Month: August 2024

The weather is damp and misty. I think Tracey had this in mind when instead of fishing, he asked us if we wanted to accompany him on a trip to Hartley Bay to pick up a client. He says there will be lots of whales en route. This sounds great to me and we accept his invitation.

It is a short drive from the lodge to the marina where we pick up our boat. It turns out to be a very solidly built water taxi, which is functional, sturdy and well heated. Tracey takes the helm and we settle in beside him.

Tracey has impressive boat handling skills and he manoeuvres the boat out of the marina with ease. The sea is pretty calm so the trip is relatively comfortable but visibility is poor. Low cloud descends and it starts to rain. Spotting anything will be hard, but we do see several whales in the distance and a pod of porpoises although their presence was fleeting.

I do not hold out much hope for a quality whale encounter. However, as we approach our destination of Hartley Bay, a whale briefly surfaces directly in front of us. It dives but it was close and exciting. Shortly after that we spot what we think is a log floating on the surface.

It turns out to be a humpback whale in a pretty relaxed state. We manage to get fairly close and I stand on deck in the now persistent rain trying to capture the moment.

Given the conditions I am pleased with the results, but as we approach the harbour another “log” is floating on the surface. We move in closer – maybe only 20 yards away – and can determine that this is another whale. It is just casually lazing on the surface and it gives us the most incredible and privileged experience. It allows us to stay with it for several minutes, It calls, blows out water and as a grand finale gracefully lifts its tail before diving down. The air is misty, the light is poor and it is still raining, but given the conditions I am absolutely thrilled with the photos that I managed to capture.

What an exhilerating morning! When we get back to the lodge, the weather has improved, so we sit on our veranda and eat a late lunch before catching up on much needed sleep. We are still not over the jet lag so take the easy option and return to Rosario for supper. This time I make a good menu choice – sweet and sour chicken. It is delicious, really homemade tasting and not a deep-fried anything in sight!

It’s close on 48 hours since we left the UK and we are relieved to finally make it to Terrace. Our luggage is unloaded into a tent outside the terminal building – slightly unusual and chaotic! We find a taxi for our final hour long drive to Kitimat. It turns out there are not very many at the airport so we are lucky.

We arrive at Kitimat Lodge where we are staying in a little log cabin. It is rustic and basic but clean and fairly spacious with a large bedroom, separate kitchen and bathroom. We unpack and join our host Tracey for a welcome drink and then head to the nearest restaurant. High end it is not, but apparently near to the top of the list of what is available in Kitimat. We order seafood linguine with alfredo sauce. On a positive the prawns and scallops are superb and really fresh…… but the sauce….glutenous and far too much of it. The portions are too large and we definitely should have shared, but it has filled a hole and hopefully we shall sleep well.

We do indeed sleep soundly but all too soon it is 05.30 and time to rise for our first day’s fishing. Our guide for the day, Mike, meets us. It is a short drive to the launch site and he skilfully reverses the boat trailer into the Kitimat River and we are off. It is a cool, damp morning and looks like ideal fishing weather. It is Paul’s birthday, so I really hope he has a successful day.

He spends the first three hours wading a short stretch of river where coho abound though he has limited success in catching them. He lands a small one and also a biggie that gets away. The really bad news is that he breaks his brand new Spey casting rod. It is a replacement for his previous one which snapped in exactly the same place. Clearly a design fault. It has a lifetime guarantee but he is not sure he wants another one if they always break!! Just as we are commiserating with him a float boat approaches with the crew singing “Happy Birthday to you.” These were some guys we were talking to while launching the boat. How nice and cheered Paul up!

The weather has improved though there is still a chill wind. There are some lovely views up and down the river. There is also a strong odour of rotting fish where dead and dying salmon lie on the gravel bars after spawning. Not something David Attenborough mentions. Yuck! Fortunately this phenomenon is only in isolated places along the river.

I had hoped to see lots of wildlife whilst Paul was fishing but have little success. There are bears here but they are not showing themselves today.

However there are lots of gulls feasting on the salmon carcasses..

… and eagles and ospreys which are annoyingly all too distant for any half decent photographs.

We then drift down river in the boat, with Paul fishing en route. There are loads of fish in the river and he catches several small coho and salmon.

It is very beautiful and peaceful and there are worse ways to while away a few hours. I take a couple more landscape shots….

… Paul has a final cast or two from the bank…

… and then we head back home.

It is only 14.30 but with the 8 hour time difference we are mega tired. However we still have no provisions, so before we can have a nap we head off to a mini-mart about a 10 minute walk away. There are very limited choices but we manage to find the makings of breakfast and packed lunches and then… Hoorah!!! We can take a couple of hours sleep before dinner.

Kitimat has undergone a large expansion in the last four years due to the construction of a Liquid Natural Gas Export Facility. It has brought in some 4000 construction workers to build the plant and necessary accompanying infra-structure. This is relevant because the place that we decide to eat – “The Blue Room Tavern” is full with said workers. It is only a short walk from the lodge and is meant to be pretty much the best place in town. To say it was noisy would be an understatement and everyone seemed to be on a mission to get hammered. Shots and chasers galore were being ordered. The only seats available for us are at the bar. This is not quite the romantic venue I would have chosen for Paul’s birthday dinner. However the food is surprisingly good and they even had one of our favourite red wines on the menu so it’s not all bad!