to get back on my bike and cycle the length of the country from north to south.

A quick google search told me that this would be at least 3500km, but I lived here, in Tottori,

so first I'd have to get up to the north point of Japan.

So I moved out of my apartment, packed what I needed onto my bike, and said goodbye to my friends.

I would then cycle 160km over two days in

the hot, humid weather, to take a ferry to the North Island, Hokkaido.

And the weather's perfect for the first day, so far. It might be too hot in a few hours.

But, we'll see.

So excited for this!

I don't know if you can even see. It a pretty nice evening though. You can see the

moon up there, clear sky, so hopefully this campsite's easy to find.

It's currently 5.30am. And I'll try and get a few hours in before if gets too hot again.

I reached the ferry port by sunset and waited with the crowd of other cyclists heading north

to escape the summer heat.

It was a 20 hour direct ferry and I had my own bed for it. There was even a public bath

and sauna on the ferry.

I was really excited about Hokkaido, especially because of the nature there. Of the 6 national

parks I hoped to see at least 5 of them.

When the ferry arrived, it was already dark, so I decided to camp in a park beside the port.

Another cyclist from the ferry had the same idea… and we ended up cycling together for the next 10 days.

The first part of the trip was 400km up the west coast, which we covered in 3 days

and arrived at Wakkanai, the northernmost city of Japan.

Before going to Soya Misaki, we decided to visit two small islands. Rishiri and Rebun,

which are part of the first national park I wanted to visit.

After the short ferry ride, we set off to climb the 1721m Mount Rishiri and explore the islands.

Kenta, is it dangerous?

I'll be careful.

Very delicious. So amazing!

We arrived back to the mainland on the last ferry, so stayed at the free campsite in Wakkanai.

We got a better view of the deer the next morning, then set off for the north point of Japan.

It was only 30km from Wakkanai, but we were against a ridiculous headwind all the way.

By noon we arrived at Cape Soya and waited our turn to get a photo at the monument.

From here we went down the east coast towards the second national park, Shiretoko.

Ok, it's now day 11 maybe? 10, 11. Day 11. And we've been up to the north point of Japan

and now we're heading down towards Shiretoko National Park. Which is famous for the biggest

population of brown bears in Hokkaido. In Japan. So I'll hopefully see a bear soon.

We didn't see the sun the sun for a week, but we continued camping through the rain,

and saw a lot of wildlife along the way.

We got to Shiretoko and stayed in the busy campsite,

then visited the national park hoping to finally see a brown bear.

We hadn't realised it was a long weekend and the park was packed with tourists.

After collecting our stuff from the campsite, we headed up Shiretoko Pass, a 740m high pass

through the mountains to reach the next town. On a clear day it's possible to see some

Russian islands from the top.

Ok, we're on day 13 maybe. And it was pretty exciting because we just saw a bear!

We were cycling up this Shiretoko pass

Which is a 700 and something metre climb up, and a car coming down starting shouting

"There's a bear, there's a bear!" So we sprinted up the mountain as fast as we could.

And we saw a bear.

We have to wait because there's a bear on the road.

Mission complete. Ah, and I've got about 5km up this pass to go.

And this is what I'm cycling into.

We made it to the top and were pretty happy despite the fact that were wet, freezing,

stuck in a storm, and couldn't actually see Russia…

Kenta, how are you feeling?

Beautiful view! Really?

If you look really closely you can see Russia. Where?

(Maniacal laughter)

Safe to cross? Who knows.

Ok and it's the first day in Hokkaido that I'm off on my own. Today, I dunno where I'm going.

Hokkaido is so amazing that you can follow the road and stumble across a volcano by accident.

But the bad part is that I found myself in the clouds twice on this day…

So I've just climbed up Lake Masshu and I'm in a cloud again.

And I'm in the fog again. No more views.

Pretty sure I'm at the top now. Dunno how high this is.

But I've just arrived at the climbing path for the mountain.

Entrance to Mokotoyama crimbing road.

Has to be the top, all down from here.

I'm heading towards the last national park that I'll visit on this trip. Daisetsuzan.

I thought I might go to the city that 130km. Now 120km more.

But another cyclist told me that was impossible. So there must be some climbing today.

And since the climb started I'm at the 4th point.

822m.

Which is almost as high as Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland. So...

I've no idea how high this is.

Thankfully, this was the last mountain pass until Sapporo.

And it was all downhill through Daisetsuzan National Park.

I stopped at Sounkyo for a much needed onsen. In the town there was also a free campsite,

some famous waterfalls, and the ski lift to the nearby mountains.

So I climbed Kurodake the next day, took some pictures of chipmunks, and found myself in

a cloud again.

From here it was all downhill to Sapporo. Well kind of.

And, that was it. 3 weeks. 20 hours on a ferry, hundreds of hours on a bike, 18 nights in

a tent. I visited two islands, hiked two mountains, made some new friends, ate so much food and

was helped out by many people along the way.

An old man an the konbini yesterday gave me some free vegetables.

Hokkaido was better than I could have hoped. With its unspoiled nature, free campsites,

volcanoes, onsen, and wild animals, it's hard to imagine a better place for a bike trip.

The first part of my trip was over and it was time to go home to Ireland for 6 weeks

to climb some mountains and take pictures of sheep.

Then I'll come back to Japan, get my bike, and cycle it all the way down to Cape Sata,

the south point of Kyushu.