We arrived in Prince Rupert at about 4 pm on Sunday 11th
May. We found our way down to Cow Bay
(really !) and the Information Centre, despite their signs pointing to the left
when they we actually located down to the right ! The joy of travelling !! We also went in to an Adventure Tour office
hoping for a tour out to a nearby Grizzly Bear Reserve, but they had done one
the day before, and didn’t have another one scheduled until a week later ! Rats.
The Information centre didn’t seem to know much, except
that the campsite in the Prudhomme Lake Provincial Park was open a week earlier
than advertised due to the warmer weather, so we headed the 16 kms out of town
and found a delightful park in a forest on the edge of a lake. No facilities, but we have our own, and it
was not raining ……yet !!
Pleasant evening, being entertained by a Stellar’s Blue
Jay which decided to enjoy our bowl of nuts !
Glass of wine, nice meal, and early to bed as Janet
hadn’t slept very well on the ferry.
Woke up and it had been raining, but we had a dry pack
up. However as we drove towards town to
explore, it started raining. We drove out to the Inverness Cannery which had opened
in 1876, but unfortunately it was Monday and it was therefore closed. As were to find out, Prince Rupert is mostly
closed on a Monday – And it was the only day we had in town !!
We then drove down into Cow Bay – So named because
apparently some early settler received a herd of cows on a ship and, having no
jetty or unloading facilities, they proceeded to push the cows over the side of
the boat so they could swim ashore !!
Whatever, a nice little coffee shop called Cowpuccinos, outside of which
were some fir trees with maybe 30 or more eagles sitting up there. Not a regular event, according to the locals,
so we were quite lucky – I certainly have never seen so many eagles, both adult
and juvenile, in one place at the same time.
After that we went to the library to get on
wifi……………Closed on a Monday !!
So we explored town, found a laundry where for $12 you
could drop your laundry off and they would do it all for you, and you just come
back later and pick it up – So we did ! Also found a little shop which had all
sorts of silly but fun cards and signs in, a couple of which I took photos
of. As we explored and went shopping
etc, we kept bumping into friends off the boat doing the same thing, including
Arie and Raya. They told us about a
great fish restaurant, so we went there for an early supper, and had delicious
halibut washed down with a glass of Alaskan Amber. After that we went back to the Prudhomme Lake
camp site where we spent a very pleasant evening round the fire with Arie &
Raya who we had persuaded to move to our camp site as it was much nicer than
the one they had stayed in the previous night.
The next morning was a wet pack up between showers – Our
first. But not too bad, and the tent on
the back certainly kept us dry. We went
into town, but didn’t visit the Cannery due to the increasingly heavy
rain, so after a bite to eat we ended up
at the library, which was at last open, and we spent a couple of hours in there
uploading photos etc before we had to drive down to the wharf and line up 3
hours before the ferry sailed, for our next trip up to Juneau. Had to be there 3 hours before due to having
to go through US Customs as we were about to leave Canada and enter Alaska
while we were on the ferry. And those
guys at Customs are Soooooooo slow !!
But first we had to be “measured” – Cars are charged by the foot, so a
man comes along with a little measuring wheel and measures every vehicle, and
then gives you a chit with the “approved” length written on it, which you then
take down to the ticket office before paying and getting your tickets. Eventually
we got aboard the Matanuska, and as we drove down the ramp one of the ships
crew said “That is the coolest rig ever” !!
They love Troopie and although it doesn’t get as many looks as the
Lotus, it does attract a surprising amount of favourable attention !! Once the car was parked, we found Chris and
Katheryn already on board, and met a few other people as we settled in to our
cabin and found our way around the boat.
Once again, as in 2012, the signwriting on the car is starting
conversations with people, and really is a great way to meet people along the
way.
As we left Prince Rupert, our previous ferry (Northern
Adventure) was tied up at the dock, so we were able to see it from the outside
for a change !
So it was farewell to Canada for a while, and heading up
the Inside Passage to Alaska at last.
Cowpuccinos haha. Love it!!
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