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Published: September 9th 2007
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Nicolum Falls
Beautiful campground near Hope Anne and I have been busy riding bitumen over the last few weeks - we have traveled to Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Seattle, and a few places in between. About 2500km and a combination of camping and hotels. Jumping over the top of the Canadian Rockies introduces a huge variety in terms of scenery - we have seen deserts, plains, thick wet forests, and, of course, Mountains. Lotsa Mountains.
One of the most beautiful places we saw along the way was a little town called Hope. It's located about an hour and a half east of Vancouver, and has a population of about 6000. Many of you have already seen this pretty little town - it was the filming location for the only good Rambo movie -
First Blood in 1982. It's other claim to fame is that it's the chainsaw wood carving capital of Canada! We stayed at a beautiful little campsite just outside of town.
Part of our discovery was a great hike to "Othello Tunnels". The hike was around 2 hours over an abandoned railway bed. At one end were where Andrew McCulloch and his team blasted their way through the mountains to create 5 tunnels, that are
Nicolum Falls
Fantastic Trees truly an engineering marvel. Bridges connect each tunnel with some super fast rapids below. With Vertigo being a close friend of mine, I pity those poor workers who had to climb down rickety ladders to dig out the tunnels and make this place a reality. When the railway was finished in the early 1900's, passengers on the train would be so scared of this precarious journey that they decided to stop the trains before entering, and wait until nightfall so no one would freak out. Sadly, the railway closed in 1959 due to frequent rock slides. For further viewing pleasure, check out where Rambo jumps off the cliff to evade the redneck cops. That scene was filmed here.
It was here, halfway between Hope and Vancouver that Anne and I officially recorded our first Black Bear siting. It was negotiating the road crossing as we passed (securely) in our Jeep. From behind steel and glass, it was very cute, a bigger version of Dougal we both thought. An exciting experience.
Vancouver was disappointing. I don't know if it was the construction going on as a result of preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics, or the rubbish collection strike.
Rambette
One of the things Hope is famous for. (Rambo, that is..)! Maybe it was the wall of tall apartment buildings being a blight on the skyline. Or the shooting galleries in the doorways around Chinatown. Perhaps it was just a result of bogus comparisons that I make from time to time that diminishes the quality of the event I am currently experiencing. In any event, there were a couple of places that were worthwhile about Vancouver. Stanley Park, the equivalent of the Botanical Gardens, were huge and fabulous. The cities obligatory aquarium can be found at it's centre. We saw some extraordinary
Beluga whales - white, really white, whales. They looked like ghosts in the water.
Granville Island is a groovy marketplace in Vancouver, much like fisherman's market in San Francisco. Lot's of eateries and bohemian jewelery and craft shops.
Just outside Vancouver is a stunning suspension bridge known as
Capilano Bridge. Sorta scary walking across, it swings with every foot landing, thoughts of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom came to mind. The park also had a great canopy walk, and some bloody big Douglas Fir trees.
We checked out of our B&B and said goodbye to our host, who presented herself as being the last remaining Nazi, and
Rambo
I couldn't resist either. from Vancouver we caught the Ferry to Vancouver Island and caught some of the sights of this splendid place. Vancouver Island is the oldest established European territory in Canada, with it's biggest town, Victoria at it's core. Not happy to sit on his laurels after discovering Australia, Captain Cook discovered this place in 1778. We traveled up the north east coast, then through the centre and on to the west coast - the most western point of Canada - to Ucluelet and Tofino. Pretty little Beach communities, I felt like I was back in a small beach town in Australia. "Bear Aware" signs and big cedar trees brought back the reality.
We performed some more camping here. This time in the rain. With the exception of having the family from hell in the next camp site, Anne was loving it. I was finding the lack of amenities a little too rustic for my liking.
Heading back to Victoria, we found a great place, known as "Cathedral Grove". Clearly named as a result of the towering Douglas Fir trees - some over 800 years old, the place was an awesome spectacle to nature.
The Canadians do things differently
First Blood Bridge
Ok, we couldn't resist. This is the bridge in the Movie where Rambo is defiant as he heads back into town. sometimes - we drove past a really nice marketplace in a town called Coombs. The store was full of fantastic foods from all around the world and a great Cafe - all below some goats who were munching grass on the roof! Whoo thunk it?
We headed back to Victoria and spent another day in town. Running water and hot showers were the order of the day.
Victoria is a beautiful old town, and if I were to settle back into 'city' life, it would be easy to live here for a few years.
From Victoria we traveled to the US via Ferry to a tiny town called Port Angeles. Immigration wasn't without incident however - leaving passports out in the rain when your camping never improves Visa documentation 😱
Highway hotel, Domino's Pizza, and Petrol for 73 cents per litre. Hallelujah for America. A Quick trip from here to Bainbridge Island and peaceful 40 minute ferry ride placed us in the heart of Seattle.
What a great city! Big streets, a great seaside
market and my favorite, lots of huge bookstores. We took an underground tour of Seattle. What a weird and bizzare history this
place has. The city was founded as a result of the timber industry and burnt to the ground in 1889. On rebuilding, they left a gap between the old city and the new one - so now tourists can see some of the old town, and hear the fascinating history of this place. We stayed in a great
hotel for a ridiculously good rate, and enjoyed the best
pizza since we left Australia.
After 10 days of traveling, Anne had worn me out, and we were ready to head for home. It's kinda funny. I need to lie when I pass immigration at the border. The official asks me: 'where's home'. I tell them 'Fernie'. I then get this dumb look, and they ask me why I have an Australian Passport. So I lie and say Melbourne. Sure, Australia is where Anne and I may ultimately end up, but we currently have more 'stuff' in Canada than Australia, and after 4 months, it feels like home. I am reminded of Paul Young's song "Where ever I lay my hat (that's my home)".
To see our route in Google, checkout this
link.
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Chris
non-member comment
WOW
My heart beats faster just looking at your photos. Does all this beauty make you feel insignificant?