Expedition Canada

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...

Coast Culture We've had some stunning sunrises recently and moonsets.  This was  the moon against a foggy backdrop. The long range forecast that suggested we were going to enjoy a cold winter could not have got it more wrong.  It has been wet and warm.   The UK has had more snow than southern and coastal BC.  Whistler has snow in the alpine but it's patchy and thin at village level.  Other resorts in western North America are enjoying similar poor conditions, unlike the Atlantic Coast. We have therefore deferred any trips up the mountain; though are scheduled to spend a week in Whistler late February.  Fingers crossed.  If snow conditions improve later in the season we may go up again in March and April, but book at the last minute.    That said, January has not been a quiet month.  The Coast Music Theatre Co are putting on a production of Guys and Dolls at the end of Feb, and Fred has been busy making costumes. While Fred’s b...

The Best of ... I can't be the only one hugely irritated by the current  newspaper  trend where every other page has 'The 10 best ......', the 50 of this or 100 of that.  Pubs, holiday destinations, rural retreats, market towns, places to live, albums, films, stage shows, male footballers, female footballers, ski resorts, goalies, TV shows, video games ............... etc.  The list goes on and on and on.   It will be closely followed by the best of 2025 reviews and summaries, and then predictions for 2026.  And who the hell decides what the best are?  Seems to me that newspaper writers (it can't be called journalism can it?) are running out of things to write about so a list is Googled, assembled in a self-justified order and the story is done.  Lazy.  Does anybody actually read them? Canadian, US, UK papers are all at it.   Rant over. So I thought I'd reflect on my 50 best  .....  No, you're spared!  Davis Bay ...

Not the Start Expected  Sunday June 8th Begbie Mtn, Revelstoke, from the dyke walk Seven days in and over 1200 km into our 20,000 km expedition.   I was going to start with the first two challenges of the trip.  That would be a distraction and disingenuous given the stunning scenery and landscapes we have enjoyed to Revelstoke, and the journey since our 4 night stay in Manning Park.  Man ning Park. was a beautiful setting.  Loads of walks, mountains, lakes and creeks and the new Skyview RV park had moder n well maintained washroom facilities and was only at 10% capacity.  The alpine trails were still closed due to snow, but lower levels were open.  We hiked around Lightning Lake (9km) and a number of other trails and would certainly go back.  Revelstoke, our second stop, is now running a close second as a place to live after the Sunshine Coast.  We would have stayed longer.  The campground was spotless with new, well designed and fi...