A Longer Trip to Hokkaido

[drron]

And yes we had another lavender ice cream here.


There was another lavender field here but we were flowered out so took off to find Panorama road.














Now I thought the Panorama would how flowers. No just the straight road leading to a mountain which today was in the clouds.

 

[drron]

So the views as we drove back down Panorama road.








We called into a supermarket on the way back to the hotel. A bottle of white wine for Mrsdrron and a 4 pck of beer for me. Again a few things in the supermarket. Chocolate sweet potato anyone?




And 5 litres of Sake for $24.

 

[drron]

So the second night we had the Special dinner buffet in the Banquet hall. It had 150 tables of 2. And it was full. Some big quese especially at the sushi and ramen stands. But everyone had more than 1 serve of the king crab legs. But first I had a Sapporo beer and mrsdrron a couple of glasses of a Japanese white wine.






My plates.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

There was a quite incredible array of choices.




















My last plate.

 

[drron]

We were really full after that buffet. but next morning we were back at the banquet hall for breakfast. not nearly as crowded but we got there about 9am well after the busses had left.
















The corn fritters were mostly corn and delicious.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

The last of breakfast.






My first plate. Started with the soup curry again. This time with meatballs.


the egg chef.


And my final plate.


The Banquet Hall.

 

[drron]

Mrsdrron felt like a day off so I set out to view some more flowers. I first headed to the Rokugo viewing platform which has great views according to the tourist bureau. pictures show a flower garden there as well. first the day started out pretty clear so better views from our room.








The drive to the viewing platform was firstly through farmlands and then following a river. just before you get to the viewing platform there is a group of houses one of which is a jam shop.




A little creek runs by and over it the road narrows and becomes a one way loop to the viewing area.


the view back as you go up the hill.


And lots of wildflowers.

 

[drron]

A bit disappointing when you get to the top because the flowers on the tourist website are gone. This is where they were supposed to be.


But at the viewing platform some small areas of lavender.




But the views certainly are nice.

 

[drron]

My next stop was the Panoramic garden - Shikisi-no-Oka. It was a lovely drive through the back country to get there. A couple of photos.










When I got there I wondered whether I had made a mistake. The place ws crowded. A line to get into the car park. They charge you 500 yen to park. When I got to the ticket machine it said car park full please wait. Fortunately not long before I got in. Then 500 yen for admission. Several bus loads were already there and every few minutes another bus would arrive. The first views weren't that great.

 

[drron]

But you came around the hill and realised why it was so popular.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

And these are sunflowers. Only just beginning. In a week or two this would look even more amazing.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

and a big black cloud that brought a few drops of rain and halted the helicopter flights for a while.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

The last of the flowers. A phenomenal display which would be better towards the end of July. It did get me to 16000 steps. the best since the beginning of May.


The helicopter and the clouds.
















The helicopter prices.

 

[drron]

Before I left this garden I was going to have a light lunch at their restaurant as i had read a review that they did the best Hokkaido curry dishes. Now the restaurant is above the shop and there is a menu at the bottom of the stairs. I saw what the curries were so immediately left.




The next stop was Hinode Park that the local tourist bureau say is worth a visit. Not really but there is an attached lavendar garden. But just lavender so I didn't want that. But here it is.

And the actual park.






And looking up to where the lavender is.


Though the view over the fields I thought was better.