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.