We got the 9:51 Suzuran for Shiraoi. The seats were tight and small on this older express. We passed abandoned horse farms with a few still active, lines of buildings along the main road following the coast, and as the rails got closer to the coast, crab restaurants from a former economy or waiting for the summer season to arrive, appeared with garrish signs and empty parking lots.

In Shiraoi, we left all our luggage in the station and hiked over to the Ainu Museum and tourist shops. The show was shorter than on weekends, and the live exhibits in the last hut were a wood carver and a lady making a natural fiber of some sort. Only Drew bought a souvenir, a wooden keitai strap with an Ainu pattern carved on it. We had lunch at the museum complex, and then stopped in the COOP grocery store, where we spotted 4-liter bottles of vodka, whiskey, and shochu. I guess winters are long up here and getting to the store can be tough. Noone bought one though even though they were pretty cheap for the volume as they were heavy. Back at the station, we decided to skip waiting at Shiraoi Station for the express to Noboribetsu, and took a donko that left earlier. This gave us some time to check out Noboribetsu. It was drizzling so Sarah didn't want to explore and watched the luggage. The town by the station was pretty run down and dismal. We didn't go over the the aquarium in the shape of a Danish Castle though where there might be tourist oriented businesses. Hopped on the Super Hakuto once the station master let us on the platform (only a couple of minutes before the train arrived), and rode it to Hakodate.

It was raining sideways when we got to Hakodate and even the sidewalk covers to the taxi stand didn't give much protection. We got wet just going the 2 blocks to the Yado Aozora. The owner was at a wedding and left us a note and some small gifts. The friends who were running it for her somehow got our reservations mixed up and thought we were only staying 1 night. Luckily, there was no problem with a second night.

We made a run through the lee side of buildings, hiding under overhangs to stay out of the high wind and rain until we got to Za Dom, a place for a cheap filling meal. It was only windy on the return and took a shower and hit the sack.