Hokkaido is one of those places that cannot look more differently in summer and in winter, yet attractive in its own way in either season. For us, summer is the season of choice, when Furano is a paradise for lovers of flowers and of nature. The full day in Furano allowed us to enjoy this beautiful town and its surroundings in leisure.
After a cereal breakfast in our hotel room, our first activitiy of the day was a ride up the Furano Ropeway, with the intention of doing a little bit of trekking. From the drawing of the mountain with various trekking possibilities (as shown below), the route labelled "1" seemed a fairly short option. So, we picked this one to have a go, as it looked an easy one. However, we began to doubt within five minutes of starting! First, with no other hikers in sight, and the path not clearly marked, we were not certain whether we were on the right track. And the climb was quite a bit more difficult than we had imagined. Some chains pinned along the slope for aiding the climb at least suggested it was really the right track! Our little persistence was to be rewarded with a magnificent view of the Furano valley below.
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| Furano Ropeway station, next to the New Furano Prince Hotel |
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| On the ropeway, with the New Furano Prince Hotel at the base. |
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| Cable car going the other way. Seems not to be in the peak tourist season. |
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| Little hut at the top |
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| Local flora along the trail |
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| Panoramic view of the Fuarno Valley |
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| Beautiful view of Furano from the top of the mountain |
After taking the ropeway down the mountain, our next stop was the popular Farm Tomita (富田農場), famed for its fields of lavender and a great variety of other flowers. At the time of our trip, the lavender was very much in bloom, ahead of some of the other flowers planted in the farm.
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| Furano is almost synonymous with lavender |
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| Lavender in bloom in Farm Tomita |
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| Matching colour |
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| Lavender coloured and flavoured drink. Tried out this local specialty out of curiosity. The verdict: interesting but probably not everyone's cup of tea. |
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| Taking in this panoramic view over lunch at Farm Tomita |
After lunch we drove northwards to Hinode Park (日之出公園), Kamifurano (上富良野). With the nice weather, every casual snapshot made a beautiful photograph.
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
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| Hinode Park (日之出公園) |
With just about time to visit one more flower farm before the general closing time at 5pm, our pick was Flower Land, which was fairly close by.
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| Lupins, another recognizable flower in Hokkaido |
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| Lupins at Flower Land, Kamifurano |
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| Flower Land, Kamifurano |
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| Flower Land, Kamifurano |
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| Good place for filming |
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| Flower Land, Kamifurano |
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| Flower Land, Kamifurano |
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| Flower Land, Kamifurano |
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| The bands of multi-coloured flowers cannot fail to delight the visitor. Flower Land, Kamifurano. |
6 days in Hokkaido: Overview and Day 1
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