Our second day in Hokkaido is our most Northerly port, and it certainly feels like it. There is lots of snow around, obviously not recent as it’s filthy, but a stark reminder that winter hasn’t fininshed yet. There is no blossom to be seen.
Fellow travellers who’ve been to Kushiro before tell us there’s not a lot to it, so we start by going off away from town, across the river we’re parked in, and into the ‘burbs to discover two lighthouses.
We enjoy being far from the crowd, indeed we hardly see anyone for several hours. A lone deer is tending the sparse grass at one temple.
The two lighthouses could not be more different, one newish but quite traditional and the second one modern, having been reuibuilt three times, this version since 2001. We find a disused railroad, observe elegant streetlighting, and the ubiquitous crane manhole covers, cranes being a big thing in these parts.
Next we head to the Arts centre where we try to visit the Art Museum, unfortunately it’s unexpectedly closed.
Our next call is the city cultural museum where we look at the park and lake and then decide not to bother, apart from a Woolley Mammoth, and start our return. En route we pass a creepy dentist who’s chair’s are on full view – and two in the same room! And a grey school which looks like a futuristic power station – which of course might be a realistic description of some pupil yet to come!
We see a huge chedi in the distance but somehow miss walking closer, probably too engrossed in the new chocolate sensation!
Getting back to the river we visit MOO and EGG, aka the waterfront development, in the latter we are accosted by three friendly young people who are missionaries from America. We wander across town to the WASHOU market, observe more monster crabs, back past the children’s centre the former Emperor’s train, and scraping the bottom of the barrel a government building, and finally home for lunch. Kushiro is our low-spot destination too!
My afternoon is spent doing various jobs online, then catching up on the blog which has suffered for a few days because of work. We manage to spend an hour in the jacuzzi but miss our departure because of this, but I catch the remnants of the sailaway, and watch the tug gently nose us around some tight bends.
We change for dinner, which on the coldest day of the holiday is of course poolside in the frozen wasteland of Earth and Ocean. Even in Antarctica I don’t think we ever got this cold!!
Nevertheless dinner is excellent, we enjoy confit duck taco and share a side of prawn dumplings, followed by beef ribs, and finish with poire William and choco loco.
Talking about excellent, the show is performed by our Cruise Director Aimée who just blows the roof off with her truly stunning musicals production. Without doubt one of the best performances we have ever seen, ticking every box possible!
