Best Westen Austrian Chalet Campbell River

... ingenious transforming masks and dramatic costumes, and tried to picture what the potlatch must have been like, held in a great house filled with noise, smoke and mystery.

The curator made us sit down to watch the video about the creation of the museum. It started off well but then our interest in the documentary wained, and the arrival time of our ferry was approaching. We felt like naughty ...

... swung open and the fierce-looking owner of a very bushy beard peered from his front door. I almost expected a rifle to follow, but he stared at me, then caught sight of the deer, and closed the door again without a word. The deer looked up as the latch clicked, and made eye contact with my camera as I pressed the shutter.

We boarded the small boat that would take us to Bute Inlet, where chum salmon were running. The journey down Discovery Passage ...

... itself seems to be a cross between San Francisco and Auckland. Vancouver Island is very green, woody and spaced out- we drove up one boring highway North for a couple of hours to get to Campbell river. Now, I should have learnt my lesson in San Fran, but on a map, a few blocks looks like nothing. It is generally not nothing. I had my second half hour walk of the day with my 18kg backpack and stuff-everything-in-because-I-might-jus t-need-it handbag.

I went ...

... and the sun was just glistening on the water. We were in an unprotected, open area waiting for grizzly bears where only 1 man had a big gun ... I'm not nervous ... I have my karma with me, right! :) We were not disappointed. In the 2 hours spent at that spot, we saw 10 grizzly bears. I photographed almost all of them. There were times when the bears were on the opposite ...

... At the first tower Nath's sharp eyes spotted a bear about 150m away, coming down along one side of the river. We watched in anticipation but it went off into the forest. Meanwhile a bear had come up the river from the opposite direction and was foraging around no more than twenty metres away. After a while it came up a log in the water right near the tower and we all got a really good look at it, and good photos. Their claws are ...

... morning, so the line of Cortes Island cars, had to park, snaked back up the hill coming into the terminal area. It didn't look promising. And it wasn't. However there was a positive as it meant that we had time to have a coffee while we waited for the next ferry - an hour away. After landing at Campbell River we grabbed some lunch - at Tim Hortons! I had never been to a Tim Hortons and thought it was only doughnuts and coffee so was pleasantly surprised to be ...

... the highest mountain in Vancouver. You can either take the cable car or walk up all 1500 steps, don't keep us to that figure its all guess work now! Of cause being the energetic type we all are we opted for the cable car. At the top you a greeted with amazing views across Vancouver and you can even see a mountain in the states (sorry can't remember the name) we stayed to watch the sunset (see picture) which was truly amazing. They also have a bear sanctuary, which is home ...

... murals which can be seen throughout the town. While murals are common in BC, Chemainus has developed it into a fine art with a total of 36 on display. The lower town is also very charming with its collection of heritage homes and it also from here that there is a ferry connection to Thesis Island.

Ladysmith is located just far enough away from Victoria that a coffee would be in order to stay alert. Fortunately there is a Tim Hortons ...

Most of the day was spent on the bus, which was a bit disappointing as it was yet another scorching day. We had a short walk to Falls Lake in the morning and then had a picnic at Kawkawa Lake for lunch. John decided we would all play football after that, which would have been all right if grown men hadn't tackled me every time I got the ball! My team lost 6-1 :( I had decided to stay ...