Friday, June 6 - Shiretoko Peninsula, from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Nemuro Strait

 

A charming farewell from our hotel!

We piled on layers of clothes in anticipation of our last chance for a cruise in the Sea of Okhotsk and a chance to see Fin Whales, but when we arrived at the wharf at 8 AM, the captain had called it off due to high winds, not a real surprise as it was howling.

Miniature horses grazing

Mark had other plans for us as we cross the Shiretoko Peninsula today.  We first stopped to bird at a river mouth that meanders through marsh land and reminded me of our land back east, except for the volcano in the background!  Mark led us across the highway to a tiny train station and a dune boardwalk.

Wild Roses

     

Tiny train station

We all struggled to see Middendorf’s Grasshopper Warbler which would have been a new bird for Bob but even eBird says “it can be excruciatingly difficult to see”, which proved accurate. And it’s a very plain, brown, and hard to differentiate from the seven other warblers on the page in my bird guide.

Mark drove us to a Lawson’s convenience store to pick up our picnic lunches and we ate as we drove along to the mountain range of the Peninsula ahead. 

A whole wall of squid munchies!

Grazing Lawson's

We drove up the west coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula, stopping at a beautiful waterfall.  Bob wandered across the street to look for sea birds and spotted a lovely raft of 19 Harlequin ducks.

Oshin Koshin Falls

Harlequin Ducks on parade

We started driving across the Shiretoko Peninsula to the Nemuro Strait.  Mark took us on a side road into the national park where we drove slowly along looking for large brown “rocks” which might be bears.  There are a lot of them here, but unfortunately, we didn’t see any, just more foxes and deer. 

Japanese Deer

We reached the pass and could see Kunashiri Island which is in Russia (although on several Japanese maps that island and the next one north are marked as part of Japan).  We descended to the coastal village of Rausu and our small hotel, Shiretoko Serai.  Several of us immediately committed “shoe crimes” by taking off our shoes and then stepping with our socks on the “dirty” part if the floor …it is Quite confusing!   We finally figured it out and got into our very nice, plain, but very efficient room.

Our dinner was the best yet!  Small by our new standards, but still quite elaborate.  Tapas of great kelp bread, slices of raw venison, seafood carpaccio, then a main of Very fresh cod with a hunk of the best crab yet.   Followed by a small dish of fresh pasta with crab tomato sauce.  Finally, cheesecake made from local cream.  I had a glass of plum liquor on the rocks that was amazing and refreshing

To bed to see if our boat trip, this time into the Nemuro Straits to see Orca, will take place.