Sleepless in Sudbury

Hi guys,
just when I wanted to upload some more pictures on our last post I had some trouble with the SD card (the little chip in the camera). I was not able to get access to it although I tried very hard. However at last a small window opened showing some confusing informations. More guessing than knowing I tapped a button and the card opened immediately. First I was lucky but after a short second deeply shocked. All pictures seemed to be deleted. A wave of heat went through my body and my heart began to beat fast. Remember, on Vancouver Island we had to drive all night to get the camera back in our hands and now all our efforts seemed to become useless. Desperately I tried again and again to fix the card but without success: All pictures of the last weeks were deleted!
It was already midnight and you can easily imagine that I could hardly find any sleep. One picture was haunting me all night long. It showed a small window with confusing informations and my right index finger tapping the word "yes".
The next morning we went to Photo World in Sudbury frantically hoping a modern software would be able to restore some of the pictures.
Josh, the nice guy who was working there, promised to try his best. To my relief he told me that the described incident was a rare but common issue with SD cards and so at least not my fault. While walking around in the city we crossed our fingers and asked the universe for help. As we returned 30 minutes later you would have heard the sound of a big rock hitting the ground. It was the rock that had fallen down from my heart. Only a few pictures were incomplete, all others could be saved on a dvd. Thank you again Josh for your very good job!
Some days later we visited the Parliament of Ottawa and heard the story of Queen Victoria. In 1857 she was asked to settle a dispute between Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa as to which city should be named Capital of the Province of Canada. I think you all know the result of this dispute and that her Majesty tried to upgrade the prestige of Ottawa by giving the order to construct some modern, very impressive and very British looking buildings there. I have to admit these historical facts were actually less attractive to me than the story about the painting itself, which was, like our pictures on the camera, almost destroyed for two times. You should know that it is a very big picture. The frame measures circa 2 x 1,5 meters (7 x 5 feet) and is very solid. Ten strong men would be hardly able to carry it, not to mention the impracticality to move it through doors and around corners. Imagine the Parliament is burning badly and flames are already coming very close to the picture. What would you do now?
You were right, the rescue team had no other choice but to cut the painting out of its frame. It is hard to believe but the same procedure had to be done a few months later again. As a result of these two incidents the former complete crown on the right side of the painting is now incomplete.
I don't know if Sabine woke up some ghosts in the parliament by playing the drums in front of the building but little animals were following our steps on the subsequent tour through the city. We left these animals behind, completely.

Safety instructions

Hi guys,
tonight I am under the impression that all my muscles would shrink if I continued driving all day long. The American continent is incredible big. In the last three days we have tried to get to the East Coast as fast as possible and have covered a distance of circa 2000 miles (3560 km). We do not complain as we knew this long before. Beside all these expectations the reality revealed the unexpected in the last weeks more than one time. That is one meaning of adventure, isn't it?
I am actually too tired for long reports or my brain is shrinking too. Consider yourself invited to guess what kind of adventure in each case is hiding behind the following safety instructions:

1. When you want to drive on lonesome roads make sure that you have a jack, tools and an airpump on board your car.

2. When you find traces of an animal watch your steps very carefully.

3. When you want to take a shower make yourself familiar with the temperature control unit before entering the bathtub.

4. When you want to sleep outside in a tent make sure your sleeping bag is still comfortable at minus 5°c.

5. When you travel with your wife make sure she has sometimes someone else to talk to.

6. Before uploading pictures on the internet make sure you are familiar with your computer, especially when he is not working proper.

Paws and paddles I (Pfoten und Paddel)

Howdy,
this time we would like to show you some more pictures separated in two posts. Look for more text and pictures down below. Enjoy!

Paws and paddles II

Hi folks,
at the moment we are staying in a public library in The Pas (Manitoba) having a stop over on our tour towards Riding Mountain National Parc. The last week we spent in Northern Sasketchewan with Miriam and Quincy. Miriam is the daughter of a colleague of Sabine. She emigrated to Canada five years ago and earns her money now as a psychologist, a visual artist and a tour guide. When her Canadian husband is not looking after one of the seventeen sled dogs he is maintaining aircrafts. Both offer wilderness trips, in summer with canoes, in winter with dogsleds. When you are interested in such kind of adventure we would recommend to have a look on their homepage: www.pawsandpaddles.com (www.tobiaskoerner.de/canoetours.html).
It is very impressive to see how smart and brave they have realized every one of their dreams. The nice big house on the picture for instance was built by themselves as laymen (Laien). All needed operational skills they really took out of books.
In the last week we were accommodated in a small log cabin (6 m²) which was also built by themselves as the first project of their love affair. They call the cabin "little house". And this expression is well chosen when you know that they lived in it for 18 months with no shower and toilet close by. The logs still breathe the atmosphere of this time. So it is no surprise that we enjoyed the most romantic nights of our journey in this little house. Anyway, without knowledge about the background the little house is downright made for romance. Inside you will find good smelling sweet grass, a narrow Queen size bed, a warm stove with cracking firewood and looks out the window at sparkling stars in the night.
During daytime we again had some exciting moments racing down rapids, exploring ancient rock paintings, playing an organ and singing in a lonely island church, visiting Quincy at work, sliding on graveled dirt roads and gathering delicious mushrooms. We will not go into details here, because the warm sunshine outside is just too inviting :-)

Jasper

Hi guys,
when we entered the gate of Jasper National Parc it was raining cats and dogs. The nice mountain scenery we had heard of before was totally invisible. We had to pay much money and began to doubt if it would be worth it. After five days now I can say absolutely certain: Yes it was! Here are the cues: A guide taught us about the importance of fire in the woods for plants and animals. We saw a black bear. We tasted the first snow flakes on the Whistler Mountain. We had much fun on a mountain bike tour and did white water rafting on the Fraser River. But the best thing was our stay at a B&B (Bed and Breakfast).
The weekend we had chosen for our stay was right before Labor Day and the National Parc of Jasper celebrated a Wilderness Festival. So it was very busy and crowded in town. We tried to find a motel a few days before and were successful for all of the days except Saturday. On this very day Sabine had a kind of superstitious feeling that the B&B we had already reserved for the next days might still have a room left for us. I was shortly before to starting an argument with her but of course I would let her go and ask. And, what a surprise, she was right!
When I returned home on Saturday from our first guided tour I found a note on the porch addressed to us. I picked it up and ran directly into Dan, the landlord, who told me that something terrible had happened. I immediately thought of our family at home and was relieved in the next second when he said that his wife Lori had made a mistake and our room was booked twice for the next two days. He proposed that we could move down to them and stay with the family. So we did. It is, how can I say: odd, interesting, funny, fateful, that a mishap sometimes becomes a real fortune. The whole family was so wonderful. The two boys reminded us on Joshua and Jona, two kids of friends of us. We shared so many hilarious moments and felt very comfortable. I hope we will meet each other again in the near future.
Tonight we are staying in Vegreville in a Motel and can save some money. We actually do not have to pay for anything here, no joke! But this is another story to be told, maybe in the next post or at home.

On the road in western Canada

Howdy folks,
in the last weeks we have been traveling not alone along the highway sixteen. Already introduced to him on Vancouver Island Rude Rain decided to be our companion and he was not willing to leave us for more than a few hours. It was a little misfortune that he brought along his friends Daft Damp and Calamitous Cold. So we were lucky to find some interesting sites to see which were mostly located inside heated buildings. The museum of the First Nation People for instance was such a wonderful place.
On our journey I do think of my work as a teacher only once in a while. But when I see children's books providing information about the meaning of totempoles or the stories which have been part of the aural knowledge since centuries I have to leaf through them and finally to purchase one of them. It was funny that just one of the painting books helped us mostly when we later were standing in front of a totempole and were trying to get behind the meaning of its carvings.
After a few days Rude Rain and Daft Damp left us alone. The sun made Calamitous Cold back out on top of the white powdered mountains. We were inspired to pitch our little tent on a neat campground. Right beside was an old Indian village ('Ksaan) consisting of five longhouses and different totempoles. The latter were very important for the community and had different functions. One was to tell a story which was fundamental for the history of the clan. On top of the totempole they usually placed a person. It was surprising for us to find a european top hat of one of them. Notice that the western part of Canada was not explored by the "White Man" until the 19th century. When the Gitxsan people , who have been living here, had their first encounter with an European, they were deeply impressed. They saw a man who was dressed in a heavy coat with gleaming buttons, who owned powerful weapons and metal camping gear mounted on a horseback. Without any doubt this man had to be a chief. And how would a chief appear without an impressive headdress?
It is interesting how people from different countries sometimes meet each other and what the outcome of it can be. So much more pleasing is what happened to us when Sabine in her great interest in searching for mushrooms and fruits met Cherryl who was gathering pincherry berries on our campground. After a brief talk she invited us to her house, provided us with firewood, pincherry jam and fresh salmon. Cherryl is half Indian and half Polish and gave us further information about the First Nation People .
The next day we spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with her family of five children, husband, father and brother in law. I had the chance to accompany her husband and his brother to prey on coyotes and did my first shot with a rifle. These people were unbelievable. As Rude Rain, Daft Damp and Calamitous Cold returned they hosted us in their cozy trailer and served us a mighty breakfast on the next morning. I can tell you, one of the most inspiring things on our journey are these encounters.

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...