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rickandsuejohnson

118 Blog Entries
9 Trips
1351 Photos

Trips:

From the Shire to Middle Earth and back
The island of birth for 'Le petit caporal' and the roots of Bernard Nobili
Two Thumbs up for the Canucks
Go West then go East
Paying our respects
Hungary anyone?
Venice of the North - St Petersburg
Go west, then go west some more.
Argentat de nouveau

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Wireless free and twitching

Valemount, Canada


Shouldn't I have a glove for this?
It wasn't until I tried to send a text message to make arrangements for birthday phone calls for Rick at bedtime that we realised there was no mobile signal. So after an interesting chat with our hostess Abi at breakfast we motored to the highway and used the internet facility at the Shell gas station. Received and sent a couple of emails in case anyone was worried and then headed off for Cranberry Marsh. The previous evening I had read that it was a good place for spotting birds and or Moose. The interpretive board said we might even see Beaver. Would our luck with wildlife spotting continue? Sorry to say - no. We headed north down the road to the information centre to pick up any leaflets that might give us directions to Rearguard Falls where I had read you had a chance of seeing Salmon leaping the falls from mid August.

Chinook Salmon, Swift Creek
While we were there we decided to use the picnic tables (it was 1.50 pm by then) which were right by Spring Creek. People were congregating on the bridge and peering into the water and an interpretive board told the story of migrating salmon. We joined the crowd and peered but saw nothing and started to walk back up the hill when Rick spotted a hand made sign saying 'Salmon Spawning Now'. Was it worth a walk back and further up the bank? Well yes it was. We say several huge fish about 2 feet in length on the river bed. Rick saw a female laying eggs and she was shortly joined by another female and then a darker coloured male. What a sight. We must have stayed there for over an hour.


Rearguard Falls
Hopped back in the car for the drive to Rearguard Falls just north of Tete Jaune Cache on highway 16 towards Jasper. It was a short 15 minute walk down to the falls and just as we caught our first glimpse of them lo and behold a salmon jumped out of the water. We made our way down to the viewing platform where several people were lined up with serious camera equipment waiting for that moment of the leap. Despite staying there for a good half hour with cameras poised and seeing about 5 jump we weren't able to capture the moment. I don't think the guys with the huge lenses did either so I guess it was asking a bit much to expect to get a shot ourselves. We did however capture some white water rafters. I wouldn't have the bottle these days and it really didn't look as though there was anything attaching them to the dingy should they tip out – but there I always have been a bit of a scaredy cat!


Mount Terry Fox
On our route back to Valemount we stopped to view Mount Terry Fox named very shortly after his death in 1981. A couple of miles later and Tom Tom directed us off the main road to Summer Solstice our next B & B. What an amazing spot. We were greeted by the owners Lenerya and Giriish Bromley with their new baby daughter, six days old. They started the B & B just over a year ago having completely refitted the original building. It is a log cabin beautifully finished inside with modern furnishings and a huge front deck with panoramic views of the mountains.

We thought a lot about Papa today, especially when watching the Salmon!

We finished the day with a super meal at Cariboo Lodge, watching the sun sink over the mountains - what a day!

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 13, 2010 from Valemount, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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To go or not to go; that was the question....

Clearwater, Canada


Huge rolling hills with exposed flanks outside Kamloops
Another wonderful breakfast courtesy of Kathy, with local fresh apple juice, a plate of fresh fruit and then a wonderful croissant filled with herbie scrambled egg. This set us up well for the day again. Today we were off to Wells Gray Provincial Park and our route took us back to Kamloops by a different way. The lush tropicality of the Okenagan gave way after passing Mount Tuktakamin to a more austere landscape with huge hills and scrubland. We travelled for some distance on highway 97 along the South Thompson River. The landscape here is impossible to accurately reflect in photos, it is so vast that it is like being in a Brobdingnagian landscape.

Just outside Kamloops we passed a stationary goods train; it must have been the best part of a mile long and had three locos, one at each end and one in the middle!


The black dot by the water half way up and about 2/3rds to right is a bear
Shortly after leaving Kamloops on highway 5 we had our first wildlife encounter with 3 huge birds with broad wings circling about 50 feet from the car. I'm tempted to say they were eagles but I couldn't be sure; needless to say I couldn't take any meaningful photo with the lens I had on in the time before they disappeared. We changed drivers again at Barriere where we stopped for provisions for lunch. Some time later, as we were driving along the North Thompson river near Little Fort, I spotted a large black animal that at first I thought was a cat on the other side of the river. It was a black bear, roaming free and wild and very happy in his environment. Sue just managed to capture the magical moment; being in a stream of traffic I couldn't stop.


Muddy North Frazer on the far side, Clearwater nearside
Shortly afterwards we stopped for lunch at the North Thompson River RV campground and picnic site, about 1½ Km off the road. It is just just downstream from the confluence of the Clearwater and Thompson Rivers and you could see the muddy Thompson on the far side had not yet integrated with the clear, Clearwater on the nearside. Lovely sturdy, clean tables and benches and unsmelly pit loos back up the track for relief afterwards.

Refuelled, we started out for Wells Gray Park, turning off the highway at Clearwater. We wanted to see three falls here and decided to go to the furthest one first and work our way down. The park is a true wilderness park and apparently relatively unvisited; when we were there there were quite a few people visiting but it could not be said to be busy, certainly no crowds. From highway 5 it is 36Km to the park's actual entrance with nothing other than the occasional homestead or farm and then another 12Km to the Helmcklen Falls, the furthest we wanted to visit.


Tree down, Wells Gray Provincial Park
As we drove towards the Main entrance, the sky became very black and while it started to rain, the wind got up and with tall trees either side of the road, we were conscious of the advice at Cathedral Grove. About 8Km short of our objective we had to stop, a tree had just blown down across the road, 2 cars in front of us turned around and were gone. We stayed with another couple of cars to clear the road of debris while a 4x4 from the other side pulled the tree off the road. While I was clearing the road, several more branches were blown down and another tree looked threatening so we turned tail too while the cars in front decided to brave it. We went back to the relative safety of the camp entrance and parked up while we thought about it.

Helmcklen Falls, Wells Gray
After about 10 minutes, the wind started to drop and the rain eased considerably. We decided that as we had come this far, we would carry on, so quivering like a couple of jellies, we gingerly drove back to find another tree had blown down just before the other but that a track had been made around it. The next 6 Km to the Helmcklen Falls were nerve wracking – a total of about 8 trees (I didn't count carefully) had been blown down across the road. Competent unfazed Canadians had just either moved them enough to get past or made a path around them. The falls were worth the effort; we have given a lot of superlatives on this trip, so I shall use a Morris favourite – they were fantastic! A fall of 141m into the gorge below thunderously reverberating in the amphitheatre the water had created and pillowing up a huge mist cloud.


Dawson Falls, Wells Gray
We didn't foreshorten our stay but we were keen to get back to more security, so we didn't hang about for long and drove back along the trail across a perilously rickety single track bridge to the next set of falls at Dawson Falls. Here, the river tumbles across a 100m wide ledge of rock with a relatively modest fall but with great force and huge sound, again creating a mist over the falls. Again, we didn't spend too long and a newly downed tree along the path to the falls created a sense of some urgency, although the weather that had caused it had now abated.

Back in the car, we drove out of the park towards the highway and 10km short of this, stopped to see the Spahats Falls. Another stunning, mind boggling view.


Spahats Falls, Wells Gray
The river falls from about 2/3rd up a vertical cliff face 61m into the bottom of a narrow gorge. Photographs just can't do the scene justice and the mind can't absorb the scale. The mountains here are created by volcanic activity, each eruption providing a different strata. Glaciers carved out the start of the valley and the rivers have done the rest. Ain't nature wonderful?

We got to our B&B in good time but were disappointed that this is the first place without wifi, so will not be able to do our blog tonight, although I have managed to pinch an illicit bit of bandwidth. We found a super place for dinner – a Chinese restaurant that offered a buffet for all you can eat at C$13.49! And very good it was too.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 12, 2010 from Clearwater, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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A fruit picker's paradise

Vernon, Canada


Approaching our target
A relatively relaxed start to the day with a breakfast at 8.30 am with our hosts. It really was a home from home experience – except that Pat McQueen's breakfast far outshone anything I could ever provide. Off to Chapters on our way out of Kamloops to see if we could buy the latest issue of Canadian Homes and Cottages but it hasn't reached BC yet, they only had the last issue on the shelves!

The temperature gradually crept up as we neared Okenagen lake passing through the town of Merrit with its own Holywood style path of stars (Johnny Cash, The Dixie Chicks etc). The highway twisted and turned and climbed and fell until eventually we caught sight of Okenagen Lake in the distance. As we reached the town of Peachland the first lake side town on Highway 97 it was 31 degrees.


Picnic spot
We parked up just before Penticton for lunch in the picnic area beside the lake before motoring on to the first Winery Rick had chosen – Red Rooster. I had volunteered to be driver from then on in whilst Rick did the sampling. My experience was limited to put it crudely 'sniffing' the wine, which in actual effect gave a good impression of what Rick was tasting! Red Rooster seemed to be a middle of the road place. Neat, ordered and not pretentious and we both particularly liked the Reisling. Bought a bottle to sample at the weekend when we have our two night self catering unit.

Mission Hills Winery
Back through Penticton and the vineyards and fruit orchards to Mission Hill Family Estate Winery just north of a town called Westbank, not far from Peachland. Think of the Ritz and Hotels and you will get the impression of this place. It cost twice as much to taste the wines and although all were at least 15C$ more expensive per bottle than Red Rooster they really weren't that much to write home about. As Rick said spend less on the grounds and the shop and charge less per bottle!! Crossing over to the east side of the lake we made our way to Gray Monk Estate Winery.

Gray Monk Winery
They were the only one to offer free tasting and a glass of non alcoholic juice to me. They had a range of very unusual wines and we succumbed to buying a bottle of their 'Port' wine plus bubble wrap packaging to transport back for Christmas! Now what shall I throw out of my case to accommodate it?

We arrived at Richmond House, our B&B in Vernon at around 6.45 pm and asked if the hostess knew of a good restaurant for pasta not too far away. With a little difficulty due to the road having changed a bit since Tom Tom was last updated we found Tita's a small, family run restaurant in Vernon tucked away just by a level crossing. We both chose the house special, pasta shells with lamb following a salad with home made bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Rick had an Okanagen light ale and I had a peach cider. Rick treated me to a Lemoncello with my coffee to make up for missing the tasting. Feeling quite mellow now!

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 11, 2010 from Vernon, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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A story of two parts

Kamloops, Canada


View from our bedroom
As the rain stopped and the clouds lifted last night, the view was quite breathtaking. We were one of two couples who were eating dinner last night, which was a shame; the chef, Neil, who did everything, cooked us a superb beetroot soup followed by a huge and delicious steak with a cumin seasoning, all made from locally sourced produce and the vegetables from their own garden. We agreed that it was the best meal out we have had, marred only by the uncertainty of what it would cost as no prices were mentioned. It was pricey but not extortionate. The accommodation was quite palatial with the aforementioned views but strangely no tea or coffee making facilities. In the morning, we were treated to a breakfast of what Pat called 'frittata' but we would recognise as 'Omelette Paysanne', with fruit and then toast. It certainly set us up for the day.

Understated horsebox and caravan unit
In Pemberton itself, we managed to get Zoe's birthday present off to her and get some provisions before filling up with fuel for our long drive ahead.

4 hours of driving through some of the most stunning scenery with beautiful lakes, peaks with snow clinging to the tops, rivers chattering and gurgling as they swirled down the mountainside. In places the road seemed perched rather precariously on the side of the mountain and I was surprised that Sue elected to take the wheel but she explained that she wanted me to take some pictures!


Lower Lake Joffre
At Pat's recommendation we stopped at Joffre Lake, where a 10 minute walk took us to the lower lake. Fed by the melt waters of the glacier above, it was a particularly serene spot, troubled only by insects. We had put on insect repellent, so were relatively untroubled but the fish in the lake seemed to enjoy the insect feast – good for them. The lake is not listed in the guide books we have so was a particularly good bit of local knowledge.

At one point we were held up as a girder was being placed in a replacement bridge. We went over the temporary bridge with some trepidation but it was fine. We stopped at 2 for a bite of lunch in a layby before swapping drivers. We were probably passed by a car every few minutes but it made us aware of quite how remote the location was.


River by route 99
We had two particularly long sections with very little on them apart from the occasional homestead. The first was through the mountains after the first ½ hour of the drive until about ½ an hour after lunch, the second was for about 80 km before Cache Creek, where there were no petrol stations or cafés. It was as well that we refuelled before we left Pemberton. The second long stretch started at Lilloet and proved less interesting, with mountains giving way to an arid, hilly scrubland. It was interesting to note that, from Cache Creek we were back on Transcanada Highway 1, where we started out two days ago at mile zero! We reached the beginning of the end as we reached Kamloops Lake and pulled into a rest area where we could get a fabulous view of the lake itself.

Kamloops Lake

We pulled into MacQueens Manor just after 5pm and were given a warm welcome by Pat MacQueen. A lovely room with all the amenities we could want.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 10, 2010 from Kamloops, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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Journey from sea to sky

Pemberton, Canada


Leaving the Island
Breakfast on board the Queen of Oak Bay at 8.30 am. Great views of the island as we steamed out of Nanaimo on our way back to the mainland. The smoke haze had cleared but as we took Highway 99 out of Horseshoe Bay towards Squamish it started to rain.

Shannon Falls

Brandywine Falls
Stopped off at Shannon Falls Provincial Park just past Britannia Beach to view the 335 metre waterfall just a short walk from the car park and then on through Squamish stopping again at Brandywine Falls just before Whistler. As we parked up we spotted picnic tables and decided that it would be a good spot to stop for lunch once we had the seen the falls. The rain had stopped and we headed out for a 15 minute walk to the viewing platform accessed across a railway track. Views of the waterfall feeding in to Daisy Lake a mile or two away. Useful tip - both stop offs have loo facilities and even the Pit toilets at Brandywine falls had a hand sanitiser unit and they weren't smelly!


squirrel with bedding
A tiny squirrel was gathering moss just a few yards from the table – we guessed he was changing the bedding in his little den. We weren't sure whether he was a juvenile or a ground squirrel, if they exist as he never left the ground. Well that was our fix of nature for a while as our next stop was Whistler.

Biking in Whistler
Nice to have seen it and get a flavour of what it's like but predictably commercialised with the main focus currently seeming to be on Mountain Biking.

As we left for Pemberton it started to rain again. It got steadily worse but by the time we arrived at Pemberton Valley Vineyard it was just a light drizzle and as the clouds drifted away we caught sight of the most beautiful mountains, their peaks dusted with patches of snow.


View from our bedroom
Our room was on the first floor with amazing panoramic views of mountains all around us. We have booked dinner here, which in hindsight was a good decision as there appeared to be very little in Pemberton itself.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 9, 2010 from Pemberton, Canada
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Cider, a seal and jumping fish

Nanaimo, Canada


Merridale
An early wake up to ring Neil and wish him a happy birthday. Then breakfast, a quick clean up of the flat, pack and on the road. We rang Ocean Island Suites to let them know we were off and spoke to a lovely lass who said that she was from Church Stretton (who said Shropshire folk don't venture far?). After a quick stop to see the Juan De Fuca Strait when it is not raining, start at Trans Canada Highway 1 mile 0 and off to our first point of call, the Merridale Cidery, where I had a tasting after a tour of the Cidery itself. They make some lovely brews both traditional and novel, one of which tastes very similar to icewine. We came away with a lovely 10% 'Cyser', which is slightly sweetened by honey and makes for a delightful appetiser. The girl who did our tasting was from Kidderminster - yet more Brits abroad!

Village
Sue took the wheel for the next stage and drove us to Cowichan Bay Village where we enjoyed our packed lunch while watching the world go by in the little port. While we were sitting there, Sue spotted one of the buoys popping up and down and after a few seconds recognised that she was watching a seal.

I'm watching you!
We sat entranced for several minutes as it cruised the area.


Widest girth in the world
Next stop was at Duncan, advertised as the town of Totem poles. They were not exaggerating and we went on a circuit to see the major poles. I stopped counting at 20 – apparently there are over 80! It is not explained why there are so many, although as almost all of them are relatively modern, I guess it is for tourism. But they are quite entertaining on a Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, we had yet another record – the world's biggest girth for a totem pole! The girl who directed us from the Tourist Information Office was from Chelsea/Windsor - 3 Brits in one day!! You can't get away from them.

Back in the car again for the final leg to Nanaimo. We only drove briefly through it on the way onto the island and so when we checked in to the super flat in the Buccaneer Inn and had a quick skype with Ollie and Ang, we went out and had a walk down by the harbour. From the little that we saw, it really is quite an enchanting place with crystal clear waters despite the traffic.


Jumping fish
As we walked along the sea wall, quite suddenly huge fish of 15 to 24 inches started jumping out of the water within a range of 6 to 20 feet of the sea wall. I imagine they were being chased by some predator but despite the water being quite clear and the fish being so close, wasn't able to see anything.

As I write this, someone with 7-league boots is walking very heavily on the floor above, so if I have made any mistakes you know why!

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 8, 2010 from Nanaimo, Canada
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Rainy day in Victoria

Victoria, Canada


Provincial Government building
Our first experience of a full day's rain. (Memories of Rotorua 3 years ago but not as hard). Nothing daunted set off for a walking tour of Victoria – Old Town. Ocean Island Suites is only a 10 minute walk from the inner harbour and we started our tour at the Parliament Buildings. A very interesting tour of the interior by timed ticket and then on to view the Helmcken House, reputedly the oldest home on Vancouver Island built on land given to his bride upon their marriage by the bride's father Governor James Douglas.

Dr Helmcklen's house
The house was donated to the Province by Dr Helmcken's daughter on her death a few years after her father early in the 20th the century.

Across Government Street to the Empress Hotel and the Crystal Garden. Managed to sneak in via the Crystal Garden to catch a glimpse of old world opulence and use the facilities!


The Empress (on the left)

On to Market Square and then to China Town and 'the world's narrowest street' Fan Tan Alley then back to Government Street and our walk back to the flat for lunch and a dry out!


Narrowest street

Still raining at 5.30 pm so we decided to abandon our plan to go to Butchart Gardens and view the fireworks in the evening and go instead to the park just two blocks away – Beacon Hill. Not much of a view to the Juan de Fuca Strait to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. Maybe the rain will clear tomorrow morning before we travel back to Nanaimo.


Mile zero marker

Terry Fox memorial
We found the Mile Zero marker of the Trans-Canada Highway and the touching statue commemorating Terry Fox's sad, mammoth attempt to cross Canada from Labrador which he was forced to abandon at Thunder Bay and plaque commemorating Stephen Fonyo's successful one. A walk through the formal gardens with colourful flower beds and. beautifully manicured lawns. We saw a terrapin the size of a small dinner plate in one of the small lakes, peacocks, and loads of squirrels.

World's tallest totem pole
Then on to 'the tallest Totem Pole in the world'. (We have noted a number of extremes on this trip – 'world's narrowest building', 'formerly highest building in the British Empire', 'Oldest building in ….' etc.) Back to the flat for tea with a bottle of Canoe - a lovely rose from the Okanagan Valley, a rest and blog writing!

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 7, 2010 from Victoria, Canada
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Chillin in Victoria

Victoria, Canada


You have been warned
A more casual start to the day today, leaving Howard Johnson, a sort of Travelodge franchise chain. A well organised place and a good nights sleep. Off to Cathedral Grove and arrived before 10; the guide book suggested an early arrival to find parking. Sure enough by the time we left at almost 11, the car park was double parked in places and we were glad to be able to navigate out before being completely blocked.

Under the old man
The grove itself was stunning; words really can't describe seeing an 800 year old tree with huge girth and height, festooned with mosses and lichens, surrounded by fallen comrades returning to the earth the nutrients they have stored, together with other younger comrades of perhaps 600 years old. They bring a sense of one's own tiny contribution in the timeline of evolution. The 800 year old tree was already 300 years old when Christopher Columbus discovered N.America.

Bridge damage
On arrival, we were warned that one of the trees had fallen yesterday afternoon and taken out a bridge and footpath, so while we could see the damage, that circuit was closed. I'm quite glad we didn't stop there yesterday as a tree on the head is quite likely to spoil your day; there is a notice outside the entrance spelling out the risks...............


The beach
Quitting the Grove, we drove on to Qualicum Beach, where we had a lovely brunch of crabcakes, salad and fries in a pub on the sea front. The beach here is extraordinary – huge only just begins to define it! And it was busy but looked empty.


Upper English River Falls
Driving on south to see the English River Falls at Errington, we pulled in to the car park which was huge and quite empty. There are two sets of falls with bridges across just downstream to admire the view. These were quite spectacular. Despite the bridge being very substantial, I still felt uncomfortable looking down into the void at the upper falls, where the river tumbles over a ledge into a deep narrow channel at right angles to the flow. The lower falls are rather gentler by comparison but the clamber back up to the car park is quite strenuous, especially in the warm conditions. We were glad of the air conditioning to cool us off back at the car.

Arriving at Victoria late afternoon, it was obvious it is a Friday, with the long queues getting out for the weekend going the opposite way. It is a lot cooler here than it has been, with a temperature of 20°C and a fresh breeze. We checked in to Ocean Island Backpackers and were given our keys, directions and essential information before driving off to the flat.


The house at the back of which we had our flat
It is a lovely place with its own bathroom and fully equipped kitchen. It was nice to be able to choose and cook our own meal again. The shops are within a 10 minute walk, so we put our coats on and spent a happy hour there before getting back and cooking supper.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 6, 2010 from Victoria, Canada
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Haze over Vancouver

Port Alberni, Canada


Cable car to Grouse Mountain

Mountain B&B
Mountain B & B on East Balmoral Road was a good find. Our hosts provided us with a mammoth breakfast – fresh fruit salad, home baked Blueberry Pie, Ham and Eggs and tasty black bread. Ivan explained that what appeared to be mist was in fact the smoke from the forest fires and as it was hot and there were no winds it was lying like a blanket overhead. From their lounge you could just about see Canada Place and make out Burrard Sound. We knew it wasn't an ideal day to go up Grouse Mountain for the views but it would be our only opportunity so we went for it. We parked up just before 9 am and were one of the first up on the Cable Car. Apparently each one can take up to 100 people - ours carried 6! The ride was smooth and although there wasn't the amazing view of the city below us, due to the smoke, it was a thrilling ride to the 1128 m summit.

Grouse Mountain
I'd read the previous evening that if you walk the Grouse Grind be sure to use plenty of insect repellent. As I've a history of being a very tasty bite to flying insects, I liberally applied Jungle Strength lotion and was I glad that I did. No sooner had we emerged from the lift terminal building than they descended on us – well it was 9 am and we were the first potential meals of the day. They were annoying but didn't actually bite.


Coola & Grinder
The top of the mountain has been set out with various trails bordered by lovely wood carvings. There is a short lake walk which we did once we had spent some time watching the two resident juvenile bears, Grinder and Coola in their enclosure. They were found as tiny cubs on the mountain (they think the mother was probably shot) and instead of being placed in zoos the park commission decided to keep them (they wouldn't have been able to survive in the wild). One of the guides gave a very interesting commentary about them and Grizzlies in general. Apparently the whole mountain is home to Black and Grizzly bears and there have been recent sightings on the adjacent trails. We took the chair lift to the mountain summit (1250 m) and walked up to the wind turbine.

Pod under the wind turbine on top of Grouse mountain
We didn't think it was worth paying another 28 dollars to the viewing pod because of the smoke haze. On our way back to the lift terminal we stopped to watch a Lumberjack show – great fun!


Log rolling
Off to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry to Nanaimo. Only a short drive and we managed to catch an earlier one to our original booking. Shame about the smoke, which didn't allow us to see as much of the scenery as we would have liked , but we realised that was rather selfish to put it mildly as news reports showed people loosing their homes and firefighters risking their lives to bring the fires under control. Arrived at Port Alberni around 6.30 pm. Brief glimpses of Cathedral Grove as we neared our hotel and we plan to go there first thing tomorrow to view the giant cedars.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 5, 2010 from Port Alberni, Canada
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Walking on air

Vancouver, Canada

Breakfast with the irritating bloke who wants to talk about global warming in attendance. He is miffed that I neither wholeheartedly support the contention that it is all man's fault nor debate why it isn't. I dodge the 'so you don't believe in climate change' with 'I don't believe the science is agreed'; I dodge the 'look at the flooding in Pastistan' with 'there have been floods since time immemorial but with modern communications we are more aware of them'; he thinks he nails me with 'you don't think that a disaster would have been recorded 500 years ago' and I sidestep with 'not all cultures have a written tradition.' I would love to ask why he thinks had a mini ice age for 300 years in the middle of the last millennia and whether he has considered that the vast herds of buffalo covering the North American plains may have produced more methane that current population of cows – or on what assumptions he calculates the methane output of the herds of herbivorous dinosaurs. But I would have ended up entertaining him rather than getting on and enjoying what the planet has to offer now!!


Steam clock sounding off
We checked out of our rooms and stored our bags in the basement. First stop today was gastown, apparently named after an early publican in the area who enjoyed 'gassing' - I would have been happy to introduce him to climate change man. Gastown is an area for domestic shops, furniture etc. and quite old. It has not yet suffered from an explosion of high rise buildings and seems familiar to provincial eyes such as mine. It looks rather attractive, I think. While there we saw a steam clock, originally powered by waste steam from the local businesses. Every ¼ hour, it toots; we were lucky enough o be there for the 09:15 tooting.


Chinatown gate
Moving on to Chinatown with its rather magnificent millennium gate, near which is supposedly the narrowest building in the world at 6 feet. It is undoubtedly narrow but it is tacked on to the front of a building a lot wider, so I think it is a bit disingenuous. Dr Sun Yat Sen has had a small park and garden dedicated to him with some funds towards it provided by the Chinese government. The park was small but beautifully formed and the garden was closed all day to accommodate a ruddy film crew, so we didn't get an opportunity to see it.

We wanted to get some maternity wear as part of Zoe's birthday present, but hard as it is to believe, there are no maternity shops in downtown Vancouver – or possibly none of the locals we asked wanted to share it with us.


Traditional patterns at Hudon's Bay Company
Even the Hudson Bay Company couldn't oblige.

We collected our bags, made our way to the Canada Line and Airport and picked up our rental car, a nice Toyota Corolla. Looking at the map, our next port of call, Lynn Canyon involved a long drive round Vancouver or a shorter drive though the middle. Rather to Sue's horror, I elected to go through the middle, hoping Ollie's tuition last week would be remembered. I found that having driven in Corsica last year, it didn't take very long for me to adapt to left hand drive.


Terrifying suspension bridge, Lynn Valley gorge

Tomtom navigated us beautifully through town but was less sure where Lynn Canyon was. Not altogether surprising as there are no signs to guide you. After stopping for directions a couple of times, we were able to find the path and take the ¾ hour walk up one side, over a terrifying suspension bridge and back up the other side. The walk through pine forest with huge trees along board walks and up and down steps was a wonderful experience. The guide book said that this was better than the Capilano which is much better known, busy and expensive. We can't compare but it was not too busy, it was free and our landlady at the B&B told us that in her view it was a much nicer walk.

We found a nice pub for our dinner of meatballs with linguini – excellent.

permalink written by  rickandsuejohnson on August 4, 2010 from Vancouver, Canada
from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.
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Heading South?

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