Toyoura to Hamamatsu

And so ends a very big day of cycling, rain, and wind.  We left early in the knowledge that we had a long way to go towards the next campsite, and the first ten kms were savage for our legs.  We followed a long tunnel-strewn cliff hugging road, working against a headwind and constant changes in elevation.  Of course, there is often an inverse relationship between ride difficulty and reward, and this was certainly the case here.  As the road was chiseled from the cliffs, we had the ocean practically beneath our left handgrips - it made for great incentive on the frequent hills.
It took us ages to get over the hills, and then it was onto a very flat and very straight beach side road that skirted Uchiura Bay.  The wind coming off the sea was strong, and it was bucketing down by this point.  The kids were warm and dry in the Chariot and our gear was all safe in our drybags, but we were soaked through and very cold despite the days exertions when we finally made camp at Hamamatsu.  The campsite was set up for car campers and the facilities were good, particularly the warm showers which were very welcome.  There was also a great ice creamery nearby that we stopped at on the way where we had cream cheese flavoured ice cream - which was scrumptious!

Lake Toya to Toyoura

We were so keen on the lake that we ended up staying a few nights to enjoy the spot.  The water was fresh and crystal clear and we all got in for quick dips.  There was a lot of old broken pottery mixed in with the sand, and the kids enjoyed wading for select pieces.  The lake got deep very very quickly and made for great swimming. We had a chance meeting with another family on holiday in Hokkaido (if you are reading this Chris and family, it was great meeting you all!), and Bella got on particularly well with their daughter Sakura.  We had a joint fireworks launch to everyone's delight, and we also got to see public fireworks launched from across the lake.
We left in the morning, visiting the local art gallery and its sculpture collection before pedaling along the lake shore all the way to the southern side of the lake.  The road was right up there with the best we have seen - framed by ancient oak, elm, walnut, elderberry, and birch trees whose branches met to form a canopy above us.  It was also flat, twisty, and fairly quiet which made for shady and relaxing riding. 
We still had a lot of energy after lunch and decided we would make for the coast and camp down there.  We had expected to have to climb out of the caldera surrounding the lake but Japanese engineers had kindly bored a tunnel straight through (with a downhill grade, no less!).  It is worth mentioning at this point that this was the best tunnel ever - the footpath was as wide as a lane.  It was so awesome we stopped for a commemorative photo!
The rest of the road to the coast was downhill, and then it was cliffside riding.  There were a few narrow tunnels but we struck it lucky with road maintenance crews seeing us through safely.
We rode into the fishing town of Toyoura, setting up at an excellent grassy campsite beside the docks.  It was extremely windy in a rugged seaside kind of way, and very picturesque.  We walked on the docks collecting starfish that had been thrown up by the waves, and later the kids used some trolleys as trains.  We tucked in to the sounds of waves pounding the breakwater and a flag flapping crazily in the wind.