Avoiding Typhoon Phonfone

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Avoiding Typhoon Phonfone



As we left you on the last blog, we were going to ditch Tokyo and head to the backside of Japan in the Sea of Japan, staying away from Typhoon Phonfone. We were initially disappointed to be missing Tokyo as we’ve never been there… but alas, I’m sure the weather gods have something else equally wonderful planned for us.



I want to backtrack for a minute to yesterday’s port, Kushiro. It took about 3 hours to get everyone through immigration and we each had to have our temperature taken by placing two fingers on a little machine. If you had a fever you would not be able to get off. Fortunately we were fine and about 11am headed out to our bus for a tour of the island. Very, very little is in English here, except for a few of the major road signs. It was chilly and misting to the point of fine rain. School children were on the dock for a “field trip” to see our ship come in. A welcoming committee handed out maps of Kushiro in English. We walked down the dock and boarded our tour bus. Cope squished into the seat next to me. The seats are made for much smaller people ;-). “Happy Girl”, our tour bus leader was delightful. Understanding her was another thing. She was trying to speak English and we were trying to understand. Lots of smiling and shrugging ;-) First we headed out to the Kushiro Marshlands to see the Red Crested Cranes. These beautiful creatures were brought to the brink of extinction in the late 1940’s. One day some people noticed a pair feeding in Kushiro and were amazed that any were left. They, along with others started feeding them and hoping with the extra food the chicks and make it through the winter. With the care of the local people over the next 60 years they were able to bring back this beautiful creature until there are about 1300 of them now and a big reserve to protect them.



After getting off the bus we walked along a path where the birds were feeding and saw a number of pairs and one pair with a baby crane (is a baby crane a chick?). The cranes are as tall as I am, very thin with white and black feathers. After about 15 minutes we headed back for the museum as we were getting soaked by the mist. Unfortunately we couldn’t read any of the signs or really understand our tour guide ;-) but…we looked at the exhibits and artwork while piecing two and two together. We figured out our yen and in the gift shop bought a little wooden crane for our memory shelf ;-). Just after we got on the bus a lovely young woman got on with two large crane eggs in her hands and walked down the aisle so that we could all see them up close. Nice.



Next stop, the Wetlands Observatory. This beautiful museum is dedicated to the wetlands and the flora a fauna of the area. Inside were exhibits of the animals of the area including tanks of live salmon. The museum and observatory sit in the middle of some of the most beautiful landscape. This time of year the Japanese Maples are starting to turn red and the leaves of all the other trees yellow. Breathtaking and even more so in the fog and mist. As we were getting ready to leave 4 school busses dropped off middle school students who were there for a field trip. The students were waiting on the lawn outside the museum and had on their black uniforms with matching tennis shoes. They were laughing, horsing around and having a great day. Cope started to take their picture and I wasn’t sure that was a good idea but dang if they didn’t want their pictures taken and were even posing ;-)



Then, on the bus again for a “city stop”. Yep, we headed to the fish market in downtown Kushiro. I’ve been looking forward to this stop. On the way into town …by the way they drive on the opposite side of the road and with the steering wheel on the opposite side from ours… takes a little rethinking about where the door of the bus is ;-) … anyway, it took us about 20 minutes to reach the fish market. A building that looks like a warehouse grocery store in the USA. Very clean, very nice shopkeepers. Reminded me a lot of the Granville Island Market in Vancouver, BC. Stall, after stall, after stall. Each stall had different kinds of fresh fish or vegetables or candy, toys, clothing or flowers. Shopkeepers were so patient with a busload of visitors not buying, but taking thousands of pictures of their fish ;-) It is astounding to me the things that people eat around the world. My palate is so miniscule in comparison.



Next we were off to the City of Kushiro Museum. We started out with a very nice young man as our guide but finally went off on our own as we were not able to understand. However, this museum was modern, kind of dark but beautiful. Extremely interesting and varied exhibits, very well displayed, with information in English which made the visit that much better. They also had the complete lower jaw of a blue whale. As we were leaving a docent encouraged us to take a souvenir of a piece of coal from the area.



On the way back to the ship we passed a large paper mill that produces most of the newspaper in Japan. and saw some of the downtown area with of course… Comfort Inn, KFC, Pizza Hut and 7-11 ;-)



Next stop: Through the Straits of Tsugaru Kaikyo (south of Hokkaido) and into the Sea of Japan on our way to our next stop(in lieu of Tokyo) Kanazawa, Japan.

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Comments

[Danny Ayala]

looks like you're having a great time
Hey Cope, Glad to hear all is well and I hope you and Jean are having a blast. I'll keep checking in to see your latest adventures. Take care and enjoy