27 September 2008
gateway to the next frontier
Gentle reader, these words are being written on a computer in the Java Lodge, Prince Rupert B. C. Rambling Rose is busily packing her bags and a breakfast for an early start tomorrow morning--5:30 a.m. is the scheduled check-in time for walk-on passengers embarking on BC Ferrries Inside Passage sailing to Port Hardy. Fittingly, the name of this new ferry is the Northern Adventure-- brought into service to replace the Queen of the North that sank two years ago a little bit farther down the coast.
Prince Rupert owes its beginnings to one man's vision that this harbour on Kaien Island was the perfect terminus for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and would open up trade to the Far East. Unfortunately, the dreamer who dreamed the dream never lived to see its full realization as he was aboard the Titanic when it sank. A full century later, RR noted two Via freight trains carrying container cargo--each so long that she could not count the rail cars. **
Tonight's home away from home, the Java Lodge B & B, has been an absolutely wonderful find. The B& B is housed in the upper floor of a restored 1910 neo-classical Bank of Montreal building; downstairs is the Java Dot Cup Internet Cafe which appears to be quite popular with locals. The large rooms are quite spacious with high ceilings, each equipped with a computer and Internet connection; there's a large well-stocked kitchen, light-filled dining room, and a living room with fireplace and DVD library with hundreds of movies for guests to enjoy. Upstairs and down the walls are filled with paintings: traditional, new artists and First Nations art. Great coffee, huge muffins, and big bowls of ice cream (RR's choice: Mango Tango).
Prince Rupert (est. 1910, pop.15,000) is the mid-point of RR's latest adventure that is bookended with visits to dear friends in Calgary and Vancouver. As well, this trip's itinerary was mapped out to include portions of Alberta and British Columbia RR has long wanted to see and experience: the fabled Inside Passage Cruise and more of wonderful Victoria. In other chapters of her life, RR was fortunate to have been able to call each of these provinces home.
Canada's power base has shifted to Calgary (est. 1833, pop. 1,000,000) now and just this year, the city was rated as third best place to live in Canada. It's a fresh, clean, thriving, most modern city with construction everywhere.
Most of RR's time there was spent visiting with her friend who took her on long excursions into the foothills and through the rolling ranchlands just west of the city. We enjoyed several fall colour tours with the dark green of the forests accented by golden aspen everywhere; ever present in the distance was the blue of the snow-capped mountains and overhead ever-changing cloud formations rolling eastward to reveal the bluest of blue skies smiling on us.
There are two memorable highlights of Calgary that RR shall link you to: 1) the Stephen Avenue Walk National Historic Site -- two blocks of heritage sandstone buildings superbly restored ---surrounded by postmodern steel and glass skyscrapers; and 2) the Glenbow Museum's two remarkable current exhibitions available online. The first exhibition, Mavericks An INCORRIGIBLE History of Alberta, turns the dry stuff of history textbooks into a fun, entertaining experience; the second, Niitsitapiisinni our way of life, tells the story of the Blackfoot Peoples and how their way of life depended on the buffalo and how their traditionalvalues continue to inform their lives today. By the way, this is the first museum RR has visited where there are signs posted that read, "Please do touch." Touch RR did-- a thick silky buffalo hide.
RR covered the 1,847 km. distance separating Calgary and Prince Rupert via an overnight Greyhound bus trip with transfers in Edmonton and Prince George. The greatest portion of the route follows the Yellowhead/Highway 16. The Yellowhead is another one of those remarkable Canadian engineering stories***: initially begun near end of World War II by American soldiers stationed in Prince Rupert, Highway 16 today provides an east-west route through the northern portions of the four western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). As of last night, RR has now completed travelling the entire length of Highway 16 and the Trans Canada (Highway 1); still awaiting completion? the Governor's Road-- the old Highway 2 that connected Windsor to Kingston Ontario.
RR's enjoyment of the bus trip was greatly enhanced by new folks she met on this journey. There's the young 20-something Englishman, who dissatisfied with his job at home, set out to see the world--two months in Canada followed by two months in Australia. He began with Halifax (no one was there to tell him how to get to Newfoundland by bus) and will end his stay here in Vancouver. He's seeing the country on a 60 day Greyhound bus pass @ $850 cost & is staying at the Pioneer Hostel just down the road. RR will see him on the ferry tomorrow again. His first impression of Canada? he finds that each city where he has stayed is unique and socio-culturally different from all others. As well, he is awed by the vastness and incredible distances that one must cover to see all of Canada.
Two of RR's bus drivers have been wonderful tour guides as well. The driver doing the Prince George to Smithers portion drew her attention to all the bands of blood red coloured conifers that indicated the devastating extent of the mountain pine beetle infestation that is destroying the vast forests of northwestern BC-- RR had read about this and had already planned to blog about this issue within the context of climate change-- to actually see what one has read about makes a big difference.
The next driver who completed the Smithers to Prince Rupert run noted for her all the portions of mountains that had been clearcut by logging companies as well as the subsequent landslides that brought considerable hardships to the these remote, isolated communities in northwestern B. C. When RR remarked upon the frequent crucifixes she was noticing adjacent to the highway as it paralleled the Skeena River portions of the road, her driver filled her in on the full significance of the "Highway of Tears" appellation of the Prince George to Prince Rupert Highway 16. RR had assumed the crucifixes and shrines had been erected in memory of one of the 30 women who have vanished along this stretch of highway since 1974. Not so, each memorial is located at the scene of a tragic highway accident. He noted, "In the summer, this highway sings with promise; come winter the highway turns deadly without warning." The woman who gave RR a ride back to Java Lodge told her that she never ventures out from Prince Rupert during the winter months--ever.
Tourist brochures singing the praises of this beautiful town located on Kaien Island surrounded by mountains on all sides never speak of the constant rain. It rained yesterday morning and then again in the evening as we got closer to Prince Rupert. It has rained off and on all day today. In spite of that, RR has walked this town, visited its museum, and tasted its halibut. As a precautionary measure for tomorrow's cruise, she is adding an umbrella and a windbreaker into her carry-on bag. She is also re-framing this experience by telling herself: 1) fog is an opportunity for great atmospheric photographs; 2) Record photographer David Bebee always shoots no matter what the weather and some of his best photos have been taken in rain, in snow, in foggy conditions; and 3) a stranger is just a friend one has yet to meet.
I leave you, gentle reader, with a few snippets from local papers perused along the way.
Source: (1) Rob Budde, Oploparax Horridus* and Me, Northwood Oct/Nov08.
Notes: * the devil's club plant growing in northwestern BC forests; ** BC shipped 1 billion board feet of lumber to the Chinese market in 2008; *** RR is currently reading Pierre Berton, The National Dream The Great Railway 1871-1881(vol. 1)
Prince Rupert owes its beginnings to one man's vision that this harbour on Kaien Island was the perfect terminus for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and would open up trade to the Far East. Unfortunately, the dreamer who dreamed the dream never lived to see its full realization as he was aboard the Titanic when it sank. A full century later, RR noted two Via freight trains carrying container cargo--each so long that she could not count the rail cars. **
Tonight's home away from home, the Java Lodge B & B, has been an absolutely wonderful find. The B& B is housed in the upper floor of a restored 1910 neo-classical Bank of Montreal building; downstairs is the Java Dot Cup Internet Cafe which appears to be quite popular with locals. The large rooms are quite spacious with high ceilings, each equipped with a computer and Internet connection; there's a large well-stocked kitchen, light-filled dining room, and a living room with fireplace and DVD library with hundreds of movies for guests to enjoy. Upstairs and down the walls are filled with paintings: traditional, new artists and First Nations art. Great coffee, huge muffins, and big bowls of ice cream (RR's choice: Mango Tango).
Prince Rupert (est. 1910, pop.15,000) is the mid-point of RR's latest adventure that is bookended with visits to dear friends in Calgary and Vancouver. As well, this trip's itinerary was mapped out to include portions of Alberta and British Columbia RR has long wanted to see and experience: the fabled Inside Passage Cruise and more of wonderful Victoria. In other chapters of her life, RR was fortunate to have been able to call each of these provinces home.
Canada's power base has shifted to Calgary (est. 1833, pop. 1,000,000) now and just this year, the city was rated as third best place to live in Canada. It's a fresh, clean, thriving, most modern city with construction everywhere.
Most of RR's time there was spent visiting with her friend who took her on long excursions into the foothills and through the rolling ranchlands just west of the city. We enjoyed several fall colour tours with the dark green of the forests accented by golden aspen everywhere; ever present in the distance was the blue of the snow-capped mountains and overhead ever-changing cloud formations rolling eastward to reveal the bluest of blue skies smiling on us.
There are two memorable highlights of Calgary that RR shall link you to: 1) the Stephen Avenue Walk National Historic Site -- two blocks of heritage sandstone buildings superbly restored ---surrounded by postmodern steel and glass skyscrapers; and 2) the Glenbow Museum's two remarkable current exhibitions available online. The first exhibition, Mavericks An INCORRIGIBLE History of Alberta, turns the dry stuff of history textbooks into a fun, entertaining experience; the second, Niitsitapiisinni our way of life, tells the story of the Blackfoot Peoples and how their way of life depended on the buffalo and how their traditionalvalues continue to inform their lives today. By the way, this is the first museum RR has visited where there are signs posted that read, "Please do touch." Touch RR did-- a thick silky buffalo hide.
RR covered the 1,847 km. distance separating Calgary and Prince Rupert via an overnight Greyhound bus trip with transfers in Edmonton and Prince George. The greatest portion of the route follows the Yellowhead/Highway 16. The Yellowhead is another one of those remarkable Canadian engineering stories***: initially begun near end of World War II by American soldiers stationed in Prince Rupert, Highway 16 today provides an east-west route through the northern portions of the four western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). As of last night, RR has now completed travelling the entire length of Highway 16 and the Trans Canada (Highway 1); still awaiting completion? the Governor's Road-- the old Highway 2 that connected Windsor to Kingston Ontario.
RR's enjoyment of the bus trip was greatly enhanced by new folks she met on this journey. There's the young 20-something Englishman, who dissatisfied with his job at home, set out to see the world--two months in Canada followed by two months in Australia. He began with Halifax (no one was there to tell him how to get to Newfoundland by bus) and will end his stay here in Vancouver. He's seeing the country on a 60 day Greyhound bus pass @ $850 cost & is staying at the Pioneer Hostel just down the road. RR will see him on the ferry tomorrow again. His first impression of Canada? he finds that each city where he has stayed is unique and socio-culturally different from all others. As well, he is awed by the vastness and incredible distances that one must cover to see all of Canada.
Two of RR's bus drivers have been wonderful tour guides as well. The driver doing the Prince George to Smithers portion drew her attention to all the bands of blood red coloured conifers that indicated the devastating extent of the mountain pine beetle infestation that is destroying the vast forests of northwestern BC-- RR had read about this and had already planned to blog about this issue within the context of climate change-- to actually see what one has read about makes a big difference.
The next driver who completed the Smithers to Prince Rupert run noted for her all the portions of mountains that had been clearcut by logging companies as well as the subsequent landslides that brought considerable hardships to the these remote, isolated communities in northwestern B. C. When RR remarked upon the frequent crucifixes she was noticing adjacent to the highway as it paralleled the Skeena River portions of the road, her driver filled her in on the full significance of the "Highway of Tears" appellation of the Prince George to Prince Rupert Highway 16. RR had assumed the crucifixes and shrines had been erected in memory of one of the 30 women who have vanished along this stretch of highway since 1974. Not so, each memorial is located at the scene of a tragic highway accident. He noted, "In the summer, this highway sings with promise; come winter the highway turns deadly without warning." The woman who gave RR a ride back to Java Lodge told her that she never ventures out from Prince Rupert during the winter months--ever.
Tourist brochures singing the praises of this beautiful town located on Kaien Island surrounded by mountains on all sides never speak of the constant rain. It rained yesterday morning and then again in the evening as we got closer to Prince Rupert. It has rained off and on all day today. In spite of that, RR has walked this town, visited its museum, and tasted its halibut. As a precautionary measure for tomorrow's cruise, she is adding an umbrella and a windbreaker into her carry-on bag. She is also re-framing this experience by telling herself: 1) fog is an opportunity for great atmospheric photographs; 2) Record photographer David Bebee always shoots no matter what the weather and some of his best photos have been taken in rain, in snow, in foggy conditions; and 3) a stranger is just a friend one has yet to meet.
I leave you, gentle reader, with a few snippets from local papers perused along the way.
"This place can kill you. The fast, tough rivers, the challenging landscape, the difficult highways, the bad drivers, the large carnivores: they all can hurt you. A Cree elder taught me that the first relationship with the land and its creatures has to be one of piteousness--
I am subject to this place, not it subject to me." (1)
Source: (1) Rob Budde, Oploparax Horridus* and Me, Northwood Oct/Nov08.
Notes: * the devil's club plant growing in northwestern BC forests; ** BC shipped 1 billion board feet of lumber to the Chinese market in 2008; *** RR is currently reading Pierre Berton, The National Dream The Great Railway 1871-1881(vol. 1)
Enter to win one of two special limited edition prints by Nuxalk artist Chazz Brandon Mack; details here aboriginalbc.com/win
Labels: history
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