The long awaited Vancouver Island

Hiya.

Ever since I first went to Vancouver about 20 years ago, I've been told I should have visited Victoria and the Buchart Gardens.  So here I am and rearing to go.  I had decided to do a whale watching tour on the way over to Victoria and spend a bit more time exploring the area rather than fly of take the usual direct ferry.  So I dragged myself out of bed, gobbled down some breakfast and hit the road/ water?  As luck would have it, there were only five passengers on a boat that would usually carry a lot more so we more or less got individual attention.  I was even more lucky to have calm seas - no sign of sea sickness, phew!  The crew on the boat were all very passionate young people who were very knowledgeable about wild life in the area and around the world.We headed off in search of orcas and on the way passed some of the many beautiful bay islands.  This would appear to be Vancouver's version of Coochie.

  We saw harbour seals and a bald eagle.  I know you marvel at my wildlife photography.  Just to be intimidating there was an Australian travel writer and photographer on board as well.  They haven't requested any of my shots yet,

It was a lovely, restful journey and it took quite a while for us to reach the whales.  And there they were right in front of us.  Apparently they were a pod of locals who feed and breed along the coast.  They did breach a couple of times and there were babies.  So....spot the whale.......

  Then it was time to head for Victoria and it didn't take very long to get there.  So goodbye to our crew and on with the usual routine of check in and get your bearings.

That afternoon I booked my trip to the Buchart Gardens and tried to book a trip out of town but no luck there so Victoria it is.  I went for a walk around, trusty map in hand, and started to feel comfortable about it all.  I had lunch at a famous bakery where there some American sailors.  Walked down the street and there were some Chinese sailors and then some Canadian sailors and then some English and even some Aussies.  So many men and women in uniform and all so young!  Do they take them before they finish high school these days?  As it turned out, it was the centenary of the Canadian Navy and they were there to help celebrate.  Over the next couple of days there were fly overs and marches and all sorts of official celebrations.

On my journey around Victoria I had noticed a modest little lodging overlooking the harbour called the Empress Hotel.  Apparently royalty and famous people stay there.  I thought my little room had much more of an individual charm about it, myself.  But I couldn't resist the invitation to have a cocktail on the Verandah, darling.  And of all things, they even had tasteful royal blue knee rugs to match my jeans.  How terriblair, terriblair thoughtful, don't you think?  The recommended cocktail was a 1908 to celebrate the opening of this quaint little place and it was quite nice.  Could have gone another one but....  well .... I was a bit short on small change.  I noticed an Australian couple standing in front of The Empress which is difficult to fit into a photo frame.  The husband was lining up the shot and the wife was leaning nonchalantly on a post saying through gritted teeth "Don't worry about the flag on top, Just take the photo!"  "Please take the photo!"

Victoria has some lovely old buildings and some very quaint shops.  There's a real touch of England about the place and the things in the shops.  There's plenty to explore and lots of interesting cafes, restaurants and shops.  Because Victoria is the capitol of British Columbia, their Parliament House is there as well.  There are great museums and galleries where you can learn more about their history and the indigenous people.  I went to the supermarket and bought some goodies for dinner which I ate by the harbour.  It's such a busy place - boats coming and going,a cruise liner in dock, little water taxis zooming back and forth across the harbour and water planes landing and taking off continually.  It's a hive of activity on land as well with little market stalls and buskers along the front and people strolling around.  There is a scenic walkway that will take you well beyond the downtown area with lovely views of the water.

The next morning I had a leisurely breakfast at my hotel and wandered down to the bus for my visit to the Buchart Gardens and there on the bus was Sandy, one of the crew from the day before.  So we joined forces for the trip.  Sandy had studied some horticulture but I was completely in the dark.  As I had been warned, the gardens are totally overwhelming.  They were started early last century by Jennie  Buchart.  Her husband had quarried limestone in the area for his cement plant and she decided to make something beautiful out of the quarry and the gardens grew and grew.  There is the Sunken Garden, the Rose Garden, The Japanese Garden, the Mediterranean Garden and the Italian Garden, sculpture made out of moss and a couple of fountains all in 55 acres of land with 50 gardeners.  It takes a long time to make your way around it and, by the time we reached the Mediterranean Garden, Sandy and I agreed we needed a gelato to keep our strength up.  Mmmm, maple and walnut.  It's impossible to represent the scale and beauty of the place in photos so I would recommend a visit for yourself if you haven't already been.

Not quite the end.

Hello Everyone

My arrival in Vancouver was not auspicious but it was a long time since my last visit and I had been looking forward to it but I was extremely tired.  So I went to my hotel, got scolded for checking in early by a very efficient young lady at reception and promptly went to bed (obviously very concerned about the inconvenience I had caused- not).  I slept the sleep of the dead for about four hours and then set off on a reconnaissance mission.  Because I will be returning to Vancouver in July for the ICED conference, I decided to seek out places I would like to explore more then and booked my self on a tour of Vancouver and it was great.  We went to the area the conference will be held and we went to the area where I will be staying so now I have my bearings.  I also met Anne and Cedric from Grafton who had travelled across Canada for about three weeks and were in the last few days of their holiday.  They had had a wonderful trip.

We went to Queen Elizabeth Park with fabulous views of the city and surrounding mountains.  (Told you I had lots of photos of mountains!) It's Graduation time all over the continent and there were many young people all dressed up in their finery up there to have photos taken and the odd bride or two.

We went to Granville Island which is Carmel heaven - lots of markets and hand made things.  Oh, it also sells local produce and yummy food.

Rockies train trip.

I spent a lovely day in Jasper - some of it in sunshine and some in rain.  Some of the houses are built above and below ground.  I'm guessing it's for insulation.  My own hotel had an interesting configuration.  The rooms were in a U shape around a big fire place and restaurant at one end and a heated swimming pool at the other end.  Maybe I should have used it when there was no hot water the next morning!

The town is smaller than Bamff but is a rail centre for the area and so has a feel of a real place with real people.  I shouted myself to a nice Greek (couldn't resist the aromas as I walked past) meal and a drink. I was very hungry and felt as if I could eat a horse (or an elk or a bison or a deer but not a bear).

There are some lovely old buildings in Jasper.  The first ranger's house and the train station are among them.  Because it was raining at first, I went to a museum that had all the local wildlife (stuffed) and once again revisited the difference between elk, deer, moose and caribou.  Just when I think I have them sorted out, someone says something that makes me question it all over again.  There was a shop that sold north western crafts and I think I could have been tempted to sell my soul for some of them.  So beautiful.  Handcuffs might be the go in Alaska.

And then it was time for what I came all this way for - my train trip through the Rockies.  It all started very well with my lift to the station from a charming Frenchman who kept hugging me and then on to the train.  I had to laugh when I saw my single sleeper - certainly not room to swing a cat but a marvel in economy of space.  I guess the floor space was about 1 1/2 metres by 1 1/2 metres and it contained a seat, a pull down bed, a toilet and a basin AND a little basket of goodies with soap, shampoo etc as well as ear plugs.  How very considerate.

And so my adventure began.  The train was built in the 1950s and so does not have all the modern conveniences and, like my experiences on Amtrak, seems to have a tradition about it.  I went up to the viewing cabin and it was great. We were greeted with champagne.  Ooee, very nice!  I met a girl (like I'm a girl) from Germany.  Her name was Dorothy and she too was traveling alone.  We had some good chats about Germany and Australia and took lots of photos of trees.  As you can see from this picture, although we were up higher than the train, we still were not higher than the trees and just when you thought you had a great shot lined up another ridge of trees rushed past.  Everyone was in the same boat.  You had to shoot and hope for the best.  Dorothy had been on the train since Toronto so she knew the drum well and truly.  She had stopped taking photos of trees.  

So more mountains rivers and waterfalls.  All stunning.  But I got pretty sick of lodge pole pine trees!

I had dinner with a Canadian couple who would not for love nor money believe that Australians say "Eh" too.  I did notice some of our sayings in their colloquialisms which you would never hear in the US.  Must be the English influence

OK problem solving time.  Time for bed (but still daylight).  How to organise suitcase, clothes and bed all in that space.  I decided to postpone any cognitive activity and went down the hall for a shower -very small one.  Then it was time for thinking -HELP!  So I worked backwards.  If I put my luggage under the seat (which would become a bed), then I could pull the bed down.  But then I couldn't access the toilet or the suitcase.  So get every thing out of suitcase, do what ever needs to be done, hang up clothes for tomorrow so I don't look like a tramp, put suitcase under seat and pull down bed. Phew!  But I forgot my book.  Can I go to sleep without reading?  Um.  No I can't.  So put up bed, pull out suitcase, take out book, put suitcase under seat, pull down bed and crawl in.  Glad I'm not 6 feet tall.  However, for my purposes the bed was very comfortable, the sheets were lovely and fresh and the pillows fluffy.  I didn't need the earplugs.  Just as well because I would have had to put the bed up again!

I woke up in time to see the sun coming up but the rhythm of the train was very relaxing.  The train stopped somewhere in the middle of the night and smokers were advised of the stop but I didn't avail myself of that.  Imagine having to do the bed thing again and I'm sure the world can do without the sight of me standing on the platform in my pyjamas looking miserable and cold.  I think it was Kamloops.

Being on a train is a bit like being on a plane, you just sit around until the next meal and the meals were yummy.  The staff on the train were really friendly and helpful and cheerful and I have to say that the passengers were too.  The attendants were very helpful with tips for getting around Vancouver and what not to miss.

A few more snow capped mountains etc and we were heading for Vancouver.  Of all days for the train to be an hour early.  And Vancouver did not put on her best face to welcome me.

Beautiful Canada.

Hi Everyone.

Back from a week in Canada and preparing for a week in New Mexico.  It was only a week in Canada but what a beautiful week it was.  I flew to Calgary in Alberta and then got a bus to Bamff.  The contrast between to plains around Calgary and the Rockies in the distance is amazing.  

I have to admit to falling in love with the Rockies.  They are so rugged and massive and stunning.  It doesn't matter if I see them from the air or ground, they just blow me away.  I'm not so sure about winter there.  The Aussies I spoke to said it's dreadfully cold and, from my memories of living with real snow and ice, I have no trouble believing them.

Bamff is charming and but very touristy (if I can use that word).  It was full of German, English, American, Australian, Japanese and lots of other tourists.  I was surprised when I arrived at my hotel to hear an Aussie accent at reception.  However, once I started to move around the town, almost every second person in retail was a young Aussie person on a working holiday. I started to become aware of the fact that Canadians are a little more casual than Americans  and just as friendly.  I had to buy a little coin purse for my Canadian currency and the lovely man in the supermarket took the time to explain their coins to me.  Oh how I appreciated that little gesture!  Their notes are different colours and very attractive after the dull greenbacks of the US but...... their $5 notes are the same colour as our $10 notes and vice versa.  So of course I handed someone a $5 note when I needed a $10 note a couple of times.

One night in Bamff was enough for me and the next morning I set off by bus through Bamff National Park and Jasper National Park.  Wow, what a day!  I felt as if my head was on a swivel and it was impossible to take it all in.  Our bus driver had lived in the area for most of his life and he had made it his mission to learn as much about the area as possible and he drove the route regularly so he he knew the places to look for wild life.  He also knew the history and the geology of the area.  It was fascinating.  Canada is such a huge country, so much bigger than Australia but we can relate to the tales of exploration just the same.  There were even a couple of women explorers.  Pretty amazing for those days and in those clothes.

I have to admit to having about 500 photos of snow capped mountains and glacier fed rivers, lakes and waterfalls and I'll try not to bore you with too many of them but each one is so beautiful in it's own way. One of the famous ones is Lake Louise.  There is a huge classy hotel there but the lake is much better to look at.  The day I was there was overcast and the blue of the lake was not he same as on a bright sunny day.   Gorgeous just the same.

Further along was the Raven's Claw Glacier.  All the glaciers seem to be melting faster than they are growing at this time.  These little plants use the fluffy foliage and the snow or ice on the outside to insulate themselves so they don't freeze over.  Then on to Bow Lake.  It looks rather threatening in this weather but I can imagine it would look much happier on a sunny day.  As you can see it still has some ice in it.  While walking around, I met a young fellow from Toowoomba.  He's over in Canada working as a cowboy on a feedlot in Alberta.  He told me he has a cowboy hat and chaps - got to look the part I suppose.  He and his mates had four days off work and were in a combi van traveling around the area.  He said it had been -6 degrees in the van the night before.  I'm so thankful for warm hotels.

Further along we came across a black bear just strolling along beside the road looking for something to eat.  Pretty relaxed about a bus pulling up, more important things on its mind.  It seems to me that no matter how many bears people see, their fascination never diminishes. The bus driver was just as excited as we were.  Then a bit further along the road another bear.  Two bears in one day how lucky!
Another very touristy thing to do, but fun just the same, is to go up to the ice fields.  It was freezing cold but fun to be there.  I have a video of people walking like penguins on the ice.  Our driver was this amazing Japanese man called Sami.  He's 62 and looks and acts like a extrovert 18 year old.  So much fun. 

Getting closer to Jasper but more beautiful waterfalls to see.  The Athabasca Falls (say that with your teeth out!) are huge and very noisy.  I couldn't imagine how much water was passing through per second but they were extremely powerful and complete with a deep gorge full of fast flowing water.  Obviously bears in the area too.

So all in all a successful day - two bears, numerous mountains, glaciers, lakes and stunning waterfalls.  Jasper here I come.  So I settled back in anticipation of a warm shower and a nice dinner.  Until ...........

Lotsaluv

Carmel

Not sleepless in Seattle.

For the Memorial Day long weekend, Sue and I boarded the train to Seattle.  It's about a four hour trip but very relaxing.  Sue had an exhausting week at work so it turned out to be a good decision to take the train instead of driving and it's such a change of culture from the slick, impersonal procedure at the airports. The Portland station is called Union Station and looks like something out of a thirties movie set.  Where was Al Capone?  The staff were relaxed and friendly and things just seem to roll along.  I have to say that I have found most people here very friendly and helpful and extremely polite - even the teenagers.  I'm told that people in Oregon pride themselves on it.

To get on and off the train you walk across the tracks and find your car and seat and settle back for the ride.  I was quite taken with the conductor's uniform - just like you see in the movies.  I suspect there's a lot of tradition with Amtrak.  They advertise themselves as the clean green way to travel and seem to be attempting a revival.  We just loved our trips up and back.

If someone was to say to me what is my overwhelming impression of Seattle, I would have to say HILLY!  People in Seattle must have very good knees and be as fit as a fiddle.  It's very much like the scenes you see of San Francisco.  Our hotel was not far from anywhere but was at the top of one of the hills.  And that's why I didn't have any trouble sleeping - very cardio-vascular getting back to the hotel.

It's a reasonably new city because the original city was almost exclusively built out of wood.  Seattle was first established as a logging city and even the water pipes were built out of wood.
But then came the great  fire of about 1882 when the whole town burned down.  A glue pot spilled over and started a fire which then spread to other buildings containing ammunition and other combustibles and there was nothing they could do to stop the fire.  The people of Seattle had to stand by and watch it burn to the ground.  The photos of the aftermath are incredible.  They show men walking down the streets with nothing but a few half burnt poles around them.  So everything in Seattle is post that time.

As noted (huff puff), Seattle is built on steep hills and, in earlier days, also mud flats.  So the devastation after the fire was an opportunity to rebuild the town without some of those problems.  The leaders knew they had to make the hills less steep (hard to believe that happened) and to fill in some of the mud flats and the way they planned to do this was to push some of the land from the top of the cliffs down the side and to make the hills less steep and the area at the bottom more suitable for building.  Because of the politics of the day and the lack of agreement as to how that would happen, this is how it proceeded.  Business owners built brick or stone buildings on their original properties but the council built new roads up to 32 feet above the footpaths.  The roads were built with big retaining walls but were way above the shops and businesses.  Kind of makes building a few tunnels seem very sensible!  So ladders were used to access the businesses of Seattle at that time.  Very inconvenient for all concerned but think of the women in their crinolines, big hats and long skirts.  No dashing out for a litre of milk.  Eventually, the engineering was completed (Campbell Newman is wasted in Brisbane.  He could have had much more fun in Seattle) and the town was completed to every one's satisfaction.  But that left a whole underground system in Seattle just ripe for a few shenanigans.  Some of it is still there and is being preserved as part of Seattle's history.  If you look closely you will see some shop fronts, sky lights and, of course, an old bath tub from those days.

A visit to Seattle would not be complete without time in Pike Place Markets.  Sue and I are both markets freaks so it was lots of fun.  Lots of flowers, lots of local produce and lots of beautiful things made by local crafts people.  The salmon and the scallops were huge.

Because it was raining most of the time we were there (it's no secret why the north west is so green and everyone has lovely complexions), we also visited the Seattle Aquarium.  We had hoped to visit the Folklife Festival but not in the rain.  The aquarium was fascinating but I feel in love with the otters and the seals.  So cute and full of personality.  However, I wouldn't like to be their housekeeper!
When we emerged from the aquarium, it was sunny and a glorious day.  Wouldn't you know it!  But it was time to head back to the train and Portland after a lovely weekend.

Lotsaluv for now

Carmel