Day 34 Prince Rupert to Queen Charlotte City 21st May 2015
by Chris
Packed ready to leave Rupert have the last of Mary’s waffles and meet a Perth couple who have been staying out at Khutzymateen and who we had apparently been out on the zodiac we had seen the previous day on our trip.They had been staying one on of the yachts looking at the bears and had flown in and out of Khutzymateen. They too are heading out to Haida Gwaii this morning.
Say good-bye to Mary both get a hug which surprises us.All the B an B hosts have been hugging us as we leave don’t know whether we have been overcharged and they delighted to have seen us or that we are just wonderful people:-)
Get a taxi to the ferry terminal-unbelievable have to check in 2 hours ahead for a walk on!
Uneventful eight hour trip to Skidegate- pretty boring just water between Rupert and Haida Gwaii. We arrive to find there is only one cab for Skidegate and Queen Charlotte and we phone him to find that he is already on his way because he has been booked by someone else.My resourceful wife goes out and starts asking who has booked the cab and when he arrives we jump in with the young woman who booked it-good deal for everybody.
We arrive at the Premier Creek Lodge -old fashioned but comfortable with an eccentric owner married to a Tassie guy.She (Lenore) was on the edge of panic when we arrives as there was a group who have descended on her demanding immediate attention.They seem to be an arrogant and indifferent bunch-more on them later.
Anyway we step out to explore the “City” which is actually a two kilometre strip of houses,hotels and shops hugging the coastline.Haida Gwaii is described as being on the “edge of the world” and it seems to be a hangout for hippies,seafarers,fisherman and loggers.
Fish sign that amused us at the local Fish and Camping shop.
There is a fight going on against several oil companies as there is a fear that tankers will lose their load as they move south.Given that that the National Park we are going to Gwaii Hanas was created by resistance to logging environmental protection and protest has a rich heritage in this area.
We discover a place called OV (short hand for Ocean View) and repair to the verandah for a beautiful view a couple of Beersheba dinner. (Photo at the top of this post).
Whilst sitting there minding our own business who should come and sit at our table but Mysterious Steve who has come to the restaurant for take out(or oot in Canadian).This time he seemed more relaxed and we had a great chat with him as he is coming to Melbourne at the end of the year.
In fact we had a great laugh that when we commented on the number of times our paths had crossed he decided to nickname himself “Boomerang Steve”. He Home to bed looking forward to exploring Skidegate in the morning.