Nicole and Ingrid have arrived on their bikes in a historical gold-mine village called Barkerville, in Canada. They now know almost everything about the life of the gold diggers. An accident forced them to leave by boat.


Barkerville is a very vivid and bright museum. You pay at the entrance. A lot of gold was found here back in 1862. You still find 125 wooden houses from back then. People still wear the former clothings. Women wear ball gowns and sun-shades, men wear heads. Nicole and Ingrid told us that they felt like kids again, being in Barkerville. It was very funny !!
We went to and old school and followed class. Before we could enter the classroom, we had to check eachothers hair on louse ! Boys were on the left side, girls on the right side. We got a slate. We felt like being in the middle of the series "Little house on the prairie". It didn't last long, we laughed too much and we had to leave the room. Bad marks for us !
A visit to the local cemetary with a priest was impressive. Gold-mine workers died young : they turned not older than 30. They were not rich at all, you might think by digging all that gold.... there was a lot of poverty. We also sat at the kitchen table with someone who's ancestors were gold-diggers. It was so nice, a real tea-circle. We listened and ate cake. Meanwhile our hostess was knitting. We went digging for gold. We drove along with a horse and carriage to the mine. At night, when all the tourists are gone, Barkerville is spooky. Grizzlybears walk, at ease, on the dusty streets!

Today, Nicole and Ingrid are leaving, but not on their bikes. The road to Barkerville is a very busy road, with lots of traffic and trucks. Tourists rent a camper/mobilhome. Many of them are not used to driving this huge, heavy vehicule. One of the drivers of a camper was very unobservant. A truck had to pull out to avoid an accident. That truck pushed Ingrid aside in the ditch. She now is suffering from a sprained ankle.
It is impossible to ride on a bike. I have a lot of pain. So they decided to make a trip with a Canadian canoe. We will for at least a week canoe through Bowron's National Park. It will be harsh, call it a survival, with all these bears....