Guzzi Overland

As we mentioned before Donny offered to take us out on the river in his boat. What we didn’t realise until we got to the dock was that it was a jet boat. We had seen plenty of these before in New Zealand where they were invented and we’d wanted to go out in one but it was just too expensive for both of us to do it. It was therefore a nice treat to not only go for a ride but go fishing and wildlife spotting while we were at it.

Donny’s boat was one of the first jet boats out here and is now about 25 years old but she still goes really well. For those who don’t know, jet boats have an inboard engine and a jet propulsion unit bolted to the back of it which literally pushes the boat along by squirting a high pressure water jet out the back.  Donny’s boat has a huge Oldsmobile V8 engine and will do about 60mph flat-out. Let me tell you on water that is really shifting !

On the way down the river we took it easy and stopped to fish a few times. Karen nearly got a trout but it wriggled of the hook just as she was trying to get it in the boat. We were also on the look out for wildlife and were lucky enough to see quite a bit. Donny knows the Stuart river really well and he knew where to look, He also had amazing eyesight and between him and Karen not much got by us. We saw Elk which Donny told us are really rare in that area and twice we saw beaver although they disappeared into their lodges far too quickly for us to get a picture.

Karen nearly catching a trout

Elk

beaver dam

Then Donny spotted something swimming across the river way upstream and we went back for a look. It was a Moose and her young calf and it was quite probably the first time the calf had ever swam the river because it was really young. It was great to see them and we both had grins from ear to ear afterwards.

Moose and calf

Moose and calf

Moose and calf

Donny took us to his fishing cabin just to show us and check on it. Cabins are hard to come by on the river’s edge as they have fishing rights which extend way beyond the cabin and land. We also stopped off at the sight of an old historic ferry crossing.

Another old fishing cabin on the river

Donny’s fishing cabin

We had to persuade Karen to let us back on.

We were out for a few hours so we took some snacks and drinks with us on the boat.

On the way back we ran into some of Donny’s old buddies who were out on a fishing trip, they had more luck in that department than us. We passed each other a few times on the way back and it turned into catch me if you can on the many different channels and the journey back was a blast.

Uh oh here comes trouble.

It had been a great trip and the cherry on top was a nice sunset on the way back.

The colours got more intense the later it got, luckily Donny knew this river in the dark as well.

Donny’s Mom and Dad came over the next morning to say hi and have a look at the bike, Donny’s Mom really liked the bike so we took her picture with it. We also had to get a photo of Donny’s house, a proper log cabin. Here is Kev and Donny on the steps of his house, thank you Donny that was a magic experience.

Donny’s mum

We might run into Donny again, he also has a place in Mexico which he has invited us to visit so if the timing works out we will definitely drop in to say Hola.

Next up – Hagwilget canyon

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