THE CAPTAIN INFORMED US THAT OUR VISIT to Hakadote would be an abbreviated one; 9AM until 3PM instead of the scheduled 10PM departure. It looked like Krosa would hit Tokyo early on the 14th and he wanted the Maasdam tied up and battened down before it arrived.
There's always room for one more
Tim, Connie and I took the shuttle bus — thank you very much — to the Hakodate train station and squeezed into a tram we hoped was going to Goryokaku Fort. Using public transportation in Japan is a learning experience requiring code-breaker skills and one can only hope to have it figured out before reaching the end of the line. With the three of us working on the problem it’s a wonder we succeeded. Next time will be easier.
Birding Pals — Tim and Connie
Goryokaku was the first European star-shaped fortress in Japan. It is also a nice park with birding potential. Tim and Connie seemed pretty smug, tallying a Oriental greenfinch, a pair of brown-eared bulbuls, several Eastern spot-billed ducks and both Japanese and marsh tits. And my photos aren’t bad, either.
Oriental Greenfinch
Japanese Tit
Marsh Tit
Tim left us for a sushi fix. He had a hankering for uni — sea urchin for the non-initiated — but we will get our fill in the weeks ahead. Lunch onboard in the air-conditioned restaurant seemed a saner option, so we trudged back to the ship.
Goryokaku Tower Magistrate's House
It was “all ahead, full” for Maasdam all night and throughout the day Tuesday. Fears of the approaching storm increased more than the actual waves, but safety first, right? Though we were still hundreds of miles from the storm, the waves were predicted to reach 6 meters. Fortunately, the forecasters got the timing wrong and we glided into Tokyo Bay with nothing more serious than a slightly-less-than-gentle roll, and I, for one, am greatly relieved.
