Yesterday we spent 5 hrs searching for some last waves before winter, covered both coasts and saw a lot of fish. Ended up finding some swell as the change in weather hit, it went from about 15 degrees to snowing by the time we got home. But with the snow came offshore winds and a little bit of swell, and then a lot of snow! Yesterday I had bare (kind of chilly) feet on the beach. This morning I walked out the door in Sorels with 10-15cm of dry snow on the ground. Pretty cool 24 hrs. Road maps and mobile phones. The morning's catch. Seagulls lurking. Tetrapods. More Tetrapods. And More Tetrapods. Found Waves. Some Shredder. Pacific Ocean, offshore. Lefts and Rights. East Coast Hokkaido. East Coast Hokkaido 2

Zucchini flowers from Niseko Green Farm

NisECO Markets

NisECO Markets

Making fairy floss - Kanro-no-mori Summer Festival

Kanro-no-mori Summer Festival

Kat n Kim

Daruma al a feathers - Pelican Burger

Gotta say – pretty stoked to see bears for the first time!! Even if it was from a boat, fairly far away it still triggered that childish rush of… ‘look daddy!! – BEARS!!’ Last weekend we made the mission up to Hokkaido’s far North East to visit the World Heritage Site of The Shiretoko Penisular. We had a couple of days and being watched by hundreds of deer a generally a thriving mass of wildlife, exploring lakes, mountain and waterfalls… Hot waterfalls! – another first! – カムイワッカの滝 or Kamuiwakka Falls begins as a hot spring in the volcanic mountains whose hot waters flow all the way to the ocean! It was just coming into full autumn when we arrived and got more colorful by the day as the whole peninsular turned into reds, yellows and varying shades of green. Scored great weather and absolutely loved the whole area! エゾリス！(Ezo Risu) - Hokkaido Squirrel with a face full of food. Horny. Kamuiwakka Falls (center of frame) flowing from it's source into the ocean. Solo seagull. Bears scouting for salmon in the river mouth. Shiretoko lighthouse poking out from the autumn colours. Sunrise - about 5:15 am. Autumn. Full moon rising. Sunset from Shiretoko

Yesterday was another spectacular day of weather… well maybe in our little bubble at Toya! It seems with the snow and ominous weather, somehow Lake Toya was immune and, as I guided a Groove Cycles group around Toya we had everything from blue sky to rainbows! Lake Toya is such an incredibly beautiful place and unique with it’s landscape of smoking volcanoes, lake islands and almost circular lake (10m x 9km). The tour took most of the afternoon as we cruised along, stopping all too regularly for photo opportunities… While I’m excited for winter I’m certainly going to miss summer… and spring…. and autumn! Ducks are so cool. Seagull landing. Grass. Edamame stacked up pre winter... Surely the last of the sunflowers...? A couple of sunny boats and ominous looking Youtei! A boat crossing Youtei's path. Toya's volcano that (correct me if I'm wrong) erupted as recently as 2001. Toya. Rainbow on the lake... Can anyone tell me if fish can see rainbow's so I can answer the questions of 6 year old's? Lake Toya's island. End of an amazing day... The perfect day for a bike ride!

FRANO LAVENDER COLOUR – Another beautiful flower world 2011. Frano summer 2011, it was wonderful journey from Niseko, took us about 4-5 hours drive through Chitose and Tomamu area. There were two summer festivals at that time, the end of September, one in Middle-Furano and one in South-Furano. Furano is the most popular and beautiful sightseeing region in Hokkaido And also it is famous for mountain trekking and skiing around Daisetsuzan national park, beautiful mountain range. FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011 FURANO LAVENDER COLOUR 2011

As summer draws to a close so too does the summer festival scene (only to be replaced by the Autumn festival scene!). Having attended my fair share of festivals over the summer I’m stoked to say that the Hirafu matsuri was certainly a mini highlight. With food and fireworks to rival the bigger festivals, the locals turned up in big numbers for an afternoon of perfect weather! Picturesque The Daiko Drummers! Team Taiko.

Lanterns - a sure sign of food and festivity! Awesome fireworks!

We are now serving a range of soft cream & parfaits at J-Sekka Cafe & Delicatessen.  Soft cream is available in a cone, or cup, and is just ¥250.  We have a range of flavors available, including green tea, vanilla, cookies & cream and our delicious limited Summer flavors including pineapple & sakura. We can also add a shot of vanilla soft cream to any iced drink, to make a delectable soda float, or decadant iced coffee or chocolate.

Back in July we hosted Dennis and a group of 11 including Kaoru Ohsumi from Herb & Natural Room KINA.  The group first enjoyed a tour of the Niseko Green Farm, before arriving at J-Sekka to enjoy a 6 course lunch prepared with a whole range of the Farm’s Summer vegetables.

Lunch started out with some yellow & green zucchinis, that were lightly grilled and then marinated with olive oil, lemon zest, sea salt & pepper and served on a slice of toasted baguette with smashed edamame.

Next up, a Summer salad with local watermelon, a range of mini heirloom tomatoes, celery, hidaka mozzarella & fresh herbs.  This dish went down so well on the day, that we had to put it on the Summer menu at in the Cafe.

Carpaccio…. of zucchini.  The beautiful colors of green and yellow, sliced super thin and dressed with a little olive oil & lemon and topped with roasted pine nuts and very finely shaved Shin Sapporo blue cheese.

Niseko Green Farm is growing some really interesting lettuces this year, including the usual romaine, or cos lettuce, but also a stunning red variety of the romaine family.  We used both red & green lettuce and made a ceasar salad.  A house-made dressing with parmesan, lemon & anchovies lightly coated each leaf and there were crispy croutons, fried bacon, an onsen egg & parmesan cheese wafer.

The Omega3 for the day was found in the form of beautiful flaked Hokkaido salmon.  The salmon flakes were dressed with a spicy soy dressing with NGF herbs and green & red onion.  Nestled on top, a couple of pieces of soft tofu pillows from the Makkari spring water tofu shop, dusted in a salt & szechaun pepper and crispy fried.

The last dish for the day was a hand-made Niseko Green Farm Danshyaku potato gnocchi, with cured lamb bacon, dried mini tomatoes, edamame & mint.  Another dish so good it featured on a Summer menu for a few weeks..

A great day was had by all, and it was a pleasure having you all at J-Sekka!  See you again soon ….

A nice shot of the group, just a shame Dennis didn’t manage to keep his eyes open for the shot;)

Climbing up Iwaonupuri the other day was a lot of fun, made even better by views like this and lovely weather. These lumpy formations stood out, such amazing terrain.

My wife and I went for a hike to the top of a small local mountain the other day (Iwaonupuri) and I made a few (actually lots) of shots, I especially liked this one. I'll post a couple more over the next few days.

Yesterday we had a very special guest at J-Sekka named Christoph.  He was a beautiful Russian Blue kitty-cat!  The delightful little neko-chan was with his owner and staying in Niseko for a while … a little retreat from Tokyo.  Turns out Christoph is 10 years old, which as the owner said he is an Oji-san, or grandpa.

They enjoyed a nice, spicy ginger ale on the balcony this warm Friday afternoon.  We really hope to see them again before they head home to Tokyo!  Christoph was very inquisitive around the firewood pile …  and although a little timid, was very friendly and certainly got plenty of attention from the customers, and staff.

360niseko

Taken right in the middle of the road.....so middle of the road.

Taken right in the middle of the road.....so middle of the road.