Last Stop Muroran

   Muroran is our last port before heading out today for the 7 day crossing of the north Pacific as we head for Alaska! We had a very interesting breakfast with a captain of a Bering Sea fishing boat. I think he was on that television series. He did do a lecture the other day on his experiences and will be doing another. The others at breakfast included a Toronto fireman and an enrichment lecturer who will be doing the commentary on the Golden until September for the Alaska voyages. We did not try to get off the ship early because of a long to buy tickets and take the shuttle. Yes another wait in line!

Overlooking Muroran

 

Lighthouse

  We had taken a tour in Muroran the last time here so we decided to just take go into town. Muroran is not exactly a tourist hot spot. It is all rather old buildings and working docks with a wood processing plant and a steel mill. Sapporo is a train ride away and it is the modern city Actually what the shuttle turned out to be was a hop on hop off bus that stopped 7 times. We skipped the shopping/downtown area and headed for the Cape Chikyu lighthouse which was rated the #1 attraction here by trip advisor. It is a really picturesqueness spot with the lighthouse perched high above the water on a rocky outcrop. The only problem was that the temperature was about 8C (47F) all day with a strong wind. A rocky outcrop is not the place that you want to be! It was worth the photo op.

Ramen

   One of the things that we noticed in all our stops was the price of gasoline. A litre of gas here was about the same price as in Windsor. Now Canada has plenty of oil and Japan has none yet gas costs the same. The other thing is how clean and litter free Japan is. We were constantly looking for garbage bins to toss our garbage but you simple do not see them on the streets and even in the shopping/eating venues. However you rarely see a piece of paper on the ground and certainly no Tim Horton or 7 Eleven cups!

   We made our way to a stop near a very long suspension bridge. There we a number of things in the area but the weather was not pleasant enough to go for a hike to the top of the large hill or wander down to the hot spring. They did have one building with a large display showing the making of the bridge. It also had few street food tents where we bought so we bought 2 bowls of pork ramen and had lunch. We had wanted to do that for a few stops and this was the best opportunity. Besides we were hungry! It was quite tasty. We passed on the grilled octopus parts and left them to the Japanese. 

Japanese Golf

       One of the strangest things here was 4 - 9 hole golf courses. However it is a cross between golf and goofy golf! They use a wooden mallet (like croquet) and a ball about the size of a baseball. They drive off a rubber mat and have sand traps hills, etc. There were both par 3's 4's and 5's. It was quite entertaining to see people play. I guess with the limited flat land and the cost of golf that this is a perfect compromise. If you just looked at their approach to the tee shot, you would thing that they were playing on a real course.

   After that we headed back to the ship. That was the last stop on the route and of course the bus was packed. They did not push us on but it was basically the same thing. We headed straight to immigration when we got back aboard and for once the line was so short that the officers we glad to see us. We were done in seconds. After all the immigration hassles that we have gone through, I think they wanted to leave a good impression. We even did this in the comfort of one of the lounges and not in a tent ashore. Tea finished the afternoon.  

     During all our shore wanderings I have been taking photos of strangely translated signs. They get the point across but to us always in a humorous way. I hope that I have enough to do a small presentation to the photography club next winter.

We left Muroran around 6. The weather looks to be “good” for at least the next several days after The storm that went through a few days ago. We have had 2 good crossing before and we hope for more of the same. No big entertainment tonight! Sea days here we go.