Scenic Otaru Canal sights (Photo-essay)

In my previous blog post, I wrote about eating sushi -- particularly uni sushi -- in Otaru.  Two other things I wanted to do on my visit to that Hokkaido port-city was to go along a canal cruise and a coastal cruise up to the Shukutsu area and back. 

As luck would have it, the sea was considered too choppy that day for the coastal cruise to take place.  So my mother and I had to settle for "just" the scenic canal cruise as far as waterborne activities were concerned.  

On a positive note though, the canal cruise -- and, frankly, just the time spent hanging around that picturesque section of Otaru -- turned out to be pretty cool, even if it turned out to be undertaken during the hottest part of our holiday (one when the temperature soared up to around 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit)).  And the following are some photos to prove it:- 

A view of the Otaru Canal that my mother and I 

would cruise along just a short while later :)

A seagull makes like it's happy to pose (or just plain 
ignore?) a nearby artist seated by the canal

 Puppet Ponyo couldn't resist getting into the picture!

 In this photo's foreground is the kind of boat used

for the canal cruises

At one point during the cruise, we left the canal

and ventured into the open port area

I have to say it felt a bit freaky to be looking out to 

a large body of water while in that small, shallow boat...

 ..so it was a relief to head back to the canal, and interesting to 

catch sight there of such as the small boats used for squid fishing 

(identifiable by their row of lights that are used to attract the squid!)

From the water, Otaru looks to have a nice blend indeed of

old and new buildings as well as working and tourist areas