January 2014 my son Matthew, brother Simon and his mate Shaun and I, set off to ski Japan and opted to stay with a Japanese family in the Pension Yubokumin in Hirafu Niseko on the Island of Hokkaido. Below is a recap of our trip in photos.
All photos taken with one camera/lens combo; a fixed 35mm lens on the Fuji X100s and freezing cold hands!
If you’d like to check out more of the Japan ski holiday, there’s a bunch of other photos on my Instagram feed: http://instagram.com/andrew_hellmich
Sydney airport and the fun begins! Having a “young” uncle on the trip meant some fun and interesting times for a normally subdued Mattie.
Looking over Sapporo before taking a 3 hour bus ride to Hirafu and our home for the next 3 weeks.
There is always something interesting to try in the way of food and snacks in Japan. The sugary soy treats on the right were great. Simon played it safe with raisins.
A shared bathroom and our room in the background. Mattie checks out and is delighted to find a fast WIFI connection that beats what we have at home. Happy days for a teenager!
Staying with a Japanese family run Pension meant little English and lots of sign language. A few evening drinks always helped to get the conversation flowing.
A typical breakfast at Yubokumin and a lot different from previous places we’ve stayed in Hirafu.
With limited space, rooms are set up wherever possible. This is right above the kitchen and accessed by a ladder.
Food vans are a common sight in Hirafu.
The Seicomart is the lifeblood of tourists staying at Hirafu – you can find anything and everything you need here and it was a daily ritual to stop here at least once a day for supplies.
Dinner time. The fine bones in the fish were definitely a challenge for the novice chopstick users.
Our host practicing his daily ritual of preparing the chai tea to go with dessert each evening.
Cooney San… Our host and owner of Yubokmin. A keen snowboarder when he has the chance to get out on the slopes which is totally dependant on getting his daily chores done and no new snow fall.
Mattie, Simon, Shintaro and I. Shintaro did an amazing job of accommodating us and making us feel welcome in Japan.
The “toilet shoes”… required wearing when using the “facilities”.
A daily sight in our little street… Yes, there was that much snow… Daily!
On the walk to the lifts.
Heading out.
Frozen shoe laces!
Good thing he left his wipers off the windscreen 🙂
With no chairs or seats of any kind at Yubokumin, this camping chair was pure heaven for Sime.
Happy with his new helmet purchase. Maybe a little too happy.
Breakfast. No miso soup for Mattie, not a fan.
Mattie in search of his beloved banana drink. No luck here.
This is what was served after ordering pancakes! Nice but definitely not as good as pancakes.
Favourite cafe and a chance for a great coffee and more “Aussie like” food.
Father and son.
Tourist.
Local.
5 minute walk from our accommodation.
The famous volcano responsible for the amazing snow at Hirafu… Mt Yotei.
Local.
Tourists.
Ripping.
Another tree run!
Daily ritual.
Fish… Food.
9am and heading for a coffee. The snow had been cleared 30 minutes earlier!
When it snows, it SNOWS!
Warm again.
Our most prized room procession… The kero heater.
Another daily ritual when the weather permits.
Train trip for a day of exploring.
Spot the tourist.
The worlds coldest shopping mall… It felt that way anyway!
Japanese tourists in Japan.
Shaun and Simon at Otaru.
My first sushi train.
Tourist.
Local.
These crabs sell for hundreds of dollars and are mostly purchased by the Korean tourists who love them.
Shaun and his cool mates.
Kutchan train station.
One night a week it was dinner in town for the owners of Yubokumin to have a well earned night off.
The pub toilet… Not built for the tourists.
Birthday celebrations for Yuko’s mum.
The bluebird days were rare.
The peak!
A good 30 minute hike to get to the peak – notice the line of skiers making the trek.
Ready to ski off the backside of the peak and out of the ski resort boundary for some fresh tracks and deep POW!
The 20 minute walk back out means you get too hot for gloves even in minus 10 degrees celsius.
Mattie cutting some deep freshies 🙂
At the beginning of the trip we’d share one of these between three of us. By the end it was one pack each and they were awesome!
Photo courtesy of Johnny, our english snowboarding journalist mate.
Snack time and another chance to try the local fare.
Heading back in after a great day.
Our fabulous host and chef who worked tirelessly to look after and feed us.
Dinner time.
Preparations.
x
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Bread tastes REALLY good after not having it for a while.
Shaun’s idea of “sensible” footwear for the snow.
Lunch on the slopes at our favourite eating spot.
Tasty.
Yubokumin… we’ll be back!
A big day of skiing, a full tummy, warm room and great wifi equals happy boy!
Time to leave.
Reminiscing already and we hadn’t left the car park.
A freakin’ awesome holiday!
I LOVE these. I want to come just for the photography experience!
Thanks Aleisha – you can come on the next trip 🙂
What was interesting for me was this trip was the 2nd time in Japan at many of the same places. I came away with not nearly as many good photos the first time.
On this trip I made the conscious decision to take more photos and try harder to “tell the story” of this holiday and location. It was almost like a daily challenge to myself. I came away rapt with my photos.
My point – we can take great photos anywhere if we keep an eye out and look for the shots. You don’t have to go to Japan to get great photos. Great photos are everywhere.
It was awesome though 🙂
Enjoyed the great photos… Gave the essence of the whole trip…. so much snow!!!
Thanks Mum, “so much snow” is spot on, there was HEAPS!
AWESOME! looks like a fab trip
Thanks Lisa – it sure was! So good in fact, we’ve booked a return trip 🙂
Hi mate, this is Zhen, the guy who’s from Melbourne but now lives in China, I was with you guys for 2 or 3 nights, remember? you guys kindly offers me some bailey but I could not drink so I had to say no, and we do have some interesting talks. Great pics, and it does remind me of the delicious food and wonderful life in Niseko, I will go back this winter, will you guys be there this time?
Hi Zhen, how are you and good to hear from you?!
Yes, we will be back again for one eek only in the 3rd week of January – will you be there then?
We’re planning to check Furano this trip, for a week before going to Rusutsu then finishing at Hirafu.
Hope to see you there!
Hi Andrew, very nice to see your reply in almost 6 months! Sorry, this time I will be in Hokkaido from mid of December to first week of January, and I will go to Rusutsu and stay in Pension Yamada first, then finish at Niseko, but this time I will try the Niseko village and Annupuri(never been there before). It’s a shame we cannot see each other, what a pity. But I will definitely come back to this blog and check out the cool pics you post!
Maybe I’ll see you in 2017 then.
We’ll be at Pension Yamada too but not till the second week in January.
Have a great holiday and happy Christmas with lots of POW! 🙂