Utoro and Hotel Shiretoko

Day 16 – Utoro and Hotel Shiretoko

Friday, 20 April 2012

Slept well until 8.00am – we must have been tired!

Breakfast was a set Japanese menu in the same restaurant and same table as last night. There were many dishes again including two different kinds of cold fish plates (sardines and herrings), salad, pickles, miso soup with seafood, rice, two hot dishes – broth with fish and bacon and eggs with cabbage, custard with ham, finished with pineapple.

The hotel is quite extensive but with not too many guests, everything isn’t open. We are in the North building or bear building. There are a number of restaurants but only one seems to be operating. There are a couple of shops – one selling seafood and the other selling sweets and souvenirs including beauty products that are in the spa. The shops close at 10am and reopen again at 3.00pm. Free wifi is only available in the hotel lobby.

After breakfast we organized alternative travel to Sapporro, deciding to take a coach leaving at 9.30am and going directly to Sapporo rather than the several staged journey we had already booked for which we probably would have needed to leave by 7.00am (hotel car, bus, local train, train). The additional cost of 8,000 yen each seems relatively cheap for the convenience of sleeping in and going directly.

No tours seem to be operating. When we asked for an ATM, the clerk at reception gave us directions to Utoro and the 7Eleven and recommended a souvenir shop and climb up a rock.with views of Utoro.

Sat around reception for a while utilizing wifi and dozing. Should we have a sleep or go for a walk? Went up to our room and found the decision had been made for us – walk it was as our bedding had been packed up!

Very cold 5 degrees outside with a lot of snow drifts that haven’t yet melted. Anthony had rugged up with his beanie and scarf so must have been cold! The walk downhill was invigorating but very quiet. We saw some deer by the side of the road and not many shops open at all. The 7 Eleven was quite extensive and had ATM with English. On to the Shiretocko souvenir shop and Utoro world heritage centre. Very interesting centre with hands on displays and life-sized animals. We saw see a movie in English of the Shiretocko world heritage site. Unfortunately we’ve come in between seasons so no tours seem to be operating out of Utoro, either land or sea based. There are brown bears, the deer we have already seen, eagles and owls, killer wales, minke whales, seals, and lots of seabirds. It would certainly be worth coming again in summer.

We also walked up the rock called Oronkoiwa (from the Ainu meaning rock that is just sitting there). It was very steep but not as tall as the Nut at Stanley. At the top it was very cold and windswept but worth it for the views!

Back to the hotel for refreshing pots of green tea and blogging in our room. Anthony caught the setting sun in photos whilst I sat in the outside spa with views of snow drifts in the garden and distant sunset views. Priceless.

Dinner in the hotel was very similar to last night. However, we had Japanese seating near the windows this time and I was in my yakuta. Only small variation in the dinner menu.

After dinner we bought some souvenirs in the hotel shop and turned in for the night.

	Breakfast for two at Hotel Shiretoko [Map]		View from our window at Hotel Shiretoko [Map]
	Hotel Shiretoko [Map]		In front of the Hotel Shiretoko [Map]
	Thorn bushes just budding [Map]		Interesting bulbs [Map]
	Information about springtime in Shiretoko [Map]		Downtown Utoro [Map]
	View from the rock towards the mountains [Map]		View to mountains and Hotel Shiretoko [Map]
	View to the right [Map]		View to the left [Map]
	View of shipyards [Map]		It was very cold on top of the rock [Map]
	The rock by any other name [Map]