NORTHERN GULF ISLANDS

CHATEAU NEUF DU PAPE

SLIDE MOUNTAIN: SEED NURSERY

AMMONITE BOUNTY: TYAUGHTON

MAGNOLIA: 95-MILLION YEAR OLD TOOTHPASTE

A traditional Chinese extract from the bark of the magnolia tree, an ancient genus that goes back some 95-million years, gives you fresh breath by killing off the nasty oral microbes that cause halitosis.

My favorite individual tree is the magnolia growing on the grounds at Balboa Park. It is a magnificent example of the family Magnoliaceae and takes up nearly a whole city block. Older magnolia have this elegant quality of long draping branches, perfect for avoiding a predator while enjoying an afternoon's snooze.

Given that our ancestors decended from the trees, pre Lucy now it seems, and that we've seen bits of magnolia bark in firepits from 10,000 to 80,000 years ago, we may have enjoyed Magnoliaceae as a comfortable perch, hearth and perhaps even some additional oral benefits -- magnolia toothpaste anyone?

SAILING DESOLATION SOUND

Wind, waves and perfect anchorages await those lucky enough to spend time in Desolation Sound, a 30-square-mile premier cruising area and the province's largest marine park, due south of West Redonda Island on British Columbia's glorious west coast.

With the sun just peaking back in BC, a few friends gathered up supplies and plenty of sunscreen to get out and play in the wind up in Desolation Sound. Two of the days we were joined by resident killer whale and porpoise eager to join in on the surf.

Our crew enjoyed sunny, windy days and cool refreshing nights filled with fresh Pacific seafood bounty -- crab, oysters and salmon!

MUSEO DI STORIA NATURALE DI FIRENZE

FOSSIL BOUNTY: JET RANGER PALEO

PROUD PALEONTOLOGIST: SIVERT

STORM COMING IN: PADDLING LOCAL WEATHER

Like most mountainous areas, Bowron makes its own weather system and it appears you get everything in a 24-hour period. In fact, whatever weather you are enjoying seems to change 40 minutes later; good for rain, bad for sun. Wisps of cloud that seemed light and airy only hours early have become dark. Careful to hug the shore, we are ready for a quick escape from lightening as thundershowers break.

Local weather, and more importantly, wind, comes from a mixture of factors. Knowledge of the topography, the relative temperature of land and lake we paddle help predict how windy and soggy our afternoon will be. Today, the cooler air is flowing off the water up the forested slopes, heating and rising as it does so, creating a 5-15 knot intermittent force that turns ripples into small white caps.

We break for lunch to wait out the worst of it, knowing that the winds that started mid-morning will subside by late afternoon and rise again after sunset.

We snack on warm soup and flatbread, watching as our once crystal clear oasis turns to froth. Warm, dry and now with full bellies, we get back on the water.

We’re eager to push through to our next destination knowing that by nightfall the katabatic winds will arrive, as warmer air from the hillsides flows down and out over the chilly lake. We paddle in unison, enjoying the crisp air, confident that well before then we’ll be snugged in our tents sipping hot cocoa.

EARLY MORNING LAUNCH

VOLOUBILIS: ROMAN RUINS AND FOSSIL REMAINS

Voloubilis, a one of the pivotal cities in the expansion of Roman Empire, boasts a beautifully preserved basilica, triumphal arch, and columns of the Capitol Temple set against a backdrop of olive groves.

The area is also home to paleontological remains from ages past. Massive trilobites and enormous elephant bones have been recovered from the fossil-rich deposits and other sites have yielded clues to our ancestors.

The remains of H. erectus and other ill-defined (it could just be my bad Arabic) species of "archaic Homo sapiens," though not well-publicized, have been found at various sites around North Africa, in Algeria and Morocco.

AVIGNON