Yaki Niku

November 06

Had a great weekend. Some of our students took us out to a Yaki Niku place for dinner. Yaki Niku is a Korean version of BBQ and is really popular here. They bring small charcoal fires to your table and you cook your own meat. The meat is served in small cuts and is easy to pick up and retrieve with chopsticks. The only downfall is that it gets really smoky and your clothes smell for a while. There are a few different cuts that we probably wouldn’t eat in New Zealand, like pig intestines, cows tongue (I was apprehensive but it was really good) and of course liver. It is an all you can eat and drink in 2 hours deal…fantastic. A great concept that I can’t help thinking of as a challenge! After having a huge feed of meat and beer we headed to another bar before going to our local, Shu Sen.

Kushiro Climbing Competition

November 2006

On Sunday Sarah and I were invited to attend the Kushiro Climbing Competition. It was held at our local wall at Seiundai. In total about 30 climbers attended from Kushiro and the surrounding areas. Sarah and I did really well. Sarah placed fist in the Women’s Middle Grade, and I managed to get into the open finals and gained 5^th place overall. Lots of fun and laughter. With the short climbing season here and the fact that there is only 1 climbing wall in all of Eastern Hokkaido the level was not as high as in New Zealand. Which was good for us as we could do well in the competition. We were both happy to receive prizes.

Me-Akan Dake

November 2006
We had a long weekend and on Friday went to Akan National Park to climb Me-Akan Dake 1499m. It is an active volcano that had been closed to hikers since our arrival but opened again in September. However it still seemed very active, approaching the summit there is a constant noise that sounds like a jet flying overhead. It was a nice hike, through forest and then into the moonscapes higher on the mountain. Very smelly though.

November 2006

November 2006
Well for those that don't think we do any work over here, these are some photos of teaching in Kushiro Public Schools. We do this about once a week and teach 4 lessons to between 20 and 60 children per class. It is often fun, but exhausting and frustrating. All the kids want to touch you and laugh at you when you try to speak Japanese. I've had First Graders hanging of my arms and legs while I tried to leave a classroom, and the teacher just stood back and watched!

October 2006

SHIRETOKO
Shiretoko is acclaimed as Hokkaido’s (and one of Japan’s) most beautiful National Parks. It is a volcanic mountain range jutting out of the Sea of Othotsk on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. We were a bit apprehensive about exploring the park as it has more bears per square kilometre than any other place in Japan! We traveled up the eastern coastline and stopped to watch fishermen at the river mouths trying their best to catch Salmon. We then traveled over the mountain range via Shiretoko Pass but had little to see as strong winds and clouds obscured the view. Once back down at sea level we looked for a place to camp in Utoro. We were again amazed by the number of deer everywhere. We had to stop on the road to allow a hind and fawn to cross and looked out the window to see two young stags happily grazing by the road. In the town itself there were deer grazing in the grassy areas between the hotels and restaurants. The campgrounds are closed this time of year as they tourist season is slowing down and generally people consider it too cold to camp now. This didn’t bother us much and we kept up our trend of camping for free. We did our bit to protect the National Park and had venison curry for dinner at a small café. Next day dawned clear as expected and had a nice sunrise at 4.30 am! We went back to bed for a few hours and got up at 7’ish to head for Rausu-dake. At 1661m it is the highest mountain in the National Park. We suppressed our fear of bears and climbed about half way up the mountain. We didn’t go all the way because of high cloud and enjoyed the view we had. For me it was great to see the autumn colours, something you can’t really appreciate in the New Zealand Mountains. Afterwards we found a natural outdoor onsen (hotspring) and also walked around the famous 5 lakes.

Map of Hokkaido

September 2006

Autumn is upon us. Been over in Hidaka rock climbing at Akaiwa Segankyo for the weekend. Driving over the Hidaka range and around the boulders the beginnings of a yellow tinge are appearing in the leaves. In another week or so they will be a blaze of orange, reds and yellows. Plan to head over to Shiretoko in the next couple of weeks to get a good look at the autumn colours. Had a good time climbing and can’t help thinking that will be the last time we go climbing there. Sarah nailed a project and led it with ease. I also bagged a 5.11a that has been eluding me a little so we felt pleased with ourselves. We only have a couple of months left in Kushiro and want to make the most of the car and the good weather to explore. Well excited as next weekend Tracy is coming to Sapporo and we have a long weekend!

Just had a 3 day weekend in Sapporo. It was a bit stressful negotiating the motorway then downtown Sapporo to get to our Youth Hostel. Once checked in we walked down to Susukino, the restaurant and bar area of Sapporo. After walking around for a bit we ended up in a Spanish bar. Was more than a bit strange hearing “por favor” from the waiters! Got to talk a little Spanish with the staff, which was fun! Paid 3000 yen for a beer and a couple of slices of quiche and realised it was out of our price range so moved onto a really nice Soup Curry place. Was delicious and is my new favourite food. It has only become popular in the last 5 years or so and originated from Sapporo. Afterwards we walked around wide eyed a bit more, soaking in the bright lights of a larger Japanese city. Spent the next day walking around downtown Sapporo and shopping a little. Odori park was looking beautiful and many people were enjoying the sunshine. Had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that was also delicious. Was great to have burritos! Next day we packed up and headed to Chitose airport to meet Tracy who was arriving midday from London, via Germany and Nagoya.