Expedition Canada

A Splash Attracts Jack  Mon May 31st Morning over Mixal Barred Owl Today was a water day and it started just after 10pm last night when Jack was put out to be emptied.  A huge splash on the far side of the lake startled us both.  I guess it could have been a beaver as they are resident locally, though it sounded bigger.  This morning there was a large log floating around.  Somebody having some fun? We shall be ready with a 'flashlight' and camera tonight! This morning I took my camera on our morning walk and not only captured a stunning view across Mixal Lake with the clouds illuminated by the rising sun, but the reflections on the still water. The local Barred Owl was close to a tree, I saw him on yesterday's morning walk and again was unperturbed by our presence, or the American Robins who were again sounding their displeasure at his presence.  It still has the bent wing feathers, but is able to fly. The morning was taken over by the g...

Granville Island Jack checking out urban Van Wed Apr 28th The day started trying to work out how to change the Apple App store country location on my iPhone, so we could download local Apps that were barred from being added to a UK configured phone.  After much research, discussions with Apple and trial settings the project was abandoned.   Changing you country location, can only be done after you have unsubscribed from Apple Music.  You then lose all your music.  I assume this is for copyright reasons. As part of setting up the country you have to enter a local address.  No problem, we will use our rental address.  As you go through the process of adding a payment card to the store, you discover that the Paypal or Credit Card address, has to match your residential address in Canada.  Except we don't have a Canadian payment card (or bank account) yet. Lobster Brioche from Popina So after several hours of trying to resolve this and ending up back a...

Four to go Covid - Self Test Kit Day 10 is Covid test day using the kit were were given on arrival in Toronto a week last Saturday. A quick scan of the pack's QR code and we were individually linked to the online system for carrying out the test.  Heart sank when we saw 338 people ahead of us in the queue though within 10-15 minutes we were both connected with a nurse who talked us through the procedure.   The finished result is picked up by a courier tomorrow afternoon.  Our address that we entered when setting up the App at Toronto airport, before our first test, was already in the system.  It is amazingly efficient and well designed, from the technology behind the App and tracking process, the design of the self test box and kit, through to the overall workflow.  It is pretty impressive.   More efficient than the vaccination programme in Canada, says our son.  Certainly the programme got off to a slow start and is well behind the...

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 ...

Six to Go No Jack, it's not dinner time it's only 04.30 in the morning, you're in Canada now, on Pacific time.   'I don't understand Pacific time dad.  There's dinner time, walk time, play time, sleep time and now it's dinner time and walk time.   I'll let you have your dinner, how about that? I want to have my breakfast, I'm hungry and then  go walkies'.     A rh, we need to talk about that.  We're in quarantine and we are not allowed out of the house and garden for another six days.      'But Dad  I'm not in quarantine dad, I can go out' Yes but you can't go out on your own, you'll have to play in the garden.  Maybe get acquainted with the lady boxer upstairs! 'How come you are in quarantine and I am able to go out'.   It's the rules Jack.  You can have your breakfast, then perhaps go and have another sleep? 'So humans have to quarantine and dogs like me don't? That's right Jack, humans have to qu...

Eight to go 1st Class dog style Unimpressed methinks An early start today when our dog Jack's shipping company driver rang at 0100 to ask where we were as he pitched up in Burbage to gather up said dog.  Err Canada, you should have the number of our dog sitter ......  'sorry did I wake you'?  Not easy to get to sleep again after that.  The problem quickly resolved (Jack had been taken out on a final Burbage walk) and he was on his way to his overnight in Windsor, kennels not the castle, before his 1st class priced flight with Air Canada on Saturday morning.  Emphasis on price, rather than service as there is no at-crate service in the hold.  Pressurized, temperature controlled, mood lighting, water and that's it. A few hours later my semi-conscious slumbers were interrupted by Radio 4 Extra's move to rolling news following the sad news about HRH Prince Phillip's death.  Time to give up on the idea of sleep  and we decided it was time for a cuppa....

 Nine days to go Garden Quarantine Having escaped our mandated 3 nights hotel quarantine in Toronto a day early after our Covid tests came back negative, we have been settling in to our Vancouver rental. Nine more days of quarantine, restricted to the house and garden, and we'll be allowed out if our 10th day Covid test comes back negative.  Daily emails checks from the Canadian health care system wanting confirmation that we are symptom free and a potential visit from an official to check we are in quarantine could take place at any time.  I remain impressed by the way Canada is managing the risk of people arriving in to the country and minimizing exposure.  The good news is that Jack should be with us in about 48 hours and is being picked up at Vancouver airport by Nick Saturday morning. Much like the UK the news agenda is dominated by Covid.  With the British media's focus on the domestic agenda, the USA and Europe, it is unsurprising to find the Ca...

 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...

Negative Test Results Breakfast Rations Which means no more quarantine rations as we head off to Vancouver later today and into our rented accommodation with garden in the Blueridge area of North Vancouver. Our room was OK, but it's strange not being able to leave it and go for a wander or walk, the gym or the pool.  The results came through in a little over 24 hours which is what it was in the UK.  Pretty impressive.  We won't miss the food!  There has been no choice, you just get what you're given, or more precisely left by your door.  Yesterday's breakfast was a vulcanised omelette with a processed cheese slice glueing both sides together.  Different.  Today's fare was no better.  Oh for a glass of wine or a beer. The only downside at the moment is that Canada appears to be having a further Covid peak, just as numbers in the UK start to fall.  A few more restrictions are being put in place, closer to the situation we had when leaving the U...