Expedition Canada

Damp Squib Thu Oct 28th Nick and I settled down to watch the F1Q My son, pictured right, says I talk to much about the weather.  Because he's now a Canadian citizen he seems to have forgotten that Brits like to talk about the weather; but advice headed.  Suffice it to say it has been damp, but hardly explosive. Nick was over on the Coast this weekend but as he was 'out Friday night' was quite happy to watch the F1 Qualifying with me on Saturday afternoon.  It was clearly quite riveting - we both slept through it.  Sunday morning we'd just finished breakfast when a visitor popped by.  We have no idea how it got in, unless when Fred got up to let Jack out at dark o'clock it slipped into the mud room unnoticed.  After about 5 minutes flying up to all the open doors it headed off out.  Big fella, but not sure what type of bat it was. After the excitement of the breakfast visitor and with Fred immersed in final house removals and  furniture shipping lists, Nick and I hea

Mushrooming with Shaggy Sat Oct 23rd All the Maple varieties are also becoming more colourful Heat Domes, Atmospheric Rivers and now Weather Bomb/Bomb Cyclone.  Descriptions of weather phenomena seem to be getting increasingly more colourful.  The latter is the latest due to arrive on these shores. Reports are suggesting there could be up to 2ft of rain and 8ft of rain in parts of the west coast North America.    It's being welcomed in parts of Northern California where some forest fires are still burning. In old speak, a 'low' would have developed mid-pacific followed by rapid drop in pressure of 24 millibars or more which is defined as a 'bomb cyclone'.   Bring back the stick on felt clouds to the weather forecast I say.  Saturday morning was just drizzle, the bomb had not yet detonated. We are in the black circle on the weather chart. We are in the circle The Quins V Bath rugby game was on as I started to write this.  Bath didn't win, but they didn't lose

Day Trip to Vancouver Wed Oct 20th Howe Sound The beginning of the week, saw cold clear days until Wednesday morning, when rain returned.  It is forecast to stick around until this time next week.  It is not as heavy as  at the end of last week and already water levels in the creeks have started to drop off as the run-off clears. The trees are turning though, with a predominance of conifers it is patchy, but still beautiful. Howe Sound Sunrise Monday and Tuesday provided stunning sunrises and the view across Howe Sound during the day was equally impressive.  The clouds midway up the mainland mountains, now snowless, give a sense of scale.  Tuesday we caught the 8.40 ferry over to Vancouver.  We needed some ski boots.  The ones I have in the UK are not yet shipped and are getting rather dated; Fred needed some as well.  I'd also bought a roof box on Craigslist to give more carrying space on the Disco, which I had to pick up.  The ferry crossing was smooth and on-time and we had a ch

Rain Stops Play Starts Hopkins Landing - Morning Walk Sun Oct 17th The thrashing took place in the City of Bath when the home team were given a rugby lesson by Saracens in a palindromic 17-71 drubbing.  Bath have now lost all of the opening games in the Premiership and are bottom of the league.  The Sarries game was a great game to watch, even for Bath supporters.  Bath probably learnt more today from the opposition than their own coaching staff.    My fellow Brit dog-walker with the Rhodesian Ridgeback, is a Gloucester supporter.  They drew 25-25 to London Irish in Brentford.  Much less embarrassing!  On the plus side, at least we're not paying subs to Bath now we're in Canada! By Sunday afternoon the rain of the last few days finally stopped and we got out to play without wet weather gear.  In the local area we'd had 154mm of rain over Friday and Saturday and a modest 15.4mm Sunday.  Roads, creeks and trails have been running with water.  The average annual precipitation

Foraging Course cancelled Sat Oct 16th We are gripped by an 'atmospheric river' according to a report on Friday's CBC news for BC.  Perhaps shrouded might be more accurate. Not some euphemistic term to describe the collective mood in bad weather or a mystic meaning aligned with one's inner-self.  They   are a like ' rivers in the sky '  according to a CBC report, 'that transport large volumes of water vapour from the equator', before dumping it down on us.  Canada gets several a year and the volume of rain can apparently, 'exceed the volume of water flowing into the ocean from the Amazon'.  It feels like it.  The rain started Friday morning and is due to continue until Sunday evening when 75mm to 150mm of rain is forecast to have fallen. We'd had 40mm by the end of Friday.  Roads are awash and running with waves of surface water, the small stream that usually trickles across the front of our property alongside the road is a torrent.  The sea

Snow in Whistler Thu Oct 13th It may be wet and cold at sea level, but it's cold and snowy in Whistler.  So we will put up with wet walks and a soggy dog, knowing that every cm of rain here is likely to be 10cm of snow upstairs!  It may not stay if we get some warm days, but we live in hope! It also means the mountains opposite us, which saw the stubborn patch of snow on the tallest mountain disappear last week, are now covered in snow. We have had some spectacular sunrises but are facing the wrong way for sunsets.  It also means we missed the Aurora Borealis light show north of Vancouver in Monday.   Nick and Lizzie, who'd just got back from Thanksgiving in Ontario, also missed it.  The view would have been fabulous from their rooftop deck. This morning the cloud cover was too heavy for a decent sunrise, but even the grey murk had its attraction. The last two mornings by comparison were stunning. The first from our lane (Smith Rd) looking across towards Vancouver, the second

Wet Start - Mixed Week Thu Oct 7th Earl's Cove - waiting for the ferry It was a dark o'clock start to get to Vancouver Island on Tuesday morning.  We were heading up to Royston on the North East side of the Island so had booked to take the ninety minute ferry from Powell River at the top of the Sunshine Coast to Comox.  The hotel, Kingfisher Ocean Resort was OK, though the choice of rooms that would accommodate dogs was a bit limited.  The food was 5* excellent. BC Ferries network is vast,  but not always logically connected.  Powell River is reached via a 50 minute ferry sailling from Earls Cove towards in the middle of the Sunshine Coast (just over an hour from Gibsons) to Saltery Bay.  It's then a 30 minute drive up to Powell River.  The ferry time means you arrive at Powell River as the ferry departs for Comox, making it impossible to check-in 'no later than 30 minutes prior to departure' as required by BC Ferries. We had two and a half hours to wait for the ne

Time Has Flown By Sun Oct 3rd Hopkins Landing - Morning Light After not seeing other spaniels for months, we've seen several in the last week It doesn't feel as though it was six months ago that we left the UK and moved in to our far from salubrious hotel quarantine accommodation in Toronto.  A week later as we settled in to our first month-long rental in North Van for the final eleven days of quarantine, Jack arrived. Looking uncertain and worried in the back of his crate, he leapt out at the sound of our voices, his joy clearly evident.  Transportation to the kennels, an overnight and long haul flight, albeit direct on a freight aircraft rather than via a stopover in Toronto, must have been quite frightening.   Pet Air UK, the specialist company that organised his travel (with 1st class price tag!), said usually the owners worry more than the animals.  Probably true. Seconds after being let out of his crate, you would not have known what he had just been through.  It was only