Expedition Canada

Wolf on the Loose Tue July 30 Pet not predator Just back from a week in Whistler where we took advantage of not having Jack with us and were able to spend a lot of time up the mountains and in bars, where dogs are banned. Promoted as 'dog friendly', compared to the UK it is anything but.  More of Whistler later. Morning walks along Bonniebrook beach almost came to a halt a few weeks ago, before we headed North, after I came face to face with a large wolf gambolling along the road heading for Jack.  What do you do when a wolf heads towards you?  I had no idea.  It had, what I assumed was a tracking collar, but turned out to be a domestic dog collar.  His name I discover is Rudiger and he has a reputation for escaping from the compound his owner created for him with 12' high fences with an overhang. He wanted to play with, rather than consume Jack, but it was still an initially unnerving experience.  Rudiger has been the source of much social media commentary...

Wine Capital of BC Sunday June 30th Tantalus Winery Kelowna is the wine growing capital of BC, so as well as taking in the scenery we have been checking out some of the local wineries.  Be rude not to really.  As we found travelling around France (and other bits of Europe), it is so much more informative to learn about a wine region as you actually taste the wines at the winery.  We have been slowly developing our knowledge of the wines over the last few years (we first visited about six years ago).  Not something that can be done easily in the UK as so little BC wine leaves Canada as the volumes are relatively small compared to major wine producing countries.  The Good Wine Shop in Chiswick, does stock some.  Not cheap due to volumes and shipping costs. The Okanagan wine region stretches along the 111km of Lake Okanagan.  The area is classified as a desert, defined by the low rainfall, though it happens to be chucking it down as I write this.  ...

And other things  Sat June 1st The pause in blogs was due to Immigration Canada announcing at the beginning of May that a further draw would be made from the remaining pool of the 2020 Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Parent and Grandparent sponsored Permanent Residency.    Friday was the last day and again we did not get through.  The fifth year running.  I suspect that later in the year they will invite a new round of EOI's which probably means we will be a small fish back in a very large pool.  On the grand scale of all suffering and instability in the world, it is insignificant  (I keep telling myself),  but it is hugely, bloody frustrating.  Our tenure continues under the Super Visa scheme, which runs until our passports expire in 5 and 8 years time respectively. Other news ...  on Sunday 27th w e went to a wedding reception. It is the first time I have worn a jacket in over three years.  My boarding pass from our Air Can...

A Coyote Sun April 28th Jack was distinctly unimpressed by the lunchtime visitor, the Coyote was underwhelmed by Jack's objections We were so preoccupied enjoying the first decent bit of snow this year when we went up to Whistler, that it completely slipped our minds that April 3rd was the 3rd anniversary of our arrival in Canada, and therefore didn't make the last blog.   While in Whistler, we did go out to our favourite Creekside restaurant ( The Red Door Bistro ) to celebrate Fred's pending birthday and might have had an extra bottle if we'd remembered our Canada anniversary.  The reason for the early birthday celebration was primarily because there are no fine-dining restaurants on the Coast, and we like the Red Door Bistro.   I  am not sure q uite why April 3rd passed us by.  Maybe it's because being here has become the norm.  It hasn't lost any of its beauty and we still marvel at our luck at being able to live here.  Whether its drivin...