Prince Rupert – Day 4

Last part of Day 3: I was just having my after dinner smoke when Charlie came out to join me. We started talking about the rugby and I asked if he wanted to watch the England-France game. He had seen it in Jasper whilst he was there but said he would love to see it again, so we retired to the dorm and settled down to watch. Charlie produced a bottle of red wine so we got some glasses and relived the glorious result. There were a few more people in the dorm tonight but I don’t think we disturbed them until the match finished by which time we were punching the air and enthusing on the possibility of retaining the Webb Ellis trophy. The game was not pretty but, as Sir Clive said four years earlier: “We are not here to play pretty rugby; we are here to win the World Cup.” The performance was just what was required to frustrate the French and make them kick away any possession they had and the English pack were immense. I will consider murder on any scale necessary to see the final live. I will be in Juneau then so there must be at least one pub with satellite TV. Following this we retired for the night with Charlie issuing profuse thanks for the invite to watch. I was only too pleased to have met another rugby fan.

Day 4 started bright and cheerful. I had plans (loose, as all my plans are) to visit the museum today. As I was finishing my breakfast Charlie asked if I wanted to join him on the Butze trail. “Yeah, sounds good” I replied. The museum will still be there tomorrow – I’ll go then.

We took a taxi to the trail as it was about 5Km outside Prince Rupert. The trail was very well done nad had a path all the way round it, a lot of work had gone into making it and there were information boards along it giving details on all sorts of thing from wildlife present in the area and plant and tree species. As it crossed several areas of swamp we were grateful for the path. We got to the Butze lookout. The Butze Rapids was named after a Mr. Butze (no surprises there, I’m sure) but I can’t remember what he was famous for because I have slept after reading the info. Anyhow, the Butze Rapids is one of the “weird phenomenons” which comes about from the sea filling a flood bowl at high tide – whilst the bowl is trying to empty itself naturally – and then the reverse happening at low tide causing the rapids to reverse direction. In addition to this because the unequal flow rates there can be a 2-3 metre difference in the flow levels giving a stepped effect to the water. Although our timing wasn’t perfect to see the full effect we did see this effect in small scale. Being “wild intrepid British explorers” we had to venture down to the water’s edge from the safety of the lookout. We descended the steep slope and gained the water’s edge (good job my Mother couldn’t see me) and it was worth the effort as when one was standing right next to the water one could appreciate just how fast – and what huge volume – the water was flowing past. Also from our vantage point one could look into the flood bowl which appeared just like a freshwater lake: still, calm and tranquil. However, if one looked at the banks it became quite apparent at how much the water level changes between high and low tides.
Having regained the lookout we proceeded along the trail pausing to admire things along the way. A pair of herons swimming about together and then diving under the water, for seemingly a very long time, was one of them. We didn’t rush around the trail but we managed to complete it in about three and a half hours.

When we got back to the start point we were beginning to wonder how we would get back to downtown Prince Rupert – walking & hitching was looking favourite. Two ladies who had passed us on the trail were just coming back to the start area and we said “Hi” again – they had been round twice! They asked us where we were from – one of them thought Australia – and we chatted for a while. Charlie, being very forward for an Englishman, asked if either of them were heading back into Prince Rupert and could we get a lift. “Sure” said one, her name was Sheila and her & her friend do the trail every day (two laps) as she is in training for a half-marathon later in November. I thought this was very good training as the trail had some rather steep gradients on it and any marathon, or half-marathon, would be on a flat surface. Sheila very kindly dropped us right outside the hostel and wished us a nice day, to which we reciprocated and thanked her very much.

As I was rather hungry by this time I thought it a good idea to create a bacon sandwich – so I did. This seemed to trigger hunger responses from the few people about, mainly Travis & Jessica – Charlie set about shopping for some pie crusts in order to make a pie. After creating sandwiches I was chatting to Jessica, a local girl who had done a lot of travelling and hitched up with Travis in Juneau. He is an Alaskan (preferred thinking to being American) who was born & raised in Juneau. He offered to give me some notes for things to do & see in Juneau, for which I was very grateful. Jessica set about speculating on what I could do with the bacon fat left over and came up with “bacon candles” (well people pay small fortunes for scented candles) which would be torture to vegetarians! (She has quite a wicked sense of humour.) I made some coffee and we sat about chatting for a while. Charlie returned with pie crusts and set about making a cheese, onion & spinach pie. It was a good fun social gathering with much humour and merriment. Whilst all this was going on Christy returned (easy name to remember). She is the proprietor of the hostel and had sat an electrician’s exam today. (She and a bunch of her classmates were sitting around the table last night doing some swatting up.) I asked her how she felt she had done and she replied “quietly confident, I think I did alright”. After a bit more chatting & laughing I decided to get showered & changed as I felt a bit grubby after our little hike. Having done this Charlie offered me some pie – which I gratefully accepted – it was bloody lovely – and then asked if anyone fancied a beer. He is off tomorrow to get the train to Jasper, do a bit of skiing there and then hitch his way down route 101 to Mexico. He will be in Jasper for the Rugby World Cup Final – and will not miss it!

There were few takers for his offer so it was Charlie, myself and Roland who set off for the Crest Hotel bar. Roland is a young Dutch guy from Utrecht who is on the WWOOF scheme for Canada and the US. WWOOF is World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms and is something I will consider when I get into mainland USA. I won’t bore everyone with the details; just check www.wwoof.org for an overview on what the organisation does.

We had a great time just sitting (in some very comfortable bar stools) chatting & drinking. One of the hotel guys came over to chat to us as he heard our accents. He explained how the hotel started as a small guesthouse and then got extended, several times, into what it was today. The guy who started it was a Scotsman, which explained the scattering of various clan crests & tartans around the place.

We headed back to the hostel and decided we were hungry so I set about warming up some soup I had got and Charlie produced a big bowl of a similar concoction which he and Roland shared. We all finished with bananas supplied by Roland and then cleared up. Having washed & wiped up and put everything away – a superb team effort – we trundled up to the dorm. As we were the only occupants we set about exchanging email addresses and outlining plans for the future. I said farewell to Charlie as he was getting up at 6:00, in order to get himself sorted out and off by 8:00 in order to get his train at 8:30, and I probably wouldn’t be awake by then.

We all settled down to a good night’s sleep at the end of a very enjoyable day. It is days like this that make one feel good about the world and one’s fellow human beings. It also proves my belief that people are fundamentally good and bad people are the exception.