14.5.2010

Des and Lou shook the ice off the motorbike covers and strapped on all our luggage . Everything was cold to touch. Lou wheeled his and Lynn's bikes into the sunshine. Simon, the friendly pub dog, was at the door to greet us. He looked like a cross between a wolf and a German Shepherd. A fine specimen of a dog and very good natured. I wanted to sit him on my tank and take him with me to Australia, but he was a bit too big. Tia, on the other hand was small enough to sit on the tank but had a grouchy disposition. She looked like a dwarf corgi and was the same dark colouring as Simon. Both dogs belonged to June, who popped just her head outside the pub door to bid us goodbye.

We saw a yellow fox scarper up into the woods soon after we set out riding. The road sides have been cleared of most tall vegetation, for the safety of the people I guess, but some animals still come down close to the road to feed on the short grass and flowers, and can be easily seen.

Des had pulled in at a viewing area about 40 km into the days’ ride, and I wondered what motivated him to stop so early . He motioned for me to ride up quietly, as quietly as possible anyway. So I parked my bike where I was, got my good camera ready, and looked down where Des was pointing. We watched a moose drinking at a lake. There was no wind, so the lake was like a mirror. The moose has obviously heard us, but was unfazed by our presence as it was far enough down the valley for us not to be a threat. Some Canada Geese shared the lake with the moose and honked like crazy when the moose strayed too near them. It was peaceful all around, except for the geese, and the bright sky on the lake turned the whole area into a magical post card.

We motored along slowly, as we thought Lou and Lynn would have caught up at the 'moose lake’ already. At the 66 km mark we decided to have early an early coffee and wait for them. There was a snow bank close by and the Dease River, but I decided not to go wandering off taking photos by myself. We waited a good 45 minutes but there was still no sign of Lou and Lynn . About 20 kilometers from the Tanzilla Pub there had been a small patch of gravel road which was deep and slippery and I hoped one of them had not fallen off the bike because of it. As we rode back about 25 km an older couple in a motor home flashed their lights. I stopped and the gentleman said "There is something wrong up the road, wait ten minutes." I asked if it had to do with two motorcyclists, and he confirmed that it was. My heart was racing by now, and my mind was making up all sorts of scenarios. We didn’t wait ten minutes, Des and I raced along until we saw two lights coming towards us. Oh, thank God, they were still upright on the bikes. I took a deep breath and asked if they were OK. Lou said “Yeah, fine, we just had a flat tyre.” It was at that exact moment when we were all parked at the side of the road, that Dale (who shared a meal with us in Prince George) came up on his motorbike. What a coincidence. We stopped for a chat and Dale gave us his contact details so we could come to visit him in Whitehorse . Such a nice guy. We rode together for awhile before Dale overtook us all and sped off into the distance.

At Jade City we met a couple who were taking their daughter and granddaughters, Anika and Torah (5 and 3 years old) for a holiday in their motor home. The girls were delighted to sit on Des’s bike. Their grandparents were so nice with the children, it was lovely to see.

The three girls attending the Jade Store in Jade City, were so interested in our trip, they immediately got onto the internet to see where we’d been.

We got to the Yukon after lunch, we were out of Brithsih Columbia now.  

Air Force Lodge in Watson Lake, was the most reasonably priced accommodation in the district. It was newly renovated and hostel styled, but without a kitchen. Michael, the owner went into great detail about the running of the place . We had to take our boots off inside, which made it a bit hard bringing our stuff in. So we stacked it all up at the door until we had everything off the bikes, then we all came in and took our boots off. Michael had obviously put his heart into building this Lodge and told us so. It is the oldest building in Watson Lake and used to be the old Air Force Building. It had been cut in halves and moved to its current location. All credit to Michael, it was beautiful, but the shower and toilet blocks reminded us of a youth hostel. No en suite bathrooms here. Michael’s wife had two beautiful horses out the back which she offered out for therapeutic riding lessons for children with problems.

We sat at the dining room table with Juliana, a past Rotary exchange student to Finland, from Michigan, Jen from Scotland, and Christina from Germany and talked till 10:30pm, there was a note on the wall telling us there was to be no noise after 10:30pm, fair enough too for us oldies who needed their sleep. We encouraged all the young girls to come to Australia for a year’s working holiday.