Lake Toya

Following on from yesterday's post, I'm thinking about Lake Toya in Hokkaido. Caldera lake, active volcano area, beautiful scenery and fantastic onsen. This really would be a great place to visit in winter. And I'd really like to be there right now, just wandering round in the dressing gown like everyone else in a Japanese spa resort town. Seriously, that was one of the more bizarre sights of my holiday: pulling in to the town on the edge of Lake Toya and seeing eveeryone strolling round in bathrobes with their hotel's name all over. Good way to see the most popular hotel, I guess, and all advertizing is good for business.

This is the view across the lake, to the island:

and a final view of some weird statue, and the last sunset at Toya:

Here's the room we stayed in. Traditional Japanese style, or ryokan. Looked greta in the beginning, but there's nowhere to put your stuff, so the room was a total mess in about 3 minutes.

Hokkaido Calling!

Spring seems to have started here in Hong Kong, which always makes outdoor photography difficult: overcast, foggy, rain, rain, rain. Not saying that you don't get moody atmospherics, but you definitely need some hardcore covering for your gear. I'm not sure even my Nikon D300's famed weather seal would hold up to it: it definitely wouldn't have through last June's downpours, when we had a record 1346.1 mm according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

SO seeing the grey clouds this morning, and the fog, while I was in bed drinking my morning coffee, I just felt the call of a Furano summer in Hokkaido, Japan. I went up there last year, and I've been longing to go back there ever since. Definitely not my last trip.

Here's the antidote to grey skies:



Same field, different angle:

And this is a another view from around the same field:




These shots were taken in a field between Furano and Biei, which really is heaven in summer, and seems like a great ski place in winter, too. If there's any way I can get to spend a couple of years up there, I'll grab the chance. 'Till then, I'll keep dreaming, especially during Hong Kong's spring rains.