And so begins the tour of Africa

Hello all,

When I left you last we were at the hotel in Cape Town just about to meet our tour group, and tour guide, Colin.

There are 11 of us total. The next morning (Monday) we packed all our stuff into a type of Toyota Landcruiser that I had never seen before. We pile all our gear on the roof, and we climb in the windows (which pivot at the top) to get in the seats. We also tow a trailer that houses a fridge and freezer, as well as the rest of the gear.

Before leaving this part of South Africa, Colin takes us to Table View which is a boardwalk by the water by which we can see the whole city of Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background. It's very beautiful and impressive. Then we go to a mall for a quick break - where Shawna and I bought hoodies, bottled water and candy - all of which end up being very handy.

We stopped at a gas station along our way and had lunch - sandwiches and drinks. Colin told us about the campsite that we'd be arriving at that night. He warned us that a wolf lives there and we should not interact with it. Ummm... huh? Sure enough, after a few hours of driving we arrive at the Gecko Creek Campsite and there's a sign, "Beware of Wolf." He sure doesn't look much like a wolf at first, since he's so plainly happy to have visitors. He is wagging his tail and giving a puppy dog look. But once you get a little closer you see that this thing is HUGE. He kinda looks like a Husky but way more muscular. He's a Husky on stereoids. Anyways, it's hard, but we don't interact with him. Later on, we get a little more information from the manager, who says, "he loves people, and he welcomes everyone into his pack, but his pack has a hierarchy, and you are at the bottom." This is further illustrated by "Wolf Rules" that say things like, "if you drop food on the ground when the wolf is near, do not pick it up - just back away slowly."

We have some time to relax on site which is nice because this Gecko Creek Campsite is really beautiful - way better than I was expecting. There are swings and chairs and hammocks, a pool with a bar, a fire pit, a barbeque, a kitchen area and decent showers. It was way better than any provincial park site I've stayed at, that's for sure. :)

Colin makes us dinner on most nights and that first night he made chicken, rice and mixed veggies. Colin has one heck of a time being our cook because out of 10 people, 5 of them have special dietary requirements. Shawna doesn't have dairy, Yvonne is vegetarian, and the 3 guys in the German family all have Celiac disease. This makes it really hard on Colin and especially since he only gets a certain budget; some of those diets are expensive to support. It also means that the rest of us get what we get!

After dinner we went to the fire pit and relaxed around the fire in, of course, bean bag chairs. We looked up at the stars and I can't believe how many there are. How come we don't have that many stars? The sky is filled with stars here, I can't find any constellations since it's so overwhelming! We are exhausted from our day on the road and head to bed early.

The next morning (Tuesday), we have breakfast, pack up our stuff and leave camp. We have a long day of driving ahead of us - over 500km and we're crossing the border into Namibia. We have to rotate positions in the Landcruiser because there are good and not-so-good spots. We drive and drive and drive. After several hours we pull over at a rest stop (like our rest stops but no washrooms) and have lunch. Colin pulls out a table, enough chairs for everyone and we start making sandwiches. He also made a salad out of last night's rice that, despite my skepticism, was really rather tasty. It had mint peas in it, rice, carrots, mayonnaise, onion and tomato. Sound strange? It actually tasted rather good. I was starting to have faith in Colin's cooking abilities. :)

We stopped in a town called Springbok not long after where we went to a grocery store. What I notice about the landscape leading up to the cities is that there are orange orchards everywhere. Orange vendors, orange trees, and now in Springbok, orange hawkers. They pleasantly harass us on the streets, trying to get us to buy bags of oranges. It's one of the big crops here it seems.

We motor on. Eventually we reach the South African/Namibian border crossing. First we have to get out and get our passports stamped to say we leave S.A., then we drive a little further to get out and get admitted to Namibia. All goes without incident. We marvel at the Orange River which is the natural border between the two countries. And no, it isn't orange - maybe that refers to the local crops?

We head to our campsite which is quite close. Shawna & I are the only two out of the group who are doing the full-camping option. Everyone else either has all cabins or half-and-half. So we set up our tent and try to help Colin out with preparing dinner. Have to say, it wasn't so good this time. Plain polenta (looks like mashed potatoes, fooled us into taking a lot), some kind of very salty BBQd meat, and spinach with peanut butter sauce. The peanut butter sauce wasn't real peanut butter, either. It was "caramel crunch" peanut butter. Not totally hideous, but not good. Not like gomae. Sigh - maybe this food thing is going to be hit-and-miss.

Early to bed. Breakfast this morning (Wednesday) was good (toast, eggs, sauteed veggies), and we headed off for the day's excursion on the Orange River. Yes that's right - we were spending a half day canoeing down the river for 20 kms. Good thing I'm an expert now, huh? Shawna and I were rock stars. :) We did well, and had no problem with the 4 sets of rapids we had to paddle through. We stopped early for lunch on the bank, and the bugs were crazy. The only relief you got from them was paddling, so our break wasn't too long. I thought I was being vigilant with suncreen, but apparently not good enough - I burned nearly everywhere that I had left exposed, which wasn't much: backs of my hands, cheeks, lips, nose. I was probably the most covered of everyone and still... how annoying. This African sun is gonna be tough to manage.

I was glad when the canoeing was done so we could get away from those bugs. We showered, did laundry, and discovered the business center - yay.

Tomorrow we are off on the road again. :)
Hope all is well at home,
xo
E!

Robben Island, High Tea, Wine Tours and Shanty Towns

Hello everyone!

So Shawna arrived late with tales of drunken passengers getting thrown off her flight (no, not while in the air - although THAT would be a story!) and an emergency landing in Paris for a man who had a heart attack. Anyways, it wasn't the peaceful flight that I seemed to have had.

We stayed up late talking and then of course, seeing as how I napped earlier in the day, I couldn't sleep all night long. Thank you jet lag! And we were up n' at 'em pretty early because we had plans for Cape Town. We headed down to the waterfront, which is gorgeous, and took a ferry to Robben Island. Other than the huge waves and fighting off seasickness, it was a nice little ride.

We got to the island and they were a little disorganized and we didn't know where to go. We eventually got sorted and we started our tour with an ex-political prisoner named Jama. He toured us around the prison blocks and spoke about each section, the restrictions, pointed out where Nelson Mandela was kept, etc. He had been at Robben Island himself for 5 years. When I had a chance to ask, he said that he needed to work at the island (now a museum) to make a living, and if he had his choice, he'd never go back there again. Understandable. I can't imagine going back to a prison where my life was taken away, and giving tours like it was some kind of circus show. However, he did a great job, and he was very interesting to listen to. I learned much and I was really appreciative of his role.

The next part of our tour of the island was on a bus and they took us around to see the different buildings and areas. There was a leper cemetery and the limestone quarries where Mandela worked every day. Apparently the limestone dust damaged his tear ducts and he can no longer cry naturally. Maybe I should pursue a future career in limestone? Haha. The lady that was commentating on the bus for us was not an ex-prisoner but she was also very well-spoken and interesting to listen to. I was totally rapt, as was Shawna. They did a very good job. At one point she was naming some ex-prisoners and they had that funny click in the middle of their name which made me think of that Russell Peters sketch and I started giggling. Can't take me anywhere...

So once we're back from our hotel we arrange to have High Tea at the Mount Nelson 5-star hotel which is conveniently located right behind where we are staying. Shawna's idea - and I was totally up for it. Neither of us, however, really have anything suitable to wear since we have packed for a camping trip. Our "nice" clothes are not really all that nice - at least mine, anyways. But we don't let us hold us back and when we walk through the front of the hotet to be seated, we try to ignore how non-hoity-toity we are. We'll never see these people again, right? We'll show them our sophistication with our good Canadian manners, right? Well...

We get seated and given a tea menu. There are like 50 teas, most of which come with a description that makes your mouth water until you remember it's just tea. We order, and then get up to partake in the delicious buffet. There are sweets, there are savouries, and they are ALL fancy-schmancy. Really - it was exciting. They have silver platters and silver tongs to pick everything up with, it was so formal. What is not so formal is having the tongs slip, and the item you were trying to pick up, hit the chef across the buffet table who is talking to a fancy-schmancy guest. You know that scene in Pretty Woman? Yeah, it was like that. Except for the fact that Shawna & I dissolved into giggles. The chef pretty much pretended like it didn't happen, which made it seem even funnier. Leave it to me to throw food at the 5-star buffet.

The best were the cucumber sandwiches. I could have eaten 10 of them.

After that, we could barely move so we came back to the hotel to take a nap, which of course turned into a little longer than it should have been. Jet lag is still winning the battle at this point. :) We rounded out our evening with a late snack/dinner for me, and a movie before bed. It was set in Brazil with Timothy Olyphant where a group of Americans get led stray into the rainforest and then taken hostage to have their organs harvested. Anyone heard of this one? I don't need to tell you how our dreams went...

This morning (Sunday), we embarked on a half-day wine tour. First we were picked up at our hotel and we drove 30 minutes out of Cape Town. Along the way, our driver pointed out the conference centers and hospitals, and schools, and the architecture, and recounted a little bit of the history. He says that in South Africa, there are 80% blacks, 10% whites, 7% coloureds and 3% asian & indians. Coloureds??!! I don't know why, but I was inwardly wincing every time he said that word. A South African couple on the tour with us say that "coloured" is not a derogatory term at all, it is totally neutral like "black" or "white." Still, didn't feel right to me, although I guess that's the way it is here.

What made me feel even worse were the shanty towns we passed along the highway. I had seen something like them in movies of course, and I never thought that they didn't exist, but I didn't think it would be so BAD and I didn't know I would be confronted with so many millions of people barely even living like that. I suddenly felt disgusted that we were going on a wine tour. I felt so helpless and sad, and Shawna was upset by it too. I tried to get photos on the way back but I don't think any turned out since we were moving. I don't know how to describe it. A slum, basically. Metal shacks, garbage everywhere, people defecating beside the road, random cows wandering about (eating garbage), kids playing amidst it all. It went on for kilometers and kilometers, and when the township ended, it wasn't long before we encountered another one. Our driver said there were 4 or 5 shanty towns like that. It made me so depressed.

He also said that education is not free, and that's part of the problem. I am struck over and over again about how lucky I am.

So, back to the life of the privileged. We had a wine & cheese tasting at one winery, and another tasting at another winery. I am not much into wine (even on a Sunday morning at 10am, ha!) but I certainly enjoyed the cheese. Shawna doesn't eat cheese so I had double! :) Then we had a few extra minutes so our driver stopped at a conservation center where they house cheetahs! And you can go inside and pet the cheetahs! Isn't that nuts/totally cool?!! We totally would have done it except we didn't have the time; there was a fairly long lineup of people wanting to have a personal encounter. Too bad, since there will be no petting of cheetahs or any other animal once we start our tour. Ah well.

We then toured Stellenbosch city, South Africa's second oldest city next to Cape Town. Dutch influence everywhere, including the architechture and the language. Afrikaans was on all the street signs, and there was an Afrikaans university there as well. I noticed that this town was mainly full of caucasian people. I think it was actually rich people, who just happen to be mostly white.

When we got back from the half-day tour we were famished. So we headed down the street from our hotel and found a nice little restaurant across the street from the sushi place. Our lunch disappeared rather quickly, I'd say. :) Then we went walking - first inadvertently to the Garden Shopping Center, and then we found our way to The Company's Gardens, which is basically like a huge park and historical buildings all around. Reminded me of Hyde Park in London. Then we walked to the Castle of Good Hope, and the District Six museum, but it was closed. So, we headed back to our hotel. We're rather exhausted.

Tonight we have a meeting with our camping tour guide, and we take off tomorrow in the Land Cruiser on our trip! Sorry for this incredibly long email - but after we're on the road who knows when you'll hear from me...

Hope all is well. Count your blessings today and every day, we are the privileged people in this world, it's true! Nowhere is better than Beautiful British Columbia!!
xo
E!

Cape Town

Hello all

Here I am in Africa, for the second time. Although it really feels like I am here for the first time, since everything is so different than my last experience.

The flight to London went well, I sat in the Emergency Exit row next to a lovely woman and her daughter. I wasn't, however, able to get a wink of sleep. That was not too fun since it was basically a red-eye. Once arrived in London I headed to my hotel for a shower & blissful 4.5 hours sleep before heading back to Heathrow. Another red-eye to Cape Town. The gentleman sitting next to me was pleasant enough, although his English was difficult to understand sometimes (he was German), and he was rather large and sometimes unmeaningly encroached on my personal space.

The flight to Cape Town was pretty good, actually. I watched some TV, and saw some movies (Invictus, of course), and this time I took a sleeping pill to get some rest. Worked great. Even the food on South African Airways was the best I'd had yet (sorry, Air Canada). I did find it strange that there were anti-smoking advisories everywhere but there were still cigarette ashtrays installed. And in the bathroom, the toilet paper was embossed with puppies. You had to look closely but yes, puppies on the toilet paper.

Soon I was all landed and they were happy to let me in. :) I was picked up at the airport by a man with a white piece of paper with my name handwritten on it. That was kind of cool. Um, sortof. I made sure that he was legit before I went anywhere with him, and we had a lovely conversation all the way to my hotel. I find that the English here takes some getting used to; both myself and everyone I talk to has to repeat themselves every other sentence or so. The driver, whose name was Nevr, would not respond to things with "oh?" or "oh ya?" -- he would instead say "is it?" Kinda threw me off a bit, heh.

So I had a nap once I got in here to the hotel, and now I am waiting for Shawna to arrive; she should be here sometime in the next 3-4 hours I think. It's 6:20pm S.A. time, so that's not too long to wait. I already had dinner which involved me venturing out on my own (gasp!) down to the end of the block. The guy at the front desk said twice, to hold onto my camera because I look a lot like a tourist, and somebody could swipe it. Probably a purse with a camera in it would be better. I would be lost without my camera!

There were some people yelling in the street so I just went in the first cafe I could find and it turned out to be sushi. Well, we are on the coast here, so it should be good, right? I ordered a couple of things and when she brought two of everything she explained that it was 2 for 1 until 5pm. Sheesh! No stranger to a lot of sushi at home, but do I want to be eating twice as much of it here? Who knows. Hopefully it sits well. Probably not my best choice for my first Cape Town meal.

The internet here is sketchy and keeping cutting out. Hopefully you get this!
Hope all is well,
xo
E!

Day 7 - Babcock Lake, Skoi Lake, Spectacle Lakes, Swan Lake & Bowron Lake

Today we portaged along Babcock Creek so that we would miss plummeting down the huge Cariboo Falls we saw yesterday. We left early to avoid any weather issues, but the best laid plans...

Initially we made very good time on the water. I was paddling with Adam in the stern, and I had pretty much perfected the forward stroke at this point. A previous rotator cuff injury in my left shoulder had left me a little concerned about today's paddle, and what do you know, it turns out I wasn't doing the forward stroke as efficiently as I could have. Who knew? Well, Adam did. He was a great help and motivator for me. By the time I was running like a well-oiled machine, I couldn't feel even as much as a twinge in my shoulder. Amazing what proper form does!

We had beautiful weather, and it was sunny and calm. That is, until somebody looked back over our shoulder and saw a huge storm approaching us. Ohboy, does that ever put the wind in your sails! Sure enough, a lightning storm hit the lakes. The protocol for a storm is to get off the water, and wait it out. Luckily it was not directly overhead, it was more in the mountains to our left. Still, that kind of thing can shift and change at any moment, and if it does, you don't want to be the highest point on the lakes, holding a metal-shafted paddle. Eep! We paddled along the shore, fighting wind and impending rain, always ready to make a move to safety if necessary. It was exciting and stressful.

The storm passed on our left and soon we were paddling in clear and calm weather again. We came around a bend to a special treat: a baby moose and its mama. We just sat, and relaxed, and watched them for a while. We felt so privileged to be able to be in their world for a few moments. The cameras were flying, and everyone was pretty dead silent. The wildlife really came out after that. We were accompanied by an eagle who flew circles around us as we continued our paddle down the lakes. We also saw a mama duck with a group of babies swimming around her. It was incredibly special.

We took a short hiatus at a site for a bathroom break (turns out I was the only one, eep!), and as we pulled up we noticed another rainstorm headed our way. You can imagine how fast people got moving. Being rained upon is a great motivator! Doug was yelling at us, Adam was pushing to move, and you could feel the urgency in the group. Everyone wanted to get to our campsite.

Once we arrived at our site (#50), we had a discussion and a decision to make. We could set-up camp for the day and stay our last night as planned, or we could soldier on. The rest of the paddling would take us to the end of the trip, although it would be several more hours. Most people wanted to go ahead, myself included, even though I was already exhausted. We just felt like we were on a roll, and even though it probably meant spending money on a hotel room for the night, it sounded really attractive.

We ate some lunch and some people switched partners. I was now paddling with Peter in the stern. We headed off to begin the last few hours of paddling, which turned out to be harder than I thought. Peter & I were the last boat to launch, and the sweep boat (with Laureen & Doug) were waiting for us. Everyone else was ahead of us, but I was enjoying myself too much to care. We paddled through the end of the lake and into a marshy area, where we came upon another treat! A young moose bathing in the river. He kept his eye on us, all the while giving us a show. It was pretty majestic.

Anyone who has ever been out of their element physically knows how hard it is to push yourself and work as hard as you can to catch up to your group, only to have them push off again and leave you behind as you struggle to catch your breath. That's what the last leg was like for our 2 boats. We worked hard to catch up, and our group who had had a nice little break & snack while waiting for us, were rested and ready to go once we arrived. We never really got a chance for a break, and it showed. It was incredibly frustrating, actually. But, people were spurred on to reach the end, and it also looked like some more inclement weather was headed our way.

And so it was, and in full-force, too. Our two boats got blown apart from the group as they paddled away from us. We were in super-choppy water with a heavy headwind. At first it was distressing that the rest of our group seemed to be such small specks on the horizon (we had so far to go!), but we supported each other, talked and encouraged. There was no point in despairing when there was work to do! Nobody's going to get you out of this except yourself! And so we re-started that well-oiled machine and hunkered down. Soon enough we re-joined our group, and finally, we all took a break together at the shore side.

The last bit of paddling took us down Bowron Lake and to the beginning where we started. We cheered a little as we hauled our boats out of the water, and did our last portage to the parking lot. We packed up gear, cleaned up garbage, hoisted canoes back onto people's vehicles, changed into different clothes, and finally met as a group with Lance for a short & sweet presentation of certificates. Yes, I got certified! My certificate says that I have successfully completed the Recreational Canoeing Association of BC's Paddler's Course as a Basic Tandem, Advanced Tandem and Tripping Paddler. Woohoo! Yay me.

All of us except two drove to Quesnel and had dinner at Boston Pizza. It was the best food I'd had in my life! Then Quina, Erin and I drove to Williams Lake and stayed in the Coast Hotel where I had the best shower in my life! And then the best sleep of my life on the best bed!

The biggest thing that I came out of this trip with is a huge sense of gratitude. I'm so grateful that I could do this trip. Out of all 14 participants, everyone had either done the trip before, was an camping/outdoor enthusiast, or was fairly athletic. I fit in none of those categories, and I didn't let it stop me. I was able to succeed with the support of my friends and colleagues. The fact that it was a struggle at times has given me confidence about what I am able to accomplish, and more importantly, the great things that can happen when people come together and support one another. I'm proud to work in a district where there are opportunities like this for kids, and I feel like I can be an advocate where I couldn't be before.

I am also grateful for the clean drinking water we have at home, the relative absence of mosquitoes, the fresh food and vegetables I have available to me, and have a total appreciation for pioneers and settlers to this country. My little trip doesn't even begin to touch the hardship, struggle and strife they must have encountered.

My deepest gratitude goes out to my colleagues and friends from this trip. It was an experience like none other, and I'll never forget it!



(Day 7 photos here.)

Day 6 - Lanezi Lake, Sandy Lake, Cariboo River, Unna Lake & Rum Lake

This morning we not only left uber-early to avoid that crazy wind we saw yesterday, but we weren't quiet about taking down camp! You see, the aforementioned individuals at the neighbouring shelter were up rather late, and they were definitely hooting & hollering. So, we figured it was kind of payback. So there, you hooligans! Take that! :)

And we were off. Today I paddled with Peter in the stern. There was very little wind and we were glad to have left early. We paddled through some very marshy areas with a sharp eye, looking for the elusive wildlife. At one point, Peter, who is in a men's choir, and Laureen, who is also a singer, started singing the most beautiful melody. It was amazing and lovely, and somehow totally suited for our surroundings. That is, until the rest of the group (who were ahead of us) started yelling at our boats to shut up. They were more keen on not scaring away any possible moose or bears - everyone wanted to try out their new photography tips! ;)

Once we were all together, Adam organized our boats into a star-shape and we did a reflection activity. It was nice to just sit, relax, and think about all we had accomplished so far. Much of this trip was go-go-go, and this was a nice change. At least it was nice until the mosquitoes found us. Once we were targeted, our quiet reverie was consistently interrupted by somebody slapping away a bug. Then it was more like a drum circle. :P

We paddled on. Through the lakes and rivers, and over to a lovely group site (#42) at the edge of Rum Lake. Rum Lake was extremely beautiful, and people were angling for a swim by this point, given that none of us had showered in many days. So we set-up camp, ate some lunch, and then had a quick dip in very cold water. It felt great! Later on we discovered that it had leeches. Yup, leeches. Good thing that it was a very quick swim!

After a little relaxing, we took a side-trip to Cariboo Falls, another waterfall area which we would be avoiding with a portage tomorrow. We paddled across Rum Lake and Unna Lake, and hiked a trail down to Cariboo Falls. They were huge! They made the previous falls we saw look rather puny. It was a monster waterfall. It rained a little bit, but not much, and it stopped after not too long. And really, rain wasn't daunting me much anymore after making it through Day 1 and 2.

Once we got back to camp, we soon had guests! The local rangers (who looked to be just out of highschool) came by on their jet boat and chatted with us for a bit. They mainly wanted to know about the rowdy hooligans who'd stayed next to us yesterday. Apparently other campers had made complaints about them as well. It was nice to chat with those guys and see some fresh faces.

Once we finished eating dinner, Quina gave her presentation to the group: How to Make Bannock. She explained how bannock came about, and then made it for everyone in our group. The treat was that she had brought some bona fide maple butter with her, all the way from Quebec! It was good before, but it was even more delicious with that maple butter. YUM.

Soon after we had our treat, Jeff gave his presentation on Giardia aka "Beaver Fever." It was just wonderful to hear about how this little organism gets in your system and reproduces, all the while causing havoc and pain. It was ICK - not that Jeff minded - he's a science guy. It was rather informative and interesting, but it had all of us questioning our water purification techniques. I think after that presentation, Quina & I filtered, boiled AND treated our water. Too bad we got that presentation on Day 6.

Once we gathered around the fire, Peter did his workshop. He taught us traditional songs from Barkerville and the area. I wish I could remember the names of them! He had us singing in 3-part harmony around the fire; it was really neat. It really added to the feeling and the ambiance of the area. Plus, we just had fun together singing and laughing. Another great day ended with hot chocolate, and wonderful people.



(Day 6 photos are here.)

Day 5 - Isaac River, McLeary Lake, Cariboo River & Lanezi Lake

Today started with a portage along the Isaac River, which was about 1.6 km. We stopped at the waterfall for lunch; we were able to hike along the end of the trail and get pretty close to take some photos and enjoy a few bites.

Then we had a short paddle (0.5 km) and then another short portage (0.2 km). Then we were onto McLeary Lake. Adam was in the stern, and I in the bow. After a bit of paddling (1.5 km), the lake turned into the Cariboo River, which we paddled for 8 km.

Not that you paddle much on rivers, mind you. Many of our group say that Day 5 was their favourite day because it was so peaceful. The river currents pretty much just take you along, and you only have to do minor corrections to stay on the right path. There are a few times when you need to work hard to fight against the current, but they are worth the rest of the time on the river. You also cover a lot of ground on the river, because it's doing all the work for you - so it can go pretty fast.

One of the bow person's jobs is to watch for trees and logs and other obstructions coming up in the path of the boat. The stern person has to steer, and so they rely on the bow person to yell "deadhead" (large tree or stick coming straight up from the bottom) or "sweep" (a long-reaching item coming out from the shore) if they need to change course. This is even more important on a river since you're moving quite fast. If you get a hole in your boat, you're pretty much done for. On the trip we saw several destroyed/ruined/abandoned boats.

By the time we got to the end of Cariboo River, it had become quite windy. And not at our backs, either. We still had 4 km of Lanezi Lake to cover before we'd reach our campsite and we were fighting the whole way. It was exhausting!

Adam remembered that there was a shelter next to the campsite, and we were hoping to get there but once we arrived, we saw that it was taken by a bunch of young men. This was sorely disappointing since there were 14 of us and we surely would have utilized that space better than the 4 of them. Adam volunteered to go and check out the situation at the shelter while our group set-up camp. And who is paddling with Adam? You guessed it.

The waves were huge by this time due to that crazy wind and we were seeing some whitecaps. We had a very short paddle to do (the shelter was next door to our campsite but was separated by a creek, so we couldn't walk there), but it was tumultuous! It was, honestly, totally fun! That might have been the most fun I had in a canoe in the whole trip. When the waves are bouncing you around like that, you have to stay really loose in your hips and counter-balance your weight. It was a little mini ab-workout! The short trip was fun, but I can't imagine what it'd be like to paddle in that all day.

So Adam & I approach these guys who are in the shelter area, and they are not terribly forthcoming, but neither are they unfriendly. We scope the area out, confirm that they are using up the whole space (d'oh!), and head back to our canoe - choppy waves to be conquered yet again. Strangely, those guys show up at OUR camp not too long later - a couple of them are just wandering around, looking at our stuff. This rather bothers Doug, who approaches them with an axe in hand, and demands to know what they were looking for. They answer with "a piece of wood that might have floated down here" or something else as ridiculous. Some of us are convinced that they were sussing out our camp to see if there were things to steal. Nothing came of it, though, and besides, we grossly outnumbered them. And they don't have Doug on their side!

Each of us on this trip was asked to present a workshop during the trip. The workshop could be on any topic related to this expedition. Doug gave us information about Bear & Cougar Safety, Penny forwarded information about the History of Bowron Lakes, etc. My workshop of choice was Beginner's Photography Tips. Given that most of the people on the trip had small, point & shoot cameras, I gave a few suggestions about composition, how to manipulate the flash, how to focus (depth of field), what makes a photo interesting, basic technical tips, and showed a few examples. I think it went well enough, although if you know me, you know that I hate presenting because I get terribly nervous. However at this point people had seen me at my worst, so really... how much worse could it get? ;)

Then Ed did his presentation on compass & mapping. Soon afterwards we headed to bed, because we were leaving uber-early to avoid the headwind the next day. I think the wake-up call was to be 5am or something almost as painful. After we got in our tents and invested some time in killing the mosquitoes who managed to join us, we drifted off to dream of another amazing day on the water!



(Day 5 photos here.)

Day 4 - Isaac Lake (is big)

Today we paddled the rest of Isaac Lake. It was a fairly long paddle, coming in at 16.5 km. I was in the stern this time, with Adam in the bow. Time to put my thinking cap on!

Every day sometime near the beginning of our paddle, Lance would bring us together in a group and teach us how to do more specialized canoe strokes. In addition to the J-stroke, the pry, the draw, the forward stroke, the scull and the sweep, we also learned the Canadian stroke and the pitch stroke. In fact, I am certain we learned more strokes than that - I just can't remember.

No rain today. Amazing views. Just check out the photos if you don't believe me! Today I was truly feeling the gratitude of having the opportunity to do this trip. It wasn't like Day 1 and 2 never happened, but it sure made it seem more and more worth it.

We paddled by a huge waterfall and I briefly joked with Adam about how I wanted to get out of the boat and get my photo taken on the rocks at the bottom. I quickly retracted that though, and to our amazement two of our group had the same idea. We watched as Roj and Erin got out of their respective canoes and climbed up the rocks.

And kept climbing. Waitaminute, where are they going? Apparently the photo ops from higher up were more desirable, but once they finished their poses, it became clear that coming down again would be no easy feat. I was imagining all sorts of horrors and Adam was getting nervous as well. From where we were sitting we could see that their footing was very slippery and the rockface was steep. Suddenly this didn't seem like such a great idea after all. I was glad I wasn't up there with them!

Their athletic prowess served them well, however, and perhaps luck also played a part. They made it down pretty much unscathed. Talk about drama! Yikes!

Before arriving at each campsite, we needed to stop at a woodpile and pick up our firewood for the night. The woodpile sites were not often near the campsites, and seeing as how we didn't want to leave camp once we got there, that meant everyone made the pit stop on the way. It basically meant pulling up to a bank (designated with a large sign with a "W" on it), the bow person clambered out of the boat, and hiked off to find the woodpile. In the meantime the stern person usually needed to pull out of the bank to let other canoes in. Then we rotated back around to pick up our bow person and the (hopefully dry) firewood they brought back with them. It was like a slow-moving traffic jam. By the last day, we had it pretty coordinated but the first few times it seemed a bit of a gong show.

Today I was in the stern, so Adam got out of the boat, found the woodpile and hucked a bunch of semi-dry logs into our boat. I had to navigate the canoe by myself without his help, which wasn't too hard since I didn't have to go too far. It was kind of fun, actually.

Arriving at camp (#28/29) this time was great because the group campsite was located right beside the group shelter - you know, the covered area with a stove and picnic tables. This was especially handy and made meal-making an enjoyable and social time. Inside the shelter are all sorts of graffiti & notes and mementos left by previous paddlers. Hanging from the boughs and the ceiling are hand-carved paddles and canoes that people inscribe with their names and dates. They were everywhere at this shelter! It was really neat. We had fun reading the stories people left and their little poems and carvings, and seeing where everyone was from. I don't think we left any of our own... our legacy came in the form of blood, sweat and tears! ;) That was more than enough for me.

Right beside the group shelter was a river, and Lance took people out before dinner to have a little "fun" on the rapids. Quina & I were still setting up camp at the time people were going, so we just decided to watch from the safety of the bank. I took video clips of several twosomes crossing from one side of the river to another and there were a couple of dramatic moments! River canoeing is fun, but you sure gotta be on the ball!

After dinner, we went for a hike down the portage trail that we'd be doing tomorrow. It was nice to use our legs for a change. At the end, we got to see where the rapids ended up - in a huge waterfall (which was part of the reason for the portage, so we wouldn't canoe over the falls to a watery demise!). When we got back, we had a meeting about the next day's plan, and took a few more photos.

I was either back at the shelter or on the bank by the river when I caught the news of a moose in our camp. Well, not only was it in the camp, it ran directly beside our tent to get to the lake on the other side! Furthermore, Quina was IN our tent when it happened! She got out rather quickly and joined the others who watched the moose swim across the water to the other side. Pretty exciting!

This trip just keeps getting better. :)



(Day 4 photos here.)