Bits and pieces from Hokkaido's west coast

The scenery. Distant mountain tops speckled with snow drifts, burnished by the detritus of summer. Black sand beaches. A blue sea all the way to Russia - I was amazed to realise we are north of Vladivostok. Rice paddies, acres of spinach, roadside flowers and the occasional patch of dense forest.

The derelict housing. Hundreds maybe thousands, of abandoned houses and farm buildings, many already nearly invisible in the overgrowth. This is apparently due to a combination of young people leaving their family farms to go to the city, and a hefty vacant land tax that doesn't apply if you have a building on it, even if it is decrepit.

Drift catchers. To catch the snow blowing in from Siberia and stopping it from drifting over the road. See the photo.

Bus stops that look like Noddy and Big Ears are about to jump out and greet you.

Random conversations. Such as the Moto Commissaire of a cycling race yesterday who thought it hilarious that we were Commissaires and (in Simon's case ex-) officials of the Alice Springs Cycling Club. And the fishing carpenter with beautifully crafted carpentry tools even Simon hadn't seen before. In general, very few people speak any English. Thank goodness for Google Lens to interpret signs.

The most over-engineered laundromat in the world, at a roadside services centre (sort of glorified Roadhouse with onsen). See photo.

Litter management. There is no litter. But the systems take getting used to. At our first campsite we didn't quite get why we were told that litter disposal was included in the price, or why some reviewers first comments about camping sites is that 'they have trash cans!'. Disposing of your litter is your problem, tricky if you don't have a home to take it to. We soon learnt to eat near where we buy food so that we can return the rubbish to the store, or risk carting it for half the day to find a bin.

On the other hand, the beaches are thick with marine debris, and there seems no system to deal with it.

And finally, we are forever grateful for beautiful weather, mostly tail winds, onsens at the end of a days ride, great food (including Laurie's camp cooker hot pots) and yummy ice creams.Read more