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Grand Tour 2026

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Greetings From Jasper The 2024 Jasper wildfire destroyed 32,000 hectares of forest and city Our campsite in the Jasper National Park was in the most beautiful of settings, nestled between the mountains on four sides, and on the other side of the highway, t he Athabasca River, the longest in Alberta which eventually drains into the Arctic Ocean.  Dropping down from the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper, burnt out forests lined the road.  Blackened tree trunks sticking up like pencils in the earth, with verdant green grassland underneath which left no doubt of the conflagration that consumed 32,000 hectares of this stunningly beautiful environment, including a large part of the town itself.  Equivalent to 1/5 of Greater London. Before the fire our chosen campground was forested, today the black stumps and charred trees are a reminder of 2024.  The lush grass and meadow flowers hide many of the remaining stumps. Interim housing - Jasper National Park - Parks Ca...
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May Celebrants

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It's Party Time Me - at Squamish Canyon Trail I am late with this blog, very late, it's two months since my last ramblings.     In mitigation May has been full-on with visitors and by the time I realised I'd missed April, it was too late.   We have loved sharing our beautiful part of BC’s Sunshine Coast with all of them.   But it has been non-stop. L to R - me, Alex, Maddy, Graham, Alice & Fred at Smuggler Cove Our visitors have all been delightful guests, every single one.  They have mucked in with the household chores and all been gracious visitors, keeping the drinks cupboard stocked, and of course helped empty it.   Thinking we could manage a continuous stream of guests was ambitious....w e’re knackered.   Firstly friends from the UK with Vancouver based son and fiancée.   What a delight to share our home with an old work pal of Fred's and since long-time friends.  Hikes, walks, lunches and the odd glass ...
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Five Years

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Today Friday April 3rd, 2026 Heathrow - Easter Saturday April 3rd, 2021 - Not normally this busy! Five years ago today we arrived in Canada.   April 3rd 2021, at the height of the pandemic, on Easter Saturday.   Quarantine Dinner - allegedly! Departing a very empty Heathrow, we arrived at a very heaving Toronto Pearson, where all international flights were being routed, so arrivals could be consistently and systematically Covid-screened; sent off with test kits to the local mandated hotels for a few days of enforced quarantine and carrier-bag food deliveries to the hotel room door.  Yuk. And no bloody wine list!  Four hours from plane door to hotel room door. We could not leave the hotel room until we had a negative Covid test, which arrived after two days, enabling us to travel onto Vancouver with a second test kit to be completed during our remaining  quarantine.  A further eleven days of 'lock down' in a ground level suite, with access to the g...
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