Days 16,17,18,19 Sapporo -Nayoro-Wakkanai-Lake Toya 1400km, 21hrs, 11.5-24.5°C

Highlights of motorcycling Hokkaido

- The North Island of Japan

Excellent roads, traffic flows smoothly everywhere

Country roads, toll roads (Tolls ¥10,520 for the week)

Tunnels galore, traffic lights, too.

Flag men, waving their flags

Gas stations where service comes with a bow.

Road houses just when we are getting thirsty.

Agriculture, dairying in the north

Barn raised cows and beef cattle

Vegetable crops and rice being shown in finely tilled fields

Hakkaido beef - regional wagyu 

We had Soya regional beef flamed with Cognac

With asparagus, potato and mushroom

Breakfasts are a feast for the eyes

A wide selection of small portions

Lots of vegetables,  miso, seaweed

Mountains, forests, rivers

Ocean beaches, fishing ports

The northernmost point of Japan

We arrive at the correct ferry terminal in Hakodate

Just in time to board and

To write my first blog post whilst sitting on the floor...

   Bears, foxes, deer signs along the roads. We didn’t see any live ones.

Roads are excellent, road signs are bilingual, tunnels sometimes more than 2km long, avalanche shelters, parking stations for cars caught out in the winter weather in the north,

Garden seeds give you an idea of what is being grown here, huge barns for cattle and cows. There are sheep too. Vast fields are growing crops for hay, we rarely saw stock outside. Rice paddies are at various stages.

Cant help but show some tulips.

These are growing in a national park on ski slopes. 

Public sculpture is on show.

At Soya Pt. The northern most point in Japan. 45°31’ N


Perfectly marbled Soya beef, cooked on The teppanyaki grill. Dusted with salt and pepper just before. Flambed in cognac at the. End.

Tender and tasty. 

I try a little bit of everything.from top left, beef, prawns, tempuravegetables, rice and salmon in seaweed, chicken, beef with toasted mustard and fried garlic. On the side - Sashimi salmon and tuna, ramen noodles with seaweed, chilli oil and fine pepper hair.

Sometimes I don’t know what I am eating.

The only thing I haven’t like is steamed savoury custard. 

Hors d’oeuvres, fish and ginger, salmon, mushrooms, bracken, an ‘unknown’ gel, kiwi fruit,grapes, tapioca,  unknown.


School girls on a bus trip. They are 17-18. In a team on the way to a competition in Wakkanai with their English teachers. He seemed more reluctant to speak in English than they were.

Glorious morning. Lake Toya. 

Very pleased to navigate our way to the correct ferry terminal in Hakodate just in time to buy our tickets and get the bike on board.

Dick got on board before me and found a nice comfy seat.

Then a man with a clipboard came along....

And now...

We are not quite so pleased to discover that the tickets we bought for a standard fare meant that we would have to sit on the floor.

Most passengers are lying down sleeping. 

And This is why I am sitting on the floor writing my blog... 

We find that we take at least 50% more time than predicted to allow for stops along the way.

The longest day was yesterday 9.5hours and 501km