Day Three - Prince Rupert

Sometimes pictures can speak better than words!

It was a really, really, really great day!!!!

Day Two - Ferry to Prince Rupert

After waking up every hour on the hour I finally gave up trying to sleep around 4:00 am. It worked out in the end as it allowed me time to get ready and packed up before waking dad. After poking him I started hauling gear back down to the truck and once dad was ready to go we headed out for the ferry.

I considered yesterday a constant lesson about patience. The first lesson came while trying to figure out why on earth I needed to be at the ferry two hours in advance! Well let me tell you - if we all arrived on time (7:30ish) nobody would be on the ferry!! The checked our ideas when we arrived...they listed me as a senior :) and again when we boarded the ferry. This is an attempt to ensure that they know exactly who is on the ferry. The other little tidbit that slows up the process? Well you can not simply drive on this ferry!

You're probably say, "what do you mean you can't just drive on the ferry"? Well you drive on but then you have to turn around because unlike the southern ferries there is only one entrance/exit on this boat. So the process involves driving on the ferry on one side and then turning the "corner" so that you are facing forward. The last two vehicles on the ferry were the buses and they backed on! It was an interesting experience to say the least! Another interesting feature of the northern ferry...you can only get back to your car for 15 minutes every 2-3 hours!

The ferry ride itself was incredible! I was worried that the 15 hours would be long and tedious as the 2 hours ride out of Duke Point can last forever but it was really only the last 45 minutes on the ferry that seemed to last forever! The rest was spectacular in spite of less than wonderful weather. In fact I think the ride was more special because we were shrouded in mist which added to the overall mystique of the Inside Passage.

The mountains seemed to grow out of the ocean into the sky, reaching far beyond anything humans could reach. There were times that the passage seemed so narrow that I hopped that another boat wouldn't come along. I also felt sorry for the small fish boats that we passed - there was not a lot of space to avoid the wake of the ferry!

The ferry itself was nothing too amazing - the new ferries on the southern routes are much nicer so hopefully the new one they are building will be more passenger focused. Of course they cabins may be beautiful but as we didn't pay for one I cannot say. The lunch menu was similar to the pre-whitespot menu on the lower ferrys but dinner was good - Dad and I both had prime rib! You can also have been liquor on this one but neither of us took advantange.

The wildlife viewing on the ferry ride was good but over early in the voyage. We saw a humpback whale and some white sided dolphins - It made me think of Grampa Forbes when I was looking at my "black dots" and remaking, "it's a whale tale"! Of course my zoom lense is a little bit bigger and we have the advantange of digital editing!

So far we've seen whales every day and bears on the first day - of course tomorrow is the trip to the Grizzly sanctuary!

We're supposed to be camping on this trip but given the crappy weather and the lateness of our arrival we (I) decided to stay in a hostel - we've made reservations for the Black Rooster Hostel in Prince Rupert.

Day One - Port Hardy

Well what a day we had - we managed to leave ahead of schedule which allowed us a quick detour into down $50 in fuel!!

The drive up was intersting - dad started telling stories of his time on the north island as a logger and the stories of his Uncle Albert. The most interesting story had him totally his Aunty Dot's car - while pissed drunk! Wish I knew that one as a teenager!

Seyward. It was a cute community but at the same time it was sad to see all the for sale signs. A drive down to the harbour showed the effects of the downturn in the forest industry. Perhaps the saddest sight was all the "bumper boats" used for moving log booms sitting on the log sort paymet slowly rusting in the salt air.



The only other stop we made was the Esso outside of Port McNeil...dad's truck was already As we approached Port Hardy we spent a great deal of time trying to get the stumps along the side of the road to morph into black bears. We both took a long look at one stump but had no results. We (I) had just given up when we turned a corner and saw a lovely bear on the side of the road. Dad was brave as I quickly pulled off the road and started backing-up along the highway (it was a tight shoulder and on a corner...not sure why he was so nervous). I managed to get some good shots and once I tuned back into my surroundings I noticed another bear on the hill...Day one and already we've seen 2 bears!

Once we got into Port Hardy I went off to visit two of our co-op students who are doing a great job at the tourism information centre and dad headed off to Betty and Terry's where later joined him for dinner. The entertainment for the evening? How about 2 different pods of Humpback Whales preforming in the harbour? What an amazing first day - 2 bears, about 10 whales, and too many eagles to count!! This is going to be a great trip!

The Truck is Packed

Today was a good day - I finished cleaning out my apartment in Nanaimo, cleaned out the already composting veggies from the fridge, and only briefly thought of stopping by work as I headed north to Deep Bay. After a brief stop at Walmart - developed a roll of film I found while packing, it turned out to be from the family trip to Cape Scott Aug. 07 - and a trip to the bank to deposit my Eco-dividend cheque (3/4 of a tank of gas), I was back on the road and heading towards the start of the road trip.

Since the food in my place had long since moved to the "science experiment" stage and I skipped my morning stop at Tim Horton's...I arrived at the folks place and informed dad that I was going to let him buy me lunch. The lure of fish and chips was enough to get dad to open his wallet...even better mom was at work so there was no "voice of reason"! Lunch at Ship & Shore was amazing as always but no matter how long we lingered I could not put off the inevitable...I had to pack the truck at some point!

We began the process around noon and while declaring the job done around 6:00 was a bit premature, the important part is that we (dad & I) are still talking to each other and smiling! Of course one would think we were heading out for a year not a month! We also have enough food to ward off starvation if food shipments to the north suddenly stop!

Tomorrow we head to Port Hardy - about a 4 1/2 hour trip (I think). I'll be meeting with a couple of students who are working on their Co-ops up there and then we'll be visiting Betty & Terry (dad's cousins). It will most likely be an early night as we have to be in the ferry line up by 5:30...for a 7:30 sailing!?!

The ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert will take 15 hours...I thought the 2 hour run from Duke Point to Tsawwassen was bad! Hopefully they will have some good video games. Of course I could use the time to work on my dissertation!! More likely...we'll watch the past season of Bones that I have on my computer!

Well that's it for now - I'm off to bed so that I'm a cheerful person on our departure tomorrow! Actually, my laundry is finally done so I can finish packing! Look for an up-date from Prince Rupert in a couple of days.

Ag

Corona, Stoners, & Stag Chili...what more does one need?

Getting Ready

As many of you've heard, Dad (John) and I are heading out on a 3 1/2 week roadtrip to explore the province of BC. We've got our fishing licenses, a reservation on the Port Hardy - Prince Rupert ferry, and enough beef jerky to feed the bears! While the world and gas prices go crazy around us we will be heading out in Dad's V8 Dodge Dakota (circa 1996?) so pray that we have enough money to make it home and that we can do enough to "off-set" the environmental damage!

I'll be up-dating the blog as often as I can but we're heading into truly "rural" BC so the up-dates and photo up-loads may be sporadic. Below the description is a map of BC/Yukon so you can see where we are headed!

Our route starts in Deep Bay, BC and we'll head to Port Hardy on June 26th (sorry we'll miss the graduation Bruce). On the 27th we head for Prince Rupert where, if the Gods are listening, our tour to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary will be full! If it's we'll just find something else to do! The plan is to head from Prince Rupert to the Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park then onto Stewart. We haven't decided whether or not to be Hyderized in Hyder, Alaska. From there we'll continue north on the Stewart-Cassier Highway and eventually take the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse.

After hitting Whitehorse for a day or so we'll head southeast to Watson Lake, onto Fort Nelson, Liard Hot springs, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, over to the Bennett Dam, south to Prince George. From PG we'll head to Williams Lake and there we make the decision...are we out of time and must now fly (in a dodge truck of course) to Vancouver or can we take our time and take the gravel roads from Williams Lake to Lilloet, Pemberton, Whistler, and then back to the Island!

Well there you have it -the "plan". Stay tuned for reports on where we actually end up and just how many more (and larger) fish I catch!!

Ag