Cold Canada and Calving Cows

Howdy cowboys and cowgirls

Since we last emailed we have left the sunny shores of Australia and landed in West Canada. Before we left we decided to check the weather forecast for Canada just to see what we were in for and alarmingly the screen told us it was -2 at night. Hmmmm the sleeping bags were scared and so were the people going to be sleeping in them. This didn't seem too bad though as we were doing another farmstay for the first week.

We flew in to Calgary where we picked up a rather sporty hire car and drove her down to our cattle ranch that we were going to be working on for a week. It really was in the middle of nowhere and absolutely beautiful.
Silvertip RanchOn our way down we called in to a tourist stop which was charmingly named "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump" it was where the native Indians used to chase huge herds of buffalo off the mountains, lovely!!!

Anyway back to the Ranch. The Ranch was surrounded by huge snowy mountains and was breathtaking. This was at the south tip of the rockies so apparently isn't as spectacular as the main section, so we can't imagine what it will be like when we come to them. Our first job was to pull up a bridge by hand and then the next day we were to start building a new bridge for tractors and cows to go over. Since we are not bridge builders the farmer brought in her Dad to be the brains behind the operation and we provided the muscle... well Gav did, I realised how little muscle I have. Thankfully to say it all went well and we have now left a bridge in Canada built by the McKinleys. We even tested it by riding over it with our horses that we acquired for the week. I learned to drive the tractor and actually got on quite well. So well that Patricia left us for the day to go into town and we were to feed the cows and calves with hay from the barn. We loaded up the 39 haybales and set off. All was going well until we came to the first gate. I went to stop the tractor and as I put in my clutch the darn thing didn't stop. (For those who aren't tractor drivers apparently you can stop a tractor without using the brakes if you are in a low gear, this had worked previously). So the tractor kept going and Gav was yelling for me to stop but by this point the thing had already smashed through the gate. I finally found the brake and managed to bring the thing to a stop. Meanwhile Gav was surveying the damage, thankfully the gate had stayed up and only the gate clasp had broken. Easily fixed! I realised I had been in a high gear and thankfully was able to continue the feeding without any further mishaps.

Our other jobs on the farm were to watch the cows who were still to calve. 5 wee calves were born while we were there and they were so precious.
Eric the Red as Gav named him (he was the first person to see him after he was born therefore he decided he needed a special name)
As the farm was in the middle of nowhere we also got the chance to see loads of wildlife including elk, coyotes, mule dear and whitetail deer. Unfortunately we didn't see any bears which are common to the area (the ranch was called Silvertip Ranch due to the silvertip grizzly bears that live in the area... hee hee parents we didn't want to tell you until after) The closest we got to the bears was when we were fixing fences and we came across lots of bear fur clinging to the barb wire. Patricia also let us ride her horses at night and so Gav had his first western experience with no riding hat and a western saddle. During the second ride I couldn't resist coaxing my horse into a slow canter obviously Gav's horse followed and I heard him shouting in very basic terms how he was being hurt so I quickly stopped. The outcome: when we get to the rockies he will go fishing for a day and I will go horse riding.
This is me with Mandy

We are now on Vancouver Island and it is so beautiful. We spent the first day in Victoria (the capital of BC) which is a lovely city and treated ourselves to fish and chips. I then poured sugar all over mine as I thought it was salt... yummy.. not! Tip: Don't pour sugar on your fish and chips, it tastes vile. On to the west coast and Pacific Rim National Park. Where we have been bear watching and have also seen 15 humpback whales!!! It was incredible, there were so many swimming around our boat and it was glorious. They put on quite a show with raising their heads above the water and waving at us with their fins. We also saw a black bear which was really good, Gav was so happy. Due to the weather we have had to buy new sleeping bags that go to -10 at night. The first night camping in Canada was miserable and we couldn't sleep because of the cold. The second night we slept with all our clothes on and were still cold. So new sleeping bags it was and they are worth every penny. They are so comfy that we don't want to leave the tent in the morning.

Gav here now. This morning as we were driving we came across a black bear and her cub. It was fantastic to see them so close up. We have been given bear warning information sheets which outline what to do when you come in contact with a bear. You should stay around 100 feet away if possible. Being the McKinley's we forgot/ignored the rules and turned the car around and set off after the bear and her cub up the forest track. Once again for all you fact fans out there a bear is potentially at it's angriest when with her cub. We happily sailed up to around 20 feet below the bears and watched them forage further up the slope. For any kids reading this blog, we are trained idiots and do not encourage chasing after any sharks or bears. It's dangerous. If you do so make sure you have a wife or something that you can use as a decoy so you can make your escape safely.

Hope you are all doing well.