Gone Fishn 2022 – Introduction
Gone Fishin 2022
Introduction
Gone Fishn is a multi-part blog as it encompasses months of camping, fishing and travel within Alberta Canada.
“Why are you GONE FISHN?” you ask. Glad you asked.
COVID 19 shut down our Bangkok cooking class www.chefleez.com March 2020! Thai Pass is the required application-approved documentation for entering Thailand. It has not been and still is at the time of this post not foreigner-friendly for Thailand entry visa.
As a consequence, in January 2020 we began the process of obtaining my Canadian Permanent Resident Card (PRC). This card allows me to live and work in Canada. It is also the 1st step required for applying for Canadian citizenship. My husband is a Canadian citizen.
Sept 2021 we entered Canada to activate my PRC planning for a 10-day stay and found the process for receiving one’s PRC now with COVID 19 excuses takes 90 + days. In addition to the PRC on arrival once in Canada, I was required to provide Canadian immigration with a permanent address within 30 days of arrival. I faxed them the next day my new AB Canada permanent address as required. I was also required to apply for other items such as medical insurance, prescription insurance, bank accounts, and social insurance number. Due to the extension of stay I applied for and participated 4 days weekly. These English classes are provided free when you are landed in Canada.
The landed immigrant address document required reporting if you have not received your CPR in 30 days. As I had not heard from Immigration Canada as to their receiving my address and as required I put weeks of phone calls to the provided phone number and every try ended in reaching a busy signal. My solution was provided by visiting a Canadian Services office only to find out that this specific office no longer handled my specific question. One of their security officers suggested we try the immigration-related office one level up. There I registered for Canadian Gov’t provided free online English lessons. The very friendly and knowledgeable service rep gave us a name and phone number for someone who could check the status of the PRC card application. That person did with many precautions provide us with an “all is well”. THANK YOU!
We then expected to remain in Canada until Thai Pass no longer requires travel insurance and Thai Doctors do not decide who is quarantined to Government-appointed quarantine stations and who is allowed to proceed.
My husband has asthma which resulted in his being declined travel insurance by the Thai Government approved travel insurance provider. My husband could not enter Thailand! Chef LeeZ cooking class Bangkok will remain closed until my husband is allowed back in Thailand! My husband says: We have a 5 bedroom home “for sale” in Bangkok. If necessary, why can’t we be quarantined in our empty 5-bedroom house?
I survived Alberta Canada’s winter!!! -40 C !!! Snow drifts 230 cm tall!!! Yup, just ask me when next we meet.
Husband says … I now need to experience the greening of the country .. meaning spring and summer. Summer brings biting insects! Mosquitoes, no-se-ems, black flies, horse flies, yellow jackets, hornets! That’s enough, right!
Preparation for months of travel
took months of preparation, planning and testing our camping-related equipment for all kinds of weather: a 2008 Okanagan 8 ft truck-mounted camper and all its equipment, 
a newly acquired 14-foot aluminum boat with both an electric motor and a 4-stroke gas-powered motor. Batteries are near $200 Cad each and are special for marine use in that they are designed for a slow release of energy and allow them to be completely drained and recharged without battery damage. The boat is also our utility trailer as it carries all of our outdoor camping gear like the kitchen assembly, bug tent, storage tent cook stove lantern, extra drinking water (3 20 L containers), extra gas (one 20 L container), extra diesel (2 20 L containers), etc.. The biggest part was learning how to conserve water as filling the camper with drinking water is difficult to find on the road.
Before you start such an adventure ask your self these basic questions:
- Can you brush your teeth in a half cup of water or less?
- Can you sponge bath in a litre of water? Can you trip to the outdoor toilet for your needs?
- How long does a battery last?
- How long does it take to charge drained batteries?
- How long does the generator run on a tank of gas?
- How long does a 20 lb bottle of propane last?
Our adventure begins with our leaving our 3rd and final equipment testing location which is a friend’s home in Edmonton AB on May 13, 2022. We arrived 4 hours later at Swan Lake AB. Our planned trip is semi-circular in that the order in which we loosely plan to visit each lake makes a circle of sorts.
The travel Plan.
The travel plan is to visit as many lakes and campsites as we desire starting with Swan Lake which is between Valleyview and Grande Prairie e AB near Sturgeon lake, then Piere Greys Lake Provincial Park, Gregg Lake Provincial Park in William A. Switzer Provincial Park, Hinton for RV sanitation dump and potable (drinking) water refill, fix broken items etc., then carry – on to the next lake south of Hinton along the forestry trunk road. To Mary Gregg Lake then Fairfax lake. Muskiki lake, then Dolberg Lake.
The boat must be emptied before it can be used. A storage tent hides everything that comes out of the boat. Out of sight out of mind! Right?
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- Stern of boat
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- Center of boat
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- Fully loaded boat
Diesel fuel is now near $2 per litre making our fuel cost for a 4-hour drive near $200 Canadian!
This is Bear Country! Be Bear smart!
FISH-ON the video of 6Kg Rainbow trout, 46 cm brown trout, 46 cm eastern brookies, and non-stop walleyes on the hook.
Next Lake in the post series is – Swan Lake
Have you watched Gone Fishn – Swan Lake ….. The video?
Gone Fishn— Related Blog Posts
Published
- Introduction—the why we are Gone Fishn
- How to make a leech trap video.
- Swan Lake Recreation Area
- Pierre Grey’s Lakes Provincial Park
- Fairfax Lake Provincial recreation area
- Dolberg Lake
Coming Soon Part 2 of the trip. Most all lakes were revisited.
- Young’s Point Provincial Park
- Swan Lake Take 2
- Pierre Grey’s Lakes Provincial Park Take 2
- Buck Lake Provincial Park
- Dolberg Lake