Our first stop after Tokyo was a tiny town in Hokkaido – Onuma Koen. Our shinkansen headed to the snowy north. Being from Wellington, we don’t see snow too often, and in NZ our snow is much… wetter. It snowed every day we were in Hokkaido (and also a little in Nikko too!) Being the end of winter, snow wasn’t too far away almost anywhere we went.
It seemed like only a short while after leaving Tokyo we were enveloped by snow!
Our home for the next few days, and near to a few smaller ski parks
The leaves seemed to melt their own space in the ice
I thought these would be the best icicles I’d see. I was wrong
Thankfully, our wee cottage was extremely cosy! Good when the bottom floor is just below ground level
We walked around the lake. I mean, the frozen lake
In summer time, this walk is between islands in the lake.
And shortly after this I sunk knee-deep in the snow!
And suddenly it started snowing!
We built our first ever snow man, Weirdy.
A lot of buildings in Hakodate had warnings for snow fall
While we were out a small flurry blew through, coating everything in a couple of inches of fresh powder
We awoke to complete stillness… until the snow started falling off the roof
Up the hill in Nikko, we discovered permafrost
Aboard the Snow Monkey Express
How do the cars still work?!
Wandering around the onset town. I guess the hot springs melt the snow, making huge icicles
