Expedition Canada

Grizzlies Grizzly mum with cub born earlier this year Not uninvited ones you'll appreciate, but wild nevertheless.  More later. A relic at the awful 'one night only' campsite -  a project probably long planned and never started We've been exploring the top of Vancouver Island in the last few days, having driven up via four nights at Qualicum Beach.   In fact we had an extra day there as we escaped the previous camp a day earlier than planned.  Not a location we felt comfortable in. Our past visits to southern Vancouver Island, largely along the coast road, have not been that inspiring, so this trip we were determined to explore more widely and inland and some islands.  With the exception of our first night's campsite it has been much more rewarding.   The main town of Qualicum Beach, as distinct from the part of town on the coast highway, was full of character and though the RV resort was ok, it gave us a good base to explore from.   Nic...

Challenges Little Different Wed Sep 1st Clear skies looking across to mainland mountains Thu Sep 2nd One of the BBC headlines today (Thursday) was about council bin collections being hit by driver shortages.   A few days back the Coast Reporter, which largely serves the Sunshine Coast, headlined  Waste Pickup Interruptions Continue on Sunshine Coast . The truck driver shortage in Canada is about 25,000 (Pop. 38m).  Proportionately smaller than the UK, but nevertheless having an impact on waste management, food deliveries and courier services.  This at a time when online sales have doubled during the pandemic adding to the demand for delivery services. Looks like honeycomb but probably not edible! Similarly Covid numbers have been rising.  In the interior and northern BC the increase is pronounced amongst  the unvaccinated.  The latest report is 801 new cases , a total of 5931 total active cases of which 199 are in hospital and 116 in ICU....