Last day here and feeling sad as we both love Canada so much. We lightened our loads in our suitcases as much as we could and then checked out of the hotel, said goodbye to Squamish and stopped in at the little cove we found 2 weeks ago. It is a private residential drive but public are allowed to walk along the beach there.  

   It is perfect, lovely views peaceful and loads of birds flowers and butterflies to spot. Furry Creek. Well we were strolling along when I spotted a bird of prey hovering over the water. It was an osprey and it swooped down and caught a fish in its tallons and then flew over our heads onto the hillside trees above the houses. Then another one appeared and both of them flew round the bay hovering and gliding. What an amazing view of nature!  

    We said goodbye to the scene and stopped at the ferry port for lunch at Horse Shoe Bay, wonderful fresh haddock thin fries with skins on and loads of shredded cabbage with dressing on. Very tasty.

  We headed for Stanley Park and found it this time! We did a circular tour round the bay and harbour past the totem poles, the lighthouse, the tea room, the ice cream shop by the famous Lion Bridge, past the hollow tree and out again. 

     Now we are at Vancouver airport drinking white local wine and local pale ale beer  

   and will arrive at 7.30 am their time in St Johns, ready to kiss the cod and drink the rum yuk! 

Will let you know when we arrive at Ken and Doreen Caves house xxxx

July 1st ……..hi everyone and HAPPY CANADA DAY. Another fun day on Mann Tours with a major lost on route! 

 We went into Squamish this morning to watch their Canada Day Parade. Lots of adults and children mostly wearing red and white. We were all given Canadian flags to wave by the Canadian Legion. The march past started with the Canadian Legion supported by a pipe band, then lots of groups marched past.  

   They all went to a park for Canada Day Speeches we escaped that though! 

We headed to Horse Shoe Bay to see what was happening there for Canada Day….. Nothing! So we stopped for coffee and then used the sat nav to direct us to a camera shop. All well and good…. Except it brought us 6 blocks too short. We walked to the shop and Vince treated himself to a new lens a third less price than in UK !

“Now we’ll go to Stanley Park, ” I put Stanley Park into the sat nav pressed find and we set off. We travelled a few miles… “Are you sure we are going the right way? “asked Vince ” yes I loaded Stanley Park into sat nav!” A few more miles and an aeroplane passed at eye level…. “Are you SURE we’re going the right way?” Asked Vince “we seem to be going South” ” yes I’m sure” ……. Several miles later……………”Well we are following signs to the American border and the sat nav says the park is 1314 miles away and the sign says have your passports ready!” ……Whoops I’ll never live that one down will I? 

We decided to head back in the right direction following the marine drive and to cut a long story short we had an interesting afternoon following the coastline as the pictures show.  

   Thousands of people were in the parks and on the beaches all there for Canada Day.

We stopped at Lighthouse Park in North Vancouver. Some trees there were 500 years old.  There were signs there warning of a black bear in the vicinity and to be careful!

 The path was steep and I managed well to walk down and up and climb up some rocks for a view of the lighthouse and the ocean and beach. Big cargo vessels and logging tugs with logs were out at sea. 

  It It was tough walking back and up the hills to the car park but I felt proud of myself. Very hot and red faced. 

One little disappointment is that the fireworks display and fire throwing displays have been cancelled as the fire risk is rated at the highest due to the drought and the high temperatures. In fact there are signs up everywhere banning smoking and fires because of the risk. But what a lovely Canada Day ! 

 

Tomorrow we fly to St Johns over night……… Love you all kisses to Anona Lilyana Louis and Otis xxxx  

We headed into Nanaimo when we had packed up the car. Vince wanted to buy a British Columbian flag from a ships chandlers. It was an interesting shop full of boat gadgets clothing and ropes etc.

We then went to spend most of the day at Blue Heron Park on Yellow Point. The tide was right out and we walked up to the private pier. The granite pavement has strange circular bumps and circles inset. We have decided they are fossilised tree trunks and an ancient forested area. There are 2 or 3 shiny rocks which look like the petrified logs we saw in Arizona.  

   We walked along the rocky pavement up as far as the headland. Samphire was growing there, which I have only seen on Lincolnshire East Coast and in Dingle peninsular.  

   This beach is a treasure of a place. Beautiful scenery, forest behind, beautiful views over the sea, picnic tables and safe to swim in. Best of all hardly anyone there ! When we got too hot we sat on the washed up logs in the shade of the hillside behind the beach.

We popped out for a sandwich at lunch to Ladysmith near Ludlow and then returned to our favourite Beach again.

Three people were riding 3 horses bareback in the sea. The horses seemed to like this.  

 Later we saw bald headed Eagles on the buoy out at sea. 

 We are at Nanaimo ferry port now waiting to board the ferry to Horse Shoe Bay ( between Squamish and Vancouver ). More later when we reach our hotel xxx

It’s 8.15pm and we are in our hotel at Squamish. The ferry trip was so smooth again and we spent most of the journey on the deck in warm sunshine. We have been so lucky with the weather! There were tugs pulling the.tree trunks from Vancouver Island to the saw mills on the mainland.  

   Lots of ships and boats to see. The mountains and islands were very clear to view as was Mount Baker in USA. We could see Vancouver and beyond it possibly Seattle in USA.

Yet another lovely day in Canada will be very sad to leave it but it means I will see you all very soon and I’m looking forward to that .xxxxx love to you all 

 

The sun was shining in a blue blue sky with a few whispy clouds. We got up early, had a quick breakfast and were in Victoria by 10.15am. What’s the best way to find out about a city? Jump on an open top, hop on hop off, tour bus the tour started at 11am

The tour took an hour and a half through the old town,China town, harbours, parks and round the marine drives via a couple of historic sights inland. It was cool and windy on the bus but that was great on a hot day of 32c ! 

   We took a walk around the marinas and along lower walkway and up to government street. There were majestic buildings and Totem poles .We had a delicious lunch in a restaurant looking straight on the harbour and we would have been happy just staying there all afternoon but we had more to explore. The  

   We travelled round the harbour to Fishermans Wharf (where the eagle star whale watching left from) and wandered around the floating homes and floating harbour. It is colourful and very busy.  

 We chatted to a 70 year old Canadian lady who described her childhood in the logging stations up to Alaska. She described arriving in areas and starting from scratch to build their homes. As a child she saw masses of salmon seals and orcha whales swimming right into the inlets. She talked about black bears being shot and Cougars under her wooden school hut. She described being in a flimsy boat she and another child had built themselves and sailing out to sea only to find themselves in the middle of a pod of whales and having to be rescued. They got into much trouble for this. What a different childhood from ours!

We walked on and saw children feeding a seal and a sea otter with fish. The seal was fat! His stomach was so full, he laid on his back in the water and looked as if he was going to pop! …. So comical

     Then we followed the marine drive stopping to view the tallest totem pole in North America. It was made out of one tree from the far north of Vancouver Island. You can see how tall it is as I look so tiny next to it ! 

127 feet 7 inches tall

  

 Further on there were lots of activities to see. Kite flying, Wind/kite surfing, boats coming back from whale watching all in a choppy ocean.

  The journey back was easy once we got through the city. There is a fabulous view point over the islands and to US. We took a detour down to the bay below the mountain and then back up to the highway again. 

 Back in hotel now tired but had a great day and happy memories of Victoria. Our ferry leaves for the mainland at 5.20pm tomorrow, then it’s Canada Day Wednesday and celebrations, and then Thursday we fly to St. John’s from Vancouver via Calgary. We fly over night and lose hours so we will not get much sleep xxxx pics later

.

Last night we went to take our last view of the carvings…they are brilliant and this morning as we passed by they were busy staining and varnishing their master pieces.  

     There are many more but I liked these best

We set off early from Campbell River and took a leisurely pace on the Ocean View highway 19A. First stop was after Comox Valley and Cumberland at Deep Bay.

Deep Bay was a great place to have breakfast outside,watching the geese, kayakers, and people on motor boats and in the harbour. The reflections in the water were good to photograph as there was very little breeze.  

    We continued along the pretty coastal road passing long bays and shores full of driftwood and pebbles. The countryside was very like British countryside with pastureland and fields with cattle in and arable land growing vegetables. There were lovely wooden houses of all sizes and businesses and artists shops like painters and potters. The whole way from Campbell River south is inhabited with people.

We stopped at Qualicum beach for a walk in the sunshine and this is the first beach on the East side of the Island that we have found that is mostly sandy. This is the nearest grandad has got to a paddle as yet

   We stayed there quite a while and Grandad was pleased that for one of the first times he can remember I did not take any shells stones or driftwood off the beach! Well we can’t take any extra weight on the plane can we😎😎 

 French Creek was the next town along and then we were on familiar ground again. We went down to Nanaimo Port and Vince took photos of the bastion. 

We sat in the bay watching boats, seaplanes, and people walking by. There was a small pier stretching out into the bay and people were fishing from it and also throwing in lobster pots to catch big crabs. We went to have a look and saw a seal bobbing up and down near the boardwalk. We chatted to a mother and daughter who had just been to stay in England with relatives.  

   All the way here I counted how many Eagles we saw and it came to 16 only 2 weren’t bald headed Eagles.🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 

 Now we are back in the same best western hotel we were in before and planning to go to see Victoria tomorrow. These are vinces and some of my photos and his are beautiful xxx

Missing you but will be home soon xxxx it’s VERY HOT here 

Today we called in at a craft fare and bonsai tree exhibition. We saw some lovely polished stones, shell ornaments and ideas using driftwood. The bonsai trees were made to look like miniature forests and some were over a hundred years old!

Afterwards we called in to see the wood carving …it’s looking amazing and I was given a tiny wooden axe in a tiny log ( because we were English!) 

We travelled South today down to Courtney. It is a small quaint Canadian town and quite unspoilt. We went round the shops and had chowder in the local pub. It is really hot today 30c. Alex tells me you have a heatwave coming too.

We called in at one or two beaches on the way back. The islands seemed so close to the coast here. There is so much driftwood here as we have found everywhere we go. There was the skeleton of a deer on the shore at one place. The sand is grey and gravelly. 

   I haven’t mentioned the wildlife we have been seeing over the time we’ve been in Canada. So far we’ve seen red and grey squirrels, weasel, large blue herons and a small English sized one, many bald headed eagles,deer, elk, buzzards,lizards, fish jumping out of the water,tiny crabs, gulls, martins, jays and other birds we can’t name.

Today we saw deer and eagles and herons.

Tomorrow we move back to Nanaimo and will explore the new coastline as we travel south via the picturesque road 19A

Hope you like my photos and enjoy your hot weather. I wonder how cold it is in Newfoundland? We’ll find out on Thursday xxxxx love to you all 

We had such a surprise this morning as we were pulling out from the hotel onto the coastal road we saw 5 bald headed Eagles swooping down to the pebbles and flying round low. Someone had left fish there and they were all swooping down for it. By the time Vince parked the car, they were flying above the hotel and 3 of them landed on the top of a tree to the right of the hotel. Again we got fab pictures that will win prizes I’m sure. There were 2 babies that looked mostly brown but you could see their white feathers developing.. We sat there for a long time watching them  

 Reluctantly, we left to travel north. We wanted to explore the lakes up there. It isn’t as easy as we thought. There are not many access points to the coast or lakes and most are on gravel road for about 5 to 12 miles. Not good.

So we stopped at a cafe and ate brunch in the shade outside under a large wooden gazebo.

It is very hot today and due to get much hotter over next week. This weather is very unusual for Canada and they have had so little rain since April that they are getting worried about their water reserves.

We headed back to Campbell River and noticed the logging sorter station. We parked high above it. It is so clever how they bring the logs in on huge logging lorries.they then pile them up in sizes and then float them in the sea pulled by small ships to the mills past Nanaimo to be sawn and distributed.( We saw those mills a few days ago)All the little coves were full of logs ready to be towed away on the sea 

     In Campbell River we relaxed by the harbour in the sunshine. We looked on the map and decided to follow the picturesque route 19A south of the town to Oyster Bay. What a cute place! There is nothing there only masses of washed up logs and a grey sand/ pebble beach. 

    A few families were sunbathing and swimming. I had a paddle and saw crabs and jelly fish. Vince watched a fish jump right of the water a few times. We are going back there tomorrow, it’s so lovely. Across the water you can see the snow covered Rocky Mountains on the mainland. 

 We drove passed the carving competition and they are look ing so good. They are judged on Sunday so I’ll photograph them then!

I am so missing you all, please write me a line or two to my hotmail. I need your news 

This morning I got my hair coloured and cut, what do you think? 

 It’s a bit shorter and blonder than I would have liked, but it will grow. We then set out East for Gold River.

2kms from Campbell River is Elk Falls. The locals are very proud of a new bridge which only opened in May this year. It goes high over the river Campbell and has a great view of the waterfall. 

   . It is quite impressive. There were also viewing platforms to see the falls. There are many trails in this park and again there were huge high old fir trees, really wide circumference and oh soooooo tall.  

   Vince walked right down to the bottom of the falls but I stayed at the top, while the mosquitoes enjoyed eating me

 We carried on the 60 miles to Gold River. We passed lakes and high vertical mountains. Half way there we stopped at a centre for education/ duke of Edinburghs award kind of thing.  

 For a fixed amount you helped yourself to soup, salad and pudding. There was a beautiful view over the Campbell River Lake and it was like a lodge. On the wall was a huge skull of a whale and some of its ribs and back bone. The owner of the complex had found it on the far side of the lake on his land. 

 We stopped at viewing points along the road and when we finally got to Gold River, it was a small town from where you could take a ferry right to the West coast of the Island as a foot passenger…. We decided there was no way we could do this.

On the way back the views over the water were much easier to see. 

   then we got back to Campbell River

We went to the river walk by the ferry at Campbell River to see all the totem poles  

 and then onto the wood carving competition. The carvings have really changed and can’t wait to see them finished on Sunday. 

 Now I’m sitting on the veranda outside our hotel room and look an ocean liner has just passed by. The waters must be so deep! 

 I hope the French strikes don’t affect your holiday with school Anona I see Uncle Matthew has had a few problems getting to Paris.

I’m sending you pictures of Totem Poles Lilyana so ask to look in your mummies email. XXXX kisses for Otis and Louis 

Love to you all xxxx photos later

Woke up in Ucluelet to cloud and drizzle. After a nice breakfast brought to our bedroom for the second morning running, ( I could get used to this!) we started our long journey to Campbell River,in the North of Vancouver Island. 

We were delayed for quite a while with road works. You have to stop the car until the road workers let you move along again. 

We got to Port Alberni and stopped at our favourite cafe, for a second breakfast/lunch. I had eggy bread with butter and maple syrup and bacon. Mmmmmm. 

The rain continued with us and there was low cloud obscuring the mountain sides. Eventually after a couple of stops we reached Campbell River and are very pleased with our hotel room. It has a balcony and looks directly over the river. The town is all along the river for a few miles. Lots of walking to do, I can see.

The hotel is on the 59th parallel and so we are level with the Lizard ,Lands End and the North of Newfoundland 

   We noticed that there was a wood carving completion and stood watching very strong men and women with chain saws attacking very huge tree trunks…the noise was terrific and the saw dust got everywhere. We’ve entered a competition to win one. How much will that cost in excess baggage on the aeroplane? The smell of the pine was lovely. The competition is on until Sunday so we will be able to see the finished products. 

   

    

  

  We have a fridge, hob,sink microwave and pots and pans. We can completely self cater for a change. There is a pool and hot tub and crazy golf so we’re all set up for 5 nights.

This is our view… 

   Hope you like the photos I will send more later xxxxx

This morning we went into Ucluelet and wandered around the harbour. We didn’t realise we were opposite to Port Alberni, where we saw the steam train. We had coffee in the sunshine and talked to a couple from Vancouver.

Next we called in at the tourist information office to buy our day pass for the Pacific Rim Park. Vince was busy chatting when I got in there to the officer and it turns out he is the Indian chief of the whole tribe in this area Ucluelet First Nation, Wilson Jack TYEE HA-WILTH (hereditary chief). There are 2 Chiefs below him but he is the top man. Vince shook his hand and said he was very pleased to meet him. He gave Vince his card and gave us a reduction on our fee. He is a lovely man about 40 years old and reminded us of the Tongans we know. I wish I’d taken his photo.

We then headed to the botanical garden at Tofina. It was a bit outdated but enjoyable. It had labels of trees and plants which were there in the rain forest and the odd artwork and cultural pieces dotted around. We were able to walk on boardwalks around the trees and into the estuary. 

   Further along the peninsula we found a beach on the east side (not the surf side) and watched the sea and surrounding hillside over to an island. It was so peaceful. We stayed there for ages watching the birds,eagles and fish jumping out of the water catching flies. 

 Lastly we called at a long surf beach and I had my first paddle in the Pacific Ocean.  

   The water was warm I thought. We walked for ages along the long beach. Suddenly we heard an eagle and a smaller bird fighting over a treetop perch. Look at the photos we got! I’m very proud of mine. Vince took the eagle as it flew off the tree. 

         Today has been warm and sunny and I’ve really enjoyed it xxxx