Tales of the Road – Fire & Ice

by Marleen LavermanMay 25, 2019Blogs, Japan, Overland, Stories

Wow, finally a “Tales of the Road” again. We left you in Hokkaido, many things have happened in the meantime, let’s try to catch up. End of March we left the most northern island of Japan. But not before having a last dip in one of the wildest onsen and getting a taste of the Ainu culture: the original inhabitants of Hokkaido. Winter gave us a nice farewell with a fresh dump of snow in Furano, which was good for some powder days on the slopes together with our friends. After all the fun it was even harder to say goodbye to the warm group of people that in the short time we were there already felt like longtime friends.

It was also time to say goodbye to the TV-crew, after 2 months of being “Big in Japan”. It was time to continue our journey through Japan on our own. The show is planned to be aired this August but we will keep you informed!

Arigato gozaimas Hokkaido! Up until now the wild nature and warm people of this island are the highlight of our trip in Japan!

Tales of the Road – not the prettiest photos, mostly just to tell the story of our lives on the road.

OK just a bit more of Shiretoko before we head south for the first time since we arrived in Japan!

Shiretoko keeps amazing us with the amount of wild life!

All kinds of birds of prey.

Foxes

The evening sets, time to find a spot to sleep.

In the mountains we find a flat place cleared of snow next to an onsen. Oh yeah, hot bath after the snowshoe hike, before a good night sleep!

Before we get in another car arrives and hooks up his car batteries to the power of the shack. What a good solution! Off-the-grid ;-)

More locals arrive to have a nice evening bath and we end up having a nice " talk". Spot the Gaijin (foreigner).

Ok time to go, unhook the batteries and off they go. That was nice!

After reaching the other side of the Shiretoko peninsula. I think I've found an amazing spot, but first time to inspect to see if we can make it there. Let's try!

A bit stupid to head into the deep snow. But look at the spot we found! Spot Abi ;-)

The next day we are able to leave the spot before we got snowed in. Driving along the coast we see a lot of Siberian drif ice. So special for us.

The drift ice is really close to the shore this time. And people are going in to scout for fresh seafood.

Time to launch the drone to get a different perspective on this natural phenomenon.

Wow...

A fisher is manouvering around the drift ice in search of ....? We think scallops.

A closer look didn't answer our question... Anyone knows?

Hokkaido is full of Ice but also of Fire! This mountain is letting of steam everywhere... Out of this world.

Marleen up and close with the exhaust of this planet.

Tales-of-the-Road-Fire-and-Ice-20-of-28

That night we ended up at this beautiful frozen lake.

Where we decide to stay a whole 2 nights. So finally time to process the photos and stories.

This spot also had a outdoor onsen (on the right) where we enjoyed a great morning bath. Next to the swans that were enjoying the little open water in between the frozen landscapes.

Woohoo time to get some nice oven food. We are very happy with this little foldable oven, but the one thing he's not good at is making a good cheese crust...

Our latest invention to get a proper cheese crust. Spread out some cheese on a baking paper and make the cheese crust seperate in a pan before adding it to the lasagne or quiche. Or you can even make a cheese toast upside down this way. Yum!

The result.

The next day another campervan arrives. Before we know it we are invited for a drink and meal in his van.

Great evening with beers, instant noodles and intersting stories. Japanese style campervan, so no chairs, but just a multi purpose floor. Thank you Jun for the nice evening!