Expedition Canada

Again! The Creek beneath Shannon Falls It has not been a great year for Whistler, the snow was late arriving, closely followed by warm weather and rain.  The week-long freeze and subsequent snow did not lay enough of a base for Whistler to get through the latest warm, wet spell.   After our wet Whistler Christmas, we headed up the Sea-to-Sky highway on Monday 29th in rain, fog and 8c.  Waterfalls of varying sizes were cascading down the rocks alongside the highway from the combined rain and snowmelt and the creeks were thunderous.   We stopped off at the Shannon Falls  on the way up, the third highest falls in BC.  The volume of water was such that it was impossible to see the main falls because of the spray showering us from 50' away.   It was quite a sight and sound. We felt like we were in the falls! The creek running off at the base of the falls It is not only Whistler that it 'enjoying' the warm weather.  All three ski cen...

At Last Fri Jan 19th Owning a Land Rover is no guarantee you know how to drive it On my Tuesday (Jan 16th) morning dog walk along Bonniebrook, I said to a fellow walker whose view was that we were about to be buried in snow, 'I'll believe it when I see it'.   Driveway cleared The next morning we awoke to 200mm of snow and by the time I'd finished clearing the drive down to the road it was nearer 300mm (1ft in old money).   Of course the good news in all this, is that Whistler, which has had an abysmal start to the season, now has a decent amount of snow.   We hope it lasts until the end of the month when we head back up there for five days and it is not as soggy as our Christmas excursion.  Although conditions were 'moist', Fred did manage to get some skiing in with Nick.  The new hip passed the test with flying colors, even if they did come back soaked! Back from the Whistler Christmas expedition, I'd still not shaken off the post ...

Vancouver Grinds to a Halt Sun Dec 4th Bonniebrook Beach on Tuesday In a country known for having the odd bit of snow, you would not expect a major provincial city to grind to a halt when 15 cm of the stuff decorates the streets.  That is what happened last Tuesday (Nov 29 th ) as CBC reports .   Ferries were cancelled between Metro Vancouver and Van Island. Flights No view of the North Shore from Nick & Lizzie's deck also  cancelled  at YVR.  Some drivers were stuck in their cars for upwards of 8 hours in parts of Metro Vancouver.  Vancouver Island was also badly hit and a number of areas had power outages. This was the day Fred was looking after young Seb in Vancouver, heading over on the 0620 ferry, long before the winter weather action got underway. I gallantly suggested she take the 4x4.   As conditions worsened, the cancellation of the Van Island ferries meant the extra boat that normally compliments the rush hour crossings to ...

Just as the crampons are due to arrive! Thu Jan 13th Dakota Ridge After nearly four weeks of snow and ice, temperatures have climbed above freezing and storms together with heavy rain Tuesday and overnight Wednesday, have cleared most of the ice and snow except where it's ploughed up at the edge of the road.  Having both gone over on the icy roads we, along with nearly everybody else on the Coast who didn't already have them, have ordered crampons to reduce falls and slips.  Inevitably they will arrive after we need them unless new snow arrives.  That said we'll have them for next winter!  They are, we have decided, an essential accessory. The heavy rain and wind caused quite a bit of damage around the southern coast of BC as it coincided with King (Spring) tides.   Low lying areas around Vancouver were flooded and logs washed up on the beaches. The sea wall around Stanley Park, a circular walk and cycle route that goes under the spectacular Lion's Gate Bri...

Except on the Driveway Fri Jan 7th Wednesday morning ferry queue to Horseshoe Bay I remember chuckling at news in the UK about how local authorities were not so good at clearing snow and dealing with icy roads.  In fairness the UK does not usually see a huge amount of snow, certainly not as much as BC.   That said, road clearing teams in BC have struggled to keep up.  Labour shortages due to Covid have not helped.  Salt is now in short supply locally, with no more due until February.  The snow that arrived overnight Wednesday left another six inches on top of what was already there.  The dual-carriageway up from the ferry terminal in Langdale, which the large trucks take slowly with their hazards on in warm weather, was blocked when I took Jack for his morning constitutional.  Several large trucks and trailers were 'parked' up and cars were coming back down the 'up lanes' as something was blocking the road further up. Before I ...

Oh, and more snow! Mon Jan 3rd 2022 Happy New Year all.  We find it hard to believe it was nine months ago today that we arrived in a locked-down Canada, having departed a locked-down UK. We have vivid memories of arriving at a deserted Heathrow airport and going straight to the front of a check-in desk, nobody in security (so much so the security manager was keen to joke and chat and show off his new technology) and then on to an empty Air-Canada aircraft to Toronto.  The only brief delay was the Canadian embassy official  checking we were legitimately allowed to travel under their pandemic constrained reuniting family policy. [Note to friends wanting to move to Canada, export one of your youngsters, get them to apply for Permanent Residency and then they can sponsor you to apply under their reuniting family schemes].  On arrival in Toronto, getting through immigration, Covid testing and transport queues to our designated quarantine hotel was ama...