Hunting affairs

Hi folks,
in the last eight weeks we met many nice people in the US and Canada who are supposed to be keen on getting further informations about our journey. That is why we have decided to write in English now. We hope all you guys in Germany can deal with it.
Where did we stop the last time? Well, after our very pleasant stay in Portland we headed to the Olympic National Forest, which offers nice beaches, a beautiful mountain scenery and an outstanding rainforest. For the most people the word "rainforest" is related to a tropical scenery. But when you see green bearded trees as to sensing a high humidity you will definitely know that the word is well chosen. Fortunately we had no rain showers but warm and sunny days, a phenomenen which only occurs on 15 days in an average year. The rainforest provides a great variety of interesting animals and plants like elks, banana slugs (Bananenschnecken), hermit crabs (Einsiedlerkrebse), salmons (Lachs) and steelheads (Regenbogenforellen).
In Comox on Vancouver Island we met a wonderful family and shared great moments with them. Especially the river tubing was so much fun (many thanks Greg!). During this adventure I almost forgot my toothache which bothered me more and more. The next morning we did many phone calls trying to find a dentist in duty to help me. Unfortunately in Comox and the cities nearby no one was available. Liz supplied me then with a strong pain reliever so I could deal with it (many thanks again). By the way the toothache has vanished for now without any assistance of a dentist. (If Rudolf is reading this he might be curious to know that it was the 46). As a result of the phone calls we left Comox late that morning. The next destination was Telegraph Cove where we intended to rent a kayak for a three day long whale watching trip. When we arrived at 1 pm the weather had changed to stormy wind and heavy rain. The conferrer (Verleiher) recommended not to go out and we dithered what to do. At least we headed to Port Mc Neal by car leaving our camping gear inside the covered kayak till the next morning. Positively the wind calmed down during the night and we could launch our boat at 9 am. After two and a half hours we reached Kaykash River where we pitched our tent under the shelter of big trees close to the beach. For everybody who is interested in whale watching this location is probably one of the best (many thanks for the recommendation Jeanne!).
I will never forget what happened on our last day of the trip in the early morning hours. We were still dozing in our cozy tent when I heard this noise; pf f f f f f f. You might think of someone unscrewing a bottle of soda water or furling a thermarest but I had already heard the noise the day before so I knew immediately that a Killer Whale (Orca) was causing it. The fast as I could I got out of my sleeping bag and tent and hurried the few meters to the beach. Fog hovered above the calm waters of the Johnston Strait. The silence was only disturbed by this impressive sound drawing steadily closer. Suddenly a real Orca appeared in front of me, moving slowly and majestically along the shore. Sabine was now also awake and standing beside me. We became aware that all our neighbors were assembling on the shore glancing at the water without daring to talk. In even distances the huge dorsal fin of a bull was emerging high and straight up out of the water. He was evidently leading a group (pod). Every member of the pod was passing by after him, 15 meters away from us, some buddies side by side simultaneously moving. The whole scenery looked like a procession in church and conveyed a mystical atmosphere. We were standing there a couple of minutes further on carefully listening to the disappearing noises; pf f f f f f .
Wow, what a start in a new day!
Two hours later the sun was burning away the last patches of fog on top of the surrounding hills and we were sitting again in our kayaks hunting for the next encounter with these great mammals.
Have you already noticed that we do not show any picture of an Orca on this post? Taking a camera on a wobbly kayak might be one reason for that but in our case we simply could not take ours with us. What had happened? Before getting started at the kayak rental station we had searched for the camera thoroughly but without any success. On the first kilometers of our trip the worries about the possible loss, including the many pictures of the past and near future, occupied our thoughts. Where could we had left it behind? We had no appropriate idea. Two days later after our return we drove back to the motel in Port Mc Neal where we had first asked for an accommodation. With crossed fingers and the universal trick in the background (thanks again Reiner!) we entered the lobby, asked the lady behind the counter and...
... bingo! A couple had found the camera two nights before in a parking lot in front of the motel and had left their telephone number on a sheet of paper. We called them directly thinking they might be out for dinner. What a surprise, they had not only left town but were already in Ucluelet, the camera still with them. You have to know that Ucluelet is approximately 500 km away from Port Mc Neal. It was 6:20 pm and we were expected to show up at the ferry in Port Hardy at 5:30 am the next morning. How long would it take to get to Ucluelet by car? Imagine the transfer to Germany. It would correspond to the distance between Recklinghausen and Berlin. And would we be fit enough for such a long ride after our night in the wilderness and 5 hours of paddling? We definitely had no other choice but to go for it. Due to our concentration on the speedometer - we drove steadily 10 to 20 km faster than allowed - and low traffic on the road we reached the gas station in Coombs at 9:45 am and had only 135 km ahead of us. Our calculated deadline was midnight. Regarding the minutes we had left for the 135 km you will understand that we entered the gas station in a hilarious mood and full of confidence. Just for fun we asked how long it would take to get to Ucluelet. We were deeply shocked as we heard that we still had to conquer different mountain ranges and that the estimated time would be almost three hours. Plan B had to be activated immediately. We called the people who still held our camera in their hands. Would they be so nice to come towards us. They reacted very friendly and proposed to meet halfway at the "Strathcona Lodge". Furthermore we exchanged the data of our license plates. What could go wrong yet?
After the first 20 km we knew the ladies at the gas station were right. The road was more than winding. At km 60 I told Sabine to look carefully after a sign with the words "Strathcona Lodge" and to check every license plate that appeared from ahead. I think you already can guess what happened? Yes, no "Strathcona Lodge" and no adequate license plate turned up. However the deadline drew irresistebly closer. The more bends we drove through without any success the more rose the stress in our bodies. At least we reached Ucluelet at 11:40 pm, found the right motel, car and apartment and hurried up the stairs to the door and knocked at it. Nothing happened. Close to despair I knocked a second time. As if by a miracle the door opened slowly revealing two elderly persons dressed in pajamas and holding our camera already in their hands. They apologized several times for their mistake with the "Strathcona Lodge" and told us how worried they were about us. We forgot to ask them why they did not leave the camera behind at the motel in Port Mc Neal with the option of getting it shipped to their home. But at least we can be grateful to have it back now.
We reached the ferry to Prince Rupert just in time. During the journey we could see a couple of humpback whales a few hundreds meter away from the ship. That was interesting but totally different to our encounters in the Johnston Strait. After all we were actually too tired for whale watching and preferred the amenities of a big ship, particularly soft sofas and carpeted floors for refreshing naps.
The last two days we had many heavy rain showers. We hope the Rocky Mountains where we are heading to next are not hiding in clouds and fog. We will see...