North to Tatogga

We had breaky at the hotel and got away about 9.30. Bit cooler this morning. Very pleasant to ride in.

We rode non stop to Vanderhoof (about 2.5hrs) where my bladder said enough so we pulled into the famous Tim Hortons for a loo stop, coffee and muffin in that order.

From there it was only about 130 km to Lake Burns. Heaps of road works but they didn't cause much of a delay. We ended up behind Mr Plod from Fort Fraser so had to stick to the speed limit. Suited us as shortly after we both went onto reserve and as we still had just over 50km to go and being unsure what the Triumphs reserve range is we erred on the side of caution.

Thankfully we made it quite easily to Lake Burns. Finding our accommodation was a little trickier.  We resorted to asking a fireman for directions. The building is right on the main road and very non descript. The only clue it was what we were looking for was the number on the door.

We were unable to raise anyone when we knocked or called do were beginning to think we had made a big error and should cancel the booking. Then we got a ph call from the guy who was about half an hour away so we walked down to a&w shop and had a coffee.  Finally we get to check in. Pleasantly surprised. We have a whole apartment to ourselves. Went to the store across the road and for just over $4 We got tea. A big tin of ravioli and a tin of peaches. Both were very nice.

Crap sleep last night. Comfy bed but so noisy. The owner moving around upstairs till all hours, traffic and trains.

We set off about 9.30ish. Very short day with only 220km to New Hazelton. About 5km up the road we stopped and put our wet weather gear on. Good move. Not only did it keep us dry but warm. The temperature dropped considerably. Once we got to the summit of 6 Mile hill the rain pretty much went and it warmed up. We stopped for a coffee just before Smithers. Had a very leisurely one as we only had another 80 km to go.

A squirrel played Russian roulette with us. It was his lucky day and he made it back to to the road verge. Then we saw a black bear which was pretty cool.

Arrived at our motel at 1pm, a bit early but he let us check in. We had been upgraded cause he needed the room we had booked. We were ok with that and moved our stuff in. Then he came and said he would have to move us again,  so we moved next door. He offered us a beer or wine but as we were going out on the bikes for a ride to old historic Hazelton we declined. He said he's bring it over when we came back.

Had a nice tiki tour including a visit to a One Nation museum. The totem poles were cool. Was surprised to see that the back of each pole had been hollowed out.

Back at the Motel by 4 and feeling a bit peckish so we thought we'd check out the restaurant next door.  Was Chinese and after our last experience here we were a little dubious. They had the monthly buffet special night so we decided to give it a go. Was ok. The prawns were nice. Lots fried stuff and only 1 vege dish but all in all it passed.

The all you can eat buffet is an obvious hit with the locals as they loaded their plates, ate, reloaded then went and got take away containers to put what they couldn't eat in so they could take it home. Hilarious.

Spent the next 3 hrs drinking wine and beer with our mate Howard the Motel owner and a German motorcyclist.  Well they drank the beer and I had a couple of glasses of wine. Very pleasant day.

Woke to rain so we didn't rush to get going especially as check out was 11am. Our German friend headed off early and we caught up with him at the Gas station/eatery at the junction of the 37. He was still there after we left waiting for his friends coming from  Prince Rupert. The rain had stopped but it was still quite cool so we left our wet weather gear on. I was glad I had changed to my winter gloves. Tucked in behind a Honda rider on the way up to Meziadin Junction. We saw an animal run across the road, Marty thought it was a little deer, I thought it was a coyote and our Honda rider told us it was a lynx and it was only the second time he had seen one. They are a rare thing to see so we were very lucky. Also saw another black bear today.

Nice ride down to Stewart.

Found our accommodation at the Stewart Mountain Lodge. There was a bit of confusion over our booking but we got it sorted and had a nice comfortable room with ensuite.

Went for a walk downtown, had a coffee and bought a microwave pasta dish for tea and a cheesecake for dessert.

We went to the park after tea to check out the music. The open Mic event was on with most of the “talent” coming from Burns Lake. It wasn't that great. We lasted for 2 groups and the bed race before we called it quits.

Is now nearly 2245 and still daylight.  That takes a bit of getting used to.

Woke up to rain so we didn't hurry to get up. About 11 we headed into town to check out the muffin and coffee sale and the street parade. Very low key events but the locals were enjoying it especially the kids collecting all the lollies being thrown.

After having a hot dog and a Smokey we headed back to get our washing and go to the King Edward hotels public laundry. All the machines were occupied so back to our room, drop the stuff off and go back down to the park, watch the kids bmx challenge, a bit of music then back to do the washing. Then back to the park. After listening to some very average country we headed back to the laundry but not before some scavenger hunters nabbed us for a photo as they required a picture of long distance travellers. They were over the moon to discover we were from NZ.

Washing done we jumped on the bike and went up to Hyder and the famous “bus” to have halibut for tea. No such luck. She had just had a huge crowd thru and had run out of fish. Bugger. So we went to the Hyder pub for tea instead.

Got back thru the border check with no hassles. The border guard was actually quite chatty which is a little unusual but as it is very low key crossing I guess he can afford to be a little bit friendly.

Marty bought me breaky in bed again. Spoilt. Hit on the road by 9.30. First stop  Mezidizian Junction for gas. I stopped at Meehan Lake for a stretch and a photo.

Marty suggested we carry on up to Bell 2 and get a coffee so we did. Coffees done we head off. Well we attempted to leave. A guy towing a trailer yelled out to Marty that he had a flat. Sure as hell his back tyre was flat as. Middle of no where, no new tube what a disaster. Not quite, the Bell 2 lodge guys directed Marty to their workshop and with the help of ayoung pommie guy from Dorset, we got to fix the puncture, obviously caused by the tube being put in very twisted. 2hrs later we were on the road again. The job was not easy as Triumph don't have centre stands!!

Only 160 to our overnight at the Red Goat Lodge , but with 40 odd km to go the tyre started to go down so we had to make quite a few stops for Marty to try and inflate the thyre with the wee bicycle pump we had with us.

At Tatogga we hoped the gas station would have air. He did but not a fitting that could attach with the tyre in situ and inflate it. In the end we left the bike there and carried on up the road to the Lodge. Caught up with Mitch the owner, had our tinned ravioli for dinner and have retired for the night.

Mitch ain't cheap. $140 A night and not even any tea or coffee in the room. We had stayed here on the last trip, and prices were reasonable. Never again.

Left the red goat just after 9 and headed back to Tatogga. The bike was just as we had left it. We went into the restaurant to see John the owner and make the phone call to the bike shop. We ordered breaky and John got us the numbers of all the bìke shops in Smithers. Got it all sorted then John asked if wed give him a hand with the motel cleaning. No problem. We had a very busy day making beds cleaning rooms and doing laundry. Was about 8pm when we put the last load of washing in the drivers. John runs pretty much a one man operation here.

The Motel which has 20 rooms, a campground, gas and a restaurant which is open from 6.30am to 11pm 7 dsys a week. He currently has a young couple helping mainly in the kitchen so we were heaven sent today as nearly all the motel rooms needed cleaning.

He has been most helpful to us and we have been given free food and lodgings for our help.

There are all sorts of stuffed animals in the restaurant including a moose. It is an impressive animal and I'm still hoping to see a live one.

John is a pretty interesting spritely young guy of 73 who seems to be ramping up instead of winding down.We take our hat off to him.

If anyone ever travels up the 37 and needs a place to stay you won't find better than here st the Lake Tatogga Resort.

Got the new tube today so after our cleaning and laundry duties were done we installed that and do tomorrow we can head off again on our grand adventure.