Day 16 Muroran, Japan

We loved todays tour to Mt Usu (an active volcano) and Cape Chikyu Lighthouse.  It was certainly different to castles and shrines!  The drive to Mt Usu took about an hour but it was a lovely scenic drive, AND the cherry trees were still in full bloom.  I was actually surprised at the variety of colours of the cherry blossom and our guide informed us that there were around 200 varieties of the Sakuru Tree (Cherry Blossom.

When we arrived at Mt Usu our guide directed us to the waiting cable car that would take us almost to the top of Mt. Usu.  The views from the cable car were fantastic but nothing like the views from the viewing platform were we alighted from the car.  Our guide gathered us together and we were given a great talk by a local tour guide about the evolution of the smaller volcano. Mt Usu has erupted four times since 1900 and in 1944 the smaller Mt Showa-Shinzan was formed.  It is hard to imagine that where the smaller volcano stands was fertile farming land.  It took around 14 months of eruptions to form Mt Showa-Shinzan.

There were around 200 steps to walk up and down today and I was thankful that I had done a few hill walks before we came on this trip!  We had around two hours at Mt Usu and when we were all back on board the bus we headed towards Cape Chikyu.

Can I tell you that today was cold, very cold, and quite windy but we are still heading north so it is good that we are acclimatising I guess.  Cape Chikyu Lighthouse also has some magnificent 360 degree views.  The lighthouse is perched high above the headlands on the pacific ocean.

Our tour started late, around midday, and we were back on board the ship by 4.  We are having an early night tonight and will have canapes for dinner.  We had forgotten how much we love cruising.  It is such an easy way to travel and we are contemplating booking another as there are a lot of discounts on offer at the moment.  Anyway, we'll see.