Yesterday was a cruising day as we left Tokyo and headed north to the island of Hokkaido, Japan's second largest island. The temperature should be cooler, forecast 18 for today. The sea was fairly big again yesterday, not so choppy but a rather large swell. The sun came out for awhile so we enjoyed sometime on our balcony. Today we arrive in Kushiro, nicknamed " City of Mist" because of foggy days with light rain. We are joining a small group for the day on a private tour. We are hoping to have more luck with this trip than the last private one in Jeju. We are greeted by our tour guide Yoshi, she is a lady in her 50's with good engrish as she studied in the UK and teaches At the University in Kushiro. Our driver is Seto ans she too would be maybe late 40's and we have a very comfortable 8 seater van. Yoshi has our itinerary worked out with about 6 stops but we do have 8 hours. We drive through the countryside which is lush and green. The area is dotted with dairy farms, rolling hills, forests and marshland. The Japanese Crane or Tancho-zuru was once close to extinction due to over hunting and destruction of their habitat but is now a protected species and the numbers have recovered to over 1400 and they only live in the marshlands of eastern Hokkaido. Our first stop is at a well known viewing area where if you are lucky some cranes will be seen grazing in the grassland. These are wild birds and an Anui woman in her 90's is said to be the caretaker of the crane. She comes out of her house to greet the people that stop to see the birds. The Ainu people call the crane 'Sarurun kamui which means "god of the wetlands" and is revered as a symbol of luck, longevity and fidelity. We are going now to the Akan National Park. Along the way I spot a couple of deer in the woods just going about their business. Our first stop in the national park is Lake Machu a crater lake. It's one of the worlds most transparent lakes. 50 years ago it had a visibility of over 40 metres. Today it's still around 19 metres. The colour varies depending on the weather. Glenn is craving his coffee and cake and fortunately there is a cafe that can take care of that. There is a small island in the lake and there is a legend of how this island was formed and why the lake is mostly in mist. We are fortunate that the sun shines while we are viewing the lake and the clouds lift off the crater so it looks quite spectacular. Mt. Io is a live volcano and it emits a large amount of smoke and the smell of sulphur is quite pungent. We are able to get fairly close to the mounds of sulphur and smoking holes and there are a number of bubbling springs as well. This area is fascinating and unexpected. Our next stop is the second largest lake in Hokkaido, Lake Kussharo. A bit like the legend of Nessy, the Loch Ness Monster, Lake Kussharo has Kushy. The lake beach is made up of black volcanic sand and you can dig a hole near the waters edge and make your own little hot foot spa as the thermal water is not far below the surface. There is a ready made foot spa where you can take off your shoes and soak your feet. A couple of Japanese gentlemen remove their shoes and socks but are unable to leave their feet in for long due to the water temperature. We have an hour here and this is also our lunch stop. I had noodles and Glenn had fried rice. As we travel Yoshi us giving us information about Japan and comparing it with Australia and USA. We have options at the next stop. We are going to Lake Akan. It's well known for its algae balls called marimo. This rare algae forms into green velvety balls that float on the lake and it is said that it can take approximately 150 - 200 years for an algae ball to grow to 6 cm diameter. There is a pleasure cruise that goes out onto the lake and takes about 90 minutes but it is starting to drizzle so this is not the option we take, instead we chose to see the Ainu Traditional Dance. The Ainu are the indigenous people of Hakkaido and Ainu Kotan is the biggest settlement in Hokkaido with 130 Ainu calling it home. Ainu people have great respect for the environment that the have lived in since ancient times. They use the dance to help us learn about their culture. The Ainu language is an ancient language and is not a written language. The language and the culture is passed on through word of mouth. We are given an explanation in English of what we are watching and it's very helpful. The dancing and music is simple and very enjoyable. The last dance calls for some audience members to join in so I decided I would represent our group as almost everyone else had walking aids! It's good fun and once finished Yoshi told me that doing that dance leaves you feeling happy and it did. The Ainu Village is a quaint street full of little shops selling the carved items and handicrafts made by the Ainu people. The gates at either end of the village have large carved owls on them. The owl us the protector of the village. It's now raining quite steadily and we have one more stop before heading back to the ship. On the drive to the Japanese Crane Reserve we stop a couple of times to see groups of deer grazing on the grasslands. The crane reserve was established in 1958 with 5 Japanese Cranes with the aim of protecting and propagating the endangered species. Natural hatching was achieved after 10 years and in 1970 successful artificial hatching was achieved. This is a conservation area and the birds are in enclosures, they have names and details displayed. They are in family groups and some are rescued birds. The work they are doing here is very important to the future of the Japanese Crane. We have had an excellent day, travelled along way and seen so much. To finish off the trip, Yoshi gives us all a parting gift. She has made for us origami birds and animals, a book mark and written a Japanese greeting in calligraphy. It's a very special offering and we are grateful. Back on board and we need to once again clear Japanese customs as after a scenic cruising day tomorrow we are to enter Russian waters and visit Korsakov which is a part of Siberia. The sea is calmer as we sail away tonight but it's cooler and raining. Hopefully it clears a bit before we sail through the Shiretoko Hanto (peninsula).