More at Mabel lake

Sunday 29 th July  Picture the following,  a beautiful midsummer evening with the girl of your dreams, or guy if you prefer, on a lake in the middle of nowhere, hidden lake to be precise, slowly paddling in a bright yellow canoe for two as the sun sets over the mountains in the west. The water surface is so still that the soft cumulus clouds reflect back as if there was no up or down and the mountains recede to ever darker hues of blue.

We gently approach a pair of Loons as they stroke slowly away from us only to be heard later calling to each other with the plaintive cry that only loons can utter. The sun sets further and the reflections of tree lined shore darken into the night. We paddle back to the shoe and pack to drive home for a wine before bed. All true last Wednesday except that the girl turned out to be Art, my host.

On the way home that evening we stopped off at a neighbor  of Arts' so that he could show me his unique home, a veritable tree house in the forest, three levels high supported by poles cut from the forest. Each level was honeycombed with rooms of varying size and cluttered with debris of many years of remote living. At one time there were goats in the lower floor while he raised 3 children in the upper stories. A waterfall chuckles in the back while a generator purrs in the front to provide electricity for essential living. Not surprisingly his wife left him when the all three children were under four. I am now back on Vancouver Island where I am going to do some exploring in a great little camper van courtesy of Michael and Darlene.

Mabel Lake, BC

Sunday 22nd July  The past week has been busy and I have not had sufficient time to update my journal.  Last week my friends took me to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, where took in the sites and road bicycles from Victoria to Sidney for lunch and return, a total of 50km.

Float plane taking off from Victoria Harbour

Sister's Darlene and Vicki

Roger and friend

On Friday my friend Lynne picked me up and we caught the ferry over to the mainland where we stayed with Lynne's sister Sharon in her beautiful home in Horseshoe Bay. Saturday brought misty rain when we left Vancouver to drive 300km to Princeton where Lynne is serving as resident nurse at a church camp for 72 teenagers. I borrowed her car and drove on another 260km to Enderby where I am currently staying with Carolyn and Art Herbert on their 170 acre property in the woods alongside a rapidly flowing river. The farm is on the opposite side of the river and must be crossed via a small private ferry.

Captain Art meeting me on the ferry.

Supper with Art and Carolyn

Paradise Farm

Chipmunk in the barn

Today their son Leigh took me to join members of the local community to paddle around Mabel Lake in a large voyager canoe. We were joined by five others and paddled for about two hours to see some 600 year old Pictographs and stopped for a break for a beach walk before returning to the Mabel Lake village.

After a cherry picking session in the afternoon we went for a quick swim in the river. Wednesday 25th  July . Since my last report I have been busy here at Mabel Lake, actually I have learned that the area is called Kingfisher, with picking raspberries, cherries ( I fell off the ladder and broke a tree limb on the way down) red currants and other minor jobs around the farm.

Market garden and cow paddock.

Last night we attended an outdoor live performance of an interpretation of the original Bonnie and Clyde. It was hilarious and included two vintage cars and three horses on stage which involved the surrounding countryside. It seems typical of Canadian country towns to have many live performances all summer long.

Nanaimo & Lake Cowichan

Thursday 12th July  I have been invited to join Michael and Darlene for a few days visit at the Cowichan Lake cabin belonging to the family of Darlene's brother in law Rob Strachan. This is a very special place nestled between mountains just west of the town of Duncan.

The House in the woods on Lake Cowichan.

The private launching ramp.

The weather is fine and warm, in stark contrast to my journey over the past four weeks. The Cowichan Valley is famous for the Indian Sweaters made from raw untreated wool.

Monday 16 th July. Nanaimo, Vancouver Island Well I am now back in Vancouver having had no time, or inclination, to update my blog until now. The weather since the 12th has been superb, in the mid to high 20's every day with little or no cloud. My time at Lake Cowichan was spent assisting Rob and his family bring the lake house out of it's winter cloak into the warmth of a late summer by clearing away the detritus of winter and in addition we installed water piping and taps to aid in the more easy watering of the garden.

Just me being whimsical.

Rob's mother Lillian with the Aussie flag.

Huckleberries for the taking. I beat the bears to these.

As a break from the foregoing Rod launched their two Jet Skis and he and I enjoyed a leisurely tour of the eastern end of the lake. It is a most idyllic place to spend time to recuperate from my time time in Alaska and I took advantage of it. Thank you Rob and Vicki.
Back here in Nanaimo I have been Enjoying the company of Darlene and Michael in there beautiful home overlooking the waters of the Strait of Georgia where cruise ships can be seen heading north up the Inside Passage to Alaska and the occasional tug with a lazy log boom towing reluctantly behind.

 On our evening walks we often pass BlackTailed Deer with young fawn grazing on the  fruits of some hard working gardener.

The deer seem almost unafraid of humans and move away only if approached closer than a couple of metres.

Port Hardy

Wednesday July 11 Port Hardy, BC Yesterday, Tuesday, I made my way to the Prince Rupert ferry terminal at 6.30 for a 7.30am departure to Port Hardy. The ferry Northern Expedition is a 150m vessel built in Germany in 2009 and is by far the most impressive Ferry I have sailed in. BC Ferries sure know how to run a ferry system and compared to the Alaskan Marine Highway Ferries, they are the best.

On board the Northern Expedition. Note! All of the life rafts are built in Australia.

The 450km journey south passed through waters varying from narrow channels to open sea but still with many islands on the horizon. We stopped once at a small Native community,Klemtu, for one hour and enjoyed the sun while a couple of people came aboard.

Klemtu Indian village port.

 The weather for most of the trip was cool but pleasant and the visibility excellent so I was able to get many photos of thickly tree'd coast line dotted with water falls cascading directly into the sea. 

At one point we came across a helicopter logging operation which allows selective logging instead of the often used method of clear felling. The helicopter hovers over the newly felled tree while riggers engage a line to the log which is then lifted and shuttled over the water then dropped to join an ever growing log boom.

Helicopter logging.

 The journey was punctuated by many whale sightings, both Killer and Humpback but the simply surfaced to blow stale air from their lungs to be replaced by fresh. No breaching with huge splashes, this happens later in the year.

An abandoned cannery.

The Canadian flag.

We docked inert Hardy at 11.15pm and I bussed the 10km to a Backpackers hostel I had booked while on the ferry. That was an interesting experience as I have never had cause to book one before but I enjoyed it and met a couple of interesting people, one, a German lad with whom I shared a room. I could see no point in paying $120 for a room I would only be for 6 hours when $22 did the job.

The Backpackers lodge in Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

Today, Wednesday July 11 Port Hardy was cloaked in a thin shroud of mist when I ventured out at 7.00am but I could tell it was going to be a pleasant day. After taking advantage of a few photo ops. I returned to the Backpackers lodge to retrieve my somewhat heavy load of two bags and make my way to the bus terminal, well bus office actually.

Port Hardy Totem Pole.

Canada Customs vessel, Port Hardy.

 Greyhound lived up to their reputation and departed right on time. The road led south through thick forest with the occasional glimpse of channel running up the east side of Vancouver Island. It an otherwise uneventful 400km journey and at 4.00pm I was met by Michael Booth in Nanaimo. My gratitude to Michael and Darlene knows no bounds as they are always ready to help out when I am in Nanaimo. I will stay with them until July 20 when I plan to visit my friends near Enderby in central BC.

Prince Rupert, 9th July

Monday July 9 Prince Rupert, BC Final odometer reading on the bike. 52,219 km Total ridden on the bike, 6975km Well at last I am able to see my way through the bike dilemma. The day started out with a thin veil of mist which soon burned away to allow bright warm sunshine into my day. With this good omen, Mike and I set about finding a buyer for the bike as it had soon become evident that if I was going to sell the bike, Prince Rupert was by far the best place to do so and there was no way that I could coax it down to Nanaimo. Through a little persuasive questioning I found a local tyre dealer who knew a guy who might be interested. Within an hour he had inspected the bike, paid more than I expected and took me out lunch after I saw Mike on his way. Thanks Mike, for sticking around to help me out and thanks also to those of you who gave me some email encouragement .

Serendipity in Prince Rupert.

I have now booked the ferry to Port Hardy tomorrow morning and hope to catch a Greyhound Bus down to Nanaimo on Wednesday. Prince Rupert seems a nice little town as long as you have a job.

A Totem Pole in the Museum of Northern British Columbia, Prince Rupert.

There is much evidence of unemployment, drugs and petty crime which reflects badly on the indigenous community.  The local first nations people are from 3 main tribes, the Haida, the Tlingit and Tsimshian who have a proud history before the advent of the white man.

A Bald Eagle watches over the harbor in Prince Rupert. 

The abundance of wild food, including the salmon, and good shelter from wooden houses gave these people's time to develope beautiful crafts and totems and in the case of the Haida, time to build large war canoes in which to invade neighboring tribes as far away as Seattle.

Prince Rupert fishing boats.

Price Rupert, BC

Sunday July 8 Still on board the ferry. At 6am we docked at Ketchikan, a town smaller than Juneau but larger than any other on south east Alaska with a commercial air strip, a ship yard and floating dock.

The floating dock at Ketchikan

Three cruise ships arrived in hour and a half that we were there so I can imagine the town will have a busy sunday.

Carnival Spirit arriving in Ketchikan.

It was overcast and drizzling rain and the snow clad mountains were draped with mist as the float planes took off to give tourists a view of the area. Once again, the town was split with some activity on both sides of the canal and two small ferries kept traffic flowing between them.

The port of Ketchikan

 We arrived at the BC town of Prince Rupert at 3.00pm and checked into the Anchor Motel and then walked into town. It is a surprisingly pretty little town with a wharf market and the usual banks and supermarkets associated with a town of 11,500 people. I am currently making reservations on the BC Ferry to Port Hardy.

Downtown Prince Rupert.

Saturday 7th July MV Taku

Saturday 7th July  On board AMH Ferry  MVP Taku I decided last night that trying to sleep on the Solarium deck was going to be too noisy as the engine noise seemed to amplify back there so I moved my things to the front observation deck where it is not only quieter but warmer. It seems to be quite acceptable to simply take over a small nook where one can lay out a sleeping bag on the floor and use the seats as a handy bench for personal items.

My first attempt to bunk down on MV Taku.

 As there are probably less that 50 passengers on board the 350ft vessel, my personal take over a few seats seems of no consequence. I woke at around 3.00am as we approached  Sitka, the first of many small ports on the trip,  where we offloaded a couple of vehicles and a handful of walking passengers. It was raining softly and a light mist hung over the nearby mountains.

Mist at 3.00am in Sitka.

The few lights reflected earily over the calm water which added to the impression that I was watching a scene from the Scott Hicks film "snow falling on cedars" or probably more likely, a recollection of my time on the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1964. We left the port of Sitka at 6.45am and retraced our cruise north to make our next stop at the port of Kake. Several fishing boats were passed while trawling two lines, one on each side of the vessel, in their quest to catch the mighty king (chinook) salmon.

Kake port, Alaska.

Apparently the fishermen appreciate the ferry passing close to them as the rocking motion from our wake creates an attractive movement to the bait which is irresistible to the salmon. Further on as the land closed in on either side we could observe the shore from as close as 50mts and the occasional call from the bridge alerted us to the presence of bears. At one point we were able to observe four large Grizzly bears crossing a sand spit, although they were some distance off. I am still waiting for a photo opportunity.

Kake was reached at 1.45pm and the entire town can be seen stretched along the tree lined shore for about two km. the population must be in the hundreds and most of them natives of local Indian groups. I took a brief walk on shore as we had only 15 minutes to do so.

A house in Kake.

The dominant trees seemed to Spruce. We backtracked up our route for a few miles before turning south, again, for Petersberg. We reached Petersburg at 6.45pm and had 20 minutes to walk a little way into town. Once again, the town is spread out along the shore but in this case the ferry dock is quite close to the centre. I estimate the population to be around 5,000. A beautiful fiord, or as the locals say, a canal, runs past Petersburg about 600mts wide, with the town on one side and scattered homes on the opposite tucked into the forest. It was cool, about 10C, and the sky was overcast but visibility was good for photography. A couple of locals were fishing in the canal as we steamed down on them and received a blast from the ships horn. No one seemed to be in a rush to move out of the way. As we passed further down the canal the marker bouys became more frequent as the twists and did also. I felt that i could almost reach out and touch some of the small rock outcrops that lay in our way. At a small congregation of houses there was a flock of Bald Eagles feeding on the edge of the water and many flying and perching in the trees, their white heads pointing out there position. Next stop Wrangel at 10.45pm.

Juneau, Alaska

Thursday 5th  July  Today we left Haines on the ferry to Juneau, capital of Alaska but first I had to get to the ferry terminal, 4 miles away from the town. I was apprehensive about the bike but managed to coax it to the terminal without any real problems, but kept the sped to 40kph. The ferry loading procedure was a farce, by comparison to BC Ferries, and they took nearly two hours to load about 100 vehicles. As a result we departed about one and a half hours late.

The Manatushka ferry to Juneau. Alaska

 The cruise down the Lyn Canal and on to Juneau was noth les than spectacular. We were hemmed in by 6,000 ft mountains covered with snow from about the 3,000 ft mark and the occasional glacier twisted it's way down to the sea. Hump back whales, Orca and the odd large fish surfaced to advise us of there presence as we passed slowly by a beautiful old light house on a lonely island.

The sky was overcast but the sun managed to cleave its way through the clouds to highlight the mountains whenever I needed a photo. On the way in to Juneau we passed a group of tour boats chasing a groups of hump back whales to the delight of all concerned. I risked riding the bike the 12 miles into Juneau from the ferry terminal and just made it as the gearbox began to overheat. I will need to be more careful tomorrow.

Four cruise ships were lined up along the Juneau wharf ensuring that the town was full of tourists but that soon changed as they all departed within an hour of our arrival. Our hotel was found with assistance of two local ladies who noticed that we were in difficulty and when we explained that we were Australians they gave us two free passes to the Gondala which rises over the town from the main street.

Gondala view of Juneau.

Opposite view.

The hotel, Alaska Hotel and Bar is straight out of the early 1900's and is set back into a very steep mountain with each level stepping back further than the previous. The room was so small that by the time we spread our luggage out there was little room to move.

Te rear entrance to the Alaskan Hotel and Bar where we stayed in Juneau.

Sarah Palin and me in Juneau.

Russian Orthodox church in Juneau

Cruise ship in downtown Juneau.

The town, of 30,000, consists of almost all bars, hotels and gift shops. Tomorrow is another day.