Slightly cooler night, may have managed some sleep – but still didn’t need to get my sleeping bag out for the first time in Japan.

Bit of company packing up.

An easy, flat day of coastal riding to the northern most city, Wakkanai, awaited us. A lot of dairy farms, but very few cows seen. Animals inside most of the year, grass taken to them from the fields – mostly seemed to be hay. We got quite excited if we spied any cows outside.

Open fields, no muck or fences.

Cows in there somewhere.

Easy smooth riding very much assisted by a tailwind.

Occasionally we stopped at quiet fishing harbours for a bit of shade and a drink machine, interesting to see various items laid out readying for the next catch.

Pictorial signs continue to amuse, if not entirely inform us.

Even more coastal protection being made and set. In places it seemed a lot of concrete being used to protect open fields.

One of the bigger wind farms we saw; a bit like the solar farms, wind turbines were generally in small groups and spread around northern Hokkaido.

Had to stop for a photo as we crossed the 45th parallel.

Quite the change from the coastal landscape that requires long tunnels.

Always more snacks to try – these were good, but I wasn’t sure how well they’d survive in the heat; well, that was my excuse for eating them quickly.

Largest hill all day, all of fifty metres to get over to Wakkanai on the other coast (as Hokkaido narrows in the north). Different style of wind turbine.

We found our first rider house (basic accommodation for motor cyclists and bicyclists). It was an experience, run by a chain-smoking eighty-odd year old woman, the fug of cigarette smoke pervaded. Our windowless bunk room was overwhelmingly damp and musty. But there was an onsen next door, with a bar and kitchen – a much nicer place to hang out, with some live music too. Enough daylight left for a bit of wandering; on the northern extent of the island and no doubt exposed to a lot of weather the town had a harder edge to it than others we’d seen.

The deer didn’t seem to mind though.

Typical community police station.

A third language on the street signs here – Sakhalin Island (Russia) being so close, there’s been some cross-settlement over the years.

Cute mini-trucks make for even cuter mini-campers.

Rest day tomorrow as a lot of rain forecast. After a week of little sleep in the heat, I was looking forward to it. I certainly didn’t have the energy or patience for enforced-fun in a foreign language at the stale rider house – I skipped the late “compulsory” round table of introductions and singing some song about Hokkaido and went to bed.

Delayed start to the day’s riding as it was still drizzling first thing. Slightly off our route to the north of the island, cherry orchards were a draw for someone – but we all balked at the price of aesthetically perfect fruit, something we’d continue to do for the next few months.

Something else we’d become familiar with – small community groups out keeping their place up.

Marigolds particularly popular in many places.

Waiting at the cherry orchard…

One of those places where the size and grandeur of the dead centre surpasses the rest of town.

Arriving at the first large town of the day, I was keen to find something to treat the intense itching and swelling of my left arm after the previous day’s hornet sting. After a couple of pharmacies, I found a soothing gel that proved most useful.

Never seen a tall bowling alley building before; maybe that’s why it struggled to stay in business.

Urgency to ride was not so high that we could miss a patisserie.

Sun out, we were back on the bikes along the coast.

Various animals holding fences around worksites another feature all the way around Japan, much more interesting than death by a thousand cones.

Around noon, a large museum right on the coast drew us in. I was hoping for lunch, but instead was interested, so far as I could understand, to learn how large the herring fishing industry was in the early modern settled history of Hokkaido (which being late nineteenth century, I later learned, was much later than I expected). While some was dried for food, mostly the herring was processed and sent to the south of Japan to be used for fertiliser.

Building used for processing the herring, quarters for the cheap labour, and owner’s residence as well.

Glass buoys always seemed a bit fragile to me, but they must have worked ok or we wouldn’t have seen so many surviving examples on our travels around the coast.

Predictably, a konbini was not far away for lunch supplies.

We found some green space below a temple to stop.

Occasionally I remembered to take a photo or two of some of the abandoned buildings that plague the countryside of Japan.

With rural depopulation and those left aging, and I think there are some tax reasons that make walking away from property advantageous, the number of buildings decaying (at various stages of decline) we saw was staggering. Along this coastline, it was particularly noticeable.

Getting into bear country it seems. Hopefully they’re not this big, nor with alarming and disturbing electric eyes.

Sometimes the street furniture got a little overwhelming.

Passing temple.

And I thought the bear above was disturbing…seems they have giant penguins too.

Pleasant late afternoon cruising towards our campground.

Camping huts, alongside the popular and free tenting area. Further up the coast, tomorrow’s ride.

North to Rishiri, a volcanic island we were aiming to take a ferry to in a few days.

Just a standard campground observatory.

Campground lighting was often excessive in Japan and kept me awake (I had to buy an eyeshade eventually) – this bordering on the ridiculous.

Tents erected, we wandered down to the seaside to take in the sunset. Well worth it:

After that spectacular display, we got back into the habit of cooking our dinner on a picnic table. I skipped the onsen trip that night, can’t have thought I needed it after an easy day’s biking in sub-thirty degree temperatures.

Off through the near-deserted seaside village to Seicomart for konbini breakfast – hot already!

A brighter pre-fab garage than the many galvanised or otherwise dull ones.

A short stretch besides coastal rice fields.

Must have been excited to see some brighter, gabled houses – generally I found the architecture in Hokkaido drab and boxy. One could imagine it was due to the harsh climate, but the colour in Mongolia puts paid to that.

One of many short golf courses we’d see around Hokkaido, seemingly mostly used by groups of seniors.

As expected from our view around the coast the previous evening, the plains soon gave way to hills. But far less climbing than expected – tunnels galore! The theme of the day seemed to be defence against nature – mostly by concrete. Serious business in Japan, somewhat understandably – although in places there were defences for no communities, industry or infrastructure. Good for the cement business though, after a few days I was sick of the sight of concrete, especially in otherwise undeveloped places.

Artificial harbours (more concrete out into the ocean) also a regular sight, with associated fishing activities. This area seemed to be big into octopus and scallops. We popped down to one, that also had a small seafood market, to take a look and snack break out of the sun.

Vending machine snacks – didn’t get the weird chip/crisp flavour again, melon flavour common and quite good.

With the heat and vending machines and konbinis all over the place, my consumption of cold, sugary drinks (much cheaper than at home) increased by fifty to a hundred times in Japan.

Kei vehicles! Cheaper tax, cheap to run, not needing a dedicated parking space to own and ever so practical – hard not to be charmed by sensible solutions (the trucks particularly – workhorses) that are not oversized and wasteful.

Leaving the market.

Climbing away from harbour.

Only mechanical of the trip – Orlaith replacing a tube (?!?) at some convenient roadworks.

Into the hills.

Eventually worked out what all the collapsible fences were that we’d started to see the day before – to prevent snow drifting onto roads. The arrows for indicate where the edge of the snow-covered road is.

Local food for lunch at a roadside restaurant.

The bicycle wheel whirligigs were more interesting than the temple we diverted to see.

Into the tunnel area, some were kilometres long (up to five-ish); we must have spent twenty-plus kilometres in tunnels that day. Only one didn’t have decent path to ride on, but traffic is slower and more courteous here – so not too bad. But oh my, the noise! I started putting ear plugs in, the noise building from trucks hundreds of metres back to reach a deafening crescendo before slowly fading as the traffic passed. The tunnels did provide some relief from the temperatures in the mid-thirties, at least. At one, a lane was closed for maintenance – we went last after the vehicles and had a blissful few kilometres of a huge tunnel all to ourselves.

Plagued by these surprisingly fast and large critters all day – they could easily keep up with us on flat roads and had a sharp bite.

Between two tunnels I also managed to get stung above the elbow by what we later identified as a Japanese hornet – holy heck! That stung, itched and swelled (down to my hand) for days afterward.

One of the many varieties of large concrete tetrahedral solids used as coastal defences.

Typical roadworks stop. Bemused by the only English writing being “Safety First” buried at the bottom of the sign.

Standard slip prevention.

Different tetrahedral concrete shapes.

With heavy rain forecast, we opted to stay indoors in Mashike. Our induction to the accommodation included a lengthy lesson on slipper etiquette and correct rubbish disposal – amusing but also useful for the rest of our time in Japan.

Former sake brewery.

Guesthouse.

We took a stroll around the harbour and up some hills. We’d not seen many birds so far in Japan, mostly crows – now we saw hundreds all around the harbour. Flocks of them flying around was starting to feel a bit like The Birds.

>Konbini dinner with local cider to go with.

Mugginess, mosquitoes and nearby rail line made for another broken night, but had to get packed up and away early as we found that the city trails get very busy very early on summer mornings. Early dusk at such latitude (just below 45) gives an early dawn – missing daylight savings here!

Smooth, well-marked trail into the city centre.

Many runners, walkers and other riders out trying to beat the heat.

Somewhat surprised to see this new Mormon temple.

Always like impressive bridges, especially those dedicated to people travelling by bike and foot.

Sunday morning baseball by the river.

With a few errands to do (I was hoping to finally replace my air mattress) and wanting to have a little look around the city, somewhere safe and permitted to park our loaded bikes was sought. If we’d been in the country more than a couple of days, we’d have known already that they’d have been safe almost anywhere. Where they’d be allowed was a little more difficult to work out; the big underground bike park near the station seemed a good option. With the help of the attendant, all rules were followed and off we went bike-less.

No way my bike was getting on the top rack, even if I had understood this.

Got a little sticker too.

One of these bikes is not like the other.

Sweltering outside by now, air conditioned malls and (extensive) underground walkways were most welcome. Amongst morning tea/coffee and cake and quick sightseeing, a lot of time was spent at the Mont Bell store – mattress replaced and, for some reason, I thought a poncho would be nicer in rainy conditions than a heavy raincoat.

Part of the main station.

Returning to the bike parking garage, the poor attendant almost collapsed laughing. Apparently these facilities cater to those away for days and weeks – he simply could not believe we were back in a matter of hours. Packing our purchases away, we were occasionally interrupted by sudden bursts of laughter.

Negotiating the bike escalator, we left feeling we’d made the attendant’s day – if not week. I wonder if he still talks about us.

Warm enough in the basement it was too.

Looking for another bike shop, must have been to try and replace Rachel’s chain (think twice about using high-end SRAM components in Japan – near impossible to find replacements; Shimano on the other hand – readily available). After a sweaty, hot climb up a busy arterial road the bike shop was unusually closed. Back to town where the others’ bikes were serviced while I had an interesting hair and beard cut experience; the calendar and poster gifts I walked out with not particularly useful on a bike tour.

A short stop at the Sapporo brewery for a pint later, we found cruisy riverside trails and old roads to take us towards the coast.

It took a little while to find exactly where the free camping was alongside a long narrow parking lot well frequented by beach goers. So hot was it still as dusk approached, even I went for a swim in the sea.

Still plenty of locals out as the day drew to a close. Looking towards the coast, and hills, we’d be riding past tomorrow.

Cutting it a bit fine at the onsen next door, we managed to squeak in and get dinner just as the kitchen about to close.

I don’t think I’ve ever taken as many photos of food as I did in Japan, always a delight to see what would come out and the care with so many different dishes were prepared and presented.

Back for another sweltering night in the tent, at least so close to the coast there was the possibility of a breeze – however warm.