28.06.08: Murals and harbour (Port Alberni - Nanaimo)

In the morning we went to the visitor centre to inform us, if there’s a possibility to visit the local Pulp and Paper Mill in Port Alberni. Unfortunately they don’t let visitor in their factory.
Directly we drove to Chemainus, where the history of the region is painted on walls. Chemainus was a typical mill town until the mill was closed in 1981. The factory was their main employer, that’s because they were searching for a new source of income to avert that the town becomes a ghost town. The citizen invited some artists and let they paint the murals.

Back in Nanaimo we enjoyed the wonderful evening on the harbour after a really sunny day!

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Tomorrow we will take the first ferry (6:30 am!) from Nanaimo Departure Bay to Vancouver Horseshoe Bay. In Vancouver we will meet our hostfamilies where we will stay for the next 4 weeks. On Monday the school will start.

27.06.08: Whales, more bears and sawmill (Tofino - Port Alberni)

Our day started early in the morning (7.30!) with pancakes and maple syrup. Mampf Mampf! Afterwards we got some nice! orange Lifeguard-Overalls. We felt like we make a trip to the moon… :) have a look at the pictures, they speak for themselves. With 17 other tourists and 2 nice guys we boarded on a boat and went for whale watching. We drove approx. 30 minutes to the upstream feed grounds of the yearly coming whales on their way from California to Alaska and back. After waiting and observing we saw 2 grey whales respectively their fountain and parts of their backs – unfortunately not more… Anyway it was very impressive to be so close to these peaceful giants! Additionally we saw sea otters, sea cows and cormorants. Neither sank nor sea sick we left Tofino in direction to Port Alberni – on the way we made a stroll trough the rainforest to a wonderful beach.

In the car totally unexpected Michelle was screaming: Look, another bear! No, there was not only one black bear, a few kilometres further we saw 2 more!!!! Unbelievable – in this moment we conceived that we are really in bear land…
In Port Alberni we went straight to the Mc Lean Mill National Historic Site to visit an old sawmill. We just arrived when the demonstration began. One more time it was very impressive.

26.06.08: Laundromat and bears (Nanaimo - Tofino)

Washed clothes are something wonderful! Finally we had time to wash our clothes in a Laundry. With tidy clothes we drove from Nanaimo to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The island is famous for whale watching tours, kayaking, bear watching, fishing…
On the trip to the west coast Jana at once was screaming: there’s something black and wispy!! Michelle woke up and called: that’s a bear, stop, hold on, turn around!! It took a few minutes to find a place where we could turn and drive back. We were sure that the bear wouldn’t be there anymore. BUT: he was still there approx. 5 meters from the highway, eating herbs and was totally peaceful. Michelle took the camera to make some pics, Jana was standing on the gear, to drive away immediately, if the bear would attack us. :)
Arrived in Tofino we had the first time really problems to get a room. It was very expensive (up to CAD 250) and the rooms all had only one bed. Finally we found something in a German speaking motel. The guys come from East-Germany (“Sachsen”).

25.06.08: many kilometers and a ferry (Nelson to Nanaimo)

After changing our plans one day ago we drove approx. 700 km to Tsawwassen. 8 pm we took a ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Weary but happy we arrived after 2 hours on the sea in Nanaimo and fell a sleep soon.

Certified Projectmanagers are travelling in Canada!

Today we got the letter with the certificat - we both passed the exam. Hurra!

24.06.08: shitty day (from Cranbrook detours to Nelson)

No fun today! Everything went wrong… First we’d like to visit some natural hot springs in the north of Cranbrook. It was an insider tip from the guy of the hotel and we had no detailed description of how we get there. So we used our GPRS to find the nearby lake “White Swan”, but even this one we didn’t find. There was only a natural street and no signposts. Because of our anxiety for the rental car and the encounter with a huge angry Angus cattle we drove back disappointed to the highway in direction to Castelgar.

Our plan was to visit the famous “ZUCKERBERG ISLAND HERITAGE PARK” and the “Suspension Bridge”. The bridge was closed and the park was a disaster. No signs at all and the Russian Chapel House were under construction. (The girl from the Visitor Centre didn’t say a word about this…!!!)
The railway station museum didn’t come up to our expectations. It was only a collection of old things like iron machines, phones, cameras, uniforms, clothes, etc…

Angry we drove to Nelson to find something for the night. The disaster wasn’t finished!! We found a motel after searching a while and packed there our dirty clothes to go to a Laundromat. Nelson isn’t a hicksville but the Laundromats were closed already at 9 PM. So we drove back home to the motel with our dirty clothes… With this shitty mood we couldn’t go to a restaurant, so we ate instant soup in the room… wäh pfui!!

By the way for those who follow us on the map we have changed our plans completly:
We come back home tomorrow!


Ha ha! That’s a joke! Tomorrow we will drive directly to Vancouver Island without stops in Kamloops, Boston Bar and Whistler…

23.06.08: Fort Steele Heritage Town (from Radium to Cranbrook)

Can you imagine that there is a town (Kimberley) with the Bavaria “Platzl” in the middle of nowhere? So it is! There you can eat “Bratwurst” and “Appelstrudel” and you can see the largest Cuckoo clock in Canada. By the way we missed the 2 o’ clock cuckoo because of shopping (typically women!) -))

Because of the advanced time at the arrival in Cranbrook we decided to visit Fort Steele Heritage Town before searching for a motel. In this heritage town you can leap back in to the 1890’s and experience the vibrant boomtown of Fort Steele. Have a look on our pictures.

22.06.08: Hiking and Spa (Golden to Radium)

For today just a few words:
We drove more kilometre than the last days – from Golden to Radium Hot Springs – and furthermore we had partly traffic jam.
On the way we stopped in Lake Louise and hiked to the viewpoint to have a beautiful view over the whole lake and the famous hotel “The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise”.
Arrived in Radium Hot Spring we found a lovely motel. In the evening we pampered in the hot spring pools about 2 hours. Good Night!

21.06.08: a lot of fresh air (Golden)

Nature and wildlife…
The Columbia River is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its drainage basin is 258,000 square miles (670,000 km²). He is the largest river flowing into the Pacific from North America.
For today we’d booked a Wildlife Safari on the Columbia River. Early in the morning we took a cataraft with a guide and two guys from Denmark. On the approx. 15 km tour we saw birds for example kingfishers, eagles, woodpeckers and some others and learned about river, wetlands, glaciers and many other things around the region of Golden. The morning was perfect for a boats tour – the air was very clear, the heaven was cloudless and the sun was shinning – just amazing!
After the tour we get a hint from the guide to visit the Wapta Falls at the Kicking Horse River in Yoho-Nationalpark. So we followed this and drove directness to the signed turnoff on the highway. From there it was a march of approx. 6 km to the waterfall and back.
Wapta Falls is not a large waterfall in height, but it is about 152.4 m wide. The volume of water flowing over the ledge is about 255 cubic metres, easily making it the largest waterfall in the park, and the third largest in Canada (behind Niagara Falls and Virginia Falls in North West Territory).
We are sitting in front of our room in the motel and writing the newest post for you!!! Now we are hungry -)

20.06.08: wolves, bears, mountains (Golden)

Awaken in the morning the weather seemed not very good and we first thought it would raining. Because of this we took one’s time and went out not until 11 o’ clock. Today the first attraction was the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre. Located in the Canadian Rockies, they promote wolf and bear conservation through public education. First they told us something about Karelian Bear Dogs, which attack bears to show them their borderlines without hurting them. Normally in British Columbia were the bears shot, instead of show them their territory. We were both concerned about all the information we get there… For those of you which are interested in more facts please check: http://www.northernlightswildlife.com

From wolves to bears…
The Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge operates a wilderness centre for research, education, and conservation at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. The 22-acre sanctuary is the largest protected enclosed grizzly bear refuge in the world, providing a home and a second chance at life for one orphaned grizzly bear named Boo. We had luck and could have had a glance on him and we had the possibility to take pictures.
Jana took the gondola and made a short visit to the top of the Golden Eagle Mountain. The view was amazing!

19.06.08: Revelstoke to Golden

Early in the morning we enjoyed a rich breakfast in the hotel. Afterwards we visited the Railway Museum in Revelstoke. It was very interesting to see how they had built the railway lines at the end of the 19th century. The trains are much bigger than we are used to. Amazingly they were fired with oil!! The tank of the first locomotives had a volume of 13’640 liters of oil and 40’540 liters of water – range 75 miles. Today the eco-warriors wouldn’t be delighted! -))

A few kilometers in the north of Revelstoke is the famous Revelstoke Dam located which produces electricity for the region. All rivers/lakes in British Columbia have the same size like France! WOW!
The info centre explained us how they built the dam, how it works and what every one of us can do, to save electricity.

Arrived in Golden first we had to find a room for the next night. The more nearly we come to Banff/Jasper/Calgary the more expansive the motels are. But we find although a nice and affordable motel room.

After a delicious dinner we explored the surrounding area and planed the next day. Then we fall a sleep immediately. Good Night!