Prince Rupert - Haida Gwaii

We have successfully made it across Hecate Strait and are now happily situated in our cozy accommodation in Queen Charlotte City! While Kate and Jeremy catch up on some sleep lost on the overnight ferry across from Prince Rupert, I will take the time to update the blog...

Prince Rupert Secondary School was great! The students made up some of the best audiences that we've all ever experienced, and the teachers were fantastic - we feasted on muffins and exchanged coffee mugs, and had a few lively discussions. We also got the opportunity to speak to a wide range of classes, including Social Studies 10, Science 10, and a Chemistry 11 Honors class (which Kate and Jeremy thoroughly enjoyed!!). I was encouraged to see the boxes of rocks that had just been donated, and meet the teacher that will be instructing the Earth Science 11 and Geology 12 courses next semester :)

Kate and I feeling excited about our presentations at PRSS! 

The applets from KCVS are a hit with the students - so far we have used Collisional Heating, Infrared Spectral Windows, and Planetary Climates (my personal favorite) having the interactive animations is a huge help in explaining some of the major process of climate and climate change.

The rest of the time spent in Sunny Prince Rupert we played tourist and wandered around the tourist side of town, caught a Dragonboat race down by the water, ate lunch in the park, and hiked out to the Butze Rapids on the east side of town.
We caught the overnight ferry from Prince Rupert last night at 9pm, and arrived here on Haida Gwaii in Skidigate at 530AM. Since nothing was open, we parked the car by the beach and watched the eagles (dozens of them!) scavenge the beach for their breakfast while we tried to stay awake long enough to get ours at the first cafe that opened. It was probably the best breakfast ever.

It's hard to believe that the sun is still shining and the weather is so warm up here! Our apartment is located right across the main road in QCC and we have an amazing view of Moresby Island from our deck.

Today we will regain our land-legs, perhaps mingle with the locals, and then prepare for our presentation at Queen Charlotte Secondary tomorrow morning. After that, it's North off to Masset, where we will play tourist along the drive (there's some cool geology to see!), and settle in up there for another presentation.

View from the beach in Queen Charlotte City as the sun sets on our first night...

Later this evening we should have some more pictures up as Jeremy bought a memory card reader for his camera - can't wait to share the pictures with you all!! We are having an exhausting but FANTASTIC time :)

The Road Trip Begins...

Google Map of our trip so far...
A late evening drive to Port Hardy and a beautiful 15 hour boat ride up the Inside Passage, we have arrived in Prince Rupert! Not quite sure what to make of it yet, but at least the forecast is for no rain the entire time we are up here...
Leaving the torrential downpours on the Island behind us, the MV Northern Expedition took us north across Queen Charlotte Sound into the brilliant sunshine! The whole trip up to Prince Rupert we had warm sun, smooth waters, and incredible scenery. Even the food was amazing...What a way to begin our journey! Sadly, we spotted no Spirit Bears on Princess Royal Island, but saw many glacial features, whales, and met some great people.
Today in PR is our day to get organized with our presentation schedule at PRSS tomorrow and pick up any essential items we may have forgotten before heading to Haida Gwaii tomorrow on the overnight ferry. Our first presentation will be in Haida Gwaii on Wednesday in Queen Charlotte City, (allowing Tuesday for the motion sickness meds to wear off...) and Thursday in Masset, before coming back to Prince Rupert and continuing on to Prince George.

Grenville Channel

Google Map of our trip so far...