5 Years ago, a magazine article on the Inside Passage was presented to me (Kim) by my Sea Kayaking Instructor, Malcolm Hamilton, at Regency TAFE in Adelaide, a dream was born……..

In June 2005 we will commence our travels from Skagway in Alaska to Vancouver Island in Canada.

Our Journey in expedition sea kayaks, travels through the Inside Passage from Skagway out west to Sitka, back up to Juneau, south towards Petersburg to Ketchikan, Prince Rupert and Bella Bella, taking in the spectacular Queen Charlotte Islands and the passages of the British Columbian coast. We hope to arrive in Port Hardy in late September after completing over 1800km of paddling over 3 months.

Individually our passions for long journeys and outdoor skills enhances our ability to make this a successful and safe expedition. With hopeful encounters with marine animals, glaciers, ice floes, tricky ocean conditions and of course the west coast rain, it will be a journey of a lifetime and a world away from our journeys already experienced in the warmer environment of Australia.

Around July last year Kim sent me an email asking me to join her on a trip down the inside passage in sea kayaks. The mode of transport was of no surprise. but knowing that she is likely to have an idea that she gets all excited about for a minute. I didn't take it all too seriously. So I said yes without a second thought thinking that it was one of these ideas that she springs upon. But then I remembered a similar conversation we had about the Torres Strait some three years ago. And low and behold there she goes for 6 weeks off to tropical paradise while I stayed freezing in an Adelaide winter.

I caught up with Kim in Squamish, and we travelled for the next 5 weeks, through areas and provinces that I had never heard of. I realised that it was more than just an idea that had sprung upon her one day. Needless to say her enthusiasm was as infectious and I found myself planning the expedition with her and counting the months until we would be departing (there were still a fair number at that stage...). So here I am writing this two weeks before heading to Canada, enjoying the Adelaide winter that seems to be holding itself off until I leave.

Watch this space for updates along the way

Happy paddling

Lachie and Kim