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One step closer to home! Today we caught the train from Asahikawa to Sapporo. This was a lot less stressful than the last trip as we figured out a system, we weren't in any hurry and we used the I-pad to stop the child running away.
In Sapporo, it took us about an hour from when the train arrived to get all the baggage down two storeys, through the train station, put together two bikes and load up ready to go. Pretty good going I think. It was raining when we arrived but not far from the train station to our hotel, the Mercure. Nice to have a couple of nights of luxury before our journey home. Ironically, although this hotel is double the price of the one we stayed in initially (Ibis Styles), it is nowhere near as practical for us. The room is much smaller, there is no coin laundry, breakfast is not included in the price and the access is a convoluted double elevator affair. Admittedly there is proper coffee in the room and a few complimentary drinks in the mini-bar but that doesn't nearly make up for it.
So we got here just after 2pm, found the coin laundry around the corner, and started trying to find a bike box for the return journey. I found a bike shop on the corner near the hotel and they had boxes available. They were quite small though so the hotel staff rang around a few places to try and find one to fit the 29inch. Unfortunately no luck, so we went back to the corner shop and they managed to find us a larger one. Fingers crossed it fits ok. That's tomorrow's project.
Shane also took Elsie back to the playground we went to at the start of the trip and she remembered it. And then we went for pizza, yay! Exciting to see the bright lights of a big city at night. It's also a public holiday here tomorrow (Marine Day) so lots of people around.
One more day to go.
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Liz Lovely to have you coming home but I'm also sad for you that it's almost over.