Kayaking North Vancouver Island

A few months ago, my friend Christopher from Sweden let me know that he was coming back to BC in July to do a 6 week kayak trip along the west coast of Vancouver Island.  How I wish I had the time to  join him!  I could manage however to go with him for a week.  At first, he thought of going from Tofino to Port Hardy.  After speaking to a knowledgeable kayaker from EcoMarine,   we found out that it is better to go the opposite direction, mostly due to currents and wind.  It was decided then, we would drive up to Port Hardy.  There are several islands not far where we could camp and fish and where I could easily return while he kept going. 

After having got all his supplies and food together, we packed up our gear and kayaks and left in the morning.  It's difficult to make it all the way up to northern Vancouver Island in one day.   Two thirds up the island, we pulled over at a rest stop which had a nice small clearing in the forest and set up the tent. The next morning we arrived in Port Hardy, had breakfast in a cafe where we met Norm, a local, who pointed out on our chart several good fishing spots for ling cod and halibut.  The salmon he said were everywhere.

It took Chris about an hour to set up his Norwegian folding kayak,  a high tech version of a skin-on-frame kayak.   Similar to Feathercraft kayaks from Vancouver (and probably just as expensive), he told me he was sponsored by that company so he had it for free.  In fact, he was sponsored by a few companies for this trip and told me more about an adventure company he had started with a few friends in Sweden.  He also had two cameras and a Go-pro to film and photograph the trip which would then be edited into a film and posted online.



The paddle out from the large bay of Port Hardy to the channel was straightforward although the wind was picking up.  By the time we paddled through a narrow passageway between Vancouver island and a small island,  it was howling at 25 knots with whitecaps.  Luckily,  there was a floating fishing lodge protected in a small bay where we stopped for a couple of hours, having some coffee that David, the owner, brewed for us.  We saw several of his guests return to the docks with large salmon and halibut.  Everyone was eager to share their stories of fishing and what spots were better than others.  Seeing the size of a 65 lb halibut gave me the jitters as I imagined catching one of those on the line from a kayak.

It was a gorgeous day but the wind was not letting up, so at around 5 pm we decided to paddle straight into the wind up the coast several km to a rocky beach that was good for camping.  Thankfully,  there were a few small bays that gave us a break from the wind but everytime we passed a point,  it was a major workout to just barely crawl forward.  When we finally got to the beach, which was in a bay somewhat protected from the wind, we saw that the salmon were jumping everywhere in about three feet of water.   I caught one right off the bat, a 5 pounder that would be perfect for dinner.  Chris, the avid fisherman, was indeed excited and stayed out another hour fishing. Once on the beach, we met Shay, a solo kayaker who had set up camp and who was a month into a circumnavigation trip of Vancouver Island starting from Salt Spring Island.  A vague feeling of pity crossed my mind as he declined my offer for some fresh grilled salmon.  As a vegetarian, he was having rice with some sort of seasoning.  Although we were in a pretty remote part of BC, you still meet many colourful characters either locals or people from all over.

The North Westerlies blew strong for the next few days so we had to make do crossing the channel with some fairly large chop on the water.  Each camp spot we found was awesome and unique, as were the clouds, fog and shades of light.  I had brought a couple of Romeo & Julieta Cuban cigars that we smoked one evening by the fire.  It went perfect with the Sailor Jerry's spiced rum.   One afternoon at a camp,  I got a piece of cedar and started whittling away to make a fishing gaffe and club for Chris.  I had found a nice piece of caribou antler for him that I had in my storage back home and lashed it to the wood. As it looked a little like the dorsal fin of an orca, we dubbed it the "Orclub".  It was not all about salmon...  we caught and ate some rock fish, greenlings and black bass.  I did catch a ling cod, but it was on the small side so I there threw it back.  Chris,  jigging with a huge Norwegian lure,  brought up to the surface some massive rock fish, probably at 18lbs... but it  got away, not that we would have kept it as there would have been enough meat on that to feed half a dozen people.

Finding a feather that I put on the stern of his yak,  I  baptized it as "Black Feather" 

After having spoken to a few people about the hazards of Cape Scott,  (the most northern tip of Vancouver island that separates the mighty Pacific from the entrance to the straight between the island and the coast) I suggested to Chris that maybe it would be better if he skip it, as it is the most challenging part of the entire island, even for expert kayakers, which Chris or myself are not. The marine forecasts that we listened to daily on his VHF indicated very strong winds for the next several days in that region.   He could easily start from Quatsino Sound,  which could be accessed from Port Alice, up a long inlet and only a half hour drive from Port Hardy.  So we changed plan and he would accompany me back to Port Hardy.

We returned across the channel to the long beach campsite where we had spent the first night and luck had it that after paddling 4 days against north westerlies, the wind started blowing a strong south easterly,  head on to where we wanted to go.  A heavy rain fell as well.  For me however,  I didn't mind because I am always amazed at the variety of conditions, the palette of greys, the constantly shifting fog and clouds.  The wind subsided and the salmon started jumping again.  It is always thrilling to see one jump and seconds after casting to that same spot, bang! you catch it.  They were mostly Pink salmon but Chris got a Coho that we had for dinner.  The rest were catch and release,  which we even caught casting from the beach.  It rained heavily that evening, but we were under a tarp with a small fire and Sailor Jerry.  The last morning, as the fog lifted with streaks of sunlight on a calm surface, we saw and heard a large pod of orcas cruising a few hundred metres off shore.  As we were returning to town, this time we could catch and keep up to four salmon each, which we did by either trolling or casting as they jumped, which they did, the whole paddle back.  Once at the port's boat launch,  I cleaned the fish, bought a cooler with ice and had about 30 lbs of salmon which I would later vacuum pack and freeze back home.  We drove to the small town of Port Alice, got a B&B,  and had a beer in the local pub.  Chris was able to recharge some batteries and check out some of his video footage.  I drove him to the boat launch at 7 am the next morning, a little envious of his amazing trip ahead of him,  gave him a big hug and looked forward to hearing all his stories in 6 weeks time.

Bowron Lakes

I had heard of this famous canoe route several years ago and thought that it would be a perfect place as an introduction to paddling and camping for Irene and her two boys. Most people do the entire circuit, a series of lakes in BC's Cariboo mountains that are linked by rivers and portages and which usually takes 6 to 9 days. A shorter trip up and down the west side takes about 4 days. We opted for the latter.   

I was a little surprised at some of the requirements in planning the trip, i.e. having to book in advance your time there, some of the costs, an obligatory orientation... however, I realized that it is an extremely popular canoe route and the Parks Board must limit the amount of people using it, especially in the busy months of July and August.  As my canoeing experience was always in more remote areas of Manitoba and Ontario, the existence of wide, groomed portages where people use wheeled carts to carry their canoe and gear was an interesting one for me.   As well, paddlers can only stay at designated campsites and must use the tent pads, fire pits and bear caches for food that are in place at each site.  Some spots even have cut firewood provided for you!  All understandable though, considering the number of people using the park.  Keeping the impact on the nature of these sites to a minimum is an obvious priority.

We left Vancouver at 6:00 a.m. and made it up the scenic Cariboo highway in central British Columbia to Bowron Provincial Park by late afternoon.  After having spent the night at the campground there, we picked up a rental canoe (had to get a fairly long one to fit the two boys and the gear) and we were on our way.  As we were doing the west side which only had two short portages and one somewhat long one, I chose not to rent the wheel cart as it would take up a bit too much room in the canoe.  (I would feel the weight of that 85 lb canoe on my shoulders later though!) The water was like glass and the sun was shining.  Nice way to  start the trip.

At the end of Bowron lake there is a huge marsh area, where the Bowron river flows into the lake.  There are several meandering river-like passageways through the marsh and we went the wrong way a couple of times.  I must admit though,  the map provided at the orientation was not the greatest.   Excuses, excuses... We saw another canoe party heading through the right passage way which had an orange marker, so after lunch, we followed the right way.  As mentioned by the ranger, the high probability of seeing moose in this area did not disappoint and we saw a young female eating weeds in the water nonchalantly as we paddled by.  

When we got to the next lake, the boys tried their hand at paddling (somewhat successfully) to give Mommy a break.  I put out a fishing line and caught a small trout.  I threw it back thinking it was too small, forgetting that in mountain lakes,  often that's all you get.  Speaking to some other paddlers who had just done most of the circuit, it seemed that the fishing was not that great.   We were lucky in that our first campsite, which had a log shelter, a cabin and room for a dozen tents,  was empty except for us.  The mosquitoes however greeted us in full force and the netting that Irene brought for herself and the boys helped.  I brought along some Deet which I did use on the portage the following day.

  

The following day was also a calm one on the water.  We met quite a few groups of canoes going the other direction.  At the long portage, carrying the heavy canoe was indeed quite exhausting and I envied the wheel carts we saw the other parties using.  The boys did pretty good carrying the gear, but we still had to do two trips to bring all the stuff over to the other side.  Once we got to our campsite at Unna lake, a small lake with a great mountain view, we set up the tent, stashed the food in the metal bear cache box, then paddled to the other end of the lake to a hiking trail that brought us to a magnificent waterfall of the fast flowing Cariboo river.

Another beautiful sunset, a good meal and a garder snake at the campsite before leaving the following morning toward the return trip.  I would have liked to explore a bit further but the paddle to the next lake required going several kilometres up the Cariboo river which, at this time of year, had a much too strong current against us.  After finishing the three portages, the clouds moved in, a tail wind picked up (thankfully)  and the rain started falling.  It's actually great to have a variety of conditions and I didn't mind being out on the lake with drops hitting the water.  It's almost preferable  to a windless day with the hot beating sun on your skin.  We stopped for lunch, continued on through a narrow passageway just before our last campsite and I set out the line for the boys to fish and they caught three 'pike minnows' within half an hour.  A first for the boys who were very excited.  This time we kept them and once arrived at the camp spot, the rain conveniently stopped falling for us to set up the tent and get dinner going.  These fish had lots of bones and they weren't that tasty but it was still fun. 

We set out quite early the last morning and we were back in the large marsh area.  This time we saw two bull moose as well as a female. Beautiful!   Although it was only 9:00 a.m. by the time we got out of the marsh and into Bowron lake, the wind was blowing strong against us and there were whitecaps on the water.  We had to paddle diagonally against the waves to get as close as possible to the shore.  It was a bit nerve wracking for Irene who had never experienced those kind of conditions but it subsided as soon as we got close to shore and eventually the wind died down further along the lake.

We landed at the outfitting place around noon,  loaded up the car, then drove to nearby Barkerville, the famous gold rush town in BC that is preserved like it was over 100 years ago.  There was an interesting assortment of log buildings and even better, people dressed in period costumes, strolling around, assuming characters of that time.  Lots of historical information of life during the gold rush, anecdotes of people who came from all over the world to this isolated region of northern BC.  As always after a camping trip, it was nice to sit in a restaurant and have a good meal.  The one in Barkerville was amazing, in an old style restaurant with a wood stove in the middle of the room, the wall paper of the era, the waitress in a long dress.  The lasagna and quesadillas were so good.  The road trip back home split into two days as we took a motel in the picturesque little town of Clinton, halfway back to Vancouver.  Overall, an awesome trip.  I will definitely return one day to do the entire circuit.

Currencies of the World

In my youth,  my two aunts who had never married and spent much of their free time traveling all over the world, had regularly given me bills and coins of foreign currencies.  Later, when my brother started traveling he also kept paper bills for me. This continued with my own travels.  Whenever I came across nice looking notes,  I would try to find one in good condition and keep them in a book to add to my ever growing collection back home.   I would also pick some up now and then if I came across some coin and stamp collection shop that had some interesting bank notes.

Don Quixote on a Spanish Peseta

What I love about paper money from different  countries is that they are a reflection of each country's history, culture, environment or politics. Also, they keep changing them every ten years or so (sometimes faster if there is a huge devaluation of a currency). On the other hand, some countries have joined forces for one single currency.  Unfortunately for my collection,  the Euro has eliminated over a dozen such classic currencies as the franc, the mark, the peseta or the lire.  This has also happened in parts of Africa.  Conversely,  with the disappearance of the Soviet Union, a dozen new currencies were created.  There are many similar themes on bank notes. Often, in developing  countries,  you see imagery of progress with pictures of tractors or industry. Others would be historical or political personalities.  Images of local flora and fauna  is also very common.  I have some bills with long gone strongmen and tyrants such as Idi Amin Dada or Saddam Hussein.  Some bills are very colourful,  others more classic in design.  Others include the latest technologies to prevent counterfeiting.   Here is a sample of various bills that I really like from the beginning of the twentieth century right up to recent times. 

German marks from the 1920s

Greek drachma, 1944

Beautiful bills from Hungary. top 1941 bottom 1952

Two more Hungarian forint from the 1990s

Irish pounds  before the Euro.  This series of bills has some great calligraphy.

20 Francs,  1942

The last series of the Franc before the Euro, with a great ode to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and "Le Petit Prince"

I love the simplistic graphics of this 1991 bill from Lithuania

a 1909 bill from Russia

A heroic figure from the Ukraine

Georgia 1990s

10 Kroner -  Denmark, 1936

50 Lire - Italy,  1951

The next series of currencies are from Asia.   The Chinese and Japanese ones are from the 1930s. I also included a few bills from French Indochina in the 1940s which have a typical "orientaliste" theme of native culture as seen through the eyes of Europeans.  Two bills from Cambodia reflect  different political climates,  one from the independent 'Royaume du Cambodge', the other from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge communist regime in 'Kampuchea'. 

China 1935 (top) and 1930 (bottom)

China  1953

Japan  10 yen

Cambodia 1970 with Angkor Wat's famous temples and Khmer Rouge's revolutionary Kampuchea 1975 

Two bills from North Korea,  with the 'Great Leader' Kim Il Sung

I like this small, simple note from Indonesia  1964

Burma, 1970s

an unusual square commemorative note from Thailand

Nepal, 1990s

40th anniversary of the creation of Bangladesh after it's war and succession from Pakistan

Beautiful Islamic patterns on these notes from Uzbekistan

A traditional outrigger canoe from the South Pacific island state of the Cook Islands

Tahiti 1970s

Acknowledgment of Aborigines' culture on this commemorative Australian 10 $ note

Next are the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.   When I was a kid, the colourful Canadian bills with a young Queen and classic Canadian wilderness scenes on the back were my favourite bills.  I included the greenback from the USA.  For all its importance as a global currency, it is one of the most traditional and classic notes which, up until recently, has barely changed at all in its design and appearance.  

A series of this 20$ bill has a "demon" in the Queen's hair.  Do you see it? 

As an avid kayaker,  I love this scene of Inuit with their traditional boats.

"Real money is green" I once heard an American say.  I do like their classic one dollar bill,
even if they should discontinue it and turn it into a coin.  

One of the few bills from Cuba that show Fidel Castro

Nice symmetry of this 5 cruzeiros bill from Brazil (top) and an acknowledgement
of indigenous peoples in a later,much inflated cruzeiro of the 90s.

Classic bank note from Chile,  1961

No shortage of cultural imagery, fascinating portraits and geography for currencies from Africa.

The colonial and post-colonial bills are often colourful and represent daily scenes of people 

or animals. 

L'Afrique Occidentale Française et Togo,  1956

États de l'Afrique équatoriale, 1963

L'Afrique Occidentale,  1941

Belgian Congo, 1953

Banque de la République du Mali,  1960

Cameroon,  1962

The "leopard of Africa" Mobutu Sese Seko,  the long standing dictator of Zaire

Idi Amin Dada's Uganda 1970s

Guinée, 1960

The hyper-inflated note ( ten billion! ) of Mugabe's Zimbabwe

Education,  a common theme on bank notes,  this one from the ever-reclusive state of Eritrea.

An Ethiopian 100 dollar bill during Emperor Haile Selassie's reign,
with his classic "Lion of Judah" symbol. 1960s.

Egypt,  1940

Muammar Gaddafi's  Libya,  1980

Shah's Iran,  1970

A 1990s Iraqi bill with Saddam Hussein

One Riyal, Saudi Arabia

"dix livres" Banque du Liban

One shekel,  Israel,  1958

Turkey,  1970.  One of the few bills that do not have the omni-present
 portrait of Ataturk (founder of modern Turkey) but rather
a nod to their Ottoman past depicting one of the Sultans. 

Currency and paper money are fun to alter in an artistic sort of way.  Here are a few examples of some that I have done.