Day 1 Kanaka Creek

The trains rumbled and hooted their way through the valley frequently overnight. The deep mournful sounds punctuated our sleep. Later in the day Jacob was delighted to see one of these enormous transport trains sliding by. The train required three engines, one at the front, the middle and the rear to power it along the tracks.

The focus of today was to adjust to the heat, 27 degrees by mid day, and to take a short trail alongside the Fraser River in an area known as Kanaka Creek. The name originated from Hawaiian labourers, known as "kanakas" in their native language, who decided to stay and make their homes on the lower section of the creek. The Hawaiian labourers had been employed on the Hudson's Bay Company ships transporting goods to Europe in the late 1800s. 

At the start of the trail there were a couple of advisory signs "Bear Activity" and caution owing to the potential of Forest Fires. As we walked alongside the river we discovered fresh paw prints of a bear imprinted in the sand and deep claw scratches on a tree. Whilst the boys picked and ate fresh plums from a tree we kept a vigilant watch for any bears!

We watched as cottonwood floated down from the trees and the boys attempted to catch the cottonwood as it drifted by. 

Lunch stop at a riverside restaurant we estimate the width of the river to be around a 100 metres, just a jot wider than our rivers. The remainder of the day passed with launching paper planes from the deck, Isaac played on Dave's 1850 pedal powered organ. Marcus and Simon drove into Langley for a round of disc golf. Photographs on Facebook. Am hopeful that within  a few days I will master importing photographs into this blog! BBQ and Grey Goose completed the day......