Inside Passage, British Columbia / Kelly Date May 9, 2010

I had forgotten how difficult it was to sleep on the ferry. No cabin, no sleeping. I had expected a restless night, but about 4:00 a.m. four young boys on the bball team decided it was time for some fun. I’m pretty sure they woke everybody up and the Steward came by several times to quiet them to no avail. However, this encouraged me to start the day and by 4:30 I was up and waiting at the side door to catch the morning light.

Of course the ferry is built so that you can’t get to the bow, which is of course where the sun was to come up. Regardless, joined by two young fellows, one from Holland the other from Germany, we decided to enter the "forbidden zone", clearly marked "stay out" on the upper front deck. I think they call it a "restricted area", but at 5:00 a.m. in the morning we did not expect any company. And, we managed to enjoy the absolute best of the day, get in some great photos before getting booted lol. I'm smiling. Best shot of the day. However......

Apparently, we are brain dead idiots who can’t read lol. We three, were of course simply delighted to get in some good shots of the coming sun. It is going to be a glorious day and I will most likely add to the commentary throughout....

Okay, I'm back and right now I'm in Prince Rupert, BC waiting for the ferry to continue on its way to Haida Gwaii. We arrived at 2:00 p.m., but I'm here until 11:00 p.m. tonight. Ah well, I found a coffee shop and got a lot of work done, phone calls made, and my blog up-to-date.

Reflecting back on the day it was absolutely wonderful. The sun was out and it was warm enough to have spent a considerable amount of time out on the deck watching for whales. I met a young man BJ from Victoria who is also travelling to the Haida Gwaii to work for the summer and a gentleman by the name of Steven Bangos.

Steven was an instant mate who proved to have similar interests as my own. At heart we are both adventurers and we spent several hours yattering about everything from great bear stories to JFK's assassination. He is from southern California and headed to Anchorage, Alaska to start a restaurant. It is called the Silver Derby Dinner and is scheduled to open in 2011. So if any of you happen to be headed that way, be sure to check it out and let him know how you found out about this great spot. It is always nice to meet great people you can chat with while journeying - such fun and a wonderful way to explore other's ideas and thoughts.

Sadly, I did not see any whales but did see a small group of dolphins did pass by in the usual way. They looked like they were having a blast and I was glad to have caught them in a photo. Not a great photo, but I can assure you it is more difficult to get it just right given how quick they move through the water.

I cannot tell you how beautiful the Inside Passage is along the west coast of British Columbia. It almost has an eerie quality to it. I swear, I felt like I was in a scene from Jurassic Park when the birds would soar past the boat. I was lucky though as the water was very calm and the reflections could be seen along the shoreline, mirrored perfectly onto the water. I've included a picture of this to the right as it was so pretty and another photo of a lady looking out from the upper deck from just behind the lifeboat station. It looked as though she was having a lot of fun just taking it all in and getting the most out of the day.

I am writing this from a small pub (closed down the coffee shop) looking out over the harbour at Prince Rupert. Came for the chowder and actually got to watch a bit of the hockey game: Vancouver vs Chicago. We're winning yea! But, it's back to the ferry soon and a bit of work going over the tour information for the cultural centre. Should be fun.....

Kelly reporting in from the Inside Passage, British Columbia, Canada.