8th August 2011 - Mobeley Lake to Fort Nelson - 358 miles

Another beautiful day in paradise!
Saw an elk walk past our camp but it was gone before I could get the camera.
We were soon in Dawson Creek approx. 70 miles away. We had a fantastic breakfast in a Diner and managed to get online to update FB and message the folks back home.

Dawson Creek is the start of the 'Alaska Highway' and there is a large sign and museum in the town. We stopped for photos and chatted with some other travellers. 

Our destination for tonight is somewhere near Fort Nelson. The roads in this part of British Columbia are quite straight, not a lot of bends. The scenery is top quality but mainly pine forests. 

We stopped at a Walmart along the way to get supplies. Our camp for the night is 'Andy Bailey Regional Camp Site' which has a water pump and hole in the ground toilets.

After putting the tents up we take a walk down to the lake and after chatting to a fisherman we decide we should move our camp down to the lake side. After moving everything including the bikes we take a dip in the lake. 

It's sunset and we are swimming in this beautiful lake without a care in the world, does life get any better?

7th August 2011 - Forest Lake to Mobeley Lake - 353 miles

The water in the lake wasn't too cold , so I decided to take a dip. Very refreshing! But I didn't notice the massive leeches in the water, luckily none of them got me.
We headed off at about 9am, back down the gravel road to Highway 97.

The roads were less stunning today but beautiful none the less. We rode through Quesnel and Prince George on our way to Dawson Creek. We had road works to contend within the Pine Pass area which did delay us slightly. We stopped at Chetwynd to look for a free camp site but with no luck. After talking to a guy in the fuel station he suggested there may be a camp site a few miles away near Mobeley Lake. It's a provincial site so we had to pay $16. 

Only pasta for tea but I had picked up some beers in Chetwynd and we had a camp fire - lovely! And wot not, eh!

6th August 2011 - Vancouver to Forest Lake - 361 miles.

We made the most of our free breakfast and set off at about 08:30. 

We made our way out of the city which wasn't too bad. It was fairly slow going for a while as we headed up into the mountains. The bike seems good so far, comfortable riding position but I know the seat will give me arse ache! 

The scenery gets more stunning with every mile! What an amazing place. 

The roads are quite busy but the riding is easy and we are averaging 55 - 60 mph, which is fine for the bike. We stop often for photo's, you could take a picture of the beautiful scenery every mile.

All is well until 112 miles when I get a puncture in my front tyre! Not a good start. Brian has done 10,000 miles and not one puncture. We immediately set to work on the repair. The tube looks like it was damaged when the tyre was fitted. As we are working we see 3 black bears crossing at the end of the road about 200 yards away, fantastic!

The day continues with amazing scenery and the weather is lovely and warm and not a cloud in the sky. 

Brian has a book of free campsites so we choose one which is just north of Williams Lake, called Forest Lake. It was about 9km up a gravel road well off the beaten track. It's a beautiful place, it has picnic tables and a bog! 

We set up camp, have a chat to the neighbours and get the tea on - super noodles and a tin of chilli - nice!

I didn't sleep too badly considering I was slightly worried about being killed in the night by bears. 

5th August 2011 - Manchester Airport to vancouver

I was picked up bright and early by Steve who kindly drove me to the airport.
Checked in without a problem, went to the departure gate when called; so far so good. Problem! Flight delayed due to technical problems. Will be given more information at 12:30, an hour and forty minutes after we should have left.
I'm so excited about the trip I just want to be there. I'm finding it hard to smile right now. I'm sure I'll get there eventually. I need to find somewhere to charge my phone now, then I think I'll go and find someone to talk to.
Phone charged! Now I have to return to the departure lounge.
The plane eventually left at 14:35 which means I'll be late getting to Vancouver, eta 15:30 local time.
The flight was very boring, the man I was sitting next to clearly didn't want to chat and my TV screen was slightly faulty so that wasn't much fun either.

Everything went smoothly on arrival at Vancouver and Brian was there waiting for me. We went straight to the rental shop to collect the bike. The journey there on the back of Brian's bike was brilliant, the city looked great!
The bike was ready to go apart from a power socket to charge my phone and camera. I had brought the wires with me so the guy at the shop kindly connected it to the battery for me.

I followed Brian to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express) that his girlfriend Michelle had booked for us. The hotel was good, it even had a pool although we didn't get a chance to use it. The only problem was our room only had a double bed!
We went out to eat at a Sushi Bar, very nice it was too! On the way back to the hotel Brian was transformed from hardened adventurer to clean shaven and haircut at the local barbers.
I didn't sleep much unfortunately, too excited about the journey ahead.

All packed and ready to go!

Well almost, I didn't put my washing on until this afternoon and my jeans are still wet. If only I had a tumble drier.

Time for bed now. My good friend Steve is picking me up at 6am in the morning to give me a lift to Manchester Airport.
My luggage weighs 19kg, 1kg under my limit. Which is not bad for all my camping gear, bike gear and clothes.

Next stop Canada!

1 day to go and I've don't have any money!

Bloody Post Office!
I bought two travel money cards and for some bizarre reason I am unable to register them online, which means I don't have any money to take.
I phoned the Post Office customer services and the reply I got was that someone would phone me next week. Not good cause I leave tomorrow!
Lesson learnt: Plan ahead.
Anyway, I'll get cash instead. Hope I don't lose it or get robbed!

2 days to go!

I'm writing this on my phone whilst I should be working, the wonders of modern technology!

2 days to go and I'm off to Vancouver to start a journey of approximately 5300 miles to Prudhoe Bay and back on a KLR 650.

I'll be meeting my friend Brian who's been travelling around the States and Canada since early May on his XT 660 Tenere.

After last years trip on the Pan American Highway was detoured to New York, there is still a lot of road to be covered before I can say that I've ridden a motorcycle the length of the Americas. This year Vancouver to Prudhoe, next year New York to Vancouver.