I have just received permission from the Slade River Journal (http://www.srj.ca) to reproduce the 2nd July photo's and article on our boys. Quite interesting reading I must say!! Here goes:
By Don Jaque 02.JUL.08
Thank you Slade River Journal for your kind permission. Don Jaque has also informed me that they are following up on the Suncor debacle as they take the view it was illegal to kick them of the Island. The story will run, probably front page, this week So keep posted to the blog and find out what happens!!Tony Chounding and Terry Bolland are pleasant older Australian canoeists who started their river trip in Jasper National Park and are paddling down the Athabasca, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean. They were in Fort Smith for a brief one-day stop June 27 and lucked into the Francophone St. Jean Baptiste Day pig roast with all its fun and hospitality.
The most notable experience of the two men so far was getting kicked off an island in the middle of the Athabasca River adjacent to the Suncor oilsands mining property. They had run some of the class III rapids upstream of Fort McMurray and portaged the very large ones. After a long day of paddling through Fort McMurray, they found a nice island, set up their tents, made supper and around 10:00 PM were about to crawl into their sleeping bags for the night. They had observed traffic moving about routinely on the Suncor property for some time when a truck stopped across the water from them and turned on its flashing red and blue lights. The driver, using a blow-horn, ordered them off the island. They tried to reason with him, calling out saying they did not know the river and did not know where to go to camp at that time of night. The Suncor employee ignored them, and continued to order them off. Finally they packed up camp and left. Chounding said ironically, as they departed the island the Suncor employee called out, “Have a good journey!”
They continued on past the Suncor plant, which they said was an extraordinary spectacle and a unique experience with all the smoke and lights and pipes of the industrial installation. Chounding likened it to seeing Hades. He said the fumes from the plant were so noxious he could taste them.
Aside from the Suncor incident they have enjoyed their trip so far. They saw a great deal of wildlife upstream of McMurray, including cow moose with calves almost every day, but had seen nothing but eagles on the Slave River.
Bolland is an experienced canoeist and this trip is his third on major North American waterways. He had already done the Mississipi and the Missouri Rivers. His website (canoeingdownunder.com.au) describes him as “the most qualified and respected Canoe/Kayak Instructor in Western Australia.”
They are in a bit of a hurry, with a plane ticket leaving Vancouver in mid August, so they cannot tarry long in any one place. Chounding said when they see a community, “they drop in from nowhere and make up their mind in a hurry what it is like.” He said Fort Smith has a “strong sense of community” and they were impressed with how helpful people are.
No comments:
Post a Comment