Expedition Canada

The Sea to Sky Highway Wed August 16 Sea to Sky Highway in the 50's I have no idea how many times we have driven the Sea to Sky Highway to get to and from Whistler, and beyond.  The first time was in 2013, when Ros spent a year working for ZipTrek, having transferred from their operation in NZ.   We have seen it when the snow started at the Vancouver end and at times when only when we've got close to Whistler has the snow been evident.  The first half of the drive runs along Howe Sound, until just before Squamish, when the gentle climb starts up to Whistler.  The road has not changed in the ten years we've been driving it, though it is very different to the 50's when the road was on a par with today's Forest Service Roads.   The road we know today was originally started during the early 1900's when copper mining started at the Britannia Mine (1904), just below Squa mish.  There is believed to be an older First Nations trading trail before that....

Plus a Bison Banquet Thu Nov 24th  After putting my pre-order deposit down in Nov 2021 for the all electric Rivian R1S (SUV), I finally heard last week that delivery will between October and December ........ 2023.  That's the good news and bad news in one!   I have finally been able to see one in the flesh at a customer event last Saturday in Vancouver.  Nick and I had a boys day in town checking out the vehicles, which continue to get amazing reviews.  Top Gear reviewed the R1T pickup .  They are impressive vehicles and the larger battery pack has a range of circa 320m (514k), though if I test the 0-60mph in 3 seconds regularly I suspect that may be a tad optimistic .    The event was busy, suggesting there are quite a few pre-order customers in BC, the launch province for Canada, the only country outside the USA where Rivian vehicles are being sold at the outset.  It's not surprising as BC has the highest proportion of EV sales in Nor...

Still feels like Summer Mon Oct 3rd Sunset over Van Island - still warm enough to eat outside Message from the editor:  Technical glitches in the last blog update email, lost the formatting and didn’t save the changes after the typos were corrected.  Guardian readers may not have noticed.  The forecast rain reported in the last blog never arrived, water restrictions remain in place and the Sunshine Coast Regional District has convened their Emergency Committee.  Although it’s cooler at either end of the day, temperatures have been in the mid twenties which is 6c - 10c above average for this time of year.  The rain forecast set to swamp the Public Holiday next weekend  (Monday Oct 10th is Thanksgiving in Canada) is also looking less likely, maybe a few showers.  The coast has gone 80 days without any significant rainfall.   Some are speculating it may lose its status as a temperate rain forest. Canadian Thanksgiving is a celebration of th...

And Other Wildlife Sat Jun 11th A few minutes after this picture was taken and 100m further down the road, this Bald Eagle zoomed down to a group of Otters on a rock getting ready to enjoy a large flat fish for breakfast, sending the Otters diving into the water and making off with their food.  I had no time to set up the picture and fortunately the camera was on an automatic setting.   The highlight of the week was the arrival of the Kitsilano branch last Friday and young Sebastian.  We wondered what Jack would make of somebody else getting much of the attention.  He was curious,  gentle and wanted to be part of the action.  We think they are likely to be good mates.  This time he didn't cry as soon as I picked him up!  Great fun. On the Admin front, I finally managed to switch my Apple Region from UK to Canada.  Not an easy task.  Several calls to Apple support, Music and Apple TV subscriptions cancelled and residual subscrip...