Drive to enjoy lake & ocean view (1) - Observatory tower in Hamanako Garden Park

During the New Year’s holidays, we have had fine weather. It has been also warm. Today, my mother, sister, and I went for a drive around Lake Hamana. First, we went to Hamanako Garden Park, an admission-free huge park nearby the lake. It has an observatory tower with a height of 50m. In other seasons, we are satisfied just by seeing beautiful flowers such as tulips, roses, and sunflowers. Since it is January, they have much less flowers to see. So, we entered the observation tower (the admission free was 300 yen for an adult) this time and took an elevator to the top.

The elevator moved slowly, but when the door was opened, we were amazed by the view seen beyond the floor. On the south side, we could see Lake Hamana with seaweed farms on the surface.

On the east side, the bridge leading to a small island Bentenjima was seen. I have once walked from JR Bentanjima Station to Hamanako Garden Park in a walking event, and it took about 45 minutes. On the right side of the picture, there is a white building of a hotel THE HAMANAKO where my mother and I have had tea for several times before.

On the west side, we could see two rats, the animal of Chinese horoscope for this year. The mountains seen beyond the lake are Kosai Mountain Range, which is located on the border between Shizuoka Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture.

Unfortunately, I forgot taking a picture of the north side. On the top of the tower, there was a small deck protruding in the north-east direction. It was thrilling to stand there. From there, you can see not only the major areas of the park but also the mountains on the north side of Lake Hamana. According to some website, you can even see Mt. Fuji on a fine day, but I didn’t notice it. Maybe I was too absorbed in the vast lake view on the south side and didn’t look at the mountains carefully enough.

This was my first visit to the observatory tower. It was very impressive. Maybe you can enjoy varying views according to the seasons. In addition, I have also heard that the tower can feel a bit shaky with strong wind. Though we had a mild weather today, it can be sometimes very windy in Hamamatsu. It may become more thrilling and exciting to be the top of the tower, especially in the small observatory deck.