Expedition Canada

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...

A Short Vertical Walk!  Sat Jun 12th Red Breasted Sapsucker We'd been putting it off, having already climbed Pender Hill (1.6km long and 165m high), but could do so no longer.  At 4.2km round trip and just under 400m elevation is was going to be a tougher climb.  My early morning walk with Jack was quiet.  Nobody else about and a slight mist rising over Mixal Lake.  A Red Breasted Sapsucker was checking out a tree on the trail and seemed unconcerned by our presence. We got to the bottom of the Mt Daniel trail at about 0915 and were the first car there, so we knew we'd have the trail to ourselves unless any energetic runners overtook us.  The average climb is 1:5.6, but the first part of the walk was a relatively shallow incline, which meant there were some steep bits to come. For a well-used trail, parts were quite overgrown with ferns and Jack disappeared beneath the low level canopy.  He was on the long lead.  After the bear encounter ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

You'll wish you had  As today has proven twice over ...... Sat May 29th Barred Owl This morning's walk was largely uneventful.   The mist was rising from Mixal Lake as Jack and I walked down to check the view, so we headed on round to Camp Burley Road.   As we started up the hill to the junction with Irvine's Landing Rd there was a cacophony of American Robins (a bit like the UK Blackbird but with a red breast and white eye-liners!), they were making a racket around a Barred Owl.  I had decided I wouldn't take the camera this morning (BIG MISTAKE), so a quick few iPhone pics, finished the walk and went back a few mins later. Back to the ranch, grabbed the camera and to my surprise it was still there!  Similar in size to the UK Short Eared Owl,  it just sat there, looking at me taking pictures.   After breakfast it was down to Garden Bay to check out the Madeira Market, which took all of ten seconds.  So while Fred did a qu...

Beer in the Sun to Finish   Fri May 28th It was disappointing to wake to grey overcast day, as the forecast looked more promising.  No more scats in the garden and no overnight visitors. The early walk was a repeat of yesterday afternoon, primarily to try and find my Nikon lens cap that went astray between the start and end of the walk.  No luck - order placed for two more.  Not the first time I've lost one! The male Rufous Hummingbird pitched up again this morning and spent a large part of the day topping up on the homemade nectar (to BC's nectar standards!).  He was great to watch, though he moved pretty quickly to catch a decent picture.  In the end I used a feature on my camera where, set up on a tripod outside, I could control it through my iPhone inside in the warm!  This meant the camera was close and not me!   [For fellow Nikon users I was able to se t the mode, (A,S,M,P), and then speed, aperture and ISO as appropriate...

But not all the time  Mon May 24th Today it's overcast and raining.  Still we can't complain it's only the 2nd day of rain in just over 3 weeks.   It was therefore a morning of doing stuff indoors.   Fred can be seen knitting and I dealt with some year end accounts queries for the company with our accountant. I was tempted to start on tax returns, but my enthusiasm waned.  It's all very well doing it with all the paperwork in front of you, but trying to work everything off electronic copies on a single screen is hard work. We did escape for a brief walk between showers down to Mixal Lake.  It was amazingly quiet and the lake completely flat with pockets of mist in the trees.  We encouraged Jack into the moored canoe, which was fine until it wobbled and he jumped out.  Some perseverance required.  During the afternoon break in showers we drove five minutes down the road to Pender Hill Park, for a quick stroll up to the top.  A l...

To Forest Setting Sat May 22   We are now in the 'Venice of the Sunshine Coast', with lakes galore.  We have two modest lakes on the property in front of the house (the dark blob at 7.00 O' clock in the black circle, it's a large natural pond (with fish in it) and we're close to Mixal Lake to our NE for paddle-boarding, fishing and swimming.  We will be exploring tomorrow.  Jack has already checked out both of our lakes here and also made acquaintance with the resident Douglas Squirrel, who 'squirrels' at him just out of range!  Quite a stand-off.  We thought we would have to watch him with the local Bobcat.  He has disappeared at regular intervals and comes back wet, when summoned!  He is rather a water dog!  Camp Burley Rd We are in one of about 14 cabins set in a large private parcel of forest about 15 minutes from Pender Harbour, where the nearest collection of shops are located.   We are up by the small blue circle on...