kjj

yeah, thats right!

ive always wondered that as well! and then last week (in ishikawa) we saw an animal under the gondola that looked like a cross between a small bear and a wild pig! any ideas what it might of been?

thanks everyone for your answers! i am very grateful for your help... i was actually wondering for weekends away, so yuzawa is looking pretty good. we can get the train there in 2.5 hours, direct from kanazawa!

help... ...it seems we are car-less for the rest of the season, so was wondering if anyone knows any resorts in the nagano/gifu/niigata area that are not a mission to get to by train (ie. very far away from a main station or that have direct buses from a main station)? even better, does anyone know if any resorts operate a shuttle service from the station nearest to them? cheers!

er, not really... ...more like a celebration of when 'white' australia started.

happy australia day everyone!!! to answer your question gamera, australia day marks the day the british formally took possession of the new south wales colony and allocated it a governer (captain arthur phillip). friends of mine have named it 'invasion day' and i suppose they are right!

the most dangerous thing i see in japan is parents carrying their small children whilst skiing... ...fair enough they may be good skiiers, but they cant account for everyone around them. what happens if they go down? so does the poor kid!

three so far this season; hokkaido (by far the best), niigata and ishikawa. hopefully adding toyama (its close...) to the list this weekend. went to nagano a few times last season and want to check out gifu, fukui and some more of niigata this year. i like going to new places!

i saw it and thought it was ok... obviously eating mcdonalds for every meal over one month is going to hurt you, but what happened to him (physically and emotionally) was quite scary! definately helped with my new years resolution to keep away from junk food...

does anyone know any good places to stay in arai? the three places listen on snow japan are expensive (and booked out when i want to go!)... cheers

i just got back from niseko *sniff*, i stayed at the shinzenkan backpackers and highly recommend it! check out their website for more info www.niseko-backpacker.com

the first one, think its the 8th, 9th and 10th?

i would consider checking out the flights/package deals before booking the ferry (most travel agents in your area should have them). i am flying to hokkaido on thursday (return from ishikawa), flights and two nights accommodation (you must stay at least one) in sapporo cost me 35000 yen. i believe you can get a transfer from chitose to niseko for about 3000 yen. a friend of mine took the ferry from here and told me it was gruelling!

no worries frank...actually my ass is on a plane on thursday (have a week booked up there). but also want to go away over the long weekend, if possible!

just wondering if anybody has any good suggestions for places (preferably in nagano, niigata or gifu) to go over the long weekend in january? have previously been to (and enjoyed!) hakuba, nozawa and myoko (and want to do arai at a later date), but would like to go somewhere new. preferably boarder friendly and not too busy, if thats at all possible over the long weekend! thanks...

theres been sales on for over a month where i am... they seem to be at their peak at the moment though, so get in there!

niseko! have a week there over christmas...

i've been to nagano a few times and would recommend taking snacks when you go skiing/boarding. this is always the hardest place to find veggie friendly food, although, this depends on how strict you are! i'm pretty fussy... i am sure you'll be fine in the towns though...

snowboarding addict here hope it will snow soon...