Expedition Canada

Snowbirds Flock South Mon Nov 8th Mt Elphinstone Mount Elphinstone just up behind us is now dusted with snow, Whistler Village and the Sea to Sky Highway also has a covering and the main slopes are close to skiable.  Winter beckons, as do the ski slopes.  Grouse Mountain on the North shore of Vancouver, which has a well known hill climb beneath the gondola, is shut because of too much snow. With snow arriving here, Canadians preferring the warmer climes (termed 'Snowbirds') like the southern United States are heading south with the land border opening today.  It has been possible to fly into the US, but not drive until today.  Dedicated snowbirds have flown south and had their RV's delivered.  Long queues formed at the border ready to escape the winter weather.  Some of us of course, can't wait for the snow to enable Whistler to open up later in the month. Blackberry Gin With the glut of blackberries this summer we have made Blackberry Gin, which...

We Hope Tracking tells us that our tests have been delivered, to ‘Glen @ Ship Dock’ in Vancouver, which we assumed was a local testing station, rather than being sent all the way back to Ontario.  It turns out that ATS, where Glen works, is not Advanced Testing Services, but Advanced Transport Services, who specialise in medical and associated transportation.  It looks as though they have been shipped back to the laboratory at Mississauga ON, where we started our Canadian quarantine in the mandatory hotel, two weeks ago tomorrow. How do we know all this you might ask.  Well there isn’t much else to do when you are in quarantine! On a more serious note, it does make you appreciate the freedom we have compared to many living in urban flats and apartments, who had to tolerate weeks of self isolation.  It is easy to understand how for some it was a real mental health challenge.  Behind the humour, we recognise we are very fortunate.   Reading the small print, i...

Three to go A quiet news day today.  Covid texts have been picked up by the courier.  An international Zoom gym session took place with Marlborough based Dom Smart and Jack is getting to know Josie, the resident boxer. Relief when our Covid tests were picked up half an hour early, not least as we had put them out for collection ahead of time in case they pitched up before the appointed hour.  They now head back to Ontario and we await the results.   The only exercise in quarantine is limited and it’s been difficult to find the motivation to do something.  Oh to go on a run!  This morning I had another Zoom session with Dom Smart which guarantees I’ll be aching and stiff tomorrow.  But hey, no pain no gain!   After a couple of walks out with the lady boxer upstairs, she has been allowed down in the garden.  They seem to get on OK, though  she keeps stealing Jack’s balls.  Worse, he lets her! We have had a chance to try some local gin...

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 ...

Seven to Go Black-Capped Chickadee The sun returned to North Vancouver today which brought out the birds this morning.  The Black-Capped Chickadee with its distinctive call managed to stay still just long enough for me to get a picture.   To me it looked like a Tit of some variety. The same could not be said of some local humming birds who would hover for a second or two before disappearing so quickly it was almost impossible to track them.  Certainly too quickly to get a photo of them.  Going to have top find a way of resolving that.   The highlight of the day was the pending arrival of Jack.  He left the UK at about 10.00 BST (02.00 Pacific time) and flew direct to Vancouver, unlike his owners.  At 06.30 local he'd just passed Greenland at 40,000ft.  What was he thinking, how was he coping, would he sleep;  the questions were endless. Jack's aircraft just West of Greenland The lovely people at PetAir said the owners were usually m...

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...

  Quarantine Begins If the scarcity of people at Heathrow and on the plane made pandemic travelling a pleasure, Toronto Pearson was in stark contrast.  A smooth 8 hour flight was followed, by a 3 hours and 20 minutes being processed through the airport.   I am not one of life's queuers.  I will go somewhere else, go without, pay more or do something different.  This was not an option.  If the number of people arriving made the queues inevitable, the way arrivals were processed was extremely well organised.  Passport control was well, like most passport controls for non-nationals.  Thirty minutes later and purpose of travel quickly established, we were directed off for an immigration interview.   The all important six month stamp Documents reviewed, son's Residency confirmed, pre-arrival application numbers noted, quarantine arrangements checked, and an hour  later we had the all important 6 month passport stamp After immigratio...

There is something to be said for travelling in a Pandemic.  If the pre-flight preparations and paperwork were a little frenetic, getting to the airport and passing through it, was a breeze!  No queues at checkin, no queues at security, no queues for refreshments, and getting 40 passengers on to a 200 seat plane was pretty quick.  We left 15 minutes early.   Departures   As we went through the obligatory bag and personal checks the security manager, clearly desperate for some human contact, was charm itself and waxed lyrical about the new 3D baggage scanners that were being introduced.  Not the usual brusque security checks.  Time for passengers seemed to be the order of the day. Checkin took a little longer while Covid tests, Permit to Travel forms and family links were scrutinised and validated by a Canadian embassy official.  About the same time as it took seven bags to be weighed and tagged! That we were allowed to board we rather hope means a...

  Lists, Boxes, Tests and Jabs The home is packed and boxes taken in to storage.  The house feels different with the reduced amount of furniture and personal touches gone, but it’s ready for our friends moving in once Jack has joined us in Canada.  As the week has gone on the lists have been ticked off; the two most important items coming at the end of the week. We had given up hope of getting a second Covid jab after our doctors surgery informed us it was against the guidelines to have a Covid jab for going “on holiday”!!!  We’re not sure where their communication went wrong.   The last hurdle was our pre-flight Covid tests and a trip to Boots.  ‘It could take 48 hours to get the tests back and it is possible they could come back as inconclusive’ we were told, which would mean a later flight.  The negative tests came back in less than 24 hours.  Relief all round! At the same time we got the news from the surgery, a close friend who was going for ...

Final Countdown Used to be cosy in here! Check Lists

Micro brewery - Vancouver And Why British Columbia   We were first drawn to Canada some 20 years ago when we enjoyed a family holiday in the Muskoka region of central Ontario.  East of Lake Huron, we stayed in a cottage in Huntsville, on Lake Vernon.  Cottage somewhat understates it as the property had numerous bedrooms and was set in several acres on the lake edge, with its own boat dock.  Boating on the interconnected lakes, walks in the Algonquin National Park, sundowners on the deck; Ontario lit the fuse. Lake Vernon - Huntsville, ON Several years on our daughter and partner transferred from S Island NZ to Whistler with the company she worked for and we had our first visit to Vancouver and British Columbia. We fell in love with Vancouver; the proximity of ocean, mountains, Granville Island, Victoria Park and the friendliness of the Canadians, was enough to keep the fuse burning.  A year later our son moved to Vancouver, attracted to the outdoor life that we ...

Tape and Cardboard Boxes The shut down is underway.  After weeks of lists, edited lists and yet more lists, household possessions are getting packed in to cardboard boxes by the Britannia removal and shipping team. Today the stuff going in to long term store is being packed, early next week the more essential items, that we will need quickly, as and when we rent or buy a property will be packed and stored ready for when we press the button to ship. Packed boxes stored in garage The workshop machinery and Land Rover went over the last few weeks.   It is a strange feeling ending a relationship with a house that has been home for 31 years.  The house where children grew up, friends visited, extensions added, gardens restored and memories stored and retained.   Some of the furnishings remain for our tenants who will be looking after the house for the next six to nine months.  All of a sudden familiar surroundings dotted with personal touches, family pictur...

The Countdown Begins In just twelve days our Canadian adventure begins, though not quite as we envisioned, as for three days we will be quarantining in an airport hotel in Toronto until a clear Covid 19 test arrives.   The onward journey to Vancouver, with six months worth of luggage, sees the start of the remaining eleven days of quarantining in a house in North Vancouver.  There we await the arrival of Jack, our spaniel cross, who arrives a week after us.  We decided three days locked in a hotel room would not be fair on him, or us! The seed was sown this time last year on a visit to see our son and fiancee's wedding venue.  The day after we returned to the UK the lockdown began, as did the planning for how we might make it all happen.  It is an experiment and we will give it six months,  but after numerous visits to both Ontario and British Columbia, we have a feeling it might well be a successful one.  As the plan developed we did not exp...