A day in the Park - Asahiyama Kouen (Sapporo)

17th October, 2003 - We went for a drive to one of the great vantage points of Sapporo, Asahiyama Memorial Park, which as you can see sits just at the outskirts of Sapporo city itself. The trees here had not quite come in to full colour yet, but were close.

Actually, this park has undergone a lot of renovation recently (completed in 2008), so had limited access recently, but even back in 2003 it was beautiful...

But the most beautiful thing for me wasn't the scenery...

You can go for nice long romantic walks through the forests... They say that you have to be careful of bears in Hokkaido (much like elsewhere in Japan), but surely you wouldn't have to worry about them this close to the city? Best thing is to make a lot of noise anyhow.

It was a good day... and the good thing about Sapporo is that even though we were a stone's throw from the city, you could quickly immerse yourself in the mountain air. It's also a lovely place to share a moment of silence with your partner... apart form the making lots of noise to scare the bears away!

A word of warning - don't be confused... Asahiyama Zoo is not in Asahiyama Kouen... but rather in Asahikawa City. This is a good thing to know Asahikawa City is a LONG way away!... and a final word from our sponsor...

Picture perfect... even with a smiley!

Pt 2 Autumn Colours in Jozankei (Sapporo)

15th October, 2003 - The place we were going to was Houhaikyou Dam in Jozankei... whilst we had a taste of the colours on the way here, walking through the tunnel was like walking into another revalation. The skies may be cloudy, and the pictures may not do the scenery justice...but it was breath-taking for me and T-chan.

Once again, I will try to let the pictures do the talking...

Houhaikyou Dam

This is a working dam... and you can walk across the dam... just don't look down. ?:-)

There's a touristy lodge here where you can get a hot lunch. Nothing to write home about... but it also feels like it's designed to fit 100's of visitors. There's a few people around, but not that many... perhaps because it's a Friday?

Walking up the mountain you get a better perspective...

I have to say we felt very lucky that the colours were so spectacular this year... in subsequent trips to Sapporo in Autumn we've been disappointed. It all depends on timing and the weather... but this was one of those magical moments for us. Definitely recommend coming here if you're in Sapporo in mid October.

I wish we had better cameras... but unfortunately just our point and clicks! Hope you enjoyed.

Pt 1 Autumn Colours (Kouyou) at Jozankei (Sapporo)

15th October, 2003 - After having rested up sufficiently post-pre-post-wedding party... we decided to go for a day trip to Jozankei...about 28km west, up in the mountains to see Kouyou (Autumn Colours). To be honest, I hadn't really had much expectation from the trip. I mean... we have autumn here in Australia to, you know. Little did I realise what I was in for. Of course in Australia, most of our wilderness is evergreen Eucalyptus trees. Big difference.

On the way to Jozankei, we stopped Moanan Kouen... about halfway there. I'll let the pictures do the talking for the rest of this post.

As we left Monan Kouen we headed further up into the mountains. Jozankei is the Onsen (hot springs) place of choice for Sapporo people (and more widely across Japan). Even though it feels like a long way out of town, it's still considered part of the city of Sapporo. But as we drove further and further, my mouth started opening wider and wider at the cacophony of colours that were starting to appear before my eyes.

And then we arrived at Jozankei area proper...

Our last part of the journey we'd have to make on foot. The tunnel that takes us from this world to the next?...

It's a long, long tunnel when you walk it... thoughts turn to the fact that Japan is a very geologically active island chain... and earthquakes are not an uncommon thing... hmmm...