17th - 20th December
Tina, Marie and I decided that before we left Japan we should go skiing and snowboarding! So we headed to Sapporo which is on Hokkaido - Japan's top island for 4 days of fun and snow!
Day One
We arrived by plane in Sapporo at 10 am so we had the whole day to explore the city and attempt to get used to the weather - it was one degree!! We looked around the city - saw Odori Park during the day and at night with the lights, the Tokei-dai - the famous clock tower, the old government offices and snow galore!! We once again were really lucky to get a really good hotel in a central location with an amazing buffet lunch and breakfast - what more could you ask for!
The view from our amazing hotel
The scary ice on the road - thankfully we don't have to drive here!
Riding a bike here would be quite interesting due to the amount of ice on the ground and that your basket can fill up with snow!!
The streets are just lined with snow making everything look so beautiful!
Tokei-dai - the famous clock tower
Sapporo white illumination in the park with the TV tower in the background
Beautiful lights with the snow
Day Two
Today we set off early to Rusutsu ski field which is about two hours by bus from Sapporo city. I decided to try skiing for the first time as Marie and Tina were going to be so at least I would have teachers! Well I didn't go up in the lift as I was that hopeless that I just spent the day walking up a small slope and practicing! but it was a really fun day and the funniest thing was my outfit! I borrowed Kyosuke's old ski outfit which looked hilarious on me - there was no losing me on the slopes - just look for the bright blue girl who can't ski!!
The baby slope that I practiced on!
Me in my crazy ski gear!!
Yes I am skiing and it was my best attempt and Tina and Marie saw me!!
But yes I did spend a lot of time like this!!
Ski parking!
Real Christmas trees!
Tina, Marie and I in our ski gear!
Me on the slopes!
The snowman that we made :)
Day Three
Today we went to Kiroro ski field which is about one and a half hours from Sapporo city. It was minus 3 degrees today and it snowed all day at the ski field. I decided that I would attempt to do snowboarding today as I enjoyed it the last time I went. It was really hard but I eventually got the hang of it and was able to go down the "family special" slope! It was a really fun day and Marie and I ended it with an onsen. Yes I finally went in a public bath! It was so nice as there was an outdoor bath so the air was really cold but the water was so warm and we could see and touch the snow!
The slopes at Kiroro
My snowboard and I on a hill!
The "family special" slope that I climbed then went down!
Me attempting to snowboard! In the end I was quite good at going down the slope and didn't even fall over!
Day Four
Today was our last day in Sapporo and it was snowing! We headed to the Sapporo beer museum where we tried Sapporo beer. It was really good! We then wandered around the city before heading back to Himeji.
It was snowing in the city and it just looked so beautiful!
Sapporo beer museum
mmmm . . . beer!
Hokkaido is an amazing part of Japan and I would love to go back there to explore even more!
