Wakkanai: Part II

The first bus to Cape Soya, the northern most point in Japan, leaves the bus terminal at 08:10. It takes just under an hour to get there, with about half an hour to look around, take a picture at the monument before getting on the return bus back to Wakkanai. I arrived the same time as a Japanese tour bus, stood in line and got the tour guide to take my photo at the northern most point in Japan. I also had time to get my stamp and a Soya Misaki Hello Kitty in the omiyagi shop. There are four buses spread over a day to the cape, each one gives you about half an hour at the cape.

Bus times to and from Cape Soya and Wakkanai.

Once back in Wakkanai, climbed up the hill to reach Wakkanai Koen, Wakkanai Garden, where I thought there would be a ropeway. I didn’t see the ropeway, speaking to a lady at a gift shop, it was taken down last year and no longer operates. There was a wind turbine and an indoor foot spa. It was so windy outside, I took a little break.

Followed the path round to a little garden and statues for Taro and Jiro, two dogs who survived a year in the harsh Antarctica conditions when a Japanese research team had to abandon the expedition. Found more stamps and someone was doing a market research survey, which I managed to complete in Japanese.

I felt I was more challenged with my Japanese than usual while being in Wakkanai. There is very little written in English, I only saw either Japanese or Russian due to there being an international ferry port that connects to Russia.

I continued to walk five kilometers along the coast to Noshappu Misaski, where there is a sad looking aquarium, a lighthouse, a look out point and various restaurants. The omiyagi shop was pretty well stocked, where you could buy fresh seafood including some of the biggest crabs I’ve seen. Took a Wakkanai made ice-cream break out of the wind.

From this cape to Wakkanai onsen the wind was so strong and it had started to rain. Getting cold and desperate, I hitch hiked the last three kilometers to the onsen. A middle-aged couple picked me up and took me to the onsen. The woman was originally from Fukushima, near Koriyama but had since moved to Hokkaido.

The onsen was large with a few different pools to try including a small outside area. The bus back into town was late, and I wasn’t the only one waiting for it. The other old people who were waiting as well were getting agitated. Things aren’t late in Japan and it was interesting to watch them get obviously annoyed the bus was not on time to the minute. Buses run few and far between in the area, which is why I chose to walk one way.

A last omiyagi shop and dinner at a seafood place before heading home the next morning on the first train out of Wakkanai. The JR train company is offering a special return ticket from Sapporo that costs 12,200yen if you return within six days. Which is a bargain, as normally a ticket is at least ten thousand yen, one way.

Most helpful website was the Wikitravel site on Wakkanai.

Wakkanai: Part II

Wakkanai: Rishiri & Rebun Island

Work has finished and Golden Week has begun. I choose to take a pleasant, five hour train ride to the northern most tip of Hokkaido and Japan – Wakkanai.  Said with a different intonation to the ‘I don’t know’, wakkanai.

On first arrival, there didn’t seem like there was much there, a tiny train station, a Seikomart, a lot of seafood restraunts. Early to bed for the early start for the ferry to the islands.

Off the coast of Wakkanai there are two islands that are National Parks, Rishiri and Rebun Island. Rishiri has a mountain in the centre, standing at 1721 metres high, is the first thing you see from the ferry. Towering down and still covered in snow, with large peaks and rock faces. I could also see Mt Rishiri on the train arriving into Wakkani, all pinks and purples in the early evening sunset.

Right outside the ferry terminal on Rishiri Island there are about four or five car rental / omiyagi shops. Knowing there was a cycle path, I went to the bike hire hut. No one there, went next door and asked the omiyagi lady, who called the bike guy. Moments later he arrives and gives me a purple mama-chari bike for three hours.

I am off to Hime-numa, Princess Lake, five kilometers from the ferry terminal. The first two were on the flat, following the ocean road, then the last three were up a very steep slope that I had to get off and push. Hime-numa is also the start of the path to take up to Mt Pon, a smaller mountain. The path started out fine, then as more and more snow covered the path it become too difficult to continue and I had to turn back and take the more mellow, Hime-numa Nature Trail, which followed the edge of the lake.

Fun reflectors on Rishiri

On the way down, I joined up with the cycle path and took it to the Notsuka view point looking over the ocean. Rode the cycle path all the way back to the ferry terminal in time for the next ferry to Rebun Island.

Rebun Island, famous for it’s large range of wild flowers in the summer althought I was a little too early for the flowers. The Rebun ferry terminal has a variety of leaflets on the different trails you can do on the island. I took the Momoiwa walking trail, one of the shorter ones, which was mainly covered in dry grass, with a few little plants trying to push their way out. At the look out point it was very windy and a lot of cloud cover blocked the view. I followed the trail out towards a lighthouse; I didn’t reach it as I had to make it back to get the ferry back to the mainland. Wasn’t too disappointed, couldn’t see much because of the clouds and the wind was getting a little too much. When I did get back to the ferry terminal, found I was too early by nearly an hour, so used the time to go to the Rebun onsen.

If you are short on time, it’s best to plan which ferries you want to take, the ferry company connecting the islands is called Heart Land Ferry and they have an English website here.

By the time I got back to Wakkanani, I was famished and went to a little place right next to the station for a large bowl of crab ramen. After a day of trampling around, was well needed.

Rishiri & Rebun Island