Expedition Canada

Coyote Skulks in Cliff Gilker Sat May 14th  After several abortive attempts , usually arriving after it was long gone,  to find the local Grey Whale (Gray in the US) which has achieved celebrity status, I finally managed to track it down. It's been around for a couple of weeks wandering between Bonniebrook Beach and Davis Bay.  Often no more than 100m off shore, delighting a small group of followers and now me!  I spent an hour down on Roberts Creek beach Friday evening snapping away, while Jack explored the beach.   It is a good job digital technology has replaced film as 270 images later I was able to head home with, I was sure, a few decent shots.   After some heavy duty editing and exposure correction (I shoot in RAW not JPG) I got it down to 30. They spend their summer in the North Pacific off Alaska and the BC coast but during the winter they breed in the warmer waters of the Mexican Coast (I looked it up to save you the trouble)....

Damp Squib Thu Oct 28th Nick and I settled down to watch the F1Q My son, pictured right, says I talk to much about the weather.  Because he's now a Canadian citizen he seems to have forgotten that Brits like to talk about the weather; but advice headed.  Suffice it to say it has been damp, but hardly explosive. Nick was over on the Coast this weekend but as he was 'out Friday night' was quite happy to watch the F1 Qualifying with me on Saturday afternoon.  It was clearly quite riveting - we both slept through it.  Sunday morning we'd just finished breakfast when a visitor popped by.  We have no idea how it got in, unless when Fred got up to let Jack out at dark o'clock it slipped into the mud room unnoticed.  After about 5 minutes flying up to all the open doors it headed off out.  Big fella, but not sure what type of bat it was. After the excitement of the breakfast visitor and with Fred immersed in final house removals and  furniture shipping li...

Running Creeks Sat Sept 18th Compared to Friday, Saturday was a beautiful morning Sun Sept 19th  Friday night's rain which took out our power, also took out the scheduled 18:55 ferry, which was cancelled.  So just as well Nick and Lizzie postponed coming over - it would have been a long wait at the ferry terminal.  With news reports during Thursday suggesting there could be power cuts, Fred bought a camping gas-lamp (the last one in the shop) and candles during her shopping trip on Friday morning.  Just as well.  At 5pm on Friday there was a loud bang outside and we lost power. We didn't anticipate needing them quite so soon. It felt quite cosy without electric lighting.  Fortunately the gas hob and gas log fire still worked.  We were comfortable, but turned in early not wanting to drain phone batteries.  BC Hydro engineers turned up just after 01:00 driving up and down the lane in the heavy rain using powerful lights to check the overhead ca...

Coyotes and Bears  Mon Aug 13 - Wed Aug 15 Looking across to what we think is Mt Windsor There is a saying in Manchester if you can't see the Pennines it's raining, if you can see them it's going to rain.  It is about to get like that here.   Small falls on Roberts Creek in Cliff Gilker Park This morning's red sky sunrise proceeded the rain alert from Gov.Ca for Thursday through to Friday and should have been sufficient warning.  It was the most vivid red sky I think I've ever seen.  In fact the incoming frontal system is bringing rain through to Tuesday.  We'll know if we can't see the mainland mountains it's raining, and if we can it's going to rain. The good news is that it will give the parched forests a much needed drenching. More importantly it is forecast to fall as snow above 1400m in Whistler.  I wonder if the mountain opposite  us  (Mt Windsor?)  will see snow before the residual patch from last winter final melts....

It's Back! Thu Sep 9 Fri Sep 10 It may not seem a significant event in UK terms, but internationally it's monumental.  It has been on the shopping list for five months and has only just reappeared in our local supermarket.  Its absence is due apparently, to a shortage of brewers yeast, a staple ingredient in its production. UK lovers will already know this, haters probably couldn't give a damn.   It hasn't yet been covered in the Canadian press!  So a message to all UK friends - please drink more beer! Tomorrow's breakfast will be a pleasant reminder of breakfasts in Blighty.   Any more shortages and pleas will be going out for supplies to be shipped from the UK! Do you love it or hate it? An email popped pinged in my inbox Thursday morning with details of some workshop machinery up for sale in Sechelt. A few hours and a visit later, the deal was done.  In addition to a very decent lathe, I have now added a router table, table saw, band saw (need...

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....

Mike & Jack have a boys day Tue Aug 31st Gumboot Cafe - Roberts Creek The shopping trip was actually to collect the 2018 Nissan Leaf and Fred decided to take the ferry as a walk-on and catch the express bus from the Horseshoe Bay terminal into downtown Vancouver.  Having dropped her off at the terminal in Langdale (she could have walked!), it was straight on the boat, straight on the bus for the $2 and 35 minute ride into town and then a ten minute walk to Nick's office.  Still without a local bank account, Nick had arranged a bank draft to enable us to buy the car.   Meanwhile I took Jack back down to Cliff Gilker Park and we wandered around the creeks for an hour.  It is a delightful spot, though the water levels are really low. But still deep enough for a decent paddle General Store We then headed off to Roberts Creek   village for coffee at  The Gumboot Cafe .  It has been a favourite haunt since we arrived on the Coast.  Roberts...

Bears don't just poop in the woods!  Sun Aug 29th Paddle boarder on Hopkins Landing walk Mon Aug 30th It was a still start to Sunday and a couple of paddle boarders were out on the water off Hopkins Landing beach. One with a dog, one without.  It was quite a serene setting. A Great Blue Heron was perched on Hopkins Landing Wharf and was silhouetted against the distant horizon with a sparkle of sun on water. Heron on Hopkins Landing Wharf Later in the day we went down to Grantham's beach, by which time the wind and waves had got up.  Not quite so ideal for paddle boarding.  Great for the kitesurfing foil-board riders and sailing boats. Not like the electric powered ones that go up and down the Thames and irritate Ditton Island residents!  Quite impressive skill. Entertained by the flying foil kitesurfer, Jack and I decided it was time for a quick paddle.  It was choppy and Jack was not as relaxed as usual.  But he stuck with it.  We landed 20 minut...