Yesterday we arrived at Hakadote during lunch, complete with a welcome escort spraying colored water into the air as it accompanied us to the pier. We were met by four buses for an afternoon tour to the base of Mt Komagatake, the Onuma Quasi National Park and to an observation deck on Mt Hakodate with sweeping views over the city, said to be one of the most beautiful night time city views in the world.

We got our first exercise of the trip climbing up a trail at a volcano and also strolling around some lakes and marshes in the park. George led the charge up the hill, but since we were only given about a half hour there even he didn't reach the summit. The Oruma Quasi park was quite charming with lots of trails over the islets, connected by picturesque bridges; I would have loved to spend more time there. Renting swan boats was a very popular thing to do. According to our guide the best ice cream in Japan was available there, so we all indulged in that before continuing on to the lookout point.

Upon return to the ship we enjoyed watching farewell dance performances on the pier before we sailed; there was one traditional number done by ladies in kimonos and several high energy, kind of hip hop numbers by a lot of teenagers. A couple of the Japanese guides were dancing on the deck along with the kids.