the osberg camping trip... part two

Our route in the Queen Charlotte Sound: from Port Hardy to Burnett Bay to Cape Sutil and back to Port Hardy.... hope you can zoom in!

So, on with camping trip stories. You had the big bad wolf story and now... though a whale and porpoise symphonic show sounds cheesy and unbelievable, it happened. Every night we enjoyed sitting in front of fabulous campfires, drinking tea and/or Bailey's (yum), toasting and eating marshmallows and watching whales in cahoots with their fellow friends, the porpoises. Okay, so it only happened one night (we did see whales and whale spouts every night, though most often in the near distance) but it was crazy! All of a sudden there was this mild, (and initially unrecognizable) frenzy of water and animal; there was a team (or a few teams) of porpoises that were swimming/playing/jumping around with the whales. The show lasted for about ten minutes? And it happened right in the very bay we were camping in. It was sooooooooooo cool. Through the binoculars you could actually see the porpoises darting ever so gracefully in and out of the water around the backs and spouts of several gray whales. We were all enjoying the sunset show, and snapping away with our cameras... though none of the pictures do it any justice whatsover. It was awesome. SO! Burnett Bay showered us with wildlife spectacles. There were eagles around all the time, and Steve and Doug hauled in some sizeable lingcod that we enjoyed for dinner (cooked over the open fire - drizzled with a butter-lime juice-wasabi-pepper glaze: deLISH!) and then again a day or two later in a seafood chowder. We ate WELL on this trip. Yum, food. So wildlife viewing story number two: a whale and porpoise show.

A third wildlife highlight - this was the best trip in terms of flora and fauna in the history of Osberg Adventures - was the sea lion colony at the north end of Hope Island... what a spectacle. Several years ago (actually ten, yikes) we were taking a gander at a group of sea lions at this very spot when we took a bit of a spill - we involuntarily took a chilly swim with the sea lions - so revisiting the scene of the crime was interesting to say the least. Anyways, there were tons of them! (pah!) What was so special about this visit was that we were greeted (either with curiosity or territorial defensiveness and animosity, not too sure) by a dense pack of female sea lions that were none too shy about coming fairly close to the boats. The noises these ladies made were horrendous - giant belcho-burps and guttural honks.... wow. There was also a big, BIG king pin up on top of the rocks... who was also horrendous - horrendously humongous. This guy was enormous. Not sure if the pictures or videos will do this spot justice but you might get the idea. It was sooooooo so so neat.

We made the trip past Hope Island on day four of our sojourn, on our way to a beach just south of Cape Sutil. It was another gorgeous spot - not as sandy or expansive as Burnett, but still very beautiful.... despite some wet weather. We read, slept, beachcombed and ate. And ate. And ate. On Friday in the late afternoon a fishing boat moored out in the bay, and after a few group yells of "COME FOR DIIINNER!" sans response, Joe and I motored out there to invite fisherman in for some food and company. As it turns out, the boat was manned by Barry and Carlene, two fisherpeople (?) from Port McNeill, a smaller town south of Port Hardy. I've never supped with true fisherpeople, so it was an interesting and enlightening experience; they were great people, and very opinionated (and rightly so) on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans policies and procedures. They were mainly fishing for cod: live cod goes for $10 a pound while dead cod sells for only $1 a pound... so they had a pretty decent school of fish in the hold. We had some beers, sat around under a red tarp, and learned a bit about commercial fishing and tools and techniques until the light was low and we were all ready for bed. We were planning on staying until Sunday morning, but Saturday morning was rainy and damp, and the seas were perfectly calm so we decided to take advantage of the favourable travelling conditions and get back to Port Hardy and then Nanaimo in time for the 9:30 ferry. It was an amazing trip... so much fun and soooo beautiful. Even though we were only gone for a handful of days, coming back to the city was a bit strange; seeing all of the houses and lights and people living so close together in such an urban and busy place - the polar opposite of the life and times of where we'd just been.

So now I'm wrapped up in much busy-ness; I'm working! Finally! I'm doing some volleyball camps at Capilano University (Cap College) and things are as busy as can be. Volleyballs flying everywhere and kids - this week is grades 8-10 - everywhere too. There are some super sweeties, and there are some icky-attitudes, which, as my dad succinctly reminded me, is not uncommon for the grade nine girl. So... here are a few more camping trip shots, and a few amateur maps of where Osberg Adventures took us this year.

Steve's first catch - a lingcod

Doug and Steve with their fish of labour


A perched bald eagle



The north end of Burnett Bay

The whale and porpoise show... pictures don't do it justice!!!

Sea lions at Hope Island... swarming....

Wolf and deer tracks at Cape Sutil

Joe and I launching the boat



Mom and Dad out on the water

Sea lions!!!

the osberg camping trip... part one

I've been gadget and tech-free for an entire week! My Mom and Dad, Doug and Joe (two of my dad's doctor buddies) and Steve and I took off from Port Hardy last week and spent five days exploring, eating, relaxing, beachcombing and viewing wildlife on and off the north coast of Vancouver Island. All computers, cell phones, ipods and non-wilderness tech gadgets were left at home, and it was great. This is my explanation for the zero-blog activity during the past two weeks - yes the trip only ended up being five days BUT we were planning on a six or seven day excursion. On the first launch day we ran into some motor troubles: the motor wouldn't work, (the fact that it had just had its annual pre-trip check up and passed was a considerable, palpable annoyance...) BUT! It didn't stop us. We just enjoyed a first-night luxury camping spot at the Port Hardy Airport Inn - it boasted showers, a beer store and comfortable mattresses - not so bad. And then at the end of the trip we cut things short by a day because of the incredibly favourable weather conditions - the water was as calm as can be... perfect travelling conditions. There was also a storm brewing and after a day of rain (it was our only day of rain.... and light showers at that)... the consensus was to head for home. So... this is what happened in between...

Day two we launched with considerable ease - the practise run and a packed canoe expedited the schlepping (is this a real word?) and packing - we were off and motoring by around 10, which is no small feat. Though the weather wasn't bad, the motors weren't completely up to snuff, so for reasons I ignored, the boats swapped motors in a low, mucky tide in Harlequin Bay and the problems were alleviated. Hurrah. Next up was a choppy and WET crossing of Queen Charlotte Strait that I definitely did not enjoy (I was wet, salty and uncomfortable) and neither did my Mom. Steve, however, being bone dry in his new floater suit, turned to me mid-crossing and said, "This is cool!" I believe I responded with a saline glare. It was delivered out of jealousy and meant for the waves and the choppy seas, definitely not for the dry, happy and smiling person sitting next to me. Anyways, we arrived safe and sound at the beautiful, expansive and empty beach of Burnett Bay, where we were to spend the first three days and nights of the trip. It was gorgeous. I won't say much about the beauty of the place - the pictures can speak for themselves - but I will say a thing or two about some of the events that transpired while we were there. Yes, there was a lot of eating and drinking (mostly eating); a lot of reading, exploring, walking and rock-clambering; there was fishing and, most of all, there was wildlife. Wildlife viewing I should say, and it deserves a new paragraph.

At this first (or second rather) campsite the two wildlife highlights, besides the many eagles we saw cruising around, were: Maggie, the family dog, almost getting attacked by a wolf, and a whale and porpoise show out in the bay. Both were unreal. So the wolf story first. It was low tide, and my dad was playing ball with Maggie, batting it out towards the ocean at low tide. Steve and I were gathering some firewood when all of a sudden, we looked up to see a wolf loping after the dog - it had come out from behind a rocky promontory, presumably having seen the dog but not the rest of us. Though embarrassing to admit, my first thought was: Where did that other dog come from? And then, uuuuhhh, wait.... that's no dog. Meanwhile, my dad starts running after the dog and wolf (at this point the wolf, very nonchalantly, veered off of its doggie-dinner course) and Steve and I followed suit, yelling and suppressing panic-lined thoughts of a wolf attack. The dog, bless her heart, noticed the wolf and started trotting after it! I would have thought that she might have sensed some danger (poodles are supposed to be smart, right?) she didn't. In this wolf she saw the potential for a friend, and wanted to play. And then, the wolf was gone. It was tall and big and skinny and sort of ugly in its scragginess (word?) but beautiful in another way. Very surreal. So that was definitely a show, and a much more enjoyable one that what would have transpired had the wolf had its way with Maggie.

Because it's late and I actually have to work tomorrow (!!!) I'm going to end Part One here, and leave you with some pictures. I'll work on getting a little map of our travels, and a few details on the history of the area, time allowing. Hope everyone is well, and more to come tomorrow!!

The canoe all loaded up chez nous

Steve in his warm, dry, new floater suit ready (or not?) for his first Osberg canoe trip

There is lots of gear; getting on our floater suits

In Harlequin Bay enjoying the view

Burnett Bay... gorgeous!

Only a big bad wolf would want to harm this cute puppy...

Fine white sandy beach and sunny skies....

some before and afters

ORANGE! We picked orange for the kitchen. Yikes. But we like it so far! There is one great big orange wall though, and it seems to be asking for some clothing in the form of art, or pictures. Here are some befores and afters... and some of us working away - there were five of us (Steve's parents Bob and Marg, his aunt Margriet and the two of us), so progress was ... actually progress! With just the two of us we would still be working on the living room. I'm writing this from Vancouver and dinner is ready, so I'll write more later! Yum, pizza.

A messy-before kitchen.... infested with purple.

Orange and organized! Hopefully both themes will last...

princess pink (another infestation of pepto-inspired colour)




matching trim! neutral colours! grown up furniture! (ikea replaces university hand me downs) clean windows!

steve reading!

women at work: orange-o-rama


Margriet, our perched primer

i dress up to garden
they even painted the storage cubby pink! all of it!! AGh

steve cleaning. i mean painting.

preparing to retile a bathroom shower area...

Our porch pots got a marvellous makeover from Marg.... hurray!

back at it...

We're back in Winnipeg! We had an amazing time in Calgary... Erin and Fred's wedding was so much fun, and they both looked amazing - we've got a lot to live up to after this. People kept asking me if I was learning anything or getting any ideas AND what I learned is that we should elope. Of course we won't... but being the centre of alllll of the attention and having an entire event be all about US is.... well it's lots of things, including intimidating, exciting, overwhelming and ??? completely worth it. I get excited and nervous all at once but yay. Less than a year to go, yikes. The rest of the vball camp was fantastic too... it was ALL good! The Sunday after the wedding we spent the day out at the Litwiniuk's eating piles of sausages.... and drinking more. And eating more cupcakes - this, I have to say, was one of the highlights of the wedding. Erin and Fred made their very own wedding cupcakes, and after sampling some of the famous "Crave" cakes I personally declared E&F the winners.... they were so good that in total I probably ate more than ten of them. Right now that sounds downright gross... but they were oh so so so good. Yum. Monday we hung out in Calgary and we spent Tuesday, Wednesday and the bottom half of Thursday in Banff. Highlights included viewing wildlife, hiking Johntson canyon, climbing Sulphur mountain, eating: a deLISH home-cooked veggie pasta meal and another deLISH Greek restaurant dinner, and drinking: wine, beer and some hard stuff. The most challenging moment of the weekend was the Sulphur mountain deal; the big climb stands out because it was directly preceded (by only three hours) by an all-night drinking episode. Cousins Pam, Paul and Steve and I drank the place dry and played Yuker, Crib and Yahtzeee until mmmmm, 5:30am or so. So yes, the 9:30 hike was challenging, and in more ways than one. The views and company at the top were rewarding (the rest of the family took cable cars up... pah!), and we felt pretty decent for both the amount of sleep, and the amount of rye we er, got/consumed. Good times.

SO! We made the trip back to Calgary on Thursday afternoon, and one-shotted it all the way back to Winnipeg on Friday - the drive was looooooong. Steve's parents and Aunt Margriet arrived yesterday and today... boot camp began. Painting. We are finally getting rid of the pink and purple! haHA! We got so much done today, I'm truly amazed. If it were just Steve and I attempting the job we wouldn't have painted nearly as much. Not even close. SO! We are mega thankful (mega thankful?) that we have such great helpers here. Yay. Not too much else to report.... I'm going to try to get a couple of pics up but be forewarned. They may be completely random.

We made it to the Stampede on Monday where I picked up this fine hat and visited some large animals...

This did NOT make me feel any better about eating bacon.

Day One (above)

Making our way up Sulphur

The view from the top... gorgeous!!

Wedding pics to come next time....

Goings-ons

Well, so far this week has been a busy one - I've spent lots of time at the gym, we've been able to hang out with family and friends and... there have been a few birthdays. First - volleyball: the camp is great - the fun and knowlegdable all-female coaching stuff has made it a super week, and the athletes have, by and large, been pretty good too. Probably the most rewarding thing about coaching is when you actually see an athlete make a change and/or figure something out and then light up like crazy... it's awesome. It happened today, so I came home on a bit of a high - as I'm sure did she. Yay. Things around Erin and Fred's have been busy too - family has arrived and everyone is having fun; furthermore, with only two days to go before the big day, everyone seems calm, and relatively stress free. The phone is ringing off the hook but whatever. I've also been able to hang out with my sister Claire - last night Steve, Claire and I went out for sushi... sooo good. After dropping Steve off here, Claire and I went back to her place, watched some Sex and the City and passed out - perfect. I still haven't seen the movie... but it's on my list of things to do. Well, it's not - but it should be! What else... birthdays - I'm referring to Canada Day and Quebec City. Not that they were both entirely happy days - in BC the carbon tax went into effect on July 1st - what a way to celebrate... seriously. Oh, wait - they did give every BC resident a $100 tax credit. Er, yes - that makes it all okay. We briefly watched the news on CBC on Tuesday and it prompted me too look on their website at stories and comments; consensus? Money grab in the name of environmentalism. Oh, and to curry favour with ... well, with almost anyone who lives outside of BC. Seriously. My favourite comment (I only read the first two pages... there are 338 comments on the story):

Man produces 3% of all C02. The other 97 % is produced by nature. So Canada produces 2% of 3%, or .06% of global C02. Since the total amount of all C02 in the atmosphere is only .038% (or 380 parts per million), if we multiply .06% by total C02 .038% we get a very tiny number .0000228%. (equivelant to 1/5 of 1 part per million), and Canadas total contribution to atmospheric C02. If Canada completely ceased any burning of fossil fuels, thats the difference in atmospheric C02 that would be achieved . If you break it down regionally, to provincial emmissions, you get an even more insignificant number. So Gordon Campbells tax grab is nothing more than that. It will have no affect on C02 levels, but will punish people for driving to work and heating their homes.

I have no idea how accurate that information is nor do I have the energy to look into it (pah! the energy!) but, the punishment for driving to work and heating homes (and shipping and buying food and goods) will, in my opinion (counts for very little), most strongly affect northern, rural, and smaller communities; it will affect tourism and economic development, and create an even bigger divide between Vancouver's Lower Mainland and the rest of the province. Anyways - what a lovely birthday present for British Columbians. I know nothing really about Quebec City and its 400th birthday but it is one of the oldest cities in North America... so bravo. The city we lived in in Yaroslavl is celebrating its 1000th birthday in a few years but whatever - QC, like Canada, is a young bud.

Other goings-ons: the stampede is starting tomorrow - or was it today? Meh. And tomorrow is my last day of coaching... and then the wedding! Yay! So. I'll have pics up soon - the camera will come out of its bottom-of-the-purse hibernation. It will. My mom is coming for the weekend too, so it will be great hanging with her and Claire. Another yay. And now, bedtime... and a big yay for that!