A stunning start to the day. The Sogakudai viewpoint on route 241 commands a spectacular view of Mt Oaken and Mt Meaken in the background. Both are included in Japan’s list of its top 100 scenic mountains. The drive is winding and you have to watch out for red deer and foxes.

I was looking forward to my next stop, Lake Onneto, wanting to experience its ‘mysterious charms’, in the words of a brochure. I knew it wouldn’t have a ‘kaleidoscope of colours’, or reflections of Mt Meahan….I put droney up and almost lost it, as the signal failed mid flight and it wasn’t connected to the remote anymore. I pushed a couple of buttons and after a couple of seconds of nothing….discovered it was making its way back to me…phew! And Lake Onneto was completely frozen over apart from a tiny bit of melt at one end.

Drove past the Akanko Ainu theatre where one can enjoy performances of Lost Kamuy, which combines Ainu ancient ceremonial dance with digital art and contemporary dance. And just further along, shy deer who had just skipped across the freeway, were interested to see me drive away.

The 258km Doto Expressway is extraordinary. It has a 70km speed limit along its whole length (not that Japanese citizens adhere) and an impressive series of tunnels. It connects the east of Hokkaido with central regions including Sapporo. So many beautiful vistas along the pathway. There was one section in particular, where all you could see in front of you, was the whole horizon covered by mountains, wowser!! The next pic is of just a tiny section of road that I liked coming around (no, there were no cars behind me at the time!)

There’s also a system of being able to pull off the freeway every 60kms or so – time for a coffee and loo break. One spot I had a brief rest at, had a miniature horsey for kids to ride and parents could take cute photos of them against a gorgeous backdrop. Adorable.

I had heard about Hoshino Resorts and their Unkai Terraces development, trying to get you to experience ‘being up in the clouds’, looking out from structures (sky wedge, contour bench, cloud pool) over nature, selling cloud-themed sweets (see Cloud9 ice cream below 🙂 and drinks (cloud bar). I drove as far up the mountain as I could before having to turn back because of…icy road conditions. Lots of different cable cars taking you up to different levels of ski run. The one I took a pic of below I reckon is like “Bourke St” @ Mt Buller :). Check out the vegetation you can wrap yourself around at the base of the run….that would put me off for sure!