Shane conquered the mighty Rishiri mountain today. We were all up at 5.30 (not hard since it's light at 4 and everyone else seems to be up and off by 6am). He was gone by 6.30 and Elsie and I settled in for a relaxing (and long) day of play. It was hot so we played with toys and bowls of water, got ice cream and walked through the shady cool bush. Shane motored up the mountain in about 3.5 hours (half the time in the guide) and was back by 2.30pm. He hadn't ...

Today was a day of funny signs. Crying tortoises, falling bunnies (easily mistaken for an obese pink man falling over), and a girl being kicked up the backside by a hiker in a sailor suit. Quite hilarious. We started the day with a peaceful walk in the bush near our camp. Consulted Google to determine there are no bears, snakes or foxes on the island. Just the bothersome crows but also plenty of other bird life. That filled in the morning so we stopped in at a ...

What an amazing day! Took off South from Oshidomari along the purpose built, paved cycle way. Wound along through lush forest over bridges 130 metres above the forest. Views of Rishiri-Fuji and the coast along the way. Stopped off at Lake Himenuma which we walked around (about 1 km), Elsie singing "shoo snakes don't bother me" and running most of the way. Wound our way down to the main road and stopped off at a small beach for a swim to cool off. A bit of a jig...

One of those days. All packed up and discovered Shane had a puncture so started fixing that (easy enough). In the meantime I pumped up my tyres. Five minutes later, boom... I thought we were being shot at but it was just my tyre exploding. Fatal error. We didn't bring a spare for that bike and no puncture repair was going to save the day. Spent all day traipsing around town but no-one stocks the 28/29 inch tubes. Apparently not so common here. Everyone trying to ...

A slow start again today, Elsie building confidence climbing in the indoor playground. Then we set off into Wakkanai town towards the ferry to Rishiri. Stopped at McDonalds for the novelty of it (tried a very gingery Yakki burger you would probably like, Lynette). Elsie was asleep in the buggy already so we left her there with walkie talkies connected in case she woke. Not sure if that counts as leaving your child alone in the car. Then went to the supermarket t...