Canada's West Coast

 

 

Blog No 8

We used Terrace as a base for a couple of days so we could tour the area. Terrace is situated on the Sitka River which is currently full of migrating salmon, all heading back to their place of origin after 3-4 years of fattening up in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Sockeye Salmon spawning

The body turns pink when it gets to its spawning location

 

We did a side trip to a First Nation village called Kitamaat which has since developed a Western industrial town offshoot called Kitimat with companies like Rio Tinto which operates an Aluminium smelter which used to be owned by Alcan (Aluminium Canada) surprise, surprise. In addition are other industries which seem totally out of place in this otherwise pristine wilderness.

Rio has fingers in many pies and many countries

 

From Terrace we headed west along a very scenic highway beside the Sitka River all the way to the West Coast. The harbour port is called Prince Rupert and is the major transport hub to the inland and also to communities further north.

Jenny always a tree hugger, here it's a giant Sitka Spruce

 

After a couple of days checking out the sights we made an early start (0430hrs) and caught the vehicle ferry from the port en-route south bound for Port Hardy 350nm away on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The Northern Adventure is about 117m long and travels at a top speed of 20.5 knots. The trip takes 17hrs and traverses the very spectacular Inland Waterway which is basically a continuation of fiords linked together with only 2 sections exposed to the ocean swells.

Boarding the ferry at daylight

 

A passenger ship preparing to dock in Prince Rupert



 

We met a lovely couple on board, he used to fish this region professionally for many years and she was the Purser on board the ferry before she retired several years ago. Both were a wealth of information and filled us in with details of what life was like here many years ago. Like everywhere, it is much different to now. They want to get a motorhome like ours and travel as well.



Steaming down along the fiord



The fiords are narrow and deep



 

Arriving at Port Hardy at 2300hrs we quickly found a camp at the Info centre in town and got a good sleep. Studying the map we found that Vancouver Island is about 500 mile long, has 1 main highway from top to bottom along the East coast with many offshoot roads running westward and the majority of these being gravel logging roads. The logging roads are operated by the logging company Western Forest Products and maintenance is virtually non-existent. Their trucks don’t need smooth roads.

 

 



The Northern Adventure Ferry as it steams north from Port Hardy the following morning

 

 

 

The campsites are similar to the roads, operated by the logging company, probably under license and created by a Government directive to provide access to the wilderness for the public. A few were free but very run down and access was very distressing for the RV. The poor state of the roads made travel difficult for us probably just how the loggers liked it. Most of the hills were decimated where trees had been removed. The animals suffering the same habitat loss as the mainland. It would appear that the happy medium is yet to be found.

A burl is a growth on the side of a tree usually caused by stress. This is mega.

These are burls on a live tree

 

 

We were expecting a primitive environment on Vancouver Island but instead we felt like we were intruding on private property and virtually every mile we were constantly being reminded how good the logging company was in providing us with access.

This tree was not only suffering burl stress but also a bit of root stress

 

The only wildlife we saw was in the built up areas around the towns, we almost hit a deer crossing the road in the middle of suburbia. It ran out of a driveway just like a kid chasing a ball.

This deer was spotted in the school yard

 

The weather was superb and had been all the way through Canada. The days warm 25 – 30 C with nights getting down to 10 – 15 C much better than we expected.

A quick dip in Canada, emphasis on quick. Think the eyes tell the story.

 

After a week on the Island we arrived at Victoria the capital of British Columbia and hopped on another vehicle ferry for the trip across the San Juan De Fuca Strait and back to the US at the top of Washington State in Port Angeles. The night before the ferry we picked up the goodies we could only get in Canada and used up all our Canadian cash hoping we would get to the ferry with the minimum fuel we had left. The gas in Canada was 50 cents a litre dearer than the US. Propane was $1 per litre dearer.

The Parliament Building in Victoria at dawn

Ditto after sun up

A beautiful building

 

Going back into the US we had run down our supplies of fruit and vegi’s and also our beer. The beer in the US is a lot cheaper than Canada while the cash return in Canada on the cans is much better. It pays to recycle before you leave. The US never has an issue with too much alcohol crossing the border but they did have an issue with us.

The Orca we had hoped to see on our ferry ride south

 

We got a grilling from the border officer about our RV ownership and were told to pull over for further questioning, he also kept our passports. After all the vehicles were offloaded we were inspected inside and out, faced further questioning and then after providing evidence of title and registration we were allowed to proceed. We knew we were OK but it still sends a shock through you. Resupplying in Walmart at much better prices and no exchange rates was good therapy.

Aussie RV tucked away in the belly of MV Koho

 

Our plan is to head west from Port Angeles to Cape Flattery (named by Captain Cook just like our familiar cape in OZ) the furthest Northwest point in the US and then head South for the long trip to LA along Highway 1 and in parts 101. It’s a very long (about 2,000 mile) and winding road perched along the cliff face of the West Coast and reportedly one of the most scenic highways in the world. We’ll see!!

 

One of 53 out of a total of 57 bark carvings we discovered on a trail.  The forest was quite spooky but quite unique as well



Bye For Now

 

 

 

Beers and Cheers with a cool Kokanee another one of Canada's finest brews

 

J&J