We have come along the coast in a South-westerly direction from Shirotoko peninsular. The coast here is mostly flat and not too visually appealing, except for the occasional gem.
Then we turned inland towards Lake Akan. On the way we stopped at Mashuko Lake which was in the clouds when we passed by here the first time. Today's view was much better, and well worth having a second look. There is no access to the lake other than viewing platforms on the crater rim. It is said to have the purest water in Hokkaido.
Zef hadn't seen an active volcano so we stopped at the sulphurous fumeroles of Mt. Lo (Akan).
The view from the JR tower in Saporro on our last night in Hokkaido. We are now off to Taiwan without the Earthcruiser.
Matilda has been left in Furano with friends, but she is not well. The transfer case leak recurred again and now we hear that the problem is thought to be a transfer case manufacturing fault, which allows the seal to move and become damaged. This is estimated to potentially cost us AU$5000! The vehicle has done only 25,000 km and so would ordinarily be covered by Fuso warranty in Australia. But unfortunately the warranty is a "back to base" warranty -so we are not covered outside Australua. What's more Fuso Japan also will not cover the warranty (despite their own mechanic making the diagnosis of the problem). They say it is Australian Fuso's problem.
We ran out of time to solve the issue, so after we get home we will talk to Fuso and a consumer protection body to see whether we have any recourse!
However we did manage one win -our Qld vehicle registration renewal can be done with the Japanese inspection certificate, which has been approved by inspectors in Qld. This was not before significant problems though. The Japanese did not accept the Earthcruiser modification to the wheel attachments, which left a space between the wheel and the brake drums. The attachment bolts sat proud of the wheel by about 3mm. The Japanese mechanics said it was not safe and insisted on replacing the bolts with new bolts which had been machined to sit flush with the wheel, leaving no space between the wheels and the drums. Not cheap!
I will stop this blog now and resume when we return to Japan in mid September.
'Effing Bummer!
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