July 27th The Ferry from Prince Rupert to Haida Gwaii

It rained, rained, rained this morning in Prince Rupert. We drove to the ferry before 8:00 am and we're surprised to see people there already. Yes it does take two hours to load the ferry. We were pleasantly surprised by the friendly ferry workers. They were in good spirits and willing to help.

The Northern Adventure has 7 decks, cabins, restaraunt and lounges, on board movies and friendly staff. Hecate Straight has a reputation for being rough. As long as we were in sight of land it was not too bad, but as soon as we hit open ocean for two hours, it got rougher. There are seasick bags every where, and the staff makes sure that everyone is comfortable. I took two gravols just in case, but found that the best thing was to go upstairs outside and get fresh air on the deck.

Still calm. Just outside of Prince Rupert.

Hard to get a good picture through the window. A little rougher.

We are in Queen Charlotte city at the Sea Raven Motel. Had dinner at the Ocean view seaside house. It was very good. Tomorrow on to Tlell for the Haida house.

July 26th, 2014 Smithers to Prince Rupert 

This morning we went for breakfast at the A&W in Smithers. There seems to be one in every small town in BC. We hit the road at around 10:30. The drive again was amazing. Today it is glaciers, rivers, motor homes with boats. We stopped at numerous rest stops to look at the scenery and just wonder at nature .

Glaciers and waterfalls. The seven sisters mountains, the Hudson Bay mountain. 

In Moricetown we watched the native folk catch salmon in the Skeena river. We went to talk to them. Friendly, informative and eager to share their knowledge.

The Skeena river is huge, long, clean and full of fish. Just amazing and wonderful to see. There are many signs up here. Some for the pipeline saying support jobs, some against saying we need clean water and salmon. 

The trees are huge. We also saw many frogs and lots of different plants. I keep hoping to see moose and bears. No such luck.

The weather is cool and wet. The forecast is for rain and maybe sun in a few days. Quite a bit different from the interior where it was drier and lots of hay bales.

The Skeena river is huge. It goes all the way to Prince Rupert. Wide, clean and full of people fishing. Just amazing to see the cars on the side of the road. From Terrace down everyone fishes the Skeena. 

Right now it is raining in Prince Rupert. The alarm is set for 6:00am. We catch the ferry at 10:00 am. But we have to be there at 8:00 am. Looking forward to Haida Gwaii.

July 25th, 2014 The road trip from Prince George to Smithers (Highway of Tears)

It is beautiful and wild country. Lakes, rivers, trees. Brilliant blue skies, white clouds, the air smells clean. The wind off the mountains is cold, the sun very warm. I understand why folks like it here in the summer. I can only imagine what winter is like. 

We stopped just outside of Burns lake at a rest stop. Amazing skies and lakes.

 

The Bulkley Valley is full of lakes. There are boats and fishing stuff everywhere. We bought sandwiches at the local Overwaitea and had a picnic at roadside rest stop. The lakes here are bigger than Shuswap. Lots of stuff for sale as well. Many folks from Alaska and Germany. Fields full of round hay bales. Logging and tree planting and cattle is the industry. Every third vehicle was a logging truck. But the trees go on forever. 

 

Right now we are in Smithers staying at the Hudson Bay lodge hotel. Right under the Hudson Bay mountain ski area. We have the air conditioner on in our room because the intense sun at 7:30 pm is warming up the room. We walked downtown at 5:30pm. For hire signs everywhere . Guess the young people go work in logging camps or plant trees. More money than at Tim Hortons. The hotel restaurant has schnitzel night. So Tony is happy and after our happy hour of beer and wine we will go for dinner. Tomorrow we travel to Prince Rupert. Amazing road trip I can't put it all in the blog. :)

July 24th, 2014 The Trip to Prince George

We left Bridge Lake at 10:30 am this morning. We had a great breakfast of omelets and English muffins. It rained, rained, rained all night and the whole drive up to Prince George. 

We stayed at the Sandman inn. Nice place but a little pricey. Before dinner we drove up to UNBC to have a look around. 

  

The campus was very quiet but has lots of interesting trails to follow all over campus. It also looks like they have small graduation classes.

 

Everywhere we go we see watch out for Moose signs. I have not seen one yet but wish we did!

 

After our trip to UNBC it's back to town for dinner and bed. Tomorrow it's back on the road. Here's hoping for some clearing skies. Prince George reminds me of Kamloops, but I think the winters are colder here.

July 23, 2014. Our stay at Bridge Lake

We arrived at Yuri and Maria's on Wednesday July 23rd. It rained the whole way up and the whole time we were at Bridge Lake. 

Maria made a fabulous dinner and welshed cards afterwards. Remembering other holidays was a fun way to spend the evening. 

Driving up to Hope.

Sikhist park for lunch.

  

Another selfie and the Fraser Canyon.

  

The Thompson river and dinner in Bridge lake.

Inside the Geng trailer,

Thanks Maria and Yuri for a lovely visit.

Our Trip to Haida Gwaii. July 21, 2014

On July 23, 2014, we will begin out drive up to Prince Rupert. Our first stop will be at Bridge Lake. We will stay the night with friends before continuing on. I will try to blog every night. Depends on where the internet connections are as well.

Hellevoetsluis : August 5 th, 2013

Another beautiful day in the Netherlands when we wokeup. Aat and Nel had a typical Dutch breakfast of bread, cheese and cold cuts. After breakfast we got ready to go out. First they showed us the harbor close by Hellevoetsluis .

The. Courthouse, every Dutch city has one. 

The harbor on the front street. Lots of little stores , sidewalk cafes, people walking dogs and children jumping into the canals.

Tony overlooking the canal. 

Trying to decide where to go next with Aat and Nel. We walked to the end of the harbor and had a cold drink at the end . 

The lighthouse at the end of the harbor.

The scenery and different colored boats are always exciting. 

A functional windmill in the town.

For lunch we had deep fried kibbletjes. ( white fish in batter with a delicious sauce. ) I tried the green raw herring with fresh chopped onions. The seagull stuck close enough for our leftovers.

This is Brielle. The market was happening today . Lot of neat little things to buy as well as produce. We walked down the Main Street  and bought some things to take home. 

Of course we had to have ice cream. Especially after the fish lunch!

A little pub in Brielle. 

Time to go,home and get ready for dinner. We went to a restaurant called " The Pannetjes" we had different fishes and beef. Their dishes were cooked in a small pot. The food was very good. Afterwards it was bedtime! The flight back to Vancouver is tomorrow!