Expedition Canada

Today Friday April 3rd, 2026 Heathrow - Easter Saturday April 3rd, 2021 - Not normally this busy! Five years ago today we arrived in Canada.   April 3rd 2021, at the height of the pandemic, on Easter Saturday.   Quarantine Dinner - allegedly! Departing a very empty Heathrow, we arrived at a very heaving Toronto Pearson, where all international flights were being routed, so arrivals could be consistently and systematically Covid-screened; sent off with test kits to the local mandated hotels for a few days of enforced quarantine and carrier-bag food deliveries to the hotel room door.  Yuk. And no bloody wine list!  Four hours from plane door to hotel room door. We could not leave the hotel room until we had a negative Covid test, which arrived after two days, enabling us to travel onto Vancouver with a second test kit to be completed during our remaining  quarantine.  A further eleven days of 'lock down' in a ground level suite, with access to the g...

Roberts Creek Mandala Friday Aug 3rd About 30' across Mandala: any of various geometric designs ( usually circular ) symbolizing the universe ; used chiefly in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation . source: Websters   Started in 1997, the Mandala at Robert’s Creek was conceived by two local artists.  It has been repainted with a new design each year since except for a gap due to Covid.  The latest creation in the shape of a turtle was completed a couple of weekends back by Robert's Creek residents - adults and children.  It’s pretty impressive at ground level but can only really be appreciated from above.   We have had a stream of visitors since mid-June and enjoyed the company of all of them. It has been great to catch up with UK friends and family. That's it for this year! It’s time for a holiday so we're off to Whistler!  Our latest guests, Martin and Harriet, besties who we have known since our school days, were s...

Family Reunion Sat Jul 2 Sunset over Van Island from the deck I am rather a fan of BC Ferries.  They ply 25 routes with 39 ships around some of the most stunning scenery, moving 22m passengers and 8m vehicles a year according to their website ‘ about us’ .  All three HorseshoeBay berths in use Their staff are friendly, vessels are kept in pretty good order and if they sail past a pod of Orca or the occasional Humpback Whale, they will announce it to passengers, even at the risk of all on board converging to one side of the ship!  But.  You can’t use a debit card or Canada’s Interac system to pay for a booking online, but they both work on a ferry.  The website is clunky, far from intuitive and not mobile friendly.  There is no mobile app to buy or show tickets and their scheduling and crisis management ripples through the fleet when a problem arises.   I popped over to Vancouver on Wednesday.  On my morning journey to Vancouver a former Smith...