Blooming Earthquake Tunnel Count = 2 Well today started efore it started .... At 5:24 am exactly I was awoken by my mobile phone alarming and shouting Earthquake - by the time I stoppsd it about 10 seconds later the hotel was swaying about 3 or 4 feet for almost 20 seconds. I was on floor 6 of 9 and didnt really know what to do so I got dressed and expected to join evdryone evacuating the building ... there was no-one there ! I suspect I should have been under tge bed when the swaying was going on ! So I was slightly late leaving at just after 9am and I had a slow traffic light riddled journey out of Hakodate. I had routed past an old citadel fortification as I had read about the fort having thousands of Sakura all now out in bloom. I spent a good 45 minutes marvelling in peoples pleasure and bewilderment admiring the blossom. So by 10:20 I had only covered 5 miles of Todays 76 ... Not Good. I eventually cleared town and hit the climb of the day to get me across to the east coast - it turned out to be a very easy 500ft leading to a busy tunnel which had a good cycle path and was well lit. Immediately out of the tunnel I turned right and followed Kake Onuna which was obviously a tourist resort. I was passing liesure cyclists on lakeside trails .. even two girls on a tandem and having cleared the resort my next guest was a very friendly little fox. It was a cold misty blowy day and the lakes mood matched - I could see Mount Komagatake and knew I would need to get to the other side of this volcano to reach the coast. First it was in front of me, tgen to tge right, tgen it disappeared in the mist and finally as I hit the downhill it was behind me. They were almost the kadt pictures if the day as it got realky cold as a sea fret came in and once I reached tge coast I cojkdnt see it ... I cycled 30 miles before I actually did see tge sea when the sun tried to cone out after 65 milrs .. only to fail ! The coast road ran almost 40 miles from Mori to Oshamambe and it was busy with wagons a d straight as a dye - I turned off when possible to go through the coastal villages but I couldnt see much of them for the mist. So I ended up riding 40 awkward cold miles seeing little but smelling plently of fish ... and it didnt smell like fresh fish either ! Not much in town, but it was tge knly reachable option North of Hakodate so I had booked a guest house and I visited the nearby shrine before heading out for tea. I walked the town and there was very little open but then from nowhere a little restaurant called Grass appeared on Google Maps and it was excellent. saving me from a 7-eleven microwave tea ! The weather for the remaining trip looks very poor- cold and windy from the north - in the wrong direction again ! So theres a lot more effort needed befire I get this Tour in the bag !