A full days drive and late in the afternoon, we were cruising down the highway and passed a wreckers business just out of a town called Salmon Arm. Blow me in the front yard was a truck load of Landrovers! About turn and we drove in to National 4x4, a Suzuki and Landrover specialist run by Martin, an ex-English guy now living in Canada.

     The yard was packed with ex-military 110 Defenders and then a yard for of older model Landrovers. A smorgasbord of spare parts!! We said to Martin that we would like a few spare parts, including a new flexi-hose for the Slave cylinder as ours was modified!, a new original oil cooler hose as I still had the repair job from the US on and possibly a few other bits and pieces. Martins brother Craig was out from the UK so we started having a chat and as it was late in the day, were invited to camp in the yard for the night. The following morning Martin offered us the full use of his kitted out workshop to do what ever maintenance we wanted. A very generous offer indeed!

     First James recovered a flexi-hose for the Slave off one of the wrecked Defenders as a spare for us. He then found a new oil hose from a Discovery engine and fitted that. We then also took the front springs and shock absorbers off as Lodzi was sitting lop-sided. Analyzed these and unfortunately could not find any spares in Martins yard so swapped sides and replaced them. As we had the use of the workshop we decided to whip the steering box out the Landy and replace the oil seals to stop the leaking.

     We got this out fairly hassle free, spent quite a while cleaning it and then with the aid of the manual starting dismantling it and replacing the seals. When we got to the input shaft, James removed an old seal and was greeted by a palm full of metal filings! Not good news we think! We take out the input shaft and the inner needle bearings collapsed all over the place. Shite! So now what, we needed to get the old bearing casings out which were a solid fit and without scoring the bore. We left that to the following day to worry about and Martin lent us a DVD which we watched in the comfort of the workshop!

     Unfortunately Martin did not have a bearing puller so we were stuck on a Sunday, over a long weekend as Monday was also a Bank holiday without much outside help! After much brain wracking and thought Kerry and I eventually made a bearing puller out of an extended bolt and some strategically cut large washers. We removed the bearing casings of both the bearings which had snapped on the inside, dropped some needle bearings and the ground their way into iron filings under great pressure scoring both the bore and the input shaft. Martin then gave us an old Range Rover steering box which we dismantled and were disappointed as although almost exact, there were no bearings just a sleeve casing.

     We then asked if we could take a look in one of the manual steering boxes in the wrecked Defenders as they also had 2 sets of bearings according to our manual. Were they the right size! James removed a box from one of the vehicles; we opened it up and removed the bearings. Perfect fit so we started cleaning the bearings up and noticed a hairline fracture on the casings so these were no good! Bugger. "Hey Martin can we please take apart ANOTHER steering box to see if we can get another set of bearings" Sure was the answer from the big guy. What a hero. So off we went trundling to another vehicle, removed the box and then removed the bearings. A perfect fit and like new, we then reversed our bush mechanic's bearing puller and used this as a bearing press to put the bearings back in our box.

     The following day we hastily re-assembled our box, not understanding most of the manual instructions and put it back in Lodzi. A quick test drive proved very disappointing, we had a quarter a turn of slack in the steering wheel, half the full rotation on one side and when we drove along in a straight line the car would suddenly veer to the side, any-side! Enough for today we would tackle it tomorrow.

     After re-reading the manual again and reviewing a more detailed manual on our laptop our conclusion was to take the whole thing out, disassemble and then reassemble with the more detailed instructions. We had the box out and open in under 2 hours and set about redoing a steering box for the 5th time in a row. All seemed in order as we put it back in Lodzi, a test drive later and hooray, we were happy with the result. As I write now, we now have a major steering leak as it looks like one of the seals we put in must have been loose and we are too scared to open it up AGAIN! We will leave it and keep topping it up.

     As a final bit of maintenance, James swapped our front prop-shaft for a much better condition one as ours was very loose and worn. He cleaned and re-fitted the new second hand one which we hope is fine. Martin and Craig were superb, we can not thank them enough for their advice, help and assistance and garage hospitality. Thanks guys. We finally departed almost a week later after only stopping in to pick up a hose, "It's a Landy thing!"

     Hitting the road again, we continued north taking a Kerry detour of about 200km into the wilderness where we followed the "Gold Rush Trail" to the small historic town of Barkerville. Although a very wet day, we toured the town which has been restored to its 1800's hey day, with a brief history of everything that went on. They even had the old shops open with numerous souvenirs, closed mines where fortunes were made and an old saloon where many a story was told.

     On towards Prince George, the largest city in Northern BC, where we did another big shopping, a large laundry, had the front wheels balanced and filled up with fuel. We also purchased some mosquito gauze to put in front of our head lights as we had also been warned that due to the many dirt road sections on the highway we would drive, many flying rocks would break lights and chip windscreens, if only we knew what was to come!

     On our way north/west towards Stewart on the west coast, one morning we came across a small waterfall on a river where there were some "first nation" locals with nets standing just below the waterfalls. They were actually catching Salmon doing a run up the river trying to get up the waterfall. It was amazing just watching them pluck 5-6 kg salmon almost out of mid-air. It was great fun to watch.

     Continuing on, Kerry saw on the map a scenic by-pass off the main highway and took us down this quick short cut. FOUR HOURS and almost 200km's later we were well and truly lost in the Canadian forestry back roads. All stunning scenery but not what we wanted just then. James had a severe sense of humour failure but we did see another black bear sow and two cubs much to Kerry's pleasure. We luckily found our way out just before dark about 100km's further up the road we had turned off at midday! The following day we put in a big drive north and decided to take a 140 mile detour west to the coast to the most southerly eastern point of Alaska, a small town called Hyder.

     As we did not make it in one haul we wild-camped behind a building on the side of the road just off the main highway. We had seen a young male black bear on the side of the road just before we had stopped and was not in the least worried about us as we stopped for photo opportunities. After setting up camp we were just getting some water ready for a wild shower out the back of Lodzi when Kerry suddenly shouted "Bear behind you" and took off at 100mph around the side of and into Lodzi. The Very large male black bear got just as big a fright and although was only about 25m from the back of the vehicle, took off in the opposite direction. Both he and Kerry were scared of each other. He then came back down out of the trees and wandered off down the road.

     A sleepless night for Kerry as we woke the following morning and were out the back of Lodzi having tea when James saw another black bear heading our way along the road. Kerry, like a rat up the drain pipe was in the car toute vitesse, as the bear sauntered past us about 20m away without a care in the world. An overload of bears!

     We completed the drive through Bear Pass, crossing the coastal mountain range where we were surrounded by 18 different glaciers, towering mountains and waterfalls every where you looked. It was something akin to Lord of the Rings and we were just waiting for Frodo to appear. Continuing onto the Canadian border town of Stewart, a very small, very close knit community if you know what I mean. We then crossed the border into the Hyder, USA, Alaska. We were both elated as had had made it to Alaska, albeit the lowest tiniest part not even half way up Canada. There were no border formalities going in and a minor Canadian check coming out.

     Why Hyder? Well this is a world famous spot for watching bears at close range feeding on the spawning Salmon that come up the river to breed. We were back on season so hoped for the best. Heading 5km out of town into the National Park, it was hard to miss the Bear Spot. A huge car park, signs every-where and plenty of cars and RV's parked in the parking. Great! Well we headed to the viewing board walk that sits on the banks directly above a small stream which is alive with spawning Chug Salmon. We had never seen anything like it; there were thousands of them in about 2ft of water or less. Easy prey for sure. There were hundreds of seagulls feeding off all the dead carcasses, of which there were plenty as the Salmon once completing their spawning just die off! There was a small sand bank just opposite the central viewing platform which had numerous salmon carcasses ripped to shreds. We learned these were from the bears the previous day.

     The site is visited by both black and grizzly bears but mainly grizzlies, although the bears essentially have about 3 miles of shore to prey on the Salmon, for some reason this area was favoured and the bears had learned to ignore the humans on the platforms. There were some NP's staffs that were friendly and informative. The big bonus was, the whole thing was free, amazing for the US, although there were signs saying that charging would be introduced soon. After getting the general information on what was happening we were told that the bears are most active early morning and late afternoon/evening. As it was lunch time we decided to continue further into the park to see Salmon Glacier. Driving higher and higher we were once again mesmerised by the gorgeous views we had, crystal clear streams we passed and finally we reached Salmon Glacier. As you view the two arms of the Glacier I can only liken it to looking at a huge river coming down between two mountains and then being frozen in position - A Glacial Flow! We hung around here for about 3 hours soaking up some sun, taking in the scenery and having a quick bite to eat, with tea of course.

     Returning to Fish Creek for the bears we were glad to hear there had been no visits in our absence. However we did not have to wait long before there was a flurry of excitement, amongst the tourists, as a Grizzly cow whom was Enormous, with 3 cubs came down to the water just below us. She milled about for a few minutes as the cubs rummaged in the old dead fish and had a bit of a play around. She then sprang to life and in a matter of seconds triumphantly exited the water with a writhing Salmon in her jaws. The quickly fed and then disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. We learnt that they were not hungry, she was just teaching the cubs the tricks of the trade.

     The bears apparently gorge themselves on the Salmon during the run as they stock up for the winter hibernation. They come down to the water and feed on a large salmon, this fills them up and they then get picky. They will catch another Salmon and just feed off the eggs as these are a delicacy, what a waste, sounds a bit like humans.

     We waited around for another 3 hours to no avail and then drove about a mile down the road, 200m into the bush and wild camped beside a beautiful river. What more could we want. (Warm weather really - it was freezing)

     The following morning at about 8am we arrived back at the viewing platform and were once again pleased to learn that no bears had appeared yet! We sat around for another 3 hours before a ranger signalled to us that a Grizzly was on her way in from down stream. Not so many tourists there yet as the day tours had not arrived as a young Grizzly sow came from under the bridge and sauntered up to the bank opposite the viewing platform. She then sat down and rubbed herself in some very stinky dead fish for about 10 minutes before sitting up and watching the Salmon in the stream.

     She got up, walked over to the stream, did a quick 15m run through the water before proudly presenting to the tourists an enormous Salmon. She ate at leisure while every-one snapped as many photos as possible and was not in the least worried about us. We were in awe as she entertained us for well over an hour and then as suddenly as she appeared she took off into the foliage and was gone. Another National Geographic moment for us.

     Continuing north, we did some very big days driving and the further north we got the later it stayed light in the evening. We were now at 11pm in the evening watching sunsets. It definitely throws the body clocks out. On the highway we were on we were hitting long stretches of dirt road and getting more nervous about not having put the mosquito gauze up on the car lights, what made it worse was all the vehicles heading south all seemed to have been through the military protection workshop as they all had security visors and cling wrap all over the cars. Mmm.

     So we hit the Alaska Highway just north of Casiar, hung a left onto the tarmac road to Alaska. 15 miles down the road we came to our first section of about 100m's of gravel road, there was a Ford pickup bombing downhill towards us definitely exceeding the stated 40km/hr speed limit. As we hit the gravel road, he was exiting and showered us in stones and pebbles. BANG!!!!, a large pebble hit the centre of the windscreen, just above the dashboard and threw glass all over Kerry and I. We immediately stopped on the side of the road, both very shaken and took a look at the damage. Luckily the stone had not flown through the windscreen but had hit it with enough impact to create a round hole both sides of the pane, not actually all the way through but also creating hairline fractures outwards like a spiders web! OH BUGGER!

     We then patched up the hole with duct tape as best we could and continued driving hoping the next large town, White Horse, we would be able to find help. About 30 miles further down the road, we noticed that a large hairline in front of Kerry and a large hairline in front of my screen were getting larger and larger, the pressure on the flat windscreen was crushing it inwards! We pulled over at the next service station and James with the help of the owner made two wooden struts up the centre of the windscreen with some hard foam against the glass to stop it caving in. This did the trick and we coasted into Dead horse the following morning!

     Apparently a common occurrence, as the busiest business in town was the local window repair shop. After chatting to the receptionist whom said that Landrover Defender windshields were almost impossible to get, we mentioned that it only had to be a flat windscreen cut to size. The manager took a look, "Yes sir no problem, we will have to take the old one out as a template, cut a new one and refit it, come back in 4 hours as we will try squeeze it in" What a legend and only half the price we expected to pay. Lucky the old Defender's have easy flat windscreens! We also went out and immediately bought some chicken wire to create a windscreen grate as we had heard the Dalton highway in Alaska was 500 miles of almost pure gravel roads with huge haulage trucks the primary users.

     While we were picking up Lodzi, a familiar Landy pulled into the car park, Bernd and Barbara whom we had met and spent 5 days with in California were on their way back from Alaska. What an awesome surprise, of all the places we could have missed them. We had a tonne of catching up to do so we went to the nearest parking lot and had a few beers and coffee catching up on the last 4 months apart. They are such a lovely couple we could have spent days with them again.

     We decided to drive to a local Car park and spend the evening together. On arriving at the car park, which was beside a railway line, we came across 2 policemen in a patrol car that had tried to cross the lines with a very low clearance car. They had got the front wheels over and were balanced on the chassis midway. Duoh!!!! What plonkers. We offered to pull them off with Lodzi which they gladly accepted as an audience was growing much to their horror. We unravelled the winch, attached it to their back bumper and towed them off. After very quick thanks, they jumped in the car and sped off, but not before we had got some excellent photos.

     The weather had turned on us, it had got very chilly and drizzling all day and night on and off. After breakfast, we wished the Germans happy travels and hit the road north as we should hit mainland Alaska in one stretch. At about 4pm we came to the US customs post, no Canadian exit was required, we were not asked any questions regarding our visa waivers, completed the relevant forms, paid the $6 each and officially had our new 3 month US visas. WELCOME TO ALASKA!! The final frontier.

     Our brief Canadian interlude will continue on our way back south. We had made a dash, well tried to in between break downs with Lodzi for Alaska and we had made it. We will be spending a lot more time in Canada on the way south and have worked out a route where we will not have to back track on ourselves which has been our aim for the whole trip.

     Thanks once again to Jon, Joan and girls for their kind hospitality, making Nelson a very hard town to leave. Thanks also to Martin and Craig for all the help they gave us.

     The Lodzi health situation has unfortunately not improved as we still have a very bad steering box leak, an engine oil leak, a gear box oil leak and an unidentified oil leak at the moment below the winch?? Still overheats, more blow by from the engine than we have ever had before, the master cylinder on the clutch has now started leaking and we have a crack in our brake servo which James has tried glued with epoxy about 10 times now. Apart from that we think she is okay. "It is a Landrover thing!"