Expedition Canada

Dodgy Drivers Sub-zero and he's in shorts! Sun Dec 12th  Friday morning brought low cloud and snow showers so we abandoned skiing for the day.  We have a season pass which reduces the pressure to go up the mountain, rather than waste an expensive day on a day/weekly ticket.  There will be more opportunities.  In any event we discover that now we are no longer 35/34 year olds, it hurts more the next day! We had a wander around Whistler Village and then headed up to Lost Lake for a walk around the loop trail. At the moment it's sti ll open to walkers, but once the snow builds up it will be closed to everybody but cross-country skiers.  This is the walk we did in summer, past the slumbering young Black Bear a couple of metres off the side of the trail. There were few people out as the snow started falling more heavily as we got further round the loop.  It was very picturesque and Christmassy!  As we started around the actual Lake it looked as though sever...

Fred Takes City Tour Not a cloud in the sky - Vancouver on Thursday Sat  Dec 4th The 'atmospheric river' ran out of rain on Wednesday and the weather has started to get colder ahead of snow arriving over the weekend, through to the early part of next week. It will make a pleasant change, the gin clear sky on the right was a welcome sight. Flood waters in Abbotsford are almost gone and the evacuation orders rescinded.  Home owners are heading back to their properties to start the drying out.  Farmers have been badly affected but the impact on the usually fertile soils of the Fraser valley will not be known until next spring.  Livestock farmers have been particularly badly hit.  Some 628,000 poultry are reported to have been lost, plus about 12,000 cattle, pigs and other animals.  Whilst it is a relatively small percentage of BC's food production, and supplies are not expected to be materially affected, there will be many devastated farmers and loca...

Technology Woes Continue Tue Nov 30th Our planned early season excursion to Whistler has been canned.  We were due to go up the same day as the latest 'Atmospheric River' was due to arrive. Nick was skiing at the weekend as the last weather system went through and gave up skiing Saturday after getting a soaking from rain on the mountain and he didn't ski Sunday.   The freezing level Tuesday was around 2,000m, so the snow is going to get a soaking at the alpine level. Disappointing but there will be plenty of other opportunities.   We hope to get up there for a couple of days next week before Nick and Lizzie arrive for their weekend up there.  Friday onwards its getting colder and more snow is forecast.   The lathe continues its reluctance to turn, so I stripped down the head and removed the system board on Tuesday to check it over.  Alas, no obvious faults so the shipment of new parts from the Far East is eagerly awaited. One bit of good...

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...

Snow in Whistler Thu Oct 13th It may be wet and cold at sea level, but it's cold and snowy in Whistler.  So we will put up with wet walks and a soggy dog, knowing that every cm of rain here is likely to be 10cm of snow upstairs!  It may not stay if we get some warm days, but we live in hope! It also means the mountains opposite us, which saw the stubborn patch of snow on the tallest mountain disappear last week, are now covered in snow. We have had some spectacular sunrises but are facing the wrong way for sunsets.  It also means we missed the Aurora Borealis light show north of Vancouver in Monday.   Nick and Lizzie, who'd just got back from Thanksgiving in Ontario, also missed it.  The view would have been fabulous from their rooftop deck. This morning the cloud cover was too heavy for a decent sunrise, but even the grey murk had its attraction. The last two mornings by comparison were stunning. The first from our lane (Smith Rd) looking a...

Time Has Flown By Sun Oct 3rd Hopkins Landing - Morning Light After not seeing other spaniels for months, we've seen several in the last week It doesn't feel as though it was six months ago that we left the UK and moved in to our far from salubrious hotel quarantine accommodation in Toronto.  A week later as we settled in to our first month-long rental in North Van for the final eleven days of quarantine, Jack arrived. Looking uncertain and worried in the back of his crate, he leapt out at the sound of our voices, his joy clearly evident.  Transportation to the kennels, an overnight and long haul flight, albeit direct on a freight aircraft rather than via a stopover in Toronto, must have been quite frightening.   Pet Air UK, the specialist company that organised his travel (with 1st class price tag!), said usually the owners worry more than the animals.  Probably true. Seconds after being let out of his crate, you would not have known what he had just been ...