Vancouver and Culture on the Beach

Having returned to Vancouver from Prince George - which was a fabulous trip over the Coastal Mountains and snow-topped glaciers - we met Marian and Margaret at the airport and headed back to Marian's house.

Monday was also the return journey for the Canadian Athletes so we anticipated that the airport could be busy but as we were arriving in the domestic terminal, there were no delays.

After a restful afternoon and some more photo downloads from the previous few days, we headed to Romer's Burger Bar to meet Marian's friends Donna and Joanne who were about to go on an Alaskan cruise when we last saw them. It was great to catch up and sample the most amazing gourmet burgers which were accompanied with just about what ever you desired!

The lack of sleep the night before ensured that we slept very well indeed!

On Tuesday we headed to Metrotown for a little retail therapy and then took the Sky Train, which has been significantly extended after the 2010 Winter Olympics. We walked downtown towards the waterfront to Canada Place and the Waterfront which always affords amazing views across to North Vancouver and then strolled to Gastown just in time for the Steam Clock to chime. After a light lunch and a bit more retail therapy (particularly in Sears whose sale even included the fixtures and fittings of the store), we took a short bus journey to Kitsilano Beach where we met Marian at The Boathouse for dinner.

Had to photograph him!

Bard on the Beach - The Taming of the Shrew

After some fantastic fish, we walked to Vanier Park for Bard on the Beach - Vancouver's annual Shakespeare Festival where we saw The Taming of the Shrew in purpose-built theatre tent with side stalls and every facility you find in conventional theatre - it is quite a feat to mastermind in an outdoor venue and the set was equally impressive. During the season, the company play multiple roles in the productions (currently Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, King John and The Merry Wives of Windsor). The company's interpretation was very much in the style of Commedia dell'arte and there were also some lovely nuances in the monologues in the later scenes. A fabulous evening which Marian enhanced even further by giving a night tour of the Vancouver lights.

On Wednesday, we hope to visit Grouse Mountain again and pay a visit to Coola and Grinder (my favourite orphaned Grizzlies) to see how much they've grown in the last three years!

Olympic Torch - 2010 Winter Olympics

Wildlife and a Roadtrip

After an exciting few days exploring Northern BC, we supported the Stewart Bear Festival market and pancake breakfast in memorial park (fantastic silent auction prizes which we would have liked to stick around longer for) and headed back to the Fire Hall Museum to complete our tour and to hear a presentation by Angelika Langen who is the director of the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter in Smithers.  She is coordinating a programme of orphaned bear rehabilitation and release throughout BC; she is exceptionally articulate and knowledgeable about both Black and Grizzly bear rehabilitation, having worked with them for the last twenty years. She gives lectures and presentations throughout the world and it was fascinating to spend a couple of hours with her. Once again, aside from John-Louis Imbs and his wife who we had met on our previous visit to the museum, we were the only ones who attended her talk and it left us questioning how far the local population are interested in supporting such initiatives.

We left Stewart and headed east on the 37A to Meziadin before rejoining the Stewart-Cassiar highway south and were once again rewarded with some fantastic sightings of two young black bears one who was munching sedge and clover by the roadside and one who seemed oblivious to us and just strolled along the verge to entertain us. We named them Meziadin and Cranberry in reference to the nearest locations where we spotted them. It was sad to see a larger black bear by the side of the road who had obviously been knocked down by a passing vehicle but we informed the local CO (Wildlife Conservation Officer – the wildlife police in Canada) when he stopped us to ask if anyone had given us antlers or skulls to bring back from Hyder!!! Those Alaskans seem to have some unusual habits!

Cranberry - a Black Bear who strolled by the verge and let me take his photo!

Shortly before we left the highway, a coyote passed in front of us – similar in size and colouring to the wolves but about the size of a small dog, so, all in all, a wildlife-filled day!

We arrived in Hazelton to our motel with a great kitchenette so the local supermarket provided steak strips and vegetables for a tasty stir-fry and an early night. Mark sure has driven some miles in the last few days – just over 500!

On Sunday morning, we headed east to Twin Falls – a spectacular pair of waterfalls near Smithers and we purchased supplies for the train journey before returning the hire car and going to the railway station. We had heard that the trains are frequently late as freight always gets priority and many sections of the line are single track so, by the time it arrived to collect us, it was already two hours late. Diane and Marilyn were as cheerful as ever and had saved us some seats and phoned ahead for taxis at the Prince George end which soon became delayed by another hour.

In the early hours of Monday, we arrived in Prince George just in time to sample the Casino with our free $5 vouchers (we won $7!) and then got up a few hours later for the flight to Vancouver and the end of our fantastic tour of Northern BC. We now have a few days with Marian and Margaret before flying home on Saturday.

Bear Glacier, Stewart

Coyote on Highway 37

Rush hour on Highway 37

North to Alaska!

After a lovely evening with our hosts Ron and Lila and their friends who were touring Canada on their Harley Davidsons,  we breakfasted on the largest pancakes we have ever seen and took a few more photos of the stunning ranch which Ron designed and built himself before heading West on highway 16 and then  North on highway 37 (The Stewart-Cassiar Highway) for Stewart.

We filled up the car again (as there are very few petrol stations or services en route) and began the long journey into Northern BC.

It wasn't long before we surprised a black bear, who I named Cassiar, in the treeline and he soon darted away shortly followed by Stewart, another black bear, who crossed the road in front of us and headed into the forest. It was great to see them about as we have been a bit thin on bears to date!

The scenery became more and more stunning and the vegetation changed as we moved north. It was a quiet journey with little traffic on the road apart from a few of the most enormous RVs (Campervans with extensions and often towing another car as well).

We reached Meziadin Junction and took the 37A west towards Stewart. Instantly, the scenery became more alpine with glacial streams at the foot of Bear Glacier and retro chalets and timber buildings as we finally entered the town.

Having found the Information Centre in town (every town has them with very helpful guides to hand out maps, give directions and ideas for visits and tours in each region) we collected some maps of the route towards Salmon Glacier at the top of the Valley and the renowned Fish Creek where we were told that at Chum salmon were already running, meaning great food resources for the local bears!!

We checked in to Ripley Creek - a quaint, quirky set of timber buildings with its own collection of antique toasters. Our room was lovely and we soon unpacked and headed into town to explore.

With a population of about 500, Stewart is the border town to Hyder in Alaska - only a few kilometres away. It has evolved largely through mining (gold and other minerals), fishing and logging. Although it is fair to say that the town favours function over form, we were made very welcome (particularly at the local museum who were hosting the annual Bear Festival) and were amazed at how well-stocked the supermarkets were, bearing in mind our remote location.

We went to an interpretative talk at the museum about Bear Conservation, given by Jean-Louis Imbs a local naturalist and Antarctic tour guide. As the only two at his lecture, it turned into a fascinating conversation where he told us about the changing habits and habitats of the different Canadian and Antarctic bears and we then headed to Fish Creek for our first wildlife viewing.

First we had to pass through the Alaskan frontier town of Hyder - with a permanent population of about 50 it is somewhat of a ghost town complete with all kids of strange vehicle relics and faded buildings. We headed for the gravel road beyond and the 6km journey to Fish Creek.

Just as we arrived, a black bear crossed in front of us with a fish he was taking back from the river and a mother grizzly and her two year old cub crossed towards the river.

It was a spectacular hour of watching them fish and interact from the boarded walkways alongside dozens of other keen photographers. Behind the main creek, eagles fed on the remnants of the bears' catch and other birds hoped to grab the odd morsel. They were completely at ease and did not even seem troubled by the odd passing car. The walkways have been very well-planned to avoid disturbing the bears' habitat and a $5 fee covers its upkeep. We named the mother Alaska and her cub Ripley, after the local creek, Ripley Creek.

We were amazed at the photos and video footage we were able to get and returned to our hotel resolved to return first thing in the morning. There is no border control into Alaska, unlike the strict reentry to BC by the Canadian Customs Officers and we intimate that the relationships between benevolent and conscientious Stewart residents and their much more laissez-faire Alaskan neighbours are not always harmonious  - particularly in regard to the preservation of wildlife habitats.

We were equally lucky in the morning as the same mother and cub returned to the creek again to fish along with two wolves, Golden and Bald eagles and lots of other birds. We collected some more excellent footage before breakfast at the Bitter Creek Cafe in Stewart.

Although the gravel roads were divoted and very slow-going (it took us about 2 hours to travel the 27km to Salmon Glacier) we decided that we had to make the effort to see the glacier and the views more than rewarded the effort.

After a final visit to Fish Creek on our return journey, we met a new young grizzly male who was somewhat shy and did not seem keen to stay in the open for long. He was therefore aptly named 'Hyder' and we were able to take a few more bits of video before heading back for dinner and an early night (we had been up at 5.30am for the morning bear viewing!).

Tomorrow we head south again to Hazelton before catching the train on Sunday to Prince George, the final stage of our Northern BC tour.

Prince Rupert and the Skeena Train

Having arrived by ferry on Monday evening, we headed to our hotel in Prince Rupert and caught up with the blogs and enjoyed the harbourside views.

We had a first hand cultural experience at the local laundromat to catch up on the washing and got some great advice on the Museum of Northern BC which we visited later in the afternoon.

We took a stroll to Cow Bay, where visiting cruise ships dock (the costs of fuel have significantly reduced the numbers of cruise ships this year). The renowned Cow Bay cafe served delicious homemade ginger and lime sparkle and we shared spinach and quinoa cakes with homemade hummus.

The bay is full of artisan shops and studios and we bought a few souvenirs before heading to the museum. The guide, the chief of the local First Nations village, gave a fascinating interpretative talk and his knowledge about the artifacts and local history left us hanging on his every word.

A short shopping fix later (for me, of course) and we then had dinner at the Crest overlooking the harbour and sampling the delicacies of sockeye salmon, halibut and Dungeness crab.

Another early start, and we took a taxi to the Via Rail station ready to catch the Skeena Train to Smithers. Diane, our train conductor, impressed us immediately with her enthusiasm and efficiency and we boarded the touring car. Amazingly there were only 4 of us travelling in the observation car so we had two carriages to ourselves! Later, an Australian couple touring Canada for three months decided to take the upgrade and joined us so we were a happy party of only six with more than enough space to spread out. Marilyn, our hostess, brought us breakfast and set up the observation car with tea, coffee and snacks for the rest of the journey.

The journey was punctuated with Diane's anecdotes and points of information where she instructed the train driver to slow down and opened the back door (!!!) of our car to let us take photographs of the stunning scenery. She took on another passenger named Steve near Terrace who is an expert on the local landscape and he told us more about the Kermode White bears and blue glacier bears that can be found further north.

At Terrace, everyone was able to get off the train and visit the local shop alongside railway line to buy postcards or purchase freshly made popcorn. At Diane's instruction of 'All Aboard', we boarded the train again to finish our journey.

We look forward to seeing them again on Sunday for the second leg of our train journey to Prince George.

Smithers is a small town midway between Prince Rupert and Prince George and is a local ski resort in winter. We collected the hire car - a lovely Chevrolet Impala similar to the one we had on our honeymoon - and drove the 70km to New Hazelton to the Triple Creek bed and breakfast where our hosts greeted us with their two horses, two labradors and two cats on their amazing estate framed by the mountains.

After dinner, we retired early for the journey north to Stewart tomorrow.

Northern Expedition – Our Gateway to the Inside Passage

Having repacked and woken very early (4.30am), we caught the shuttle bus from the hotel to the ferry terminal where the very impressive Northern Expedition BC Ferry was waiting. German built (need I say more), it entered service in 2009 and follows the route from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert via the inside passage, winding through a network of islands and small settlements in its fifteen hour voyage. Although we left in morning mist, it soon burned off and once again we had a perfectly sunny day for the journey. Salmon and other larger fish jumped out of the water alongside the boat and we saw several whales, including an exciting tail splash from a whale north of Bella Bella – they are frequently seen from the boat and helpfully pointed out by the crew! Having reserved seats right above the bridge gave us a fantastic view as we cruised through the islands and although it is BC Day today (a national holiday) the ferry was barely half full and we enjoyed a very peaceful and relaxing trip to catch up on some reading and blogging which we had not been able to do for a few days.

We move into phase two of our trip now – Northern British Columbia is twice the size of the UK!

It was late when we arrived in Prince Rupert, so we headed to the hotel ready for a day of sightseeing in town tomorrow.

Great Bear Lodge

Great Bear Lodge 2-5^th August 2012

Smith Inlet, Northern British Columbia

Having spent a lovely morning driving up in the ever-increasing sunshine from Port McNeill to Port Hardy (about thirty miles) we strolled around the harbour, went to the visitors’ centre and had lunch at the Quarterdeck Inn before Marian and Margaret dropped us off at the seaplane terminal for their journey to Victoria and our own sea plane (or float plane, as they say here) to Great Bear.

The bags were loaded and we donned our lifejackets before boarding our tiny five-seater plane with two of our companions for the trip, Andy and Catherine.

I gripped the pilot’s seat back for the first ten minutes of the flight, but it was actually remarkably smooth and the take-off and landing in sea planes is almost imperceptible. The scenery – acres and acres of pine forest, tiny islands and sea inlets – stretched for miles and was like something out of a nature documentary. Only the logged areas of the forests disturbed the views but apparently there are laws in place to ensure replanting.  After about thirty minutes we descended into Smith Inlet and caught our first glimpse of the floating lodges and outbuildings of Great Bear Lodge, with its newly added 250ft dock which has recently been towed out from Port Hardy.

Tom, Marg and the other staff greeted us warmly and the previous guests took the return flights back to Port Hardy. We were a party of nine Brits in total with David, Charlotte and their three children Maddy, Francesca and Jonah along with Andy, Catherine and us.

We are all keen travellers and Maddy is studying Geography at St Anne’s in Oxford so Mark instantly found some common ground and we bonded as a group in no time.

The lodge prides itself on its wilderness gourmet meals and we all took full advantage of the fantastic menu (see below!) all of which is prepared by Leanne and her team in her floating kitchen fifty air miles from any other civilisation!

Wilderness Gourmet Menu:

Thursday 2^nd

Alder BBQ Maple Sockeye Salmon, salad, Roasted Sweet Potato

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Friday 3^rd

Granola, blueberry lemon muffins, fruit, yoghurt

Maple candied salmon and goat’s cheese salad, Havarti and Old Cheddar, apples

Home-baked bread

Lamb shanks with port, red wine and garlic, snap peas, and asparagus

Velvet lemon tart

Saturday 4^th

Multigrain pancakes with fruit compote

Butternut squash soup,  Florentine muffins

Melon and grapes

Burmese spiced duck, warm red rice and wheatberry salad with wild mushrooms, courgette & carrots

Warm berry crisp and ice cream

Sunday 5^th

Cheese, mushroom and Ham frittata

Croissants, jam

Fruit and granola

Pea and ham French-style soup

Croque monsieur

Melon and grapes

Snacks and sundries:

Banana chocolate nut bread, Killer Cookies (always in large glass jars and sometimes still warm), Nuts, Maple candied salmon, freshly ground coffee, Stash Earl Grey Tea, Granville Island Beers, BC wines and chardonnay-coloured mineral water (due to the high tannin levels in the local springs).

John, one of our wildlife safari guides, gave us a bear briefing on the dock and provided us with our attractive camouflage puffa suits, life jackets and boots for the boat trips.
After a sumptuous salmon dinner with Tom, the owner of the lodge who entertained us instantly with his stories, expertise, technical wizardry and wit, we headed out on the boats for our first trip meandering up and down the inlet and the river beyond to see seals, eagles, heron, otter, mink and the first salmon swimming upstream.

This is a tricky time of year to see bears, particularly as the berries in the forests are so plentiful (and delicious to humans too – especially salmonberries and thimbleberries) and the river does not yet have enough fish for them to catch, but we were not downhearted that the first safari had brought no sightings and the scenery and fading light was simply stunning.

After an early start and our first ‘bountiful breakfast’, we suited up again and were rewarded on our second trip with a sighting of a two-year old male grizzly who we named Ted, owing to his teddy bear resemblance.  Drifting downsteam with no motor running (the current is very quick owing to the vastly ranging tides) was the most peaceful experience possible – just an occasional Bald Eagle or Douglas Squirrel to punctuate the silence and ensure we weren’t in danger of dozing off!

Spending more and more time with the guides was fantastic – they led us on a ‘mystery tour’ after lunch to Walkum Bay and Pirates Cove (we even had Jolly Rogers and a supersoaker to ambush the other boat!).

The water was completely clear and we were introduced to many of the bears’ favourite berries including wild blueberries which we picked from the boat.

Watching the mist come in during the last hour of our night safaris and burn off again in the morning was ethereal. Bob the seal was invariably waiting to greet us in the morning and several other curious seals swam near the boat to see what we were up to. We continued to see evidence of bears in the form of some amazing tracks and shapes in the distance, but there was no other close encounter to rival Ted.

We took an interpretative hike on Saturday afternoon seeing several berry-filled bear droppings, bear trails, mark trees (which bears rub against to leave their scent) and day beds where the bears take a nap between the long hours of grazing (about 18 hours a day to ensure they ingest the 20,000 calories they need each day). Suzanna and John were fantastic guides again – it was a real privilege to be able to learn from them and their intimate knowledge of the environment.

On Sunday we took a final safari and bus trip (in the beautifully painted ‘Magic’ bus) to the bear hides along the river which are used for the guests during salmon season. Tom has some amazing footage of bears sleeping outside the hides on the steps while the guests were inside – perhaps a bit too close for comfort, even for me!

Tom shared his remote camera footage with us back at the lodge – not only does he capture bears on camera but also otter, mink, wolves and mountain lions in the winter. On Saturday evening, he also shared the recent Chris Packham BBC documentary about the significance of the salmon in preserving the forest, part of which was filmed at the lodge and in the area. He is an inspirational character whose understated passion was infectious.

It was genuinely sad to say goodbye to the staff, the guides and to our fellow Brits who made the trip so unforgettable.  We are very fortunate to have sampled wilderness life with such a homogeneous group of people. 

We met Andy and Catherine for dinner at the hotel in Port Hardy and shared travel stories for one time before we packed for our ferry journey to Prince Rupert and they prepared to travel to Tofino (on the list for our next visit!).

Relaxation and a Road Trip

After another waffle-filled breakfast we browsed some of the shops in Courtenay and then headed North on the 19A to Campbell River and Port McNeill.

The scenery became more and more mountainous and forests full of enormous pines stretch for miles here – needless to say it is serious logging territory. We were ever hopeful of roadside wildlife, but there was none to be seen. Mark enjoyed some Canadian driving to give Marian some brief respite and we pulled in to Woss, a town with a population of less than a thousand, to sample the lunch options from the local store. There were limited, but we filled up with gas and continued to Port McNeill and checked in to Black Bear Resort – another great find by Marian that has bear-shaped numbers on the room, a fabulous pool and hot tub.

This guy was happy to pose for his picture!

Bald Eagle Juvenile

Mark and I sampled the delights of the Market Place grocery store and we had dinner at the waterfront steakhouse where eagles and herons were stationed on the masts of the boats and streetlamps by the jetty. I only had the phone camera so resolved to return in the morning to see if I could be lucky and see them again. Sure enough, he was there again, along with a youngster in his juvenile plumage.



The coastline is stunning up here - whales are frequently sighted nearby and we are starting to get very excited about our visit to Smith Inlet on Thursday.

We may be out of internet for a few days so I will update when we return to Port Hardy !