Volcanoes & Coastlines
In September 2018, I travelled to Japan for a four-week adventure vacation. It began with several days necessary to explore the wonders of Tokyo by enjoying river cruises, a sumo wrestling tournament, a Japanese sword museum, Japan’s natural history museum, bicycle touring and the Tsukiji fish market (world’s largest fish market). I also enjoyed views from the 350- and 450 metre-high observation decks of the Tokyo Skytree (tallest tower in the world) and, of course, heaps of Japanese cuisine. Then I was off to Mount Fuji to climb its slopes and experience the famously spiritual Fuji sunrise at 3,776 metres above sea level. After resting for some days in the exquisite Five Lakes District, I took Japan’s Super Shinkansen (a.k.a. bullet train) at 320 km/h far to the north to Hokkaido Island. After enjoying the sites of the city of Sapporo, I embarked on my 10-day, 1,800 km motorcycle trip on Hokkaido.
As with any real adventure, the beginning of my Hokkaido trip was strife with uncertainties. On Sept. 6 – the day I left Canada for Japan – Hokkaido Island experienced a damaging earthquake measuring 6.6 on the moment magnitude scale that left significant infrastructure damage and, sadly, some loss of life. In addition to that, on the first day of my travels, I had no camping gear or road map
