The RV campsite was right next door to the British Columbia
Wildlife Park. It’s a volunteer rescue zoo that either rehabilitates animals
and returns them to the wild, or keeps them if they are unable to go back. So
we headed in there for a look around. They had two orphan grizzly bear cubs –
really fun to watch. They were tearing around chasing each other and play
fighting like a pair of puppies. One of them got in the bath and did his yoga –
he was grabbing his back paws with his front paws and stretching his legs up in
the air so he was balanced on his bum (yes, there is such a yoga pose). Then he
would lose his balance and fall over backwards or sideways into the water. We
confirmed that, yes, we have seen a grizzly in the wild. Still bummed we didn’t
get a decent picture.
There were also wolves, badgers, a lynx, and racoons. We saw
elks again, and this time they were talking – they make a really weird “yo”
“yo” kind of call in a high pitched voice. There were twin baby moose and a
solitary mountain goat. They had a birds of prey exhibit, with bald eagles,
different kinds of owls and a vulture. He was pretty gross. Apparently when you
threaten a vulture it throws up in the hope of disgusting the predator so much
that it goes away – that would work. They also pee on their own feet to get rid
of blood and guts and bugs from the road kill they eat. So, not on our list of
“must see in the wild” animals.
There were lots of kiddies running around on school trips.
Funny that most of them were so busy playing on the swings that they weren’t
that interested in the animals.
We left Kamloops at lunchtime headed for Whistler. On the
way we passed through the historic Hat Creek station – it was the main staging
area on the road west. To start with the scenery was very arid – rolling hills
covered in silver sage brush and only green on the river flats. We passed a
lake that had a house on an island in the middle – pretty cool, and not long
after another black bear grazing on dandelions near the road. Black bears are
everywhere at this time of year.
As we travelled into the mountains we were following a
river. As we climbed the river gorge got deeper, with sheer cliffs, a bit of
flat land, then cliffs again. Every bit of flat land was farmed, but with no
fencing – we had visions of cows and horses falling off the edge. Most of the
area was under crops of some kind, with water obviously pumped from the river hundreds
of feet below – seriously big pumps!
We passed under a railway bridge, but it was a single lane
tunnel and went sharp 90 degree angle left, under the bridge, then sharp 90
degrees again to the right. There were steep walls on either side and it was a
squeeze for the old bus. Not long after, we passed a truck with a trailer going
the other way and wondered how on earth he was going to manage it??
Going down over the range we passed several Indian
reservations. On one hill we went past 5 people, each standing on the side of
the road holding a stick with feathers tied to the end. The people were evenly
spaced, about 1km apart. We wonder if they were performing a ceremony?
After we passed through the town of Lillooet, we were back
in the amazing Canadian mountains again. Rivers, trees, snow-capped mountains
and wild roses and lupins growing by the roadside. There were huge dandelion
puff balls, about the size of an orange. We passed a lake that had a massive
log jam in it.
Coming into Whistler was interesting. Once we passed the
turnoff to the local airport immediately the roads got better, the houses much
tidier (and bigger). It was like crossing a border into a new country.
The Whistler RV park is lovely – all landscaped and white
gravel paths. We backed over a small tree parking up (shhhh). It straightened
up ok. We took a partially serviced site to keep the costs down so we are way
over the back away from all the action. Its very peaceful.
