Monday 1st July 2013 Miles Today 294 Total 11,755
Imagine the scene, there we are, just climbed into our
sleeping bags, it is half past midnight and still light (as it always is here
!) and I lean across to Karen, take her hand in a romantic gesture and then
grab it tight so she cannot pull away and I give her the pinch punch first day
of the month. Oh Yes !!!, it’s not often I win this contest but today, victory
is mine ! Karen states I will pay for this.
Today is Canada day so for any of you Canucks that read
this, Happy Canada Day!
For us it was a get up and go day, to take a big bite out of
the long trip to Haines prior to catching the ferry on Thursday. As you can see
we managed nearly 300 leaving us just 150 for tomorrow.
Well, we set off along a fairly boring road. Bearing in
mind, a boring road here is not like a boring road in the UK. We have become
de-sensitised to the views and if we think it is good then it is very good.
After 90 miles we cross the Canadian border and are asked
the same mundane questions: “Are you terrorists”, “Do you have any nukes in
your panniers”. The customs officer then floored us with “so how is the Queen
then”. Our reply, “OK but her hubby isn’t too well”. What else could we say. He
let us in anyway. We wished him Happy Canada day and we were off.
From here on in the road was rubbish. It was potholed and
there were so many big settlement dips that it was like riding in a rodeo (OK
slight exaggeration) but one bump caught us unawares and jarred both our backs.
We are OK but it was sore at the time.
On the good side, the closer we got to Haines Junction, the
better the scenery got. It was amazing, we spotted this fellow, our first Bear
since leaving Canada 10 days ago.
 |
| We have a soft spot for these brutes. (Black bear) |
Incidentally, Haines Junction exists as it is, yes you
guessed it, the turn off junction for Haines. Villages are so sparse here that
most sizeable villages are around 100 miles apart and whist travelling along
the road, you meet the same people stopped at several places along route. It is
more of a mobile social event. Like these guys who we met 6 times in the space
of 200 miles. They eventually invited us to stay with them in Seattle.
 |
| Dunno, Dia, Spencer, Vern and Mike |
We also passed this little son of Nippon. He has just
started a 3 year world tour on his push bike. We initially passed him pushing
it uphill into a strong headwind. He then caught us up at a cafe/bar. His eyes
lit up when he saw Wallace and he ran over to it and pointed at the YAMAHA sign
shouting “Japan”. Good chap, has lots of taste. His name was something like
Jo-Ho and he is barking mad.
 |
| Small ut extremely hard, with Kev, another 1/2 hour chat. |
The last 60 miles from Destruction City, (yes that is it’s
real name) , a village of about 10 houses and a damn good bar, was the most
spectacular.
Then it was find the campsite, set up the tent, go for a
carry out lasagne and write the blog before hitting the sack – literally.
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