More Camping

When the weekend was over and the carvers left, we didn't feel like going home yet so we moved to another one of our parks.

When we went shopping I bought this "cantaloupe".  When I got it back to the trailer and cut it, to my surprise the flesh was white, the seeds looked like cantaloupe seeds, as did the skin...it even tasted like a cantaloupe.  A day or so later I went back to that store and took this picture.  Ends up it's a Sharlyn Melon...never heard of them before!

The other store I went into had these "mushrooms" cut from a tree branch, so of course I thought of  our carving friends!

Camping Time

In 2007 we were camped at one of our Thousand Trails parks.  I was in the clubhouse working on a jig saw puzzle (as I'm prone to do) and a couple came in, looked out the window and proceeded to marvel at the condition our trailer was in.  We bought the Prowler in 1976 and we'd always kept it in the garage, when we weren't using it, so even though it was 30 odd years old and well used,  it was in like-new condition.  I approached the couple and told them that was our trailer.  We became friends.  We still try to get together once a year or so.

Lately he retired and has taking up wood carving and joined a carving group called Spit and Whittle.  They had a campout this weekend so we joined them.  Had great fun!  Learned about carving, had pot luck dinner met their friends and enjoyed their company.

It was my husband's and my birthdays last month so she painted us this rock....soooo cute, even if it's not the colour of our trailer!  The Prowler, which we no longer have was yellow and the new one is red and white, but I treasure this little rock!

For those who didn't want to try carving they had a couple of crafts for us to do.  One was an embossing to put on the front of a journal or it could be used for making cards or whatever.

The next day a couple of us got together and painted rocks and some of the little carvings our friend had done.

That evening after dinner they had drawings for all sorts of things.  I won this whale!

Getting Back to Normal

I've been unpacking, going through mail, doing laundry and most importantly downloading and editing all the pictures I took.

I bought a couple DVD's about Haida Gwaii, 2 placemats that Marla our Haida Gwaii guide made and picked up some shells and rocks from the beach which hubby made a nice tray for me to display them in. The placemats are on our table and now every time we eat we're reminded of or trip!

Day 11...Homeward Bound

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and boarded the new bus.  The north of  Vancouver Island has been home to lots of logging and there still is quite a bit going on.  We saw railroad bridges crossing over the highway.  Apparently they used railcars to get their logs to the coast where they could dump them in the water and tow them to their destination.

We stopped at a park/rest area for awhile.

Next stop was Campbell River for lunch.  We stopped in an area where there were several restaurants.  We decided on Wendy's.

After we ate we went for a walk and took some pics of the harbour and the ferry landing to go over to Quadra Island.

Next stop was the ferry terminal in Nanaimo where we boarded the ferry for Horseshoe Bay.

Ahhh….there's Vancouver.  There was a cruise ship leaving port.

We took Hwy 1 to Coquitlam, dropped some passengers off.  Taxis were waiting to take them home.  Next stop, Walnut Grove in Langley.  Last stop was Cascades Casino in Langley.  The folks from Kamloops and the Okanagan got to stay at the casino overnight.  They will get on a bus tomorrow morning but we had a taxi waiting to take us to our home.  We got home about 7:30 pm.  It was a remarkable trip but it's good to be home!!

Day 10...Ferry From Prince Rupert to Port Hardy

Up really early this morning to go down for breakfast and be packed up and ready to head to the ferry terminal.  Since our bus is still on Haida Gwaii we had to take taxis to the ferry terminal and board the ferry as foot passengers.  Of course as with all the ferries up here it's a waiting game!  Finally got onboard.

The bus company had reserved us an outside berth for our 15 plus hour ride through Grenville Channel and B.C.'s beautiful Inside passage.  We saw a lot of this when we went to Alaska in the Spring, but every once in awhile the Captain of the ferry would announce a point of interest, slow down and pull closer in to shore so we could see it...we never got that on the cruise ship!

The berth had a bathroom with a shower and there was a TV at the foot of the left side bed.

We had to make a stop at Klemtu to drop off some passengers and take on some new ones.

Nice dining room on board.  Our whole bus group met there for a lovely buffet dinner.

Got into Port Hardy about 11:00 or 11:30 that night.

A bus picked us up at the ferry and took us to the hotel.

Day 9...Prince Rupert

The hotel had their "serve yourself" breakfast this morning then we went exploring.

My parents were commercial fishermen and since the early 1970's and until they retired, they fished area 6, which is around the islands on the mainland side and across from the bottom tip of Haida Gwaii...of course in those days it was known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.  Every week or so they'd make the 10 hour run up to Prince Rupert to offload their fish at the cannery, restock ice and groceries and do laundry before heading back down to the fishing grounds.

Today all the fish canneries in that area are closed and the old cannery is now a series of artisan shops and a port authority display which was very interesting.

I think this is where the cannery was that Mom and Dad used to deliver to. 

This area of town is called Cow Bay.  They have planters and garbage cans painted like black and white cows.

We walked along the lower road of the water front and saw a lot of activity here. A fellow came up to us and asked if we'd like to see what they're loading into a transport truck.

He showed us this tote of live crabs.  They were packed in ice to keep them calm and were being shipped to the Vancouver area.  He told us they also unload sea urchin at this plant to be shipped overseas.

A little further down the road was this staircase and walkway.  Prince Rupert is built on a mountain side so there are some pretty steep hills there.  This was an alternate way of getting to the upper level.

The view from the top.

Day 8...Time to Leave Haida Gwaii

We had to get up early this morning and have our suitcases ready to be loaded on the bus.  We went to the restaurant for breakfast when our tour host came in and told us that we WOULDN'T be leaving today.  Apparently the ferry that was to take us back to Prince Rupert has broken down and B.C. Ferries doesn't know when it'll be fixed! There is only the one ferry, so until it's fixed....We're stuck here!!!  After breakfast we had to put our suitcases back in our rooms and the bus took us to a place where we went for a walk on the beach, the bus was supposed to bring us back for lunch then we were supposed to go on a hike, we had been told we had our rooms for one more night.
BUT:
When we came back for lunch our tour host told us there was a change of plans...he'd hired 3 or 4  Beaver float planes to take 4 people at a time plus their luggage and fly them to Prince Rupert.  He then listed the times we were each scheduled to be on the float plane.  The folks who were already booked to go on a grizzly bear tour the next morning were the first to leave.  We hadn't booked that tour so our time to leave was 8:30pm unfortunately we wanted to go see the old Port Edward cannery but since our bus was still going to be on the Island, they cancelled that tour.

The ferry dock in Skidegate.

Coming into Prince Rupert

Our pilot.

We were late leaving Haida Gwaii and the flight takes about 45 - 55 minutes so we got to our hotel in Prince Rupert as the sun was setting...just after 10 pm.

It's been quite the day!!!

I got to cross "riding in a float plane" off my bucket list.

Only problem...I didn't know it was on my bucket list!!!

Day 7 of Bus Tour

After breakfast this morning we took a short ride on the bus to Skidegate where we toured the Haida Cultural Center which also houses a gift shop and museum.  Started with learning about the Haida totem poles then saw the shed where they work on their canoes.

The museum was really well done, big and very interesting.  Told about the history of the Haida people and about the passing of the federal Indian Act and how it affected the native people, especially the residential schools and what they're doing to re-introduce their culture and language to their younger generations.

We went back to our hotel for awhile then re-boarded the bus and went to Marla's for a wine and cheese party.  Marla is the lady who came on the bus for 2 days and told us lots and lots of stories about Haida Gwaii.    

After our wine and cheese social we got back on the bus and went to a hall where we attended a Haida Fiest.

Started with a fried bread with jam.

Then we got crab, smoked salmon, halibut, oyster fritter, crab cake and salad.

The most interesting thing was K'aaw (pronounced gow...rhymes with cow).  It's a piece of seaweed that herring have deposited their roe on.  Very interesting to eat because when you bite it..it makes a popping sound and as you chew it you can still hear the popping in your ears.  Doesn't taste salty, or fishy or seaweedy, just kind of a mild, fresh ocean taste!

After our dessert the dancing began.  The ladies beat their drums and since they're trying to teach the younger generation the ways, language and culture of the Haida these two children were included in the dancing.  They worked really hard at remembering all the steps and motions to the dances and they danced several dances, each telling a story.

The Master of Ceremonies gave a talk about the meaning of the dances and how the Haida are trying to regain the heritage that they lost when they weren't allowed to speak their language or dance their dances.