Prince Rupert. Where to start.
For those that don't know much about PR (what all the locals call it...or possibly just Nick and I), it's located HERE:
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Some fun facts about PR:
Yay!
So it rains a lot in Rupert. We were made very aware of this fact within about 12.5 minutes of tying up at the dock. The weekend were arrived was weekend of the 16th annual Seafest celebration. Coincidentally, this Seafest was actually celebrating the 100th birthday of PR itself. So ya. Happy birthday.
That said, it absolutely poured down rain for most of the weekend; as in Indian monsoon style. We went and checked out the Seafest parade, which went off without a hitch, just possibly with a few more rain jackets than originally planned. Gotta give the participants credit though. They were troopers. I'd have pictures, but my camera isn't waterproof. So ya.
Saturday night was the Seafest Beer Garden, which was held in a hockey arena. Alan's parents hooked us up with some local "Rupe Dogs" (again, I think only Nick and I use that term...). Fun times. Met a bunch of people from PR, Kitimat, Terrace and Smithers. Twas a good night.
On Sunday, Nick and I went and checked out the "Race for Survival." It basically entailed putting on a survival suit, then swimming out to a life raft anchored just out from a dock.
It was a race against time, plus you got bonus points for "stylish entries" into the water. Nick and I came up with a guaranteed winner, which we will unveil next year to much applause. Either that, or we'll share it with Alan's younger brother. He'll be the envy of all his friends. It's THAT good.
The Captain departed for Vancouver on Tuesday morning. Nick and I quickly involved ourselves in a number of little jobs around the boat. Our primary focus was a leak in the exhaust system.
Frazzled exhaust hose and some cracks in the welding. No good.
Fresh welds. Peeertty.
I took the better part of the week running around to all kinds of local shops, but we finally got it working smoothly. I say "we" but it was pretty much all Nick. I've mostly occupied myself by patching some chips in the hulls, painting, polishing, etc. "Bright work" as we call it.
The weather turned awesome just after Seafest had ended (ironic). Sunshine, warm temperatures, etc. Nick and I took advantage and decided to climb the local Mt. Hayes. 8.5k distance and 708m vertical from sea level. Good exercise, but somewhat painful hike in skate shoes.
Found another Blair Witch style building on the way. Apparently it was an old bunker of some sort.
Views from the summit were quite awesome.
"I can see my hou...errr, boat from here"
I had a little "bald eagle photoshoot" up top. Yes I know I said I was done photographing eagles, but these were just too close to pass up.
"And the rockets red glare..."
Nick didn't appreciate my patriotic singing...
National Geographic, here I come.
Some hilarity to be had with this last little feathery guy. We watched him try to land on a round radio transmitter of some sorts, only to skid awkwardly across the top, sailing right off the other side. He immediately flew off, acting like nothing had happened. Same idea as watching a cat fall off a television or something, but even more "regal." But we saw it all.
Click for full panorama goodness.
On the way down we found...a bathtub?
Most epic tub I've ever sat in, that's for sure.
One night last week, I decided to stay up late enough to take some sunset pictures. This is more of feat than it originally sounds, as the sun NEVER FREAKIN' SETS. Well ok, it does eventually...for about 20 minutes. No no, I'm exaggerating.
But seriously, it's light here for way too long. My internal clock = screwed.
All of those shots were taken handheld, without a tripod. I'm officially a fan of Nikkor's "Vibration Reducing" lenses. Awesome.
Other randomness from this week included "Cruise Ship Day."
Rupert is a stopping point for a lot of the cruise ships traveling between Washington and Alaska. Apparently they get one to two ships per week during the summer. This basically provides an influx of around 2000 tourists, once a week, for about 6 hrs. There's a mad flush of touristy stuff all happening within 20 minutes of it docking; sea kayaking, sight-seeing floatplane rides, whale watching tours, etc. All the bars/restaurants are instantly packed with somewhat overweight folks. Then they all get back on the boat and peace out. Rather odd to watch.
In other situations, this sight would be most concerning...
These pictures don't really do justice to how big this ship was. Once it was docked, it was literally the tallest building in the entire city, even though it was at sea level and the other buildings were on hills. Massive. Watching it dock itself was pretty impressive as well.
Well, if you're still reading, I'm amazed because this post is not the most organized thing ever. So just finish off this seemingly random assortment of letters/pictures/numbers, here's a shot of a windshield that Nick and I ingeniously created to keep the bbq from blowing out in 20 knot winds.
Worked like a charm.
Alan arrives on Sunday. Exciting!
Oh and it's raining (surprise!).
