Expedition Canada

Checking out Gibsons Gibsons Marina Wed May 5 A pause in property searches today though we are off to see a few more in Sechelt  tomorrow  and also plan to check out Pender Harbour and Garden Bay, at the far end of the Sunshine Coast. This morning was a trip in to Gibsons to buy some fish from the Public Market and check out around the harbour and immediate area.  We had to be back for 13.00 hrs as the local broadband provider (Telus) was due to check out why the internet (and therefore TV) wasn't working.  A tree-fall .5k down the road was blamed and the cable team is on standby to provide a new cable.  By all accounts they are as quick as BT in the UK!  We don't anticipate a fix in the next month. Back for lunch and the broadband check (no immediate progress likely while we are renting) and a local walk after lunch.  Steep walk uphill that goes nowhere and back down for a stroll along the 'Esplanade'.   I've been trying to perfect...

Property Search Begins Tues May 4th Robin - blackbird size! The realtor we have been working with had organised 4 viewings for Tuesday morning.  An interesting mix of real estate.   The first was a wooden clad house on three levels, surrounded by pine forest with a window through the trees looking across the Sechelt inlet. Several acres of land of which 5% is not mountainside forest!  Inside the dark wood floors, dark furniture and finishes made for a very dark and gloomy feel - 3/10 bah! The second property was on the inlet but closer to Sechelt.  A lovely house right on the waters edge, though neighbouring properties were quite close by.  Some work required on the lower floor that could be turned in to a dedicated suite. A possible but slightly above budget - 7/10 On the opposite side of the inlet, and facing due north, was the third.  Set higher up and with stunning views up the inlet.  Beautifully finished, but small garden and close to t...

Norvan Falls Trail Not only does the forest look like a rain forest, today it rained.  The mountains were shrouded in mist with occasional glimpses of the tree clad slopes, their snow covered caps hidden for the day.   The trail up to the falls runs alongside Lynn Creek which was flowing well with the melt water coming down off mountains that form Lynn Headwaters Regional Park.  The round trip to the falls is 14k.  New to the area, we parked short of the trail start so added a couple of extra kilometres to the walk.  We made it just beyond half way, but plan to return and do the complete walk during the week. We arrived early and only met a few people on the way up.  A different story coming down, but there is so much space it didn't spoil it.     It is amazing how close residential property is to rugged, untamed forest.  Living 100m from a trail, the forests go on for several hundreds of kilometres with only occasional roads bisect...

Three weeks already New From Old Friday April 23rd  It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown by.  Tomorrow will be three weeks since we arrived in Canada.  It feels very normal.  We're not getting used to north American TV and are rather glad we brought our Apple TV box.  The BBC's Sounds app works well; so we go to bed with the Today programme and wake to the World at One.  The Covid Pandemic continues to have a constraining effect on Canadian life. The vaccination programme is well behind that of the UK and USA and cases have started to rise again.  Travel restrictions have been put in place across Canada; no direct flights from S Asia, only essential  inter-state travel.  In BC  all but essential travel limited to your current health region.  Fortunately our next rental on The Sunshine Coast is the same as our current health region and Nick and Lizzie's. The weather since we have been in Vancouver quarantine and over the l...

Quieter Pace Wed 21st April After the early morning dog walk it was a b oys shopping trip .... for a car! With gas (sorry petrol) at 97p per litre should I go the petrol-head route, or something more modest?  Vancouver has car dealership malls - a bit like regular shopping malls, but cars.  A very convenient way of buying a set of wheels.  Yesterday we test drove a VW Atlas.  Nice car, solid ride but not great on reliability.  Also went looking for a Toyota 4Runner, but it had been sold before we got there.  It's amazing how long it takes to shop for cars! After a late lunch we went for a walk up Lynn Creek a five minute car ride away. In the UK, my greatest fear when taking Jack out picking up on a shoot, or alongside me as a peg-dog, was him running in to Charlie Rowland's cover crop at Bowden Farm before the drive had been through it.  Jack has an amazing nose and can smell game birds from 100 yards and will sniff them out.  Gun dogs dashing in...

  Phew! Rock Climbing Centre Tuesday 20th The pace has not slowed.  Our day was spent in and around Squamish, a town midway between Vancouver and Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway (Route 99).  The highway goes on to Pemberton and then  the northern interior of BC.  It has some amazing views as you drive the various dual and single carriage sections.  First stop was Britannia Beach, and specifically Watts Point. An area popular with rock climbers, and Nick, who can be found up there at least once a week scaling the granite outcrops. "The first bit is step then it's OK" says Nick.  We have been lulled into a false sense of security before!   We did not get to the top.  I'd prefer to be upside down in a plane at 3,000' that halfway up tracks hewn out of the rock, where I have to look down  where I have been.  Coupled with that a spaniel has no sense of danger and at one point fell down a 10' drop when curiosity got the better of ...

Nick is in charge of activities!!! Monday 19th Jan  So it has been full on!   He has a week off and is determined we squeeze in as many physical activities this week as possible!!!! We are starting to lose track of time, so that's got be a good thing, right? The early morning walk was up the Baden Powell trail from where it meets the Hyannis trail.  Very uphill with lots of board walks.  Stunning scenery, no bears, which is just as well as I forgot to buy my bear deterrent products at MEC yesterday! Back from the walk, I was behind a computer screen booking an appointment with ICBC, who issue BC driving licences.  The advantage is that we could  benefit from reduced monopoly insurance rates ($5,000)!   It seems that as we don't have any form of status in Canada beyond 'visitor' we aren't eligible until we apply for an extension to our six months visitor stay; our super-visa comes through, or our application for residency invita...

Freedom Sunday 18th April Busy day today after a late evening when Nick and Lizzie joined us for supper outside. Great to see them properly now that we were out of quarantine and have a decent catch up.  Jack was chasing a ball until about 9.00pm and slept until I got up this morning - and that was late! The day started with a walk up in to the Hyannis Trail with Jack to get my bearings.  Just 10 mins from the house.  The bikers and hikers were just getting started as I returned. It was then out and about.  The weather meant everybody in Vancouver was also out and about!   After a quick trip to MEC (originally the Mountain Equipment Centre I think - a mecca for those into outdoor pursuits), and some maps and backpack we set off to meet Nick for lunch at Lighthouse Park.   Too many people and queues for the car park so we abandoned that plan and headed over to Kitsilano, where Nick and Lizzie are based via Marine Drive.  This runs al...

Five to Go Chilled Jack Life in quarantine seems to have settled in to a bit of a routine.  Jack regards the place as home and let us sleep until just before six.  He's getting in to the zone! The local store delivers as does the wine merchant (liquor store), Amazon has found us and our hosts who own the main house have been welcoming and helpful. We are starting to think about longer term arrangements.  We remain in touch with the realtor who is sending properties through but will wait until we are freed from quarantine before getting too excited.  We're also starting to look for rentals for July onwards in case we haven't found a property to purchase. The more immediate requirements are for local phone Sims, harder to acquire than the UK even for pre-paid where proof of Canadian status is required.  More important is to get UK driving licences converted to BC ones so we can buy and insure a car at a sensible price.  Insurance with a UK driving licence is ...

Seven to Go Black-Capped Chickadee The sun returned to North Vancouver today which brought out the birds this morning.  The Black-Capped Chickadee with its distinctive call managed to stay still just long enough for me to get a picture.   To me it looked like a Tit of some variety. The same could not be said of some local humming birds who would hover for a second or two before disappearing so quickly it was almost impossible to track them.  Certainly too quickly to get a photo of them.  Going to have top find a way of resolving that.   The highlight of the day was the pending arrival of Jack.  He left the UK at about 10.00 BST (02.00 Pacific time) and flew direct to Vancouver, unlike his owners.  At 06.30 local he'd just passed Greenland at 40,000ft.  What was he thinking, how was he coping, would he sleep;  the questions were endless. Jack's aircraft just West of Greenland The lovely people at PetAir said the owners were usually m...

 And a glass or two of wine! Happy hour! Proper food Tired of our hotel room and requiring a change of scenery and rations we made an early escape to the airport once the negative Covid tests arrived.   Imagine our delight, after 2 days without a drink to ease the frustration, to find the airport bar was doing Happy Hour.  Given the absence of passengers, it was probably doing it all day!  Several glasses of Sauvignon later and a few nibbles, spirits were restored.   Never has airport food tasted so good. As a domestic arrival in Vancouver we had bags collected and were in the back of a taxi in all of 15 minutes from touchdown.   The drive across to North Vancouver in the Blueridge area, just east of Lynn Regional Park took about 40 minutes.  It is a quiet, residential, tree-lined neighbourhood which we knew from past walks in Lynn.  Fred chose this accommodation because we have seven days of remaining quarantine after Jack arr...