New Zealand Through Our Eyes

We have a new book out! It's called "New Zealand Through Our Eyes":

New Zealand Through Our Eyes by Ron and Lori Erwin

Just click on the cover or an arrow for a brief preview of the book. Click on the shopping cart icon to display more details or to buy the book. It can only be purchased online.

For more information on our trip to New Zealand visit our blogs:
Exposure Ron's Ramblings
Lori's Log

How Many Roads?

How many roads must a van drive down before it is ready for the Dempster Highway?

Well for our van and for us maybe we went down too many on the way there. After all since my last post re the Northwest Territories and our waterfalls tour we’ve been on a lot of roads.

Lori at Alexandra Falls, NWT - Click for larger

We’ve driven every day - sometimes very long distances and we’ve rarely stayed more than one night in the same spot. With trying to catch the good morning and/or evening light up here in the Land of the Midnight Sun that makes for very long days.

We’ve been through BC’s northern rockies camping at Stone Mountain,

Summit Lake Campground - Click for larger

Muncho Lake

Stone Sheep - Click for larger

and Liard Hotsprings Provincial Parks.

Entering the Yukon we found the sign we posted in the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake back in 2006. It has faded considerably since then (as have we).

This time we didn’t stay in Teslin but did stop to take some pics of the Nisutlin Bay Bridge.

Nisutlin Bay Bridge - Click for larger

Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon was as beautiful as before

Quill Creek, Kluane - Click for larger

although what was the interesting Slim's River Bridge has been replaced with something nondescript.

In Haines, Alaska we found a couple of grizzlies and some bald eagles at Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site without our having to become one of the paparazzi that will descend in October to photograph those subjects when the salmon are really running. Even out of season there was still a mob looking for the grizzlies.

Grizzly Bear - Click for larger

Bald Eagle - Click for larger

After Haines we went back north to Kluane and spent our 28th wedding anniversary camped at Kluane Lake in the rain, passing the time by playing cards in our dining tent, having a French Picnic (replacing the French bread with crackers and nacho chips) and napping in our van hoping to get caught up on some sleep so we could get up the next morning to shoot the Lake and Sheep Mountain if there was light.

Kluane Lake - Click for larger

From Kluane we intended to go north on the Alaska highway to Anchorage, take the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City, Yukon and then go up the Dempster Highway to the Arctic circle in the Northwest Territories. But we were told at Kluane that there were washouts and road closures in Alaska as well in the Yukon/NWT on the Dempster Highway north of Eagle Plains. Imagine washouts & floods while there are so many wildfires in BC! So we regrouped and went back to Whitehorse and stayed at the same hotel as we did before Kluane and even did our laundry for just the 2nd time this trip (sorry to anyone within smelling range of us prior).

From Whitehorse we took the Klondike Highway north – heading to Dawson city and stopped to tour the Yukon Wildlife Preserve

Muskox - Click for larger

Arctic Fox - Click for larger

and camp for a couple of nights at Lake Laberge. It was hard to get a good landscape shot there – we kept hoping but the hills were always hazy – probably from those BC wildfires and some in the Yukon too (and not still from the cremation of Sam McGee).

Lake Laberge, Yukon - Click for larger

In Dawson City we visited both the Yukon and the Northwest Territories Info Centres and were told the Dempster Highway was open and that there were even a couple of hundred barren land caribou (the Porcupine herd) crossing the highway at the territories’ border/Arctic Circle. We wanted to see those caribou.

The Dempster Highway is gravel and dirt and somewhat rough but not too bad to Tombstone Territorial Park. It’s well worth the trip that far as the scenery is spectacular. You seem to always be surrounded by mountains. But what is not to love about all the scenery in the Yukon? It is a fabulous place. And north of Tombstone is no exception.

Tombstone Park Wetlands - Click for larger

Indeed we had driven a long way just to “do the Dempster Highway”. 13,185 kms to be exact, when we filled up in Dawson City. So could we be blamed then for turning around after a truck driver told us we should somewhere around Kilometre 300? We had already white-knuckled it up the Seven Mile Hill past the Ogilvie-Peel viewpoint. Of course it had started to rain again just as we got near the hill. These dirt roads can turn into something like lard it seems. But that wasn’t the only reason the hill was scary – going up sometimes you feel like you could drop straight off the side. The greasy mud seems to want to drag the car there. It didn’t help that the road was in the process of being graded and the grader had left a wall of greasy, gravelly mud in the middle - meaning we had to stick to our side. Just before the lookout and at the very top of the hill, we met the grader coming back down in the middle of the road. So Ron veered the car through the wall and took our chances on the left side hoping for no oncoming traffic and luckily – there was none.

Tombstone Territorial Park - Click for larger

Turning around at that point wasn’t an easy decision either. We wanted to see those caribou. And we were about 100kms short of the Eagle Plains Hotel and its gas station. We were counting on the roads to there being passable - counting on refueling. But we shouldn’t have. We turned around and hoped that the van’s computer was correct with its forecast that we could travel 100kms further than what we needed to get back to the Klondike Highway junction. At about 7pm we pulled back into the Tombstone campground (km 71.5) with the low-fuel alarm sounding and a warning to check the front left tire. The computer was wrong on all counts. The back right tire was slack (which Ron changed) and this morning proved we could have gone another 30 kms past the junction (but not 100).

How many roads? Well that is enough for now. We are now back in Dawson City and tomorrow we will point the car towards home. But next time (and there will be a next time) that we try to do the Dempster we’ll have to somehow figure out how to store 20 litres of extra gas along with the two spare tires we are already toting under the bed.

Do the Dempster - Click for larger

On Family and Friends

Staying in Killbear Provincial Park meant we wouldn’t get to visit with my sister while on Manitoulin Island. Instead we arranged to meet in Espanola as she headed off the island and we headed on. It was her birthday and the first time in many years that I was able to wish her Happy Birthday in person! Most years we are already on the road on this day and have to sing Happy Birthday long distance. Probably the most unusual spot we’ve sang from was the confessional converted into a phone booth at The Convent, a bed and breakfast in Val Marie, Saskatchewan near Grasslands National Park. Happy Birthday again Little-Big-Sis!

The Island of course is still home to me in so many ways. My Mother is there. And there is just something about Manitoulin.

Cattle - Click for larger

Barrie Island Shore - Click for larger

After Mom’s we put in another long day on the road and drove to Pukaskwa National Park. The sound of the waves hitting the shores of Lake Superior is just so restful.

Pukaskwa National Park - Click for larger

Still following Lake Superior we stopped again along its shores in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park at Thunder Bay. There the whitetail deer are so used to people they graze right through your campsite.

Whitetail Deer - Click for larger

After getting past Lake Superior we took refuge in a lakeside motel in Nestor Falls and watched the thunder storms and pelting rain from the safety of our room. We were glad the motel was uphill of the lake as a raging river soon formed as the water rushed toward the lake from the parking lot. It would have been much worse if we had camped just south of there in Caliper Lake Provincial Park as originally planned. There we would have had to tent camp at the bottom of a hill. I can’t imagine that would have stayed dry during those downpours.

The highway north to Rushing River Provincial Park was flooded over in two places although still passable. The river was swollen but not really worse than the last time we photographed it, but then that was a wet year too.

Rushing River - Click for larger

In Manitoba we stayed with friends Dennis and Frieda - they are such good hosts! While we are with them the conversation never ends - hope we didn't talk their ears off! We also did some wildflower photography in the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve and visited with Christie and the usually barefoot Laura – the guardians of that untouched grasslands.

Wood Lily - Click for larger

Poor Man's RV

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Maybe it was the recent full moon. Or maybe I have simply been overwhelmed with the preparations for our upcoming photo journey - after all it is going to be a long one. Mostly while lying awake in the comfort of our own bed my mind has been wandering back to this sign in the Yukon:

Bear Warning Sign - Click for larger

It is haunting me.

We tent camped near that sign and indeed the soapberries were ripe and plentiful on our campsite. The few other campers were all in some sort of hard-sided accommodation like truck campers and RVs. If a bear wanted a little protein to accompany his fruit we were the obvious choice - we were just behind a thin nylon wall. Yet come morning we never saw any indications that bears had been around our tent - no droppings or scratchings and even the ripe berries were still waiting to be eaten.

But still that sign haunts me.

Grizzly Bear - Click for larger

I'll admit it - I'm afraid of bears. I'm tired of being bear bait. This time on the road I don't want to wake up in the tent and wonder if the rustling noises I'm hearing outside are made by the little chipmunk we saw earlier or something bigger, much bigger!

Chipmunk - Click for larger

Why is it little rodents can make so much noise anyway?

No this time I wanted options on how, or more correctly where, we sleep. Especially if a bear has been spotted nearby.

Black Bear - Click for larger

Bighorn Sheep - Click for larger

So these past couple of weeks when I've been unable to sleep, instead of counting sheep I've been thinking about options, wondering just how to sleep on the road with something a little more solid than a tent between us and the bears. In spite of my last posting/shameful plea seeking sponsorship from RV Manufacturers or dealers, I came to the conclusion that we would have to take the matter into our own hands. We would build a platform to sleep on in our van.

It took me awhile to convince Ron that it could work. We stood outside and stared into the open van and measured and "discussed". Gradually I turned those sign haunted nights into planning and design sessions. Eventually we were ready to try building something. See Ron's recent blog posting for the results.

There will be no inside plumbing so I'll still have to get dressed and go outside to find the nearest outhouse when nature calls at night. (I'll make Ron walk me so don't worry Mom!) And I'll still have to dress while lying down. It may not be the luxurious accommodation I've been lusting over. No it's rather more like a Poor Man's RV. But the walls are not only harder than tent nylon there are plenty of tinted windows. The windows just might offer scenic lakeside views. We'll be able to stargaze from bed through the tailgate window and possibly even watch bears munch on soapberries. Maybe, just maybe, this time while on the road instead of being spooked by outside noises I can finally get some sleep!

Kluane Lake, YT - Click for larger

A Confession

(also known as "This Space for Rent")

I must make a confession. While camping this past weekend I coveted my neighbours trailer. Yes it is true - I want to be trailer trash!

Robins in Nest - Click for larger

We tent camped at Rondeau Provincial Park, hopeful that staying in the park would allow us to view and photograph many beautiful migrant warblers travelling to their northern nesting grounds. And indeed we did see and photograph some lovely birds.

Baltimore Oriole - Click for larger

The hikes at dawn were good for the soul. The rising sun warmed our backs and lit up the little birds as they flitted about.

Magnolia Warbler - Click for larger

I really enjoyed that. Honest. A beautiful Pipevine Swallowtail, a butterfly that's rarely seen in Canada even posed for the cameras.

Pipevine Swallowtail - Click for larger

But sadly all these sightings just weren't enough to keep me from lusting over the trailers of other campers. No doubt I was drooling when we were invited to step inside a friend's trailer. I just couldn't help myself!

No I couldn't stop myself from imagining Ron and I having a meal or processing the day's images at the table while sitting on chairs with real backs, rather than the backless benches of a bird-dirt splattered picnic table. We wouldn't even have to set up a dining tent let alone haul bins back and forth from the car. Instead everything would be stored away in the handy cupboards. Just how much food could be kept cold in the refrigerator when a bag of ice wasn't hogging space? I wondered how comfortable the always-made Queen-sized bed would feel compared to our air-bed that becomes slack with the dropping night temperature. About four steps is what I figured it would take me to get from that warm duvet covered bed to the enclosed bathroom - no shoes or pyjama bottoms required. I also wouldn't have to worry about the unzipping of tent flaps and running out into the dark to look for the nearest outhouse with who knows what (bears?!) might be lurking nearby. In the morning I could actually step out of bed and choose from a drawer what clothes to put on that day. I wouldn't have to put back on the yesterday's clothes (the night before I usually forget to find fresh clothes from the great abyss the van becomes on road trips). But the best part of all would be those clothes could be put on while standing up! I wouldn't have to struggle into jeans while lying down - something I thought I could stop doing when the skin-tight jeans from my youth went out of fashion. Even undergarments could be put on correctly rather than leaving me feeling slightly askew all day.

Sleepy Raccoon - Click for larger

Yes indeed, a trailer or better yet a truck camper or van would be ideal for our up-coming road trip across the country. So if there are RV dealers or manufacturers reading this blog we are open to offers of your providing us with one. In exchange you would get the free advertisement in this space. No doubt I would go on at length about the RV's many features and how we were enjoying our travels in it. And of course there would be pictures of the RV against some stunning vista. But failing the selling of this space (and my soul) I will try to remind myself of the advantages to our tent camping: the lower fuel consumption, the portability, nothing to tow, low enough to get into underground parking garages, the not having to sleep with odours of the day's meals... I'll pretend that we have sacrificed our comfort in order to be more environmentally friendly and help save the planet. And if during our journeys any of you out there are indeed reading this blog, maybe you might even believe me. Well maybe just a little!

Life's a Beach?

After having practically a heat wave at Thanksgiving the weather has since returned to more seasonal fall temperatures. This means we've broken down and are actually turning on the furnace - even during the day - not just in the evenings when we are being couch potatoes. That was when it hit me that summer really was over. What alarmed me about that though was that I hadn't been swimming even once! This is the first time in my life (and I'm no spring chicken) this has ever happened.

So what did happen? Why didn't I go swimming this year?

We hit the road shortly after summer arrived. Our first main stop was the historic old city of Quebec. It was hot. Really hot. A swim would have felt good after climbing all those hills and steps around the old city. Above right: Staircase at the Rue du Petit-Chaplain)

But where do you swim in this busy city on the edge of the St. Lawrence River? As you can see from this picture (left) I wasn't even bright enough to wear shorts all the time let alone something more appropriate for swimming. But diving off this dock with ferries and other boats nearby would not have been safe. And we were too busy touring the city, sampling the food, and shooting to look for public beaches or even a pool in our hotel. After Quebec City we headed off to New Brunswick's Kouchibouguac National Park. There we would take the boardwalk across the lagoon to Kelly's Beach and the dunes on the Barrier Islands in the Atlantic (below). Ron did go in swimming, but I found the wind too strong and cool for me to swim let alone to expose much skin and risk a sand blasting. From Kouch we moved on to Inverness, Nova Scotia. Yes, that's another beach on the Atlantic and we've even swam there before. But this time both the water and the air were still too cool for even Ron to swim, although we did have to wade across a small cold stream to get this picture below. Further North we would camp in Cape Breton Highlands National Park on a cliff overlooking a rugged beach like this one below: Still, it's not a good spot for a dip. Newfoundland being an island means it is of course surrounded by water. However it is in the North Atlantic, its beaches are mostly rugged, and although the weather is sometimes warm or even hot it is almost always windy. The thought of swimming didn't really cross our minds once we were beyond the lovely sand beach at J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park. Since photographing the Endangered piping plover is one of our pet projects (we are practically plover stalkers) we spent a day at the park checking the beach for nesting plovers. We didn't find any though, perhaps because we could barely open our eyes against the sand-blasting wind. If we had found some would we really want to take out a camera and big lens and risk giving it a sanding? Probably not. Later, when the wind finally died down enough to get this picture below it was much too chilly to even contemplate swimming. Besides when the light is good we are supposed to be shooting right? So we would photograph many rugged beaches in Newfoundland:

Right: Cape Ray, Newfoundland ->

Above and Below: Green Gardens, Gros Morne National Park, NL

<- class="750495913-17102007" span="">The Arches Provincial Park, Newfoundland Sometimes the problem wasn't just that the landscape was rugged, but that there were icebergs and bergy bits nearby. That would make any swimming more like a polar bear dip.

Below: Icebergs and bergy bits off the shore of Straitsview, near L'Anse aux Meadows, NL

In Labrador there were many potential beautiful swimming spots like these below:

Above & Below: Port Hope Simpson, Labrador, NL

Above: Near Cartwright, Labrador, NL

But they didn't entice us to swim because we were already wearing what Ron calls "Labrador Evening wear". (See image right)

But even if there hadn't been any bugs, to swim in water with icebergs like this one below:

would really require a nice layer of blubber like this minke whale below. On our way home we stopped along the Bay of Fundy to shoot the huge flocks of shorebirds that gather on the Bay's shores on their way south. I must admit taking a mud bath was tempting! But only Ron's sandals really got to test it out.

Once we were back in our home town there were still plenty of warm days when a swim would have been nice. We live near a nice looking long beach along the Scarborough Bluffs (below) and will occasionally even eat a picnic lunch there. But swim? No. Unfortunately out of the 10 Toronto beaches it is one of the two that still regularly close because of high bacterial counts. Perhaps the erosion of the clay bluffs cause silting into the water and is contributing to the problem.

I hear that the weather over the next few days is supposed to be around 20C, or "beach weather" as Ron would call it. So what do you think? Should I find a nice lake somewhere and take the plunge just to break this non-swimming record? I just might - but first let me go find my wet suit.