Happy Canada Day to all of you
The northern portion of Vancouver Island is not as well developed as the rest – hence, poor Wi-Fi which explains our “Blog Hiatus”.
We spent three days at one of the nicest campgrounds. It is about 15 miles west of Campbell River and is accessed via 7 miles of gravel road through thick woods. The sites back right up to the Strait of Georgia and you can see boat traffic going to and from Alaska. We saw everything from tugboats pulling barges loaded with sea containers piled 4 high, trucks, cranes, prefab houses, and ocean liners day and night. The water here is so treacherous that the traffic moves during slack tide (the period between high and low tides). This area is called Separation Head. Both sides of the channel are marked with lights. The boats have to radio their position and estimated time of arrival to the next check point which is ten miles away. This allows the Coast Guard to regulate traffic allowing for safe passage. The first afternoon and evening were spent sitting in our chairs outside the trailer watching the activity on the water as well as several bald eagles soaring high and landing in the nearby trees. There was a deer wandering through the campground. The campground is surrounded by beauty and we are enjoying it as much as we can, taking time out to sleep. At 11:20 pm we watched the Holland America Ziederdam cruise ship passing by lighting up the darkness on its return trip from Alaska. At 12:16 am two cruise ships passed each other, one going to and one coming from Alaska. They were so close you could see the passengers.
The next day we toured the City of Campbell River. Fresh prawns were purchased for dinner which were cooked in garlic butter and rice and were delicious. The trailer smelled like garlic for hours afterwards. We were made honorary Italians by our neighbors who could smell it outside. While visiting with our nice neighbors outside after dinner we got some suggestions for where to go and not to go on our trip since they are locals and have done a lot of traveling where we are headed. All the people we have met have been very friendly and helpful.
Sunday our destination was Strathcona Provincial Park, the first provincial park in B.C., which was about an hour and a half from the campground. On our first stop we hiked in to see Lady Falls, a very pretty, full waterfall. There was a platform to view it and we got quite damp from the spray including our glasses and camera lens.
The next hike we took was to view Elk at the Elk River viewing area, but since it isn’t Fall or Winter, and not early in the morning, we just got some more exercise. Number three hike was to Lupin Falls to see a very majestic, very high, fall. This trail was very rustic, and had many steep drops offs. They all were nice hikes, especially when rewarded with waterfalls to enjoy.
We also took a very short hike to an area that was right on a lake, with nice views of the snow capped mountains across the way.
Just before dinner the Island Princess cruise ship passed by on its return trip from Alaska.
Our next move was to a campground located between Port McNeil and Port Hardy. Port Hardy is where the road ends at the north end of the island, 309 miles from Victoria. We chose a site that was facing the water (Broughton Strait) and only about 50 feet from the rock covered beach. There is a lighthouse across the water from our site. We receive no TV or satellite radio signal so we’ll be reading while at the trailer.
After having lunch we headed to Port Hardy and it rained pretty hard all the way there, which was about a ½ hour. We enjoyed ice cream cones and then stopped at a very pretty park with great views of the water, boats and islands, with low clouds. It was then off to Port Alice. On the way at different times, we saw a deer at the side of the road eating greenery, a bear cub scurry off the road into the shrubs after he heard the truck, and an adult bear facing the road looking at us.
The next day we cruised the calm protected waters of Johnstone Strait with Stubbs Island Whale Watching. Our cruise started at 1:00 and we arrived there at around 11:00 to look around at the old buildings by Telegraph Cove and walk around the docks. Separating Vancouver Island from the cedar-covered coast of British Columbia, this is the seasonal home to the world’s largest concentration of orcas (killer whales) that come to feast on the salmon run. Unfortunately, we are about a week too early to see the orcas, but we did see several humpback whales. One of them is named Stripe because of the scar on his tale. He performed for us many times, first spouting and then showing his back above the water as he dove to eat any fish he might want to enjoy. A few times he went deep enough that he showed us his tail; which was pretty exciting to see. The waters were calm, unless we were in the wake of our boat or another. The surrounding scenery is gorgeous. We saw several small boats and a few huge cruise ships. Our captain was a very friendly gentleman with a great personality and the naturalist on board knew a lot about the subject plus she was extremely enthusiastic.
We saw quite a few eagles, a variety of birds, and some seals. The rain stopped for most of the trip, and started up again at times, but we all survived! We arrived back at the dock shortly before 5:00.
On the way back we saw a bear crossing the road, just taking his time. Unfortunately he was in the shrubs before we got a picture because the camera was in the back seat. What a missed opportunity! = ( After dinner Mike noticed splashing in the water and went out to investigate. Two seals were playing really close to shore.
The next morning the sun was shining and Mike washed the truck and trailer – BIG MISTAKE – the skies opened up and down came the rain. We spent the better part of the day reading. It was restful and enjoyable!
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