Saturday 6 December 2014

Five people in an Earthcruiser in snow.

6/12/14
Our family has been with us for a week now. We have travelled west of Tokyo into the Alps, showing them the deep gorges, many tunnels and bridges. 

There are five of us. Jono and Emma are occupying the "penthouse" roof -top tent. Zef sleeps accross the seat/table area, and of course we are in our usual bed. 

A highlight of the trip for them has been the "snow monkeys" or "Onsen monkeys". Unfortunately there had not been significant snow when we got there, but of course the monkeys are their own attraction, and they were in the onsen. 



But two days later the snow started! And we had at least a meter of snow overnight. This may not seem too exciting for those of my friends who live in cold climates but for us it was a wonderland. 
We have not experienced snow men really so of course we fixed that! 


The snow was above my knees on day two of the snow. The tent couldn't hold up its load at first and the struts had to be locked. 



We have found that on evenings when the temp is below zero we would rather not sit outside. The five of us can be inside even while cooking is going on. - two on each bed and one cooking. It's quite comfortable. 

The biggest problem for us in this weather has been condensation mainly in the tent. Even with the provided insulating silver layer the condensation is causing problems. We badly need a dry day to get some things dry. In the EC there is also a lot of condensation despite venting the kitchen while cooking (fan directed at the window) and wiping down the vinyl often. 

Today we headed for the Coast to get some relief from the snow -and guess what! It is still snowing right down to the beaches. 

 White snow black sand. 


But one pleasure in this weather is a hot onsen, or rotemburo. Of course I can't show you photos but sitting in a rock pool in 40 degree water with snow falling on your head is very pleasant indeed. 

We are heading south now to Hiroshima, where it is (hopefully) not snowing.