JA-POW!!

Japan – I seriously love this country. This is my 4th trip to the land of gyoza and ramen and it just gets better and better. The people are amazingly friendly, the food is unreal and of course, that magical white pow pow! For those of you who don’t know about the Pow – I’m talking about snow.

Affectionately known as JaPOW, this is literally one of the best (if not, THE best) place in the world for carving up the mountains in fresh, soft powder.

So, what was our plan in this winter wonderland?

We decided to head to Niseko, in Northern Japan and find a place to call home for an entire month! The thought of being able to unpack my backpack, and wash clothes in an actual washing machine (instead of the shower) was like a dream!

We got in touch with a great local company called Holiday Niseko and booked a self-contained apartment for 4 weeks. The most important things for us was easy access to the ski lifts and our very own kitchen so we could start cooking again (we haven’t had the chance to cook for ourselves in over 2 months).

Dan and I love snowboarding, and we both have all our own gear…problem is it’s all back in Aus. So, we ended up doing a mish-mash of hiring and buying. Some of the gear is really expensive to hire, and if you’re hiring for a whole month, you might as well buy it… The downside of buying in our case, is we now have two full sets of ski clothes, a pair of snowboard boots, a helmet and two pair of ski goggles to fit into our already full backpacks…..that’s a problem for another day.

Niseko has been a beautiful place to call home and now that our month is wrapping up, I thought I’d share the highlights!

1. Snowboarding: Obviously, our favourite thing to do in Niseko is snowboard, and although we had an early Spring here (less Ja-POW than usual), we still had plenty of days on the slopes and the varying conditions have actually made us much better snowbaorders all round. Some runs we had fresh powder at the top, icey patches coming down the mountain and snow-cone slushy ice near the bottom!
2. Onsen: There are a number of onsens in Niseko (natural hot springs) and we have a brilliant one just around the corner. It costs 700 Yen (about $10) to enter and you can soak for as long as you like. Note: As is the custom in Japan, if you’re hopping into an onsen, the birthday suits are mandatory! But don’t worry, they have separate pools for men and women and thoroughly washing before you enter is also mandatory.
3. Food: Niseko has a really wide variety of food available for such a small village. You can go all out and have a complete Japanese dining experience (leave your shoes at the door and sit cross legged on cushions while you eat) or you can go for one of the many food vans parked up in the centre town, offering burgers, Indian, pizza etc. We like to eat as local as possible while we travel so we’ve got our firm favourite Japanese dishes that we will definitely try and replicate when we return to Aus.
4. Niseko Treats: There is a little food van parked part way up the main road in Hirafu and they sell cheese tartes, Niseko Yoghurt Drinks and Ice-cream. All made from the milk of a local dairy here in Niseko. These are some seriously delicious treats, and we didn’t need much of an excuse to get one…or three!
5. A little bit of Luxury: I also tried a 45 minute session in the ‘float tank’ at Ryko Spa. It was about $90 (AUD) and was a seriously amazing experience! The water is about body temperature and full of epsom salts so you just float with literally no effort. It was complete relaxation and bliss! I even fell asleep! Definitely give this a try if you get a chance! I know it looks a little claustrophobic, but it was really quite spacious even with the lid closed.

So, it’s crazy to think, but we’ve been travelling abroad for a full 9 months now and have been travelling in total for an entire year! We have no idea what the future holds for us, but we are pretty bloody excited to get home and see the dogs! and to figure out what the next big adventure is for us!

Watch this space!