CLAUDIA & CARSTEN'S WORLD EXPEDITION

Long time no see

Visiting an old Danish friend living in Penticton, British Columbia.

The view from our friends house

Outdoor dinner in Penticton

Time to go offroad

in the hills above Lake Okanagan.

Boys with toys

Okanagan Lake

Highland Valley Copper Mine

The largest open pit copper mine in Canada.

Beautiful lake on the road

towards Lillooet.

Going fishing for White Sturgeon

on the mighty Fraser River in Lillooet.

Jetboating down Fraser River

Boys getting ready

We used woms and squid for bait

Waiting

More waiting...

Strike and I got it!

The White Sturgeon Carsten caught took out 250 meters of line in one run and dragged us down river for 3 kilometers until he finally got tired so we could land him on a small beach.

Hold on to it!

All fish bigger than 150 cm (5ft) must remain in the water while handled in order to reduce stress and potential injury.

White Sturgeons are studied

So they need to be tagged to check how much they have grown and where they are located the next time they are caught. This helps biologists map their migration patterns and study their growth ratio. This is the scanner used to see if the fish has been caught before. This one had not, thus we needed to tag him before he could be released.

These are the RFID tags used

to tag the White Sturgeons.

Tagging

The RFID tag is placed just under the skin using a special syringe.

Measuring length and girth

Say cheese!

This male sturgeon was a 208 cm (7 ft) long beast, with a girth (waist) of 90 cm (3 ft) and an estimated weight of 137,5 kg (275 lb) and probably being more than 50 years old. As you can see by the look on their faces he was not a lightweight fish....

Happy fisherman

Driving towards Vancouver

There had been a massive landslide on the road which they were still cleaning up.

A warm welcome from

The people of the Squamish Nation.

Whistler

Whistler is North America's biggest ski area, with around 200 runs between the ski centers of Whistler and Blackcomb. When we arrived only Blackcomb was open and it was quite expensive. Though considerably cheaper than the USA, we decided not to go, but instead keep it for a future trip.

Sailing to Vancouver Island

Very windy!

Vancouver in the distance

We decided not to visit downtown Vancouver this time.

Seaplanes, a common sight in Canada

Nanaimo - Vancouver Island

Little Kwalikum Falls

A beautiful park where we spent the first night on the island.

Cathedral Grove

This is a small reserve in the island where you can see the huge Douglas Fir trees. They are very impressive.

People will never learn

Radar Hill Tofino

It dates back to 1954 and the early days of the Cold War. The Soviet Union was seen as a nuclear threat and a series of radar stations were built by Canada and the Unites States. Several lines of radar stations could provide warning of an attack from long range bombers.

Florencia Bay

between Tofino and Ucluelet.

Ucluelet Lighthouse Loop

An easy 2,6 kilometer hiking trail.

Victoria

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings with a Totem in the front.

Sailing back to the US

from Victoria to Port Angeles in Washington State.