Seeing the geese take off at sunrise meant rousing ourselves, well, before sunrise. The chatty group from yesterday was understandably subdued as we fought off the fog of just-woke-up to get to the pond before the geese disappeared for the day.
Just a 3km ride from the campground, we didn’t have far to go in the morning half-light.
From the campsite, we set off on our bikes, hugging the hills to the west of the Iwamizawa Plains. This resulted in a decent amount of up-and-down hills, but kept the roads traffic-free and gorgeous.
We stopped for lunch in Hokko Park in Sunagawa City – perfect for a lunch-stop as there is a supermarket and bakery close-by. Monika, on a length-of-Japan trip, took the opportunity to get some advice from Rick on where the best spots were in Honshu to cycle.
The second-half of the day saw us following an excellent, unexpected cycle path along the Utashinai Valley. While it was a climb all the way, we appreciated being off the main thoroughfare.
We stayed at the excellent Akabira Elm Kogen Campground, with onsen attached.
