Japan - Day 7

Feeling a little achy when we got up, we had another hot bath before a leisurely breakfast... and then it was into the car for a five hour drive east to the Shiretoko peninsula - a chain of volcanoes jutting out into the sea, the southernmost point for sea ice, mostly wild, "the end of the Earth" in the Ainu language.

At around the 1 hour mark we stopped at a small aquarium featuring the local fish.

What do Japanese people say when they visit an aquarium? "Yum!!"

The fish say the same thing.

There was a huge souvenir shop, filled with Ainu-themed and other awful wood carvings.

Who buys this stuff? C did find some nice handkerchiefs, which he bought with the intention of transforming into pocket handkerchiefs - a new fad of his. Sorry, fashion! The new fashion! And Lukan found a bear claw back scratcher that he insisted on having.

After cold drinks and ice cream we set off again. A couple of hours later we stopped at a Bento Box - a take away food chain, where the food is actually good. The idea was to find a nice place by the side of the road for a picnic. We drove and drove... nothing. Eventually we pulled into a kind of truck stop - a huge dusty parking lot, with a row of drink vending machines and stinky toilet. There was a bit of grass on the side in the shade, so we settled in there. I took a photo...

... and was about to sit down myself to tuck into my tempura, when Téo spotted a tick on my leg. We hastily moved away... into the hot, dusty parking lot as there was nowhere else. Oh well, at least the food was yummy.

We finally made it to Shiretoko in the late afternoon. After a short stop...

... we headed to our hotel, where I discovered who buys terrible Hokkaido wood carvings. Multiple, terrible Hokkaido wood carvings.

Shabolz and Yoko's friends - the ones we'd had dinner with on day 3 - were staying at the same hotel. The six kids ran around playing spies outside, and claimed to have seen a snake. C went for a hot bath, but it was too hot for me - a cold shower was more welcome.

The hotel was old and nothing much to look at, but dinner was delicious.

I know it looks the same as other meals, but it really was particularly yummy.

Apart from dinner, the evening was taken up with a much-needed session of clothes washing and drying. Shabolz and C took care of most of it, letting Yoko and I enjoy our beers and lemon sours. As we said to Jean-Paul when he remarked on this turn of traditional roles, we chose our men well!