Tomamu in Hokkaido Island Japan 12 to 19 January 2016

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Tomamu Ski Resort, Hokkaido, Japan, 12 to 19 January 2016



The 5 main reasons for going to Japan in the winter was to show Gemma (7 yo) snow for the first time, go skiing – Adam has been snowboarding in Japan 3 times now – give some cold weather to Kerrie, I wanted to see an Ice Hotel, and Tom wanted to see Christmas in the snow. All of these have been achieved during our week in Tomamu although we were a little late for Christmas.



Tomamu is in the southern central part of Hokkaido. The majority of people at the resort were Japanese, with a few Chinese and not many Australians. The facilities were incredible. Our hotel rooms were huge, with lounge and 2 bathrooms, coffee making facilities, and as usual in Japan, heated toilet seats (!!!!) with dials for bidet etc, etc.



The rooms were well heated because the temperature while we were in Tomamu ranged from a top of -6 down to -22 degrees. The snow was incredible. It snowed most nights and occasionally during the day. However, most of the days were brilliant sunshine and clear skies. We were so lucky.



The snow in Japan is very powdery and lovely to ski on – so different to Australia. Tom & I skied while Adam, Kerrie and Gemma snowboarded. Adam was the teacher, and an incredible one at that. He is a fantastic snowboarder able to do all the tricks and jumps you can imagine. He has so much patience with Gemma who did so well under his guidance.



By day 4 Gemma was “on fire”. She had mastered the art of snowboarding by herself. She also insisted on going up the chairlift by herself. Her enthusiasm was incredible.



Tom & I picked up skiing again after 22 years and we felt pretty chuffed that we were belting down the mountain sloped again by day 2. There were the easy to the very steep slopes so there was plenty of scope to choose from.



There was never a line up at the chair lifts or gondolas. Everything was so organised. Unfortunately, Kerrie went for a big stack and injured her coccyx bone and couldn’t snowboard from day 2. She was devastated. Several days later she decided to swap to skies as she is a very good skier. That was better.



Every day we skied and did many other activities as well, many of which were linked by shuttle bus or covered, enclosed, elevated corridors. These activities were:



· Going to the Mina-Mina Beach which is a massive enclosed wave pool which also had 6 spas, inflatable animals to ride, stand-up paddle boards, outdoor onsen (41 degrees), slacklining (tightrope walking over water), with the whole area heated to 27 degrees. There was also a little restaurant and 2 bars in the facility. It was amazing. We participated in nearly everything available.



· Visited the Ice Village which included buildings made of ice e.g. bar, school room, theatre, chapel (we saw a wedding), ice hotel, ice rink, ice restaurant, shop, ice slide and a warm hut and bonfire square where we roasted marshmallows. Each night there were fireworks at 5.30pm. We visited everywhere and had a cocktail. Gemma and Kerry made an icicle pendant in the school where they sealed the icicle in resin.



· KAO Outdoor Centre where we hired several snowmobiles. Gemma even had a mini snowmobile which she drove around a kids course 5 times.



· Travelled up on several gondolas to reach the skywalk – what an amazing view! We were certainly above the clouds (if there were clouds!!!)



· Ate at many of the 20+ restaurants



· Had many snow fights and built 2 snowmen.



· We all tried out mini ski jumps. Adam hammered down one of the terrain parks which offered big jumps. On our second-last day in Tomamu he had a big stack, while he was belting down a slope while he was carrying a Gopro on the end of a stick as he was filming himself snowboarding. Bruised buttock and sore shoulder resulted.



· We also played lots of Uno!!



We had so much fun. It was a hectic life. A number of mornings Adam got up early to get onto the 1^st chair lift straight after breakfast so that he could get a few hours of snowboarding in before Gemma’s lesson. He would often go out again in the afternoon.



On our last day in the snow, it snowed heavily all day. Despite this, Gemma was very keen to do some more snowboarding. It was lovely of Tom to go out with her. They lasted a couple of runs down the slope but then it got too cold and the wind was not kind. It was certainly a day for building snowmen, in the shelter of our building, and for the rest of the time, inside activities. This also included enjoying each other’s company.



Our last night we booked dinner at the Nikka Bar Restaurant on the 32^nd floor of Risonare Tomamu hotel, another skyscraper of accommodation. Our accommodation was simply caller ‘The Tower’. Our idea was to see the night lights over the snow. It was still snowing heavily so the view was not clear. However, it was still worth it and the food was lovely.



The next morning, we caught the Limousine Liner Bus at 8.05am for our 1 ½ hour trip back to the Chitose Airport, returning to Tokyo for our last 3 days in Japan. We had 2 hours to wait at this new domestic airport so that gave us a good opportunity to look around. It has to be one of the most incredible airports we have been to. It has a full-on Royce Chocolate factor, museum and multiple chocolate outlets. There were lots of different museums for kids as well as play areas and library. There was also an Airlines Museum, lots and lots of shop and food outlets, so we were kept busy.



Kerrie organised a stamp competition for the family to participate in. The deal was that there are many spots that you can collect (ink) stamps of the outlet/museum/temple/shrine/tourist spot throughout Japan. The competition was who could get the most stamps. Tom & I have a feeling we are not doing so well!!!!! At the airport there were 8 stamps to collect, but we (Tom) ‘nailed it’. We have the 8 stamps.



As usual in Japan, both bus and plane were ‘dead’ on time.



It has been the longest time Tom & I have spent on a snow field because we used to go skiing while we lived in Canberra but that was only over ordinary or long weekends. The last 7 days have been fantastic and we leave with a lot of great memories.

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Photos

Tom, Gemma & Pam driving on a snowmobile
Great fun - and speed

Nio the forrest fairy
- we saw her many times on the ski slope