Day 28 - Prince Rupert

Today it was still raining without stopping now for the third day. Since there is not too much you can do in Prince Rupert in rain I slept in a bit longer before preparing for my afternoon seaplane flight to Queen Charlotte's Island (QCI). But when I went to the seaport they told me the flight was canceled due to bad weather at the destination. I quickly browsed through my options in my head as I had to be on the island tomorrow noon to join my 3-day tour I booked. They had a flight tomorrow morning 8am so I would be able to still make it from Masset to Queen Charlotte City (QCC) for noon with a cab. Their was no flight to QCC so I could only fly to Masset which is at the northern tip of the island, QCC being 100km south from it. I ordered a cab to Masset seaport for tomorrow to be sure.

Since I had the rest of the day in Prince Rupert and it was still raining I went to the Museum of Northern B.C. where I got a taste of the Haida art and culture which I will see more of on QCI. The Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. I really liked the Haida carvings on black argillite, a rare sedimentary rock that occurs only on QCI. In the gift shop I was looking at a 10cm long canoe carving until I saw the price tag with four digits on it.

I booked the same guestroom for tonight and then headed to Cow Bay to have a local seafood dinner plate in a port restaurant that has stood there since 1934.

Day 27 - Inside Passage ferry to Prince Rupert

Today morning started at 4:45. I had to be at the ferry terminal at 5:30 to not loose my reservation. The boarding took about an hour and we were scheduled to leave at 7:30. Wandering around on the outside deck of the ferry at 6 in the morning and listen to the eagle cries is really an experience. As a boatman told me this is the time when they hunt for fish.

The weather was not a bit better, it was raining all day long. The ferry had a rain and wind covered outside deck so you were able to enjoy the fresh air without getting wet and too cold. Inside you hat comfortable full-length seats next to the windows if you were rather the inside type. I started with a full buffet breakfast as being up for 3 hours without eating is nothing for me. There was also a tourist guide on board who gave a little introduction about the touristic spots of B.C, making sure that you don't just look at the window of your Prince Rupert hotel waiting for better weather. When asked if anybody is going to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte's Island) I was the only one raising my hand. He said I made a very good decision because that place is paradise. This was already a good sign that my 3 days there will be well spent.

On the way the captain announced whenever we went by some scenic area or when a whale has been spotted so people could go look at them. Good luck with understanding marine terms like port and starbuck side. Although the weather was bad, I was outside as much as I could. You don't get to see the literal west coast of Canada from the sea too many times. The ferry goes through a passage between the west coast islands, so mostly you are traveling on calm waters, but at the first part the ferry was on open waters and you could feel and see how the waves move this enormous ferry up and down. I am not the seasick type though so I just enjoyed the ride.

The ferry eventually arrived in Prince Rupert at 10:30pm before we passed by the new multimillion dollar container port of Canada that speeds cheap tat from China to bargain-desperate Americans, as Prince Rupert (pop. 15,000) is closer from Asia than Vancouver is. The hotel I booked turned out to be horrible so I canceled my reservation and booked a room in the Black Rooster Roadhouse, which is one of the nicest and best maintained hostel/guesthouse I have ever seen. I learned about it only from some folks on the ferry as it wasn't on my radar. The level of their separate room for $75 beats most of the hotels in Prince Rupert.

Day 26 - Telegraph Cove, Vancouver Island

Today was whale-watching day. It was raining in the morning so I called the tour operator to change my booking to the afternoon tour. Little did I know that in the afternoon it is still going to rain. So I brought my rain jacket with me and my umbrella so that I still can use my video camera. The boat was a medium-sized boat, not a zodiac, so who didn't like rain could sit in the dry but on the expense of a good view. I of course was on the top level getting all the rain, but with a good view on the sea. The fog around the harbor with the rain and clouds together was quite misty when we left.

We didn't need too much time to see the first pod of Orcas, or killer whales if you like. Telegraph Cove is one of the best points in the world to watch for Orcas because there are both resident and transient Orcas here. Chances are you will see the resident ones. Resident Orcas live mostly in this area and transient Orcas just travel through here during their usual migration cycle. As I learned the two types have a very distinctive feeding habit. Their were plenty of Orcas to watch and they were not too far away from the boat so you could clearly see them. I also filmed a full breach. They seemed pretty playful, sometimes swimming on their back and striking heavily with their tail fins.

Later on we have spotted a humpback whale but you couldn't see too much of it other than its hump and tail fin emerging from the water. They tend to dive deep and stay there when a boat is in the near. There was also a sealion head sticking out of the water at one point.

Coming back from the tour I continued my road north on Vancouver Island with destination Port Hardy. I skipped Cape Scott Provincial Park as it was raining heavily all day long and I have to get up early tomorrow to be at the ferry station 5:30am.

Day 25 - Horne Lake Caves, Vancouver Island

Today morning I went to the bakery close by to pick up some quick breakfast as I had to rush further north on Hwy 19. Funny that while paying for my coffee and two cookies I was asked if I was the guy from Toronto. They already heard about me from the bar. Anyway, my first stop today was at Horne Lake Caves. There are two caves that you can explore by yourself and a third one is only accessible with a guide. The guided tour was fully booked so I went for the two self-guided caves on my own. On the map the caves are drawn as a pretty straight hollow so I thought you can easily walk in and out. No you can't, it's tougher than that. I found myself quickly squeezing myself through 1 feet narrow crevices and crawling on all four or on my but to push myself through small spaces I never could have imagined possible. Definitely nothing for claustrophobic people.

And then you can go multiple ways - over or under rocks - and you will find out if you chose the harder way only when it's too late. Halfway in you realize you just have one flashlight and you start praying that the batteries will last, else you are in pitch dark. It was quite and adventure I have to say and that I was alone in the cave (well, not counting the scary pairs of eyes that were following me in the dark) gave even more thrill to the adventure. Of course I recorded everything with my head camera with some entertaining narration. The walls were full of cave crystals, which is basically precipitation water but it shines like that you will think you found silver.

Once out of the cave my clothes were all dirty and ready for washing. Similarly my car as the road leading to the caves is 15km of dirt road. Didn't know that when I was washing the car the day before in Victoria. Anyway, it was just dust, so a sudden 0-100 accelaration on the highway cleaned everything off again. My next stop was Telegraph Cove, which is a 4-5 hours drive further up north on the island. I booked the whale-watching tour for tomorrow but both accomodations there were already full. Telegraph Cove is basically 1 restaurant, 1 bar, a marina for boats, a whale-watching tour operator and 2 possibilieties for staying overnight. It's a resort town with basically no residents. I went to Port McNeill to find a a place to stay. Port McNeill is nothing fancy, mainly port industry buildings, and couple of motels for the tourists that came for Telegraph Cove. And imagine rain, lot's of rain.

Day 24 - Vancouver & Victoria cont'd

Today my parents were flying back home from Vancouver but before the afternoon flight we went to Stanley Park. Due to not finding a parking spot in time we had the chance to cross (twice) the Lions Gate Bridge that connects Stanley Park with northern Vancouver. We circled the Lost Lagoon pond where rackoons live and learned the technique of begging for food with their eyes, sometimes accompanied with a reaching hand. Poor guys don't have an easy life there but it's forbidden to feed them as they are considered a nuisance. But seeing people eat from their paper trays, something falls down anyway for them.

At the airport we had our farewells and then I had to go to the ferry terminal to Victoria once again. My route will continue north on Vancouver Island and today I wanted to reach Nanaimo to stay there for the night. Being in Victoria again, I went to shoot some pictures from the multiturreted Craigdarroch Castle. I didn't have time to explore it from the inside as it was after 8pm then and I had a 2 hour drive to Nanaimo ahead of me.

On the road I called ahead to book a room in the Painted Turtle Guesthouse and let them know about my late arrival. After I got there I quickly went for some late night pizza slices and to the closest bar, downstairs at the corner of the guesthouse, where I chatted with the local folks and ended up getting free shots from the bartender girl. I shared with them some of my stories from my trip and they don't see frequently people coming all the way from Toronto. Was a nice experience, met some friendly people here.

Day 23 - Victoria on Vancouver Island, Vancouver cont'd

We had an early start today wanting to reach the 9am ferry to Victoria, the capital of BC, and it takes about an hour to reach the ferry landing from our hotel. The ferry ride takes about 1,5 hour, so we should be there before 11am and then you need another 30 minutes drive to Victoria...yeah, it's not a downtown to downtown connection. A smart thing I have seen on the highway leading to the ferry are signboards reporting to how much percentage the next ferry is full (runs hourly). So if it's full you know you don't even have to bother rushing there.

In Victoria we went to see the Provincial Legislature building. Oh yes, the last in the row. Interestingly there was a group of 20-30 people already waiting for the hourly tour. Wow, in the rest of the Legs there was nobody else just us being shown around, and this on a weekday. As you would expect with such a big group showing up every hour, the guide was less enthusiastic then the previous ones we met...well, she was like a tape being played. That was also the reason why I can't remember anything she said as naturally I lost interest after the second word and started to examine the surrounding with my eyes.

After that we went to the Emily Carr house. Emily Carr was a well-known Canadian painter amd author born in Victoria. We didn't go in though because in contradiction with my guide book, the admission was not for free. It was $7 for each adult and I think that's a bit overpriced for taking a look into two rooms.
Before going back to the ferry we went to see the Governor's house and garden. The garden is publicly accessible and you can stroll around freely around the residence. Just to give a feeling how close you get to the residence you can see through the windows. The garden is extremely beautifully designed and maintained, you can see some astonishing compositions of flowers, bushes and trees.

For me it was interesting to see this openness, there was even a washroom in the garden. Seems like here the message got through that without any realistic reason the public can't be closed out of places that are funded by the public. Try this at the Hungarian Parliament, which you can't even visit anymore, unless you are a member of a large (20+) group having a reservation months in advance. And I don't even dare to mention how overprotected our presidential palace is.

After going back with the ferry to Vancouver we went for some great sushi at the Waterfront. My parents never had sushi before so where else to try it in Canada than Vancouver. Plenty of local great seafood available and a bunch of first class Japanese restaurants around. We went to Hapa Umi and had a great variety from their menu. They liked it a lot. After dinner we did a last short walk around the greater block before returning to the hotel for a good night sleep.

Day 22 - Vancouver

In the morning we walked around the downtown area of Vancouver. Downtown Vancouver is basically a peninsula surrounded by water North, South and West and Stanley Park being the north-western tip of this peninsula. The northern shore is the most sought-after place, here is where countless high-rise apartment buildings overlook the Vancouver Harbour. The buildings look very similar to the Toronto harbour, only here there are much more of them.

In the afternoon we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. This place needs a lot of time to explore as there are quite fantastic exhibitions and lots of them. We have seen the Beluga whale show and seen how much posing these animals are willing to learn for food. It was sad to see that without the show they didn't seem too enthusiastic although they have been born in captivity. The animator asked during the show if anybody had the chance to see these animals in their natural habitat. Guess who was raising his hand there proudly. The seal on the other hand was a poser, when you came by he was jumping out of the water and was flipping his head from left to right to look perfect for those pictures, unbelievable. At home I realized I didn't take a single picture about the Aquarium but used my camcorder only. Anyway there will be videos available later on then.