Grizzly's gone wild

If I had a $1 for every time someone was surprised I travel the world mostly by myself, I'd have enough for a few rounds of G&Ts. One of the many drawcards of moving to Canada was the wildlife and scenery. Bears and Orcas were at the top of my to do list. I'd been living in Vancouver just over 12 months when I realized time was moving way too fast and I had to start ticking items off my Canadian bucket list.

I started researching bear tours in BC and came across a company that said it offered everything I was looking for. Remote location, abundance of Grizzly Bear sightings & an up close and personal experience. I was excited to say the least. Before I knew it, the trip was all booked and organized. All I had to do now was wait.

The weeks passed and it was finally time to set off on this adventure. After a small jet flight and an overnight stay in a small town on Vancouver Island it was onto the last leg of the trip. Being stuffed into a float plane along with the lodges' food supply, we were off flying over the picturesque views of what makes British Columbia one of the most beautiful places in the world. The sheer remoteness of this location is magical. No phones, no internet just peace and quiet. The floating lodge of Knights Inlet was the perfect base for the trip.

Upon arrival we were given the grand tour and shown to our rooms. We had just under of 30 mins to get settled before we were off on our first adventure. An estuary tour showcased why this place is so special. The abundant wildlife from eagles to otters to the occasional dolphin, words can not describe the serenity of the amazing place. We weren't fortunate enough to see any bears on this outing but our spirits remained high.

After lunch, we were out again for another trip. This time we cruised to the other side of the inlet by boat and were driven to 2 viewing stands that had been purpose built by the lodge. Once stepping off the boat it was a short 20m walk from the beach to the trucks. We had to walk in formation with guides at the front and back of the group as we were now in real bear country. Bears were regularly seen digging for food on the beach where we were dropped off so it was serious business to be safe and quiet. Fortunately we had no such run ins. Once we were loaded into the truck we drove through the forest slowly and encounted deer and bears leisurely walking across the path. This was all it took to get the excitement in the truck to sky rocket. We were all pumped and could not wait to reach out destination.

Once at the stands, the guides got out of the truck and surveyed the area. We could see bears only 10-15m away from us in the water. We quietly walked up the platform onto the stands where we had a million dollar view of these amazing animals. My next 2 days were spent at these stands in 3 hour blocks.

At the Wier stand, I got to see the national geographic documentary come to life. Bears standing on the edge of the rocks just waiting for the salmon to fly through the air as they swim up stream. Just awesome! It was really interesting to see the Salmons' life cycle for my own eyes. After travelling thousands of kms they return home having beaten the odds with fisherman & other marine life trying to eat them. The final hurdle is simply 4 or 5 massive grizzly bears waiting to just snatch them out of the water. If they are lucky enough to by pass their snapping jaws, they jump the barrier, lay eggs and die a peaceful death anyway.

During my visits I alternated with the Finger stand, named aptly for the finger of land on which it sits. From this vantage point I could no longer see the feeding frenzy on the rapids up close and personal which at first I was saddened by. After being there over an hour and not seeing any bears my group was getting a little antsy. Patience is key to this game and sure enough our prayers were answered shortly after decided to stick it out and wait at this stand. The biggest group to be seen so far on my trip approached our stand. A mum and 4 cubs. She knows where the food is and walked her cubs through the shallow stream, packed full of salmon, to the pool of water for them to feed and play. At one stage, 2 cubs were falling behind. We heard her call to them and they came running to catch up with her. With so many bears in the same stream, mumma bears were extremely protective of their cubs.

 Back at the lodge on the first night, I arrived for dinner in the communal hall and was in line getting my food. Travelling alone, I briefly met the people on the plane I flew over with. Majority of them were from Australia. I got to chatting to the person next to me in line and it turned out there was a group of 14 Aussies who had travelled over together and this was one of their first tours of their great Canadian adventure. Needless to say, they took me in and made me feel like part of the group for the rest of my trip. Just proves again how small this world is and the kindness everyday Aussies have.

On my last morning, I took the kayak out and ventured up stream to try and glimpse these precious animals one last time. We weren't disappointed. A mum and 2 older cubs came out to play and for me it was the perfect ending to what was a once in a lifetime experience.

As sad as it was to leave this tranquil place and these seemingly harmless animals, it was empowering to know that they had the means to get ready for the winter and their hibernation. With the visiting season almost over and winter soon approaching, these bears will go to sleep and wake up in 6-7 months to do it all over again. Conservation of their habitat and preservation of their livelihoods was such a big part of the educational experience I received during my trip. This is one world adventure I would do again in a heartbeat!

I shot a grizzly with my camera, not a gun. #stopthehunt   

 

Life under the water

When I was growing up I loved to dance. For 15 years I danced my little heart out and even travelled the east coast of Australia to compete. I'm proud to say I have a swag of medals and trophies back home. In my final year of school my desire to dance was fading. A few more years later, I knew I needed to find something that I was just as passionate about.

When I was in grade 11, I took a Marine Studies class. Why? Because my best friend took the same class. It turned out I actually enjoyed the class as well as the end of year excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. Majority of the trip was to snorkel the reefs and observe the marine wildlife. We had the option of doing a scuba dive and me, bored of looking down from the surface, put my hand up.
.

After getting into the water, I held onto a bar just under the water to test my breathing. I remember to this day the sheer terror that took over me when I opened my eyes and only saw blue open water. After that initial freak out, my first dive experience was amazing. Our group was lucky enough to have our dive filmed and when I was later watching it with my family, we watched as I was eaten by a shark puppet the cameraman had on him unbeknownst to us. A little too close to home on that one....
 

Nevertheless I was hooked.

Years later I moved to Port Vila, Vanuatu, and became very good friends with local dive shop operators. After some initial reluctance, I started my course. My instructors were excellent and prepared me for most situations. There were the inevitable night dives which they were able to get me, semi hyperventating and worried I'd see the real version of the shark puppet, into the black water. I had to hone my compass skills and although the 'testing area' was a narrow stretch of sand in an otherwise coral area, I still seemed to have some troubles navigating. They slightly eased my fears of sea snakes but not first witnessing me unsuccessfully trying to swim backwards as if I'd just seen Jaws. Last but not least they gave me the confidence to be under water and handle myself in less than ideal situations.

Diving in Vanuatu had it's perks. The marine life I saw made me think I was swimming in an aqarium. Dive sites were second to none and it was here that I developed my love for wreck dives. I travelled to a northern island and dived the famed President Coolidge and what a beauty she is. Hitting my max depth and emersing myself in what life was like when she was afloat as a WWII warship is why diving is so special to me.   

While still in Vanuatu, I traveled to Cyprus with a friend not long after being certified, and made sure to take advantage of the diving opportunities in the Mediterranean. I found a company and booked 2 dives. This was my first real diving experience outside of Vanuatu so I was a little nervous. Having arrived at the dive shop, I got suited up and we were off. The site we were diving on was an old ship that had sunk not to far from shore due to the balancing system failing. After only ever diving in tropical waters, hitting the surface was a shock to the system. But soon enough, the eeriness of life under the water soon distracted me. We swan through living quarters finding curtains swaying in the current, viewed trucks/lorries laying to rest on the seabed, picked up bones of the animals who went down with the ship and found lots of new marine life now making the wreck their new home. 

When I left Vanuatu I moved to Canada. Scuba diving was not on my list of things to do here simply because of the water temperatures. But before long, I got that itch to get back in the water. I played it smart and waited for the warmth of summer. Well, that didn't end up mattering because after years of tropical diving I was now facing a 10 degree water temperature. To combat this I was loaded up with 2 wet suits, a hood, boots, gloves and on top of that was given a 15kg lead belt. I could hardly walk along the shore to start the dive I was so loaded down. But where there's a will, there's a way.

Unfortunately my first experience turned out to be a true test of my skills and ability. After reaching the buoy we would descend from, it soon became excruciatingly clear I was no longer in Paradise. In the past I was spoilt with visibility up to 20-25m maybe more. As soon as I was under I could just make out  movement no more than 2m away. Immediate panic set in when I couldn't see my buddy (who had only ever dived tropical too) after being under for less than a minute. Calming myself down I followed the rope to the surface of the wreck and once again joined my buddy, guide and group. Before long my buddy and I got separated again and again. On the third time I knew I wouldn't find him nor would he find me. After staying put and trying to find bubbles in the water, I decided to stick close to the wreck and continue in the same direction. Within no time I knew he was gone.

The buddy brief given to us for this dive was if you loose your buddy, search for a minute and then surface making appropriate safety stops. Well I did that. Throw into the mix an unknown dive site, visibility getting worse by the second and no buddy (who had our flash light), I drew on all my experience, teachings and metric conversions to remain calm and navigate myself to the surface. After waiting to see if my buddy would surface, I then made my way back to shore with more than half a tank of air. To say the crew were more than a little surprised to see me return, alone and so early, was an understatement. Needless to say at that point I was pissed enough to be done for the day. But I'm not one to give up, so after a lengthy chat with the crew, I switched groups and actually had a pleasant experience the 2nd time round. Cold temp and bad visibility aside, I discovered wildlife I'd not seen before which made my day.

Scuba diving is fun, fascinating and challenging and I love exploring the wonders of the ocean. It's not for everyone so I feel blessed to have been able to share these great experiences with friends and family along the way. Even with the poor conditions I experienced in beautiful Vancouver, this Country Girl (or should I say Country Mermaid) will continue searching the globe for the next exhilarating and magical dive site.

 

Sailing the high seas

I lived the first 7 years of my life in a small beachside town. The next 11 were on a sugar cane farm 30mins away from that small beachside town. My dad as always been an avid fisherman for as long as I can remember and my mum of late has learnt how to pull up the anchor. Being near and on the water represents so much of my childhood that it was exciting to upgrade my experience and cruise the high seas in luxury for my 30th birthday.

On their recent visit to my part of the world, my wonderful parents and I jumped aboard a cruise liner and sailed north into Alaska. After an epic 4 hour check in experience we finally made our way to our cabin to begin our adventure. 

After many Skype calls and emails, I let Mum loose to book the cruise she wanted to have. After all, they had cruised twice before so I was sure she'd find a good deal. Confirmation came through and everything looked set. Once we had boarded the ship and got to our stateroom we were excited to find our one day drink cards compliments of our booking agent among other included extras. We found the cards and hit the poolside deck for the bon voyage party. Cocktails were on the agenda and upon getting the receipt I noticed our free drink cards had a value of $745 each... (and were valid for 7days with a limit of 15 drinks per day!) Not only did Meg think she got a good deal with a 1 day drink card when she booked, we just worked out we could drink 15 drinks each for free per day for the whole trip. Can anyone say Mimosa?

Anyone who hasn't cruised before would be surprised what there is to do aboard a cruise ship while at sea. I, for one, was a little dubious about how I was going to spend my time. Considering the average age of the passengers was approx 65, I had some reservations. But as soon as we were settled and had consumed our first of many pool side cocktails, we found the daily schedule. What started as a relaxing holiday with the folks, turned into scheduled days playing (and sometimes winning at) bingo, loosing at trivia, watching dance shows & live bands and testing my vocal cords at karaoke. I particularly enjoyed our daily bingo sessions. Where else can you go to have some fun, throw back a couple of G&Ts and sit next to a nun while gambling your money away?! Yep you read that right - she was our gambling neighbor the whole trip.

Anyone who knows my father knows he can have a way with words at times. For years we've been hearing what fil-ems he's watched. On the ship we were at dinner and my wonderful, funny and lovable dad asks the waiter for a beef cappuccino! He ended up getting what he wanted - beef carpaccio. We enjoyed a seafood dinner later on the cruise and after I had ordered the lobster bisque, Dad proceeded to order the lobster bi-sque. We still love ya Dad!


Our ports of call included Juneau, Skagway (or as Dad referred to it ask Shagway) & Ketchikan. Not to take anything away from these towns, my highlight was Glacier Bay. To see a glacier up close and personal and then to see and hear it come apart was nothing short of magical. Waking up to see floating icebergs from our balcony wasn't too shabby either. There were a few Titantic jokes thrown around for fun but the eeriness of the place made it that much more surreal.


Cruising was such a great way to travel. People ask me what the best part of the trip was. I believe most adventures are about the journey and not the destination. The cruise itself was a whole lot of fun and something I would do again. We had an absolute ball in Alaska too. Dad got his fill of Alaskan Salmon, Mum took WAY too many photos of snow capped mountains and this country girl got to discover another corner of this amazing world.