Ranshima to Kutchan

Given our decision to avoid the coast road, we decided to head south to Lake Toma and the Niseko resort area.  Heading inland into the mountains was never going to be easy - and it wasn't - but we surprised ourselves with our hill climbing endurance and were pleased we had left camp early to avoid the heat.  We arrived at the town of Kuchan early in the afternoon after two gigantic climbs, and after setting up camp at a very busy site (lots of motorbikes and even some guys touring on folding bicycles) it was off to the onsen yet again.  The mountains around Kuchan are spectacular, all the more so because they tower out of the landscape in relative isolation from other hills which accentuates their size.  You can see snow on their tops way up in the clouds, and they make a pretty contrast with the neat houses with their fabulous veggie gardens and masses of colourful flowers.
It was a very social campsite and we chatted to lots of friendly folk, but alas we were worn out so we skipped the nighttime festivities and tucked in early.  There were bugs everywhere, and it was satisfying to see them excluded on the other side of the flymesh. 

Asarigawa to Ranshima

We left Asarigawa with lots of good advice on things to see in Otaru thanks to the very helpful campsite manager.  Otaru was but a hop skip and jump away (downhill no less!) and we were soon weaving between tour buses and exploring the old canals that site near the city centre.  It was all very nice and very tourist friendly, and the kids liked seeing the fresh crabs.  We stocked up on cereal at a supermarket (corn flakes have been a favourite of late) then headed west out of town along the coast of the Shakotan peninsula to Ranshima.  The scenery was nice in a rugged cliff side sort of way, but the tunnels were the worst we have encountered.  They were very narrow and the Chariot barely fit on the footpath when there was one, and at times we had to walk the bikes, ducking and hugging the walls whenever big trucks came by to avoid coping a side mirror to the head.  It was dangerous and our expressions didn't fall into the "holiday" category; we decided that we are going to avoid riding this particular coastline given the number of tunnels we can see ahead on the map.
We arrived at Ranshima rattled but keen to see the beach, and we were not disappointed - it was nice! We couldn't find the campsite from the map, but did run into two fellows who seemed to be running a beach cafes and associated private beach and campground. We happily paid the 16 bucks required to secure our spot, and as we were the only ones there, the beach was all ours.  The water was clean, shallow, and warm and we decided to spend two nights there, setting up our MSR shelter at the waters edge and spending all day on the beach. Very relaxing for the kids and a nice break for our legs too!