Expedition Canada

It's Hot! Fri Jun 25th and  Sat Jun 26th The predicted heatwave has arrived and Friday's late twenties has become Saturday's early thirties.  Most of Friday was spent around the cabin packing, cleaning, trips down to the lake to cool off swimming and generally lazing around. Occasionally there were a couple of other people around, it was getting quite crowded! I discovered a new walk Thursday morning, a trail that runs along the north side of the lake.  Slightly disappointing that we'd not found it before as it would have been a good one to explore. The tree on the right at the beginning of the trail seems to have been popular with the resident woodpeckers.  The volume of chippings at the base of the trunk looked as though they'd taken a chain-saw to it.    The full trail will have to wait until we return to the cabin, which we know we will do at some point.   We have come to appreciate the remoteness and sparse population of this end of the Sunsh...

Heat Wave Looms Thu Jun 24th Pacific Banana Slug It appears that as we prepare to head back to the city,  a heat-wave warning has been issued for the Pacific North-West through to next Tuesday.  Temperatures are forecast to reach between 29c - 37c according to this morning's news, depending on your location in BC.  Saturday, the day of our drive and ferry back to North Van and Sunday, being the hottest.  There will be no cooling Mixal Lake to dip into though there are creeks Jack can swim in North Van. We rather hope the suite we go back to, which was cool in April being in the  North facing  lower-back part of the property will be as cool this visit! On our walks around the local trails, we have been struck by the number of slugs.  Small black ones to the much larger Pacific Banana slugs.  The picture on the right was one of the biggest, as measured alongside my size 11 walking shoe.   There are no hedgehogs in Canada, though there are ...

Two days Left Wed Jun 23rd It seems hard to believe that five weeks in Garden Bay come to an end on Saturday when we return to North Vancouver for a week. It has been an amazing few weeks and  a great base to explore the northern end of the Sunshine Coast.  The house with its large 'back yard' including a lake at the bottom and Mixal Lake only 100m away.  Nick, who has come up twice, while we have been here thinks we will miss it with Mixal on the doorstep and very limited public access to it, making it almost our own private lake. It has been extremely quiet.  We asked one of our neighbours what it's like in winter, when weekenders aren't around.  'Lovely' was her reply, though we feel it can probably be quite isolated. Fred did the morning walk with Jack and I had a virtual gym session, which I've kept while in Canada, followed by a swim in MIxal to cool down.   Fred watching Wimbledon Qualifying while cleaning the oven Today some of the cleaning job...

And Peaks Sat Jun 19th Capt Jack It was something of a motorized day on the water in the morning and up the mountains in the afternoon. John Henry's does boat hire and the archipelago of islands and inlets around the Pender Harbour and Garden Bay areas of the Coast would offer a different perspective to looking at it from atop a mountain. Safety demo complete, gear loaded on board, Jack wrapped around my knees, we headed out of the harbour. Nick took in the view from the foredeck and once Jack was peeled away from me he rather got the hang of watching the birds, seals and general flotsam and jetsam. Hugging the coastline of the bays and avoiding the flotilla of racing boats heading out to the Georgia Strait, we followed the coastline around Pender Harbour. The black line shows the route. It is a fantastic way to get a better view of the area, but not always easy to locate the familiar areas we know so well on land, from the water. Jack was clearly taken by the seal but resiste...

And Ants Morning on Mixal Mon Jun 14th The instructions for the cabin remind us that all garbage must be kept inside because of bears and that mosquitos and ants are a fact of life in Canada, more so when you are surrounded by water.  Windows all have screens and doors are recommended to be kept shut.  They are not screened. Fine in theory, but on the warm days we have had the doors open.  So far we've only had few problems with either, other than a few night-time bites.  Outside, ants (and some are probably termites but I've not worked out the difference) are certainly  more prolific than in the UK.  Painted Turtle They even managed to discover the hummingbird feeder hanging on the  underside of the roof eaves.  Ant killer in the bowl on the top kept them off for a couple of days, but in the end the feeder had to be moved.  It was heaving with large black ants inside (drowned) and outside the feeder. We now wait to see how long it takes...

Local day Northern Alligator Lizard Sun Jun 13th The unsettled weather is coming to an end, not just yet! The rain cleared during the morning and gave way to some warm sunshine that enabled us to get outside, but with an uncertain forecast we decided to stay local.   Fred took to her knitting needles and I checked out the gazebo up behind the house to watch the wildlife .... well I saw a lizard and that was about it! Mid afternoon, and needing to be doing something I did a solo canoe around Mixal Lake.  I've been surprised how few waterfowl there are on the lake.   At most I have seen the odd Merganser and there are two sometimes three Common Loons  out fishing.  They are an extremely attractive bird with their black and white marked back and would make a good TV test card! Just as I was heading out on the canoe, my new fishing mate rang to ask if I'd like to have another go for Mixal trout.  Silly question.  The paddle was very tra...

Legal Eagles.... & Wildlife Wed Jun 9th Black Tailed Deer We awoke this morning to a couple of Black Tailed Deer grazing out back (garden/back yard as you refer!).   It now explains the 'scats' we found near the smaller pond a week back. The pictures were taken through the double-glazing rather than disturb them, so not great quality.  Today was a PC day.  As in computer, not 'politically correct'.   We had the lease agreement through for the 'log-cabin' in Langdale, which we reviewed and agreed.  The rest of the day was  spent looking at the basic fitting out for the house before our stuff from the UK arrives.  So Fred was behind her PC (MacBook) most of the day. A local day, apart from Fred's brief supermarket shopping 'jaunt' down to Madeira Park. Jack and I took a stroll down to Mixal Lake and saw waterfowl on the lake.  It has been surprising how few of them there have been.  A lone non-breeding, male, Hooded Merg...

Sun Prevails Lakes and Ocean Sun Jun 6th The plan this morning was to do a round trip walk past Hotel Lake and down to John Henry's in Pender Harbour to buy newspapers and then back via Garden Bay Lake and Mixal Lake (anti-clockwise on the map). The threatened rain stayed away and it was a delightful walk.  Hardly any cars, super scenery and extremely quiet.  Surely quieter than normal at this time of year due to non-essential travel restrictions, but it does make you wonder what it is like in the winter. John Henry's does not sell newspapers we discovered and as it was too early for beer, we had a quick coffee and a chat with the owner before heading back.  Unusually, he recognized Capt Jack as a Springer (there are not that many in Canada) before telling us of his Duck Tolling Retriever  and games as a youngster playing 'what dog would you like to be when you grow up'!  Jack clearly knew he was a dog-lover and allowed him a stroke! Back home via Garden Ba...

Day Replanned Sat Jun 5th Mixal Lake John Henry's The morning walk down to Mixal Lake never disappoints.  A quick stroll in between showers, the lake was perfectly still and quiet.  The view may be the same but every day's scene is different.  The reflection of one of the island lakes, the mountains behind and clouds overhead was one of the best we've enjoyed. Beside the lake is Camp Burley, a scout 'wilderness' camp.  As a result of the Pandemic it looks even more of a wildness than usual.   It is an odd coincidence, but 500m down the beach from our rental at Bonnie Brook  near Gibsons, was Camp Byng.  Named after Julian Byng,  1st Viscount Byng of Vimy , a former Governor General of Canada who had previously led the Canadian Forces at Vimy Ridge. Camp Burley does not have the same UK connections but is named after an active and long-serving scout leader, Norman Burley. He'd had a lifetime involvement with Scouting in Van...

And it's Raining! Fri Jun 4th Black Tailed Deer Today was centred around a lunchtime visit to a 'lovely' rental property in Halfmoon Bay with beachfront access on Redrooffs Road. So after dog walking and shopping it was a 40 minute drive to the west of Sechelt. We were a little early so we stopped off at Coopers Green Park to get the lay of the land.   We had driven Redrooffs Rd before and it does have some attractive properties, some though beach front access might mean a steep vertical drop, there are not many areas with a 'beach'.   It's certainly an attractive area as the video below indicates.   We pitched up at the property  and was surprised to find an overgrown front yard and a ranch style bungalow in need of a major overhaul and some serious TLC.  'Lovely' might be overstating it!  A quick call to the agent confirmed we were at the wrong address, though it was the one they had given us.  With a new house number, a few minut...

Full on Day! Rough-Skinned Newt Tue Jun 1st This morning's walk was the more peaceful part of the day as apart from the Rough-Skinned Newt creeping across the path to Mixal Lake, there is not much to report.   That said, as I write this at 2100 local time, the black circular tire marks on the local roads are explained by the petrolheads having their night out doing 'donuts' in their overcharged vehicles some kilometres distant.  When it is so quiet the sound echoes around the valleys. This morning Fred disappeared off to the local supermarket to stock the fridge before Nick's arrival.  Jack spent ages on the edge of the lake looking for a ball he'd dropped between some rocks.  Found several hours later. Then I worked out how I would acquire a PCOC (Pleasure Craft Operators Certificate), the ticket one needs to hire (or own!) a boat.  Test tomorrow! While Nick spent the morning on work conference calls, Fred and I disappeared off on the Lion's trai...