Our last day together in sunny Kushiro.  We spent a couple of hours this morning reviewing the output from the last two weeks, and what a fabulous display of watercolour masterpieces.

Here are a few:

Even one of the non-artists had a go:

And finally Ev showed some her demo pieces:

Then it was off to lunch and the airport for flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and, for Pam and me, “home” to Óbidos, via Tokyo, London and Lisbon.

And so ends the Hokkaidō Horizons with Ev Hales artists tour for 2018.  A fantastic group.  And apart from the cold, a wonderful chance to explore and paint in this part of Japan:  mountains, lakes, cherry blossoms, waterfalls, cities, fishing villages, parks, shrines, temples and even old orthodox churches.

As Ev said in her closing remarks, you can take photos but only a painting captures the essence of what you’ve seen and experienced.

Coming up:  Morocco in October.  Stand by for more blogs then.

さよなら。 Sayonara.

What stunningly beautiful and warm weather for our final day of painting on the Hokkaidō Horizons tour.  Our tour bus delivered us to the Kushiro Shitsugen (釧路湿原) where the group remained for several hours painting in the wetlands.

Everyone had visited a convenience store for lunch supplies before leaving the hotel and rest rooms were just 200 metres away at the little railway station (two trains a day), so the artists were all set.

John, Graham and I set off for a 6 km walk to the wetlands visitors’ “lounge” where we had a cup of coffee, bought some souvenirs and had a grape flavoured soft cream before trekking to the lookout — narrowly missing stepping on this:

Obviously the bright sunshine had enticed this long reptile out of hibernation.

The view from the lookout took in the vast wetlands, the snowy mountains and we could even see Kushiro city in the distance.

Back to the group for a wrap-up and  to watch some paddlers in a canoe before returning to Kushiro and our sayonara dinner at a robata-yaki restaurant.

A final critique session in the morning and then to the airport.

A travel day today with an 8.30 am departure from our hotel in Sōunkyō on our way to Kushiro, the last port of call on the Hokkaidō Horizons art tour for 2018.

We drove through some awe inspiring scenery and even saw a bear and some deer as well as snow-covered mountains and lots of clear rivers and streams.

Flowers too, when we stopped for a break.  These are miniature chrysanthemums (according to our on-board botanist, Graham):

Lunch was at the Ainu village at Lake Akan for a chance to see something (albeit very touristy) of the indigenous culture of Hokkaidō (or “Ezo” in the native tongue).

Before reaching Kushiro, we stopped at the Crane Reserve near the airport for an hour to see the red-capped cranes that are a national symbol of Japan (and the emblem that adorns the tail of all JAL aircraft).  They are only found in this part of Hokkaidō and come from Siberia, China and North Korea, which makes their relevance to Japanese culture as mysterious as everything else in this remarkable country.

OK.  Who can spot the baby crane in this second photo?  You are allowed to enlarge it with your fingers on the screen (for you iPad readers) and the little brown thing to the right of Mummy crane is the … mmm, what is the correct word for a baby 鶴?

Last painting day tomorrow in the Kushiro wetlands.

Each morning, Kath distributes her Goddesses cards and this morning Ev selected hers: the Sorceress:  “whatever you command today will come to pass.”  And so it transpired.

A drizzly morning with rain threatening turned into a cloudy morning with no rain and sunshine (well a glimpse thereof) in the afternoon.  But importantly, enough decent weather for two sessions of painting on our last day in Sōunkyō.

This was the first spot — under an overpass on the road between our hotel and Kamikawa, spotted by Ev and our brilliant driver, Itō-san.  The views of the mountains and the raging Shirakawa river (fed by the melting snow) mprovided a morning’s painting opportunity, in spite of the cold wind.

In the afternoon, we returned to the waterfalls from yesterday.  Interestingly, in spite of the overnight rain, there was less water cascading over the the Ginga-no-taki than yesterday.  But the artists did some spectacular work as they shivered in the cold (but no rain) beside the river.

Back to the Sōunkyō village where we thought we’d all enjoy the cable car ride to the top of the nearby mountain only to discover that it was closed due to “high winds”.  I put that in parentheses because the true story we discovered thanks to Marg’s chat with the Tourist Information Centre lady, was that there had been a bear sighting in the mountain.  Not just any bear.  But a higuma, the most ferocious meat-eating critter in these parts!

So we adjourned to the hotel for another show and tell with Ev before dinner and an onsen and an attempt to watch the Royal Wedding (well some of the group were interested) and/or log on to the internet to post a blog (that would have been me) — only to be thwarted again by 1000 Chinese tourists all logging on at the same time and churning up all the megabytes.

Hence this post is being distributed on Sunday night from the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kushiro, where the connection is so fast you’d think you were in the 21st century.

We awoke to a very chilly day and minus yesterday’s sunshine.   What is it with Hokkaidō’s late spring?  Right now (7 pm) it’s 2 degrees!

What a great morning we had at the Ginga and Ryūsei Falls, only a short bus ride from our hotel.  Freezing cold but the scenery was so spectacular, we managed to ignore it — at least until lunch time.

Three of the non-painters and one artist climbed the 4,000 steps to a viewing platform for even more stunning views of the falls and the snow capped mountains in the distance.

As you can discern from my pic above, it was a wee bit chilly on the mountain.  Clambouring back down, you could note signs that Hokkaidō’s late spring is about to be sprung.

After a warming lunch of ramen back in the Sōunkyō village, we set off, as planned, for the afternoon session at Ōbako Gorge — only to find the access road was closed for repairs!  A quick visit to other locations nearby, including the huge Taisetsu Dam, before our driver found a spot by the river.

Note the colourful bus painted with cartoon characters!  Our hardy crew set up their painting gear, only to be thwarted again — this time by rain.

Back to the hotel for everyone to finish their art in the rooms before a show and tell in the lobby, dinner and a soak in the outdoor mixed bathing rotemburo (bathing costumes provided and compulsory).

Internet failed again last night, so this is being posted Saturday morning at 8.45 am when the temperature outside has climbed to a balmy 3 degrees!

Late with my post from Day 11, as we had poor internet connections here last night.  “Here” is the Sōunkyō Kankō Hotel in the middle of the Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan’s largest.

We had a 3.5 hr journey by bus from Sapporo, with a stop for refreshments and one at a 7/11 for our usual lunch snacks.  Arrived here in brilliant sunshine with time to explore the village, ooh and ahh at the scenery, and for the painters to do some work before the onsen and dinner.

A new experience for many, as we are sleeping here on futons atop tatami matting floors.  It seems everyone has survived.

This is a photo that was taken from our bedroom window of an awesome mountain, dusted with smudges of pink from a few remaining cherry blossom trees.

And now here is the same hill painted by Ev last night.  Stunning!

We got exciting news at the end of the day last night, May 17, announcing the arrival of our newest grand-daughter, Sophia Claire Rachele, born to Nicky and Seb at 6 pm Melbourne time and weighing a healthy 3,358 grams.  Mum (and Dad) and baby Sophia are doing very well and we are looking forward to photos and their planned visit to us in Óbidos in late August.

Another perfect spring day in Sapporo.  Not an awful lot to report as we spent the whole day at Maruyama Kōen (Park) painting around the Hokkaidō Jinja.

It’s a beautiful Shintō shrine, established in 1870, set among a huge 6 hectare park only a short subway ride from Ōdori and our hotel.  Yes, a chance for our group to experience a Japanese subway and we all managed without losing a single member.

Our artists spent the morning near the cherry blossoms — these are the double blossoms — the yaezakura — that are a deep pink in colour and quite magnificent.

After lunch we moved to the surrounds of the main shrine for an afternoon of painting that produced some really magnificent works, all exhibited later at our hotel.

The evening was free for everyone to explore the culinary delights of this interesting city — very Japanese in some respects but very different to the mainland.  We’re seeing and enjoying it in spring, with flowers everywhere (it gives Amsterdam a run for its money with tulips of every hue imaginable on every street).  A different proposition one imagines in mid-winter.

Another travel day ahead tomorrow as we head to the interior of the island to the Daisetsuzan National Park.

Continue reading Day Nine: Otaru-Sapporo →

Fishing boats today.  Just a short ride away from the Neu Schloss Hotel is the fishing headquarters for Otaru at a little suburb called Takashima.  An overcast day with a chilly wind (Siberia is not that far away), but a perfect painting location with plenty of shelter.

The boats had already been unloaded by the time we arrived, although mid-morning one vessel arrived with the world’s largest octopus, which did not want to be moved.  That provided some entertainment for the artists but unfortunately, I was off wandering in search of a coffee (no luck) so missed the photo op.  Pam however got the shot of this evening’s sashimi being retrieved:

There were lots of birds.  Lots and lots of sea gulls.  Reminded me of Essaouira (Morocco), where we will be painting later this year on our next artists tour.

Even John (a designated non-painter) was inspired today to take up his crayons:

While the more serious artists (sorry, John) were busy with their works of art (also see below):

After lunch, those that were willing to brave a bracing wind stayed on to paint around the shrines and old herring houses along the Shukutsu waterfront.

Before drinks time in the quirky bar of our hotel*, there was a chance to review the day’s efforts in the hotel lobby:

Then dinner.  *: Quirky hotel explained:  a German name and definitely Teutonic architecture, a bar that would have been in its prime during the Weimar Republic, but all set in a remote area of Hokkaidō, Japan, where the food served was French and simply superb, and, just to add to the eclecticism, was washed down with a fine Dão red from Portugal.

Sapporo tomorrow.

We awoke to rain this morning and although not too cold and not pelting down, it was a steady drizzle which, to coin a phrase, put a bit of a dampener on the day’s planned activities.

Nevertheless, we stuck to the morning’s schedule and bussed to Yoichi and Cape Eboshi, a few kilometres west of the township.  This is one of the region’s picture postcard spots with two tall rocks in the sea surrounded by steep cliffs and lots of foliage.

The artists set themselves up under a bridge and were able to spend a good hour sketching the scenery.

Back to the hotel via the 7/11 store for take away lunches and painting in the afternoon from everyone’s sea-facing rooms, with even a glimpse of Russia in the distance by early evening.

Into Otaru tonight for a feast of sashimi and sushi and looking forward to sunshine again tomorrow.