August 2nd, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
With the rain of yesterday gone, we were now keen to get on the road. The bear hunt began.
Abashiri is a nice enough town. It has that feel of being sort of outpost-ish. Like it is right on the outskirts of Hokkaido. It is a quiet town, but apparently is more popular in winter, where you can see sea-ice floes. Haidee and I made a note to come back in winter.
It is probably worth noting also that there is a fairly well stocked cycle store in Abashiri on Route 244 through the city (location here:Â goo.gl/maps/0qUJX). We had to pop in to get an extra headset spacer.
Not far out of Abashiri, along the coast, we stopped in at the White Swan Center on Lake Tofutsu. The distinct lack of white swans (there are more in winter) led us to the friendly miniature horses nearby.
Where ever possible, we tried to get off the main roads, and onto adjacent farming roads. The area is criss-crossed with them, so a good map is really handy; it is amazing how much birdsong gets drowned out by automobile noise.
Our destination for today was the town of Shari. The gateway to Shiretoko National Park. Or so they like to think. In any case, it was a nice enough town. It sort of reminded me of Taupo in New Zealand without the lake. Nice big houses and carefully manicured lawns and gardens.
The Shari Campground was fantastic. It too was carefully manicured, with nice facilities. Even better, the caretaker let us stay for free; we were the only campers that night!
Route Map
View Larger Map – http://goo.gl/maps/Zt96h
Distance: 43.5km | Time on bikes: 3h 01m | Average speed: 14.4km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food: 5,209yen | Accommodation: 0yen | Onsen (hotspring): 0yen | Laundry: 0yen
