We gotta roll again

We have to hit the road again. Breakfast can only keep a person in one place for only so long. Especially when they run out of toast. Michelle was happy with the Japanese style breakfast but I was enjoying my toast. Maybe we should get up earlier.
Anyway it has come time to say goodbye to Kawayu Onsen and the Misono Hotel and drive through the snow covered Hokkaido wilderness to Sounkyo Gorge. Sounkyo is about 3 or 4 hours north west-ish of Kawayu I guess. Who knows. I let the GPS be my guide.
Our first stop is about 3 km from Kawayu in the opposite direction to the way the GPS recommends. Gee, doesn't a GPS complain when you go off course. Confuses the shit out them. When we first drove to Kawayu we'd seen steam billowing off a mountain from a hot spring and we wanted to get a picture. I could only stand taking one or two pictures because it was freezing out there on the road. God knows why the couple in the picture were out for a stroll this fine sunny blowy snowy morning?
Our next stop is back in Kawayu at a petrol station. I want to clean the windscreen and we already have a full tank of gas. The dude from the station refuses outright to let me clean the windscreen. "Not for free", he says. Shithead.
We stop again approximately 12km, I know it is 12 kay because of the sign in the picture, from Kawayu and up a hill we stop to get a view of Lake Kussharo. Can't see Kusshi from here.
We stop a fourth time for supplies and lunch at a Lawson Station. Initially we think it is in the middle of nowhere but in actuality it on the edge of quite a large town. It takes us more than half an hour to drive through this town - Kitami I think. Before we drive through the never-ending town though we get junk food from the Lawson. I'm tempted by the manga porn but I do allow the temptation to get the better of me with the pudding stick. Pudding Stick. That sounds like a porn name don't you think?
After Kitami we start winding our way into the mountains again and the snow starts dumping down. Every few kilometres there are signs that give the current temperature and wind speed. It is around -10 degrees celsius out side. We're toasty in the car but sometimes you have to get out for a pee or something and it is cold. How lovely and understated. Cold. Shit. It is also blowing a gale so we can only imagine what the wind chill factor would be. Cold I suppose. If the windscreen gets splashed with water by a passing car the droplets freeze instantly. It is quite amazing. I love this drive.

Dinner at the Misono Hotel

Oh dear god. Yet another feast in our room at the ryokan. They just keep producing plates of food. We really feel uncomfortable by the time we finish. Good stuff though, just lots of it. I had hopes of losing weight here. Looks like that isn't going to happen.

Roten-buro (outdoor onsen)... Sexy time in the great outdoors

Lake Kussharo is also famous for its outdoor onsen dotted around the lake called roten-buro. These are free public hot springs on the lake's edge. Some are pretty ordinary but some, like the one pictured below that we went and nuded up for, are pretty sweet. The hot tub was quite hot in contrast to the chilly breeze that was blowing. We had to walk through the snow to get to the onsen and the honking of the geese was like symphonic mood music.
If nudity offends don't watch the video.

Ducks 'n' deers

By ducks I mean geese and by deer I mean... deer. Bambi's everywhere. No wonder we got venison last night.

Miraku Sushi

Lunch is at a little sushi place we found in Kawayu Onsen. We went looking for ramen noodles, which is another Hokkaido speciality, but we found this place instead. It was very very good sushi. Cheap too. They even have a web page.

Lake Kussharo and Kusshi the lake monster

We spend the day driving and site seeing around lake Kussharo. We've come to check out the snow geese and whooper swans. Lake Kussharo is pretty much covered in ice except for some areas close to shore where the hot springs empty into the lake. The geese and swans congregate around these areas and maybe also because they get fed here to keep them coming back.
Bus loads of tourist turn up at the gift shops and the hordes descend on the gift shops and ice cream vendors like hungry honking geese.
I think I managed to capture Kusshi the lake monster on video. Check out the video below. I may be little shaky but I think there was definitely something there.