I think the most exciting part of this trip was just getting there. We booked it about a year ago and since that time Dave's back was giving him some serious problems. When it got closer to trip time we realized he probably wouldn't be able to go. My first choice for someone to take his place was my sister but she said she didn't have enough time available from work so I contacted several others, none of which could make it. Time was drawing near and finally Beverly found a way to work it out (huge sigh of relief).
We were lucky enough to get first class seating with our frequent flyer mileage on a flight that left St. Louis at 8:30 a.m. and our return flight left Vancouver at 1:00 p.m. Perfect!!! We had to meet a flight in Port Hardy at 1:00 so we had plenty of time.
With the trip just one week away the disasters of 9-ll hit our country. Many asked if I would still go to which I answered "You betcha - I'm not going to let that S.O.B. ruin something to which I've looked forward for a year and Beverly agreed. In the next few days we received a phone call from TWA advising that our flights were changed to leaving St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. and leaving Vancouver at 8:30 a.m. There was no way we could make connections to Port Hardy to meet the boat so I called the company that handled our arrangements and she said we could get there the night before or catch an earlier flight to Port Hardy - that it wouldn't be a problem for the boat to wait. We decided to go the day of the trip because first class wasn't available the day before.
I called the owners of the boat to give them a heads-up on our revised plans and she said the boat was slated to leave at 10:00 a.m. but there were several options for us to meet up with it. One was to fly to Port Hardy and catch a taxi to a ferry that would take us to the first destination and we could meet up with them there. However, when she checked with the ferry they said Tuesday was the day they carry hazardous cargo and no passengers are allowed. Gulp . . . She called back saying another option would be to take a cab to a float plane and they could get us to wherever the boat might be. OH BOY, WHAT FUN . . . that's what I wanted to do so she said she'd make the arrangements and get back to us at our hotel. She booked reservations in a hotel close to the airport (I asked if there was one in the airport and she said there wasn't.
Off we go and arrive safely in Vancouver. We get our transfer to the hotel and all I can say is calling it a 'pit' is being kind. When we arrived I noticed signs for a hotel at the airport and when we passed it, I wasn't sure if it was open. We got ready for bed having an early flight and waited for instructions on what we needed to do to meet the boat. At 9:30 the call came but she hadn't been able to contact the boat so we were supposed to call when we got to Port Hardy.
Morning breaks and we had to get up very early so Beverly, who is diabetic, could get something to eat. After brekky we caught the transport to the hotel for our flight. The driver asked which airline and I told him Pacific Coastal. He said we needed to go to the left to Bay 11. ???? We went into the terminal and didn't see a Bay 11 so we went to and information desk and she said we needed to go outside and catch a shuttle to the South Terminal. We go outside and wait, thinking there would be constant shuttles but time passes. I got up and found a schedule posted on a pillar saying the shuttle leaves on the hour. I started thinking about that hotel and asked someone if it was open to which he said it was. I said to Beverly that I'm going to go back to the information desk and see if they could make reservations for us. Time is running short. I dash to the desk and she said not only could they do it but we would save almost $70 by booking through them. What joys!!! She starts the process and the computer is running in its slowest mode. I'm getting nervous that we would miss the shuttle and thought I saw it. We finally get the transaction finished and I ran back to the pick-up point just in time to catch the bus. Little did we know we were going to an entirely different airport.
We arrive at the little commuter terminal and check in - they can't find our reservation. Now my heart is running at super-sonic speed (at least I know it's strong). They look and see that the person that cancelled the original flight booked us on the day previous. Happily they had room on the next flight so we decided to make some phone calls. When we were waiting for the flight I heard my name announced on the public address system. Now what!!! The agent told us that we would be met at the gate in Port Hardy that there was a problem and the boat couldn't leave as scheduled. When we finally got to our final destination we found out that three passengers' luggage was lost and they were waiting to see if it would arrive on the next flight. In the interim everyone went shopping to get essentials in case the baggage wasn't on the flight. . . . it wasn't. What else can go wrong?
We finally got to the Copper Sky and broke the news to the luggageless people that they wouldn't have it until tomorrow (hopefully). We departed around noon and headed to Alert Bay. Almost immediately we spotted some Dall's porpoises but they weren't in the mood to play.
We arrived at Alert Bay and visited the Namgis First Nations' Burial Ground where we saw many totem poles. We spent about an hour and headed to Telegraph Cove.
We see our first Orca, some of which were so close they swam under our boat. After spending some time with them we went to our anchorage in Bauza Cove and spent the night.
Day 3 begins early and almost immediately we came upon a large group of orca - probably about 30 of them. They were all around us breaching and feeding. We didn't know which way to look!!! We spent a couple of hours with them and on our way to Telegraph Cove spotted six Stellar sea lions and watched them for awhile. From there we came upon 20-25 harbour seals near Telegraph Cove.
We arrived at Telegraph Cove and spent about an hour exploring this historic community. Later we did some fishing (those with licenses) and caught two chinook salmon which weighted between 7 or 8 pounds. Sadly, seven more were hooked but got away because we didn't realize the hook on the other rod didn't have a barb. Someone also caught a bird on his hook and although traumatized, was not injured and flew away safely. We anchored in Double Bay and a friend of our naturalist came about and gave a slide presentation.
We headed to Knight Inlet - the longest inlet on the Pacific West Coast heading to Glendale Cove, the home of the densest concentration of grizzly/brown bears in Canada. Arrived around 3:00 p.m. and spent the rest of the day in our zodiacs looking for bears. We spotted two black bears and three grizzlies not to mention seals and eagles. Weather wasn't very good which made for some difficult photo taking opportunities. Spent the night here.
First thing in the morning we headed out in the zodiacs again to look for bears with much success. There was an unusual family group of grizzlies which included a mother with her two cubs and a subadult - probably her cub from a previous litter. It was so much fun watching the cubs play fighting and just being babies. One got it's front paws up on a fallen limb and they slid off and the limb bonked him on the head. Happily I got that on video.
At noon we went further into Knight Inlet to the mouth of the Klawatee River where we took a beautiful hike. We saw a black bear fishing just across the river from us. Spent another night in Glendale Cove.
Went out in the zodiacs again in the morning and saw quite a few bears, some about 25 yards from one of the boats.
Left Glendale Cove abut 10:00 a.m. and went down Chatham Channel, a more southerly route and had bad weather so we stayed inside and played some games. We stopped in Mayne Passage at Blind Channel Resort at dusk and went for another beautiful walk in a rainforest. We left about 8:00 p.m. and headed to Phillips Arm for the night.
Spent most of the morning traveling in fog and saw some Pacific White Sided Dolphins but they just ignored us. Once we left the fog the weather turned beautiful and we were able to get by without jackets. We arrived to Mitlenatch Island, a renowned coastal bird sanctuary but the number of harbour seals was the main attraction for us. We took the zodiac ashore and were watching them put the canoe into the water. While we were watching one of our fellow passengers get into the canoe, it sank. Poor thing was hanging on for dear life - that water is c-c-c-c-cold. Cap'n Russ went into the water and tried to hang onto the canoe and to assist Sandy. Happily everyone was OK so we went on a hike around the island. Afterwards we took a zodiac ride around the island and saw a kazillion seals.
On our last day we went to Jedediah Island Provincial Park and did some tide pools. We took the zodiac across to another island and wandered around it for awhile. It was abandoned in 1994 but there were some goats and sheep there. Also there was a horse who took a liking to me for some reason and followed me back to our starting point. Why couldn't I have attracted men in my youth like I did that horse . . . life is so unfair.
We left for Vancouver and traveled all afternoon. With Vancouver in sight we came upon a huge pod of Orca and spent two hours with them and saw spyhopping, lobtailing and many full body breaches. We put up the sails for an hour or so which was a beautiful sight and finally docked in Vancouver after 9:00 p.m.
Beverly and I didn't stay on board because we had an early flight in the morning so said our 'goodbyes' and headed to our hotel. WOW!!! What a difference between the shabby first motel and this. The bathroom was fantastic. Even though it was late, all I wanted to do was take a bath and the tub was so long I couldn't touch the end with my toes and I'm 5'7". It was worth every penny.
I forgot to mention that we were on the Copper Sky on our first trip to Baja about 7 years ago and were surprised to see she grew!!! They cut her in half and added 19 feet which includes two cabins, a bathroom and another bathroom with a shower. What a difference.
The name of our trip was "Orcas, Bears, Totems and Eagles" which was a fitting name because we were lucky enough to see them all.
GO TO PHOTOGRAPHS OF VANCOUVER
GO TO SPITSBERGEN
BACK TO MAIN PAGE
Email: o2bnuk@webtv.net