Hisashiburi

Ok, I know its been ageees and agees, but won't even begin to make excuses, think you all know me well enough by now to know I totally suck at the whole 'keeping in touch' thing..

But needless to say, uploading a few photos (or more than a few I guess) pretty much adequately sums up my lfe in the past 4-5 months.. minus the work side of things, which is about as interesting as watching paint dry...

In a nutshell...

Lots of beach camping, mainly at Iwanai, a really awesome beach spot... pretty secluded with absolutely no one there so was like our own private beach... sleeping under the stars, bbq set, beers and lots of cool mates... can't beat it

a few road trips, one all the way up to Shiretoko (10 hrs and a bit north) which has now become a world heritage site. They have the biggest bear population in Japan, some grow up to 3 mtrs. Theres also lots of deer, fox and squirrels, nature on steroids but a really beautiful place. Best part would be the four waterfalls which are actually natural onsens (hot springs) the higer you go the warmer and cleaner the springs get.. the main attraction for me was watching the salmon migrate from the sea back to the river, was really amazing watching them throw themselves out of the water and battle against the currents... know if I was a fish I would call it a day and chill in the seaweed or do the 'pretend youre dead on the rocks then swim away when no one's looking' thing....

Another road trip to Hokadate (4ish hours southish), one of Hokkaido's most historic places, umm.. .. went to see the 'remains' of a famous castle, but it really brought the truth to the word 'remains' there was basically lots of rubble and pieces of wood, you would be forgiven to have thought it was just a massive park with a mote. The night views were great though, totally different from any night view I have seen before, worth a visit if ure in the area... its jut on the coast and really famous for its seafod and crabs.. we hit the seafood markets in the morning where they are ripping apart crabs and sea urchin like theres no tomorrow.. brekkie of sashimi and rice... could take some getting used to..

Been addicted to trail running this summer, my favourite trail would be kagami-numa, you run about 3k through the forest and then there is this amazing pond that reflects everything like a mirror.. then it goes for another 7k through the most beautiful forest... ahh....

So yeah, getting the most of the outdoors before the snow sets in, which is not far away... hopefully its not another 4 months until my next blog.....

love lots - D.

---

---