Day 12 rest day and day 13 Tsuruoka to Hokkaido 10.5 hours including ferry trip

Our rest day photos are on the Pearlsonwheels Facebook page.

The ride north from Tsuruoka took us out to the coast.

The Sea of Japan glistening

We’ll be crossing this sea to Vladivostok in 12 days.

Meanwhile

From the back of the bike

I can feel my driver is relaxed as the Redhead purrs along.

We stop for fuel

For  coffee

And for a late lunch.

Two of these require us to fathom the process...

Pay first, select the preferred option

Kaching,  it is dispensed.

All’s well,  people help

Especially the ladies

At the road stop

At Aomori we wait for an hour for the ferry to Hakadote

Time to catch up, to listen to my book,

To check emails and so on

Ferry options 

a cabin, standard (a chair) or the floor. 

We choose the standard, and take a seat.

About 50 passengers on board

Many trucks, a few cars and three motorcycles

For the smooth crossing

To Hakodate, Hokkaido

Where we ride along the waterfront to a hotel

And a beer for my driver at 10pm

Another good day on the road.

NB We took the ferry from Aomori to Hokkaido. 3hrs 20mins. 

Sayonara Shonai Hotel deigned by Shigeru Ban. We loved our stay here.

Sea of Japan, our first sighting of the west coast.

Through forests most of the day.

There are very few Road houses along the way. But we ‘strike oil’ at 2.30pm near Aomori.

This is the process for buying a snack...

Put your money into the machine. Lights will come on at each number.  Choose the number of the dish you want to order.

I chose number 1.

These lovely ladies produced a dish of delicious tempura, including tempura fern fronds for me.

Outside the road stop the gardens are awash with coloured carpets.

We are north of the 38th parallel. It’s pleasantly cool. Spring flowers abound.

Forested hill sides for many km today.

We have seen many km of lovely green scenery and snow capped mountains. Geothermal pools. Volcanoes. 

A bit like New Zealand.

The ferry waits.