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Japan - Hakuba Valley
  • Jay C
  • Esther Welsh
  • Jay C
  • Esther Welsh

Japan - Hakuba Valley

A 8-day adventure by Jay C & Esther Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 3, 2024
    Japan - Hakuba Valley

    MELBOURNE AIRPORT

    March 3, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    After a solid procrastination Saturday we were up packing and cleaning the house until 130am Sunday morning with our alarms set for 530am.

    I think we look pretty good, all things considering!

    BONUS- got to the airport and the check in line took all but 5 mins to drop off our bags, we weren't even prepared when we got to the counter it was so quick!

    Lovely coffee and croissant while we waited to board. Slight delay on boarding due to aircraft issues.    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Exploring Shinjuku

    March 3, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Discovering that Shinjuku was indeed not the location of the famous crosstalk and that was, in fact, called Shibuya, 😄

    After walking around a micro neighbourhood filled wall to wall with the smallest bars (most with what looked like a max of 6 people), being badgered by people trying to get us to go into clubs and buy their cocaine and weed, bypassing some advertising where there were girls with bunny ears advertising what looked like a sign saying 1 hour for 3000yen with bunnies (but was it the sexy kind or the little fuzzy kind), finally settling on a random establishment for dinner - which was mediocre but we were hungry.
    The drink in red was Jay's, tasted like medicine - would not recommend!    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Hakuba Bound

    March 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    A quick buffet breakfast, brief stroll around the neighbourhood in daylight before Trekking the luggage and us to the bus depot to take us to our real destination...

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    2nd pitstop

    March 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Stocking up on snacks is another way to pass the time.
    Interestingly, both Kirin and Asahi make drinks other than beers...
    Tried the Asahi coffee and wasn't half bad, coffee with condensed milk flavour.Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Hakuba accomodation - Snowlines Lodge

    March 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    Just arrived at our accomodation for the week in Hakuba. It’s snowing everywhere and is just beautiful.
    Our accomodation is a lodge which is so beautiful and well thought through.
    Our room is Japanese designed with floor mats and a toilet ensuite. The communal showers and onsen bath are downstairs and the bath water is constant 38 degrees 😍 can’t wait for a soak.
    The lodge has a continental breakfast, a free shuttle to the 4 main mountains, a bar with a wide selection and do communal dinners which sound great. We will likely do the Japanese hot pot on Saturday as we missed out on the make your own sushi tonight.    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Boards, Ramen, Relaxation 😌

    March 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 -2 °C

    Dropped off by our lodge owner Steve at our rental place, Spicy.

    Picked our boards from a great selection, git the bindings fitted and headed over to the ramen restaurant next door.

    After a delicious meal and an icy (literally - very slippery!) walk back to the lodge, sitting by the fireplace while Esther does some study with a beer for me and a sweet sake for her 😋Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    #1 Tsugaike Kogen

    March 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ❄️ 1 °C

    Today was the first day on slopes, up at 620 am, peeling on our thermals and snow gear, and down for breakfast by 7am.
    Croissants, cereals, egg on toast - to be our breakfast the next few days!

    On the lodge shuttle to the resort, we arrived by 745am and had our passes organised by 8am.
    A 20-minute gondola ride to the top, and we were super excited to have nicely groomed tracks, fresh powder, and no wait times for chairs all day.
    No injuries despite some time in the park "doing jumps", but very exhausted with our thighs consistently burning as the runs are so much longer than we are used to!

    Finished the day by grqbbing a beer and soaking our feet in a foot onsen for an hour while we waited for the bus back to the lodge.

    Jay swapped his board for a new one. We tried the lodge onsen for the first time tonight. The water was HOT 🔥
    Dinner in Echoland, beef udon noodles in broth - simple, delicious (oishi) and exactly what the doctor ordered.
    Capping the night off relatively early with a beverage at the bar, then bed to rest our weary bodies 😴    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    #2 Hakuba Goryu

    March 6, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 1 °C

    Another early start today as the bus left at 730am to go to this dual mountain -Goryu and Hakuba 47.
    The main building here is one of the nicer in the area, it boasted a Cafe and retail store downstairs, then upstairs (passing some stuffed mountain goats) there was a Subway [eat fresh], Burton retail another 2 restaurants and the rental store.

    Visibility today was not super great, but it had snowed overnight, so we were playing in some POW. Tiring is an understatement. We got stuck so many times - Esther more so, but she did not quit!
    It wasn't long before we were pretty much drenched. We stopped at the downstairs cafe at the main building and got a coffee, and Esther had a 70% dark hot chocolate.
    Jay did an adjustment on his bindings, and we headed up the gondola again to go across to Hakuba 47.    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    #4 Happo One, Okonimiyaki & Spicy!

    March 7, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ -3 °C

    Day 3 of snowboarding 🏂. Despite both of us incurring injuries yesterday, there shall be no rest days! Jays calf was no better, and he was wondering how it was so sore - turns out it's from him getting whacked by the chairlifts consistently, so silly!
    I was another lovely 830 bus ride just around the corner, which meant a sleep in.
    The mountain itself was much bigger than we anticipated, and our injuries didn't hold us back at all, really. Jay still had consistency with foot issues while being in bindings, and we stopped regularly for him to get feeling back in after unstrapping.
    There was plenty of POW around. We got stuck a bunch, Esther discovered she could get out if POW by tobogganing on her snowboard, and we got plenty of tree runs in.
    We switched both our boards again and headed home for a wash and onsen.
    Dinner was okonimiayaki, and it was Oishi! Run by a Son and his Father, this small restaurant served up some delightful foods. Jay tried some odd drinks; a beer with tomato juice called the red eye, and another was beer and Ginger ale.
    Rather tipsy and quite full, we were back in the lodge bar, had a drink, or 2 and chatted with the staff.
    A good day 😌    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    #5 Iwatake Mountain

    March 8, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    A smaller resort with only a few runs compared to what we have experienced so far, but an incredible view of the surrounding mountains. Esther commented on their beauty MANY times throughout the day!

    The weather was phenomenal, around 11am the sun came out and we enjoyed a refreshing Yuzu beverage in the sun 🌞, we then walked over to another area where we found a picturesque bakery overlooking the other side of the mountains with a gorgeous view. We had to try the bakery, so we waited in line and got an expensive sandwich and maple/bacon scone!

    The rest of the day was met with some playful runs, hitting side kicks, Jay attempted some park and is still afraid of flying through the air. He didn't land any, but it's getting slightly better. He did, however, hit the flat box rail, but the board slid out from under him on the more tricky rail. He landed on it but was mostly uninjured.
    We did see someone go for a huge jump only to crash and somehow lose their snowboard down the mountain - luckily, it crashed into a mound of snow at the bottom of the park. We saw them get up, not sure what happened after that.

    As we were going to head out for an early dinner, we decided to head down for an earlier bus. A tasty beer at the bottom while we waited, and Esther bought Jay a warmer tartan buff 🥰.    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Lazy evening

    March 8, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    We walked down the corner to a place called Zen and had some hot soba noodles. It had a fair bit of hype around town; the building was traditional Japanese, and it looked very cute. Inside, there were floor seating tables, and it all looked very pretty. We arrived at 540pm with no booking as was suggested to us by our host Sara, and when we asked for a table the response was that there was a reservation for 7pm and that we probably wouldn't be able to fit. After some convincing that we could warily eat in an hour, we were taken to a back corner with regular seating in a non decorated area.

    Luckily, the food was ok, Esther finally got some salmon sashimi, blanched scallops, and miso eggplant. The cups in the picture were for the sake we ordered, and we were given the basket to choose a cup from - very cute. Overall, the handmade sofa noodles weren't amazing in our opinion. Maybe we aren't soba people 🤷‍♀️ The dessert was also delicious, a panacotta type dish and some lemon sorbet, yum!

    Then, we came back to the lodge for Esther to finish and hand in her assignment    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Return to Tsugaike with POW ++

    March 9, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌫 -7 °C

    We heard Tsugaike was going to be the better choice for a POW day, great tree runs, plus the added bonus it was one we had been to and enjoyed and also that we didnt have to rey on alternative transport to get there!
    What craziness this morning! As dubbed by Stephen, all the 'Weekend Warriors' are out on the mountain today as it is Saturday - even more so as it's a POW day!
    This is the first time we had to queue for lifts all week, but after the first couple of hours, when people dispersed themselves across the mountain, the queuing became much less.
    Plenty of times, we got stuck coming down the powder runs, but it didn't take long for some of the tracks to become tracked out.
    We got ourselves a DBD pass so that we could do tree runs. This basically entailed signing a form and watching an instructional safety briefing on YouTube before venturing into this terrain on our own... Wish us luck 🤞
    A quick fried chicken and beer snack and off we go!    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    And thats a wrap 👏

    March 9, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌫 -5 °C

    The weather was insane; gusts of high winds, the snow did not let up at all, we were wet, frozen, covered head to toe in snow from falling over, exhausted from the extra effort involved in navigating the POW and we could not havw been a happier pair!
    It was an amazing day with no major injuries. What a cherry on top to a great week!
    Lunch involved a hotdog and an Asahi Tornado (see video).

    Entering Spicy rentals and dropping off our snowboards, rather than swapping, was an odd feeling as we were so used to carrying them back from the store. We felt naked without them.
    We had a quick shower and onsen before our in-lodge dinner of Habe at 6 pm. What an incredible meal!
    Orchestrated by Sarasa (Stephens wife and our other host), she prepared a hot dish that was essentially a Japanese broth, which we added various ingredients (carrots, Japanese rocket lettuce, 3 types of mushrooms, sprouts, chicken and pockets of ... held together with toothpicks). They were boiled at table side, and you picked out what you wanted to eat with the tongs, placing it into either of the 2 sauces; a sesame based and a lemon soy.
    Part way through, we were given a chicken mince concoction to separate into mini meatballs and cook them in the broth.
    When all the ingredients were eaten and only broth remained, Sarasa came around with rice and turned it into a Japanese style risotto!
    To cap it all off, there was ice cream with red bean for dessert 😋.    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Packing, Boarding & Oyaki Farm

    March 10, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Our final morning and time to check out of our beautiful accommodation at Snowlines Lodge to commence our journey back home.
    Jay was a little hungover and ate the least amount of breakfast he had had all week! Esther found this all a little too funny 😒

    We were picked up from the lodge and taken to Hakuba train station to catch the 5 hour, bus that would take us to the airport. While waiting, we were able to buy a coffee for the road and a little sticker as a momento of our time here.

    After 1.5 hours, we arrived at Oyaki Farm, and they made little buckwheat dough balls filled with various tastiness. Jay, now with his appetite back, ordered a few extras 😅. Hands down, the pumpkin is so far the best flavour!    Read more

  • Japan - Hakuba Valley

    Final moments in Japan

    March 10, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    We arrive at the airport 🛫
    The bus ride was alright, a few stops along the way for toilet breaks, and to stretch your legs. Most of the stops have mini marts that sell various goods and found a drink that claims to reduce body fat, which I did not buy 🤣
    Our last meal was a pork katsu curry - oishi, and beer. Damn airport prices!

    There were a bunch of different shopping options, a crazy tech store that was too overwhelming, a fancy fancy stationary store, and of course a pokemon store that was super busy!

    Esther being a good student and has been working on her uni almost every evening, that includes here as well 😄    Read more

    Trip end
    March 10, 2024
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