Biei to Asahikawa

With the kids dosed on medicine, we headed north towards Asahikawa.  It was an excellent ride: flat, relatively short, and stocked with interesting things to see.  We stopped at a flower farm and bought lots of yummy dried fruit, which we all enjoyed.  We hit a river and found a bike path that paralleled it, which made for great views and a fast pace.  Eventually we hit the city centre, passing the train station we had been to two days before and going to a coffee shop for a bite to eat and a drink.  After looking in vain for a SIM card, we headed off to the campsite just across the river from the station. The site was basically a grassy spot in a big public park next to barbeques and picnic tables and an uncharacteristically dirty toilet block.  There were lots of locals around enjoying food and copious beer, and it wasn't long before we were engaged in conversation with non English speakers!  Some of our new acquaintances were kind enough to show us the way to a nearby onsen, and we happily rode over for a pleasant afternoon dip.  This onsen had a few coloured baths filled with minerals - which we all avoided on account of not being sure what was actually in them.
There was an attached cafeteria which we ate at, but by this time the kids were restless so we headed back and had an early night, trying to tune out the revellers in the park around us.

Kamifurano to Biei... and streptococcus

Riding to Biei was nice: the route was mostly flat and we were flanked by farmland and mountains as we headed up the valley.  The headwind of two days ago had disappeared too. It was only about 15kms to biei, but after arriving and having lunch we made the decision to take Bella to hospital.  She had been sick with what seemed to be a flu for a few days and had been running a slight temperature, but had deteriorated rapidly during the day to a fever over 39°, shivers, and listless/irritable. Very worrying so we rode over to the hospital where I ended up being directed in a taxi to a paediatrics clinic 25 minutes drive north in Asahikawa where a doctor saw her and i furiously worked the phrase book to describe her symptoms and figure out the prognosis.  Turns out she has streptococcus, so antibiotics for both her and Finn have been prescribed. 
I went back to Biei and hiked halfway across town in the rain with Bella on my shoulders wearing a poncho I made out of a plastic bag from the hospital - it was nice to see Bella smile, despite her illness, at the ridiculousness of her "raincoat".  I met up with Bron at a park before we found a quiet spot down by the river to pitch our tent and get the kids some rest.  It was hot and stuffy and generally unpleasant, but it was sufficient given the circumstances.  We are grateful we were able to see a doctor so quickly and the kids don't have anything worse.