Log houses, giant fishing rods and Aboringinal houses.

From Prince George our route took us westward to Vanderhoof where we stayed at Dave's RV park.

    It was more like a garden and Dot enjoyed strolling amongst the flower beds.

 Turning north off the main highway took us to Fort St James, point zero on the road to Europe for the fur trade.

 It has been restored and shows how the people lived back in the nineteen century.

This warehouse belongs to the old Hudson Bay Company trading post which was established in 1806.

  In the local park there is a steam driven excavator and a Junkers W34.

This is a model of one of the aeroplanes used by the bush pilots who helped to open up the Northern territories in the 1930's.

This wooden Catholic Church is typical of many in this province.

  Hidden in the bushes on a headland looking our across the bay is this memorial to local pilot Russ Baker.

Along the way we stopped to watch a log house being constructed.

After it is finished it is taken to pieces and shipped to the site where it will be rebuilt.

They offered to ship one over to Wales and did not understand that we can only have stone houses.

 Further westward we came to the Lakes region and turned south but the campsite facilities were not up to our standard!

Most lakeside homes had seaplanes pulled into docks!

The peace was shattered when this seaplane landed. The pilot taxied to the shore where a friend was waiting with fuel.

Then they both took off to go up to Burns lake for coffee!

It was not all fun and games!

    Dot learned to cook over a hot log fire and Jim got dirty doing some maintenance on the bus!

 The lake provides the head of water to generate electricity for the huge aluminium smelting works at Kitimat.

This lovely couple work here looking after the spillway gates and campsite and we had some good laughs with them over beers and lunch!

At the border were four stone buildings belonging to the US government.

This one had a sign carved into a corner stone!

In late July when the salmon are swimming up the creek to spawn the bears arrive to have a good feed.

At Fish Creek the boardwalks allow the tourists to watch in safety!

As the fish and bears had not yet arrived we had the place to ourselves.

But we were headed for another spectacle-the Salmon Glacier high up in the mountains.

The dirt road would take us across the International border back into Canada-no customs-no barriers!

Past the rusty reminders of failed mining operations the narrow twisty rocky track climbed higher and higher and it got colder and colder.

Dot burned her gloves trying to warm her hands.

Now we were looking right down onto the blue crevasses of the glacier!

The summit was just in sight through the swirling clouds.

But the ice across the track was too dangerous and we had to turn back.

As we rode back down  we began to get a little warmer but were still wet and cold.

Help was at hand at this converted bus where we enjoyed freshly caught Alaskan halibut deep fried in crispy batter with big fat chips and a mug of hot strong tea!

Sadly they do not have mushy peas!

Once again we drove through the canyon out of Port Stewart and back to the main highway.

We diverted into the historic village of Gitanyow to see the beautifully carved totem poles before heading into Terrace.

Now the road went westward to Prince Rupert as it follows the banks of the beautiful wide Skeena River. This has to be one of the most scenic routes in all of Canada.

The road winds through forests with 500ft waterfalls cascading down the sheer cliffs to the river

. Famous for eucholon this river has been a busy thoroughfare for centuries.

The local fire hall had a museum containing a REO Speedwagon fire engine that has been lovingly restored.

We were given a tour by the Deputy Fire Chief and got some memorabilia for Okie.

 Also in town for a visit was HMCS Vancouver, a helicopter frigate and we enjoyed an interesting tour around the ship.

Also nearby was a Japanese fishing boat that had been washed ashore!

This dragon boat was powered by ladies who have survived breast cancer-they were rowing with gusto!

Along beside the old railway station we sat and watched the bald eagles as they tried to eat all the fish leftovers that get thrown into the harbour.

At Cow Bay Jim tried to call home!

 From the campsite at Port Edward we cycled along the coast to the old North Pacific cannery.

Up until 1972 salmon was canned here and exported all over the World.

For lunch we visited the old buildings that once housed the workers.

 We chose clam chowder and fresh rolls and sat out on the deck enjoying the sunshine.

The net loft has been restored and the display showed how the nets were mended and looked after.

 Most of the workers were either Japanese or Chinese and many artefacts were left behind when they were interned in WW11.

Most of the machinery is kept in working order and we watched a demonstration  of the canning process.

Some of the labels looked familiar and we now understood why opening a tin of salmon was such a luxury when we were kids.

The cans had travelled right around the World.

On the way back we stopped to watch the bald eagles in the trees as they waited for the fishermen to gut the fish.

The crows showed no fear as they dive bombed the swooping eagles.

These fit young men were busy mending the crab cages.

 Next morning we were up very early and saw this Alaska cruise ship sailing up the sound into the dock.

This special vintage Canadian Pacific train takes the cruise ship passengers for a journey alongside the Skeena river.

Now it was time to enjoy the 15 hour sail through the inside passage down to Vancouver Island on board Queen of the North.