More grey skies this morning, but the rain held off. With fresh supplies from the nearest Seicomart convenience store (of which Wakkanai probably has 200), Tania and I started the 30km walk north east along the coast to Cape Soya. The wind was against us the whole way, with shelter provided in the half-dozen small […]

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Last night’s last arrival was the first riser this morning, and his tent was next to mine. For two hours starting not long after 2am I heard him stomp back and forth across the flattened earth, echoing through my tent as if we were on a metal plate. He cooked, he brushed his teeth, he […]

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First order of the day was getting my Alien Registration Card. At the ward office I presented the forms that showed I tried to do this in Kyoto and Otaya but this caused more trouble. It seems you have to de-register in your old area first before re-registering in your new place. With Richard helping […]

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The storm hit early this morning and when two pegs got blown out at 6am my tent collapsed and I figured it was time to leave. The weather improved enough to stow the umbrella and a few hours later I was at Osorezan. On the way I’d been offered a lift by a friendly Japanese […]

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The longest day of the year, the summers solstice, or as PCT hikers call it “Hike Naked Day”. Thru-hikers would often be up in the high Sierras at this point where you don’t see roads or cars for hundreds of miles. I was crossing Muir Pass exactly a year ago. Today though I was a […]

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For most of this morning I thought today was just about the distance. Putting my head down and getting it done. The walk was pleasant. Soon reaching the Tamagawa Dam view point where I charged some things and dried out others. After a while the view of the man-made lake disappeared and with dense forest […]

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I was packed and walking by 4:30am but managed to wisely put those extra daylight hours into resting (and charging my electronics, and working on my tan). I also wasted some by missing tiny little roads that show up on my map but really need to be marked as tracks. The first was described as […]

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Today falls neatly into three parts. First I had to improve the waterproofing on my tent, so I needed silicone gel and stuff to mix/spread it with. Given that the hardware store is within 100m you’d think this would be easy. First we had to talk our way in before the store was officially open. […]

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With no reason to stay I was on the road and heading north well before 5am. The distance seemed to drag on and on and the last few kilometers took forever, but finally I reached the coordinates of Masami’s postcode and called him up. He’s my neighbour’s friend and has been doing the lion’s share […]

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Lesson 1: If a road crew won’t let you through the tunnel, don’t rely on them to know about easy alternate routes. They may insist you get in their truck because that’s what their boss has told them to insist. It does not mean they know the local roads and that an easy road goes […]

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