Kiroro Gondola and Otaru

It's the weekend and you all know what THAT means ... yep, Japan's weekend warriors hit (ie. clog up) the road with a vengeance.

With this in mind, I decide to minimize my travel by heading up the road to the Kiroro winter sports park. 1500 yen (17 AUD) buys me a round trip ticket on the Kiroro Gondola. It's quite a nice day and the views from the gondola are excellent, as the first 3 photos show. There aren't too many people around. I start a hike to Mt Yoichi but have to turn back because I HAVE BROUGHT THE WRONG FOOTWEAR. The trail is quite muddy and my hiking boots are in the frigging car 😣. Never mind, I think to myself, I'll do it tomorrow ... but of course the gondola is closed the next day due to excessive wind (insert coeliac joke here).

So I decide to drive to Otaru which is due north on the coast. There is a panoramic view of the town coming down from the highlands - see photos. Being a Saturday it is really difficult to find parking, I'm in a queue for around 10 minutes. Walk to the canal which passes for a tourist attraction here.Read more