Waking up to fine weather we decided to see the crater and reach the summit with better visibility and less anxiety. The grandeur of the surrounding mountains, towns and coast was majestic, and we loved getting a better sense of the crater.
Delighted and satisfied we enjoyed the challenge of boulder-climbing back to the hut, packed up and headed down the hill.
I had heard that the steepness of the descent was perhaps harder on the legs than the ascent, at it certainly felt like it. By the bottom we were tired but satisfied. What an incredible 24 hours.
Ramen at the base thanks to 7/11 and our gas burner, then we headed for Otaru, including better view of Mt yotei, a 2 km tunnel and the construction site for the extension of the Shinkansen from Hakodate to Sapporo.
Otaru is an old port to the north which saw great expansion in the second half of the 18th century during the Meiji period's rapid modernisation of Japan. As a result there are many impressive stone buildings and a canal constructed for loading goods into barges in order to then be loaded on to ships in the harbour.
The canal soon fell into disuse when container loading was introduced, but in recent years it has been beautified to entice tourists. It worked!
Canning factory - if only my dad had heard of this place and so had an opportunity to write a story for his food processing magazine and get a free trip to Hokkaido.
We strolled around the shops
and the Minister found us a ramen place down an alleyway - 2 delicious bowls if ramen and 2 beers for $25.
Then out to the edge of town for our final night - a hotel which boasts an impressive foyer, large rooms, an onsen, a swimming pool, a squash court and an indoor tennis court. Even its own convenience store!
A lovely way to spend our last night in Japan.
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