Expedition Canada

Truth and Reconciliation Thu Sep 30th  Hopkins Landing Tuesday morning. Today marks the first National Day for  Truth and Reconciliation .  A day for the country to reflect on the lost children lost, or those who survived, the Canadian Residential School system.  It is a public holiday for Federal employees, but individual provinces and territories have not decided to make it a public holiday for all. There are ceremonies taking place throughout the day and orange shirts are much in evidence.  These reflect the significance of a child's newly purchased shirt  being confiscated on their first day  going into one of the residential schools.  Canada is clearly wrestling with how to address its colonial and early history and the injustices that were metered out to the First Nations peoples.  We both recently finished reading 21 Things you may not know about the Indian Act by Bob Joseph .  A hereditary First Nations clan chief, he sets out a largely balanced and objective account of a

Shorts back in closet Friday morning Fri Aug 24th to  Sun Aug 26th Friday morning got off to a beautiful start with the mountains above the Sea to Sky Highway on the mainland clearly visible.  By sunset it was clouding over and it rained most of the weekend. The local rainfall for the Friday when we lost power has been revised up to 128mm.  It will be interesting to see what we get by the end of this week, with rain forecast to run through to Thursday before sun reappears. What a difference a day makes (colour pic!) Shorts have been returned to the wardrobe and I'm back in jeans that  have hardly seen the light of day in  six months.  Well almost six months, next Monday Oct 3rd will be half a year since we arrived in Canada.  It has flown by. I'm sitting in the office we've created on the mezzanine, looking out across West Howe Sound.  In the space of ten minutes the sun has lit patches of sea, only to disappear in a squall of rain and mist, the sun reappearing a few minute

Black Bear Cub passes through Wed Sep 22nd Timber laden barge Thu Sep 23rd Skeins of honking Canada Geese are now in evidence as they ready to migrate to their wintering grounds.  At one time they would head off to southern USA.  These days they may not get as far if they find food and suitable habitat on route, especially around urban environments.    The Acers around the house are starting to take on an orange hue but have not yet reached that fiery red so typical of the species.  Their related large leaf Maple and other deciduous trees are beginning to turn,  some leaves already dropping though this is more to do with the summer drought.  Current temperatures remain mild, though there is a definite chill first thing in the morning and evenings.  During the day in the sun, it remains pleasantly warm.  North American Robins, the size of a UK Thrush but with a red or orange breast and Northern Flickers, a member of the woodpecker family, are gorging on the Rowan berries up behind the h

..... and Trudeau Mon Sep 20th Sunrise over West Howe Sound Tue Sep 21st Election coverage in Canada is not much different to election coverage in the UK.  Various pundits, experts and politicians reflecting on the campaign; hedging their bets authoritatively on the outcome. There was much comment on whether Trudeau might be about to do a Theresa May - my analogy, but the message was the same.  His poll lead when the election was called was eroded down to negligible margins by the time the electorate went out to vote. Unfamiliar with the parties, politicians and pundits we watched very little.  What coverage we did catch seemed the all too familiar promises of what the party would do and how the governing party had failed or succeeded, depending on your perspective.   Healthcare, social care, pandemic, govt debt and environment/global warming appeared the key areas of campaigning.  There seemed little attention to the Indian Act and Indigenous People, historically a political hot potat

Running Creeks Sat Sept 18th Compared to Friday, Saturday was a beautiful morning Sun Sept 19th  Friday night's rain which took out our power, also took out the scheduled 18:55 ferry, which was cancelled.  So just as well Nick and Lizzie postponed coming over - it would have been a long wait at the ferry terminal.  With news reports during Thursday suggesting there could be power cuts, Fred bought a camping gas-lamp (the last one in the shop) and candles during her shopping trip on Friday morning.  Just as well.  At 5pm on Friday there was a loud bang outside and we lost power. We didn't anticipate needing them quite so soon. It felt quite cosy without electric lighting.  Fortunately the gas hob and gas log fire still worked.  We were comfortable, but turned in early not wanting to drain phone batteries.  BC Hydro engineers turned up just after 01:00 driving up and down the lane in the heavy rain using powerful lights to check the overhead cables.   The power came on again at 0

RAIN & Snow in Whistler!  Thu Sep 16 Fri Sep 17 If Wednesday's sunrise was marked by a stunning red sky, Friday's was marked by the absence of a sunrise.  The rain bought visibility down to less than 2km due to the heavy rain, Gambier Island barely visible across West Howe Sound. Early weather warnings were that we could see 50mm of rain by Friday evening, later raised to 100mm.  It's set to rain most of the weekend. Whistler The warnings now extend to potential power cuts with trees  or loose branches  weakened from the summer drought expected to fall taking out power lines.  One candle may not be enough! The rain down at sea level does mean it has started to snow in Whistler. Whilst the village is enjoying the same weather as us, alpine levels are seeing their first snow of the year both on Blackcomb and Whistler mountains. It might only be a few inches, but is only mid-September! Blackcomb Five weeks ago we were walking around the top of Whistler with blue skies  in

Coyotes and Bears  Mon Aug 13 - Wed Aug 15 Looking across to what we think is Mt Windsor There is a saying in Manchester if you can't see the Pennines it's raining, if you can see them it's going to rain.  It is about to get like that here.   Small falls on Roberts Creek in Cliff Gilker Park This morning's red sky sunrise proceeded the rain alert from Gov.Ca for Thursday through to Friday and should have been sufficient warning.  It was the most vivid red sky I think I've ever seen.  In fact the incoming frontal system is bringing rain through to Tuesday.  We'll know if we can't see the mainland mountains it's raining, and if we can it's going to rain. The good news is that it will give the parched forests a much needed drenching. More importantly it is forecast to fall as snow above 1400m in Whistler.  I wonder if the mountain opposite  us  (Mt Windsor?)  will see snow before the residual patch from last winter final melts.  It's been holding ou

Rain Sets In Sat Sep11 Sun Sep 12 It is around this time of year I would put my (unscented) dog poo bags to good use foraging for mushrooms on Salisbury Plain.  I had one spot where I was able to find a good number of a member of the Agaricus family.  I did get them checked by an expert to be sure I knew that what I was picking was safe to eat, but can't recall the name.  It was a type of field or horse mushroom.    Occasionally I'd find a puffball.  Even better! The mushroom season has started in BC and I've already spotted some Chanterelle and about a dozen other types which I don't recognize. We have a local chap in Gibsons who trades under the name of Shaggy Jack (aka Jody), who runs foraging courses, so I have booked onto an October course for a five-hour tutored forage. I've decided it's no longer safe to stick with the 'perpendicular test' when foraging for mushrooms.  The one where if I'm still vertical the next morning they must be safe to