on our last day, we were foiled at every turn. Seems all the hiking trails have been closed due to typhoon damage. We sat in an outdoor onsen right on a lake instead...