Our Kayak Route through the Johnstone Strait and Broughton Archipelago Islands of the Coast of British Columbia.

We covered approx. 50km.

We leave Calgary with the truck on August 28, 2009 & stay the first night...

...with Mike's sister in Harrison Hot Springs. Leaving early in the morning we take the ...

... from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. A nice place overlooking the coastline.

The ferry takes a couple of hours,...

...with some great scenary.

Mike hanging out on the Ferry deck. From Nanaimo we take the coastal road to Campbell River.

We take the 10 minute ferry from Campbell River to Quadra Island to camp at the We Wai Kai Campground.

The campsite is located in the Rebecca Spit Park on the Drew Habour.

We take a stroll through the park and come upon this memorial.

Our friends the jellofish stranded on the beach.

August 30, 2009 we leave Quadra Island and travel north on the Island for 2 1/2 hrs to Telegraph Cove.

We have lunch watching other Kayakers leave.

We transfer all our gear to the end of the dock...

...and while waiting for our water taxi take a stroll around Telegraph Cove.

It is a must to visit the Bones Project Museum.

It displays the skeletons of many marine mammals...

...found ont he BC coast.

Entry to the museum is a donation.

This trip is all about enjoying kayaking and seeing the Killer Whale.

The Killer Whale also called Orca can reach 9m in length and up to 5600kg.

A Orca Skull.

The scale of these mammal skeleton is incredible.

The water taxi arrives, which is run by Brian the owner of the Paddler's Inn Eco-lodge.

We make our way across Johnstone Strait to Hanson Island.

Luke our Guide brings our gear to shore.

Our first wilderness campsite on Hanson Island.

As the weather and time cooperates we head out for our first introductory paddle.

The kitchen, were Luke and Skye make us dinner.

We were spoilt rotten by those two surprising us everynight by their amazing food creations.

The toilet and red toilet bag.

August 31, 2009. We learn how to pack all this gear into our kayaks.

It is incredible how much room there is in the kayak.

We are on the Johnston Strait Expedition run by the Spirit of the West Adventure Ltd.

Skye is one of our guides.

We paddle through the Plumper Islands and...

...cross the Blackfish Sound to the Swanson Island.

We end up on the Compton Island and set up camp.

Our first full day of kayaking completed and everyone is tired.

Our beautiful campsite where we could here the Orcas play during the night.

As we relax on the beach suddenly three ...

...killer whales making their way through the small passage way.

It is an amazing sight...

... and sound.

Everytime the killer whale surface they exhale and make a unique sound.

We continue awe struck to watch...

...the killer whales...

...playing in the straight.

We were pretty lucky to see them on our first day.

It doesn't get any better then this.

We hang out on the beach watching the sun set.

September 01, 2009. Watching the sun rise...

Looking toward the Berry Island.

Luke gathers us for a briefing of the route ahead.

Every morning the fog moves in and normally disepates by noon.

The kayaks are all packed up it we are ready to go.

There are 10 of us, 2 guides and 8 fellow kayakers. Today we get a chance to try out the single kayaks.

Ruby is in the yellow kayak (of course) and Mike in the white.

Luke, our guide, takes the lead. The water is incredible calm.

The two double kayaks. A Scottish Couple and in the background a couple of New Zealand Women.

Skye, our guide.

Ruby, enjoying the paddle. The Helmet Video Camera on her hat.

We make our way thorugh the Broughton Islands.

Mike glides through the calm waters.

It is a network of forested Islands and protected passageways.

Besides scenic paddling there is intriguing history.

We have lunch at the ancient village site of Mamalillacula...

...and learn about the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations people.

A fallen over Totem Pole.

All that is left of an entrance to a building.

An old dock on the other side of Village Island.

We continue to paddle for another couple of hours across Eliot Passage and the big Knight Inlet...

...to our final destination Owl Island.

Another beautiful spot to set up camp.

We watch yet again as the sun sets.

A perfect picture opportunity...

Our tent site.

Pulling up the kayaks right to the treeline.

Our protable sinks to clean the dishes in.

Skye and Luke busy again preparing dinner.

Rob, the Canadian and Mike digging in. It is Italian night.

September 02, 2009. The view from Owl Island in the morning.

Taking the tent down and packing up.

The fog is still dense as we start the day.

Mike paddling across the Spring Passage.

Ruby's view ahead. A perfect day to get more out into the passage.

Back in the double kayak we enter some tight passages.

It is low tide and we just make it through.

Due to the good visibility and calm waters we are able ...

...to go around Crib Island.

We take up camp on Tracey Island.

Taking a walk along the shoreline.

It is low tide and ...

...we are able to see lots of star fish.

A orange star fish.

A 20 armed star fish.

A green star fish that blends into its surroundings.

Skye picks up a star fish and explains some features.

The entire beach is cover by huge shells.

Our last campsite in the wild. No shower for 5 days.

September 03, 2009. Our last day of kayaking. Blue skies greets us.

A snack break on the open water. We used to joke that all this eating was getting in the way of kayaking.

We make it through the passage between Insect Island and Baker Island. A view of Gilbert Island Mountain Range.

We edging our way closer to Horsford Point on Baker Island.

This is the roughest it ever got on this kayak trip.

The final destination...

...The Paddler's Inn Eco-Lodge...

...which is run and owned by Brian.

We unload the kayaks one last time.

The view from our room.

Docking the Kayaks with the water taxi which will take us back to Telegraph Cove the next day.

We are so sold on kayaking that we can't wait to get our own.

The sleeping quarters and kitchen are in this building which is on floats.

Our room with lots of space. The hot shower was incredible.

Late afternoon a small kayak excursion past Echo Bay...

...to visit the famous Billy's Museum.

These are items found on beaches along...

...this coastline.

September 04, 2009. After breakfast we take a hike around Paddler's Inn.

Our home for the last night.

Low tide allows us to walk across the to the island.

The scenary is breathtaking.

A lookout spot with a bench.

Kayaking in the spotlight of the sun.

No one wants this trip to end...

...and enjoy every last minute of it.

Thank to everyone, our fellow kayakers and our guides Skye and Luke for making...

...this trip so memorable.

Taking the 2 hour water taxi back to Telegraph Cove across the Johnstone Strait over some very rough waters.

We are lucky to see one final killer whale.

Sea lions beaching on a large rock.

From Telegraph Cove we head south to Little River and take the Ferry across to Powell River on the mainland.

We stay the night at the Westview Centre Motel in Powell River.

September 05, 2009. Leaving town we stop to take a closer look at the Totem Pole.

We take another ferry from Saltery Bay to Earls Cove and stop in Sechelt...

...to take in the Saturday market.

The natives of Canada try to keep their traditions alive. These Totem Poles were created...

...by this artist. He told us how he became an artist and who inspired him. At the end we added to our art collection the piece he is holding.

From Langdale we take the ferry over to Horseshoe Bay and drive to Osoyoos...

... to visit with Ruby's parents and to check out the local wineries.

We were able to visit five vineyards and ended up with a entire case of assorted great BC wines.

One of the places we had to stop at was of course ...

...Ruby Tuesday. The writing above the door is very fitting "Catch your Dreams...".

It is early September...

...rainy day and perfect for wine tasting...

...in the Okanagan Valley

Ruby and her Mom.

BC monster Tomatos.

September 07, 2009 we have a visit with Ruby's sister in Vernon on the way back to Calgary.