Category: Canada

So it has taken a bit for me to get this uploaded, but here is a video from one of Richard’s adventures in Canada.

Well the day finally had to come when I have to say goodbye to Canada and the good times I have had with friends. I have been very fortunate to spend time with good friends as well as see such great places and do some amazing things. However I have seriously missed Melisa (as well as the kitties) I have mixed feelings that I head for Cayman for the week instead of to Orlando.
The weather this morning in Whistler was again warm and sunny (as it is in Vancouver as I sit here typing this) and so, after seeing Nick off to work, Kirsten and I headed for the gym – well, her for a workout, me for a visit to the sauna, steam room and swimming pool. Afterwards we headed down to Nicklaus North for me to catch the seaplane down to Vancouver – a new experience for me. Check in was ridiculously simple (why can’t all travel be as easy as this?) and the departure lounge was a seat on a pier in the sun overlooking the lake (again, same question!). The flight down was spectacular if a little bumpy but offered spectacular views as we were never higher than 5,000 feet. A quick splash down in Vancouver Harbour before the short hop over to the dyke behind Vancouver airport, which I have affectionately nicknamed ‘The Ditch at YVR’.
I’ve had a truly fantastic (and very active) time in Whistler and it has been great to see, as well as to be hosted by, Nick and Kirsten – a good part of the experience has been down to them. I can’t wait to come back…

Today I had booked a morning at the bike park to learn about how to ride trail bikes off-road. After getting kitted out in body armour and sized for a bike we set off with our instructor to load the bikes on the chairlift. Once up top we learned the importance of one finger braking, positioning on the pedals and leaning into turns. Very different from riding a traditional mountain bike but these lessons would prove invaluable later in in the day. Our first run was an ‘easy’ run with many stops where we were told how to handle the corners and the more tricky parts of the trail. It was hard work but interesting and the advice to look at what’s coming ahead rather than where you are right now came in handy more than once. On our second run we did a different variation of the same run with the instructor taking us at a faster pace. Of course this is where inexperience, complacency and over confidence come into play. We all had our moments but thankfully no one fell off. However there was a moment where we were split between a father and young son on the trail. The father was leading and going into a big right hander the kid just barreled straight on and disappeared, falling about 20 feet through the trees. Two of us jumped off our bikes and scrambled down to him – no broken bones thankfully but a nasty chest / stomach injury as he had caught himself on a big branch. Eventually his father came back but by then we had asked the bike patrol who came and got him. After that excitement we did a more technical and twisty blue run which required a lot of concentration. That was a LOT of fun. That took us up to lunchtime but was a great introduction to off road biking and if I had tackled the mountain without any training I would have for sure ended up having a few tumbles! From there is was a quick scramble to the Whistler Sliding Centre to be taken down the bobsled track – learning about how the track was built and the history of the centre was interesting as was the ins and outs of bobsled and luge/skeleton construction and the various competitions. However the best part was going down the run itself in a modified bobsled. It certainly was not a comfortable ride and I was glad for the padding on the side of the sled as we went down however it was an exhilarating experience and one that I would highly recommend. It was hard to believe that it was now 4pm and I wondered where the day had gone! Nick picked me up and we took the dogs for a walk in Meadow Valley Park. A quick turnaround at the apartment and it was out for a nice dinner at The Keg followed by an evening watching Fin de Fiesta perform Flamenco at the Performing Arts Centre.

So today the weather wasn’t so good but Nick and I ventured out into Whistler village regardless. Nick and Kirsten have a lovely apartment in the Rainbow area of Whistler, away from the downtown core which is full of tourists and all that caters to them. The apartment overlooks a nice lake and is just minutes from the closest golf course, where Nick sometimes plays. After having a coffee and Kirsten’s office, we visited the museum and the library as part of my introductory tour of the core of Whistler village. It was interesting to learn the origins of the village as well as its history of (mainly failed) Olympic bids, the growth of tourism in the area and to see old cable cars and ski equipment. A far cry from what we are blessed with today – it was all highly rudimentary.

We met Bigna and Monika for lunch – they had been sussing out the bike park options – before helping them shop and then taking a 2 mile walk back to the apartment via the forest trails and lakeside. Very picturesque.

On getting back we heard that Monika had injured her knee so Nick and Kirsten recommended a medical center that specializes in joint injuries for Bigna to take her. After waiting for an hour we heard that Monika had a torn miniscus which was causing her to be in sever pain. The doctors were able to make an adjustment after seeing the X-Ray and put her on a strong course of drugs to help with the pain.

Today it was back on Pacific Coastal’s short flight to Vancouver and then a drive up to Whistler. All was going well until leaving the airport where I (and about 2,000 other road users) encountered a monumental traffic jam. It took me around 90 minutes to clear the airport entry/exit road, a distance of about a mile and a half. I later discovered that this is typical for Vancouver airport which begs the question why does anyone take a car anywhere near the place… After getting out it was a steady drive through Vancouver to Highway 99. After clearing Vancouver it was a picturesque and easy drive up to Nick and Kirsten’s place in Whistler where they have now been for 3 years. It was good to see them as well as to meet their two dogs, Buster and Ivy, for the first time. They are such sweet characters!

My good friends from Switzerland, Bigna and Monika, were staying in a campsite as part of a 5 week tour of western Canada so we met them for dinner at a nearby restaurant with an open fire oven. Needless to say we all had pizza and it went down very well! It was good to see both Bigna and Monika again and looking well.

So today was another travel day, albeit a short hop. After breakfast and a quick stop for a view over Vancouver Harbour from Stanley Park, Steve dropped me off at the airport for the short 25 minute hop to Victoria on Vancouver Island. I had been given many recommendations by two former colleagues, one who hails from there and one whose son now lives there, many of which involved consuming beer and food in copious quantities! However, the drive in from the airport and a brief walk around the town center revealed a very relaxed and hip ‘big little’ town with a thriving industries with lots of art works on display. While a section of town catered to tourists it wasn’t overly touristy. A walk around Beacon Hill Park burned off lunch and I stopped to listen to an open air concert being given by a local band. The provincial legislature and the Empress Hotel dominate the harbour while the museum has lots of interesting art works and totem poles on display outside. The weather was a chilly 18C and with rain I decided to follow my friends’ advice. From here the memory gets a bit fuzzy but suffice to say the beer and food were good.

Today Steve and Sue took me inland (eastward parallel to the US border) across to Abbotsford and Hope. We stopped midway for a quick coffee before continuing on to Bridal Falls. Thankfully it wasn’t much of a hike up but the view was beautiful as was the forest on the way up. We continued on to the Othello tunnels where there are a number of abandoned railway tunnels from a now disused railway line. It was great to see the river running deep below where the railway lines had run, various tunnels having been blasted through the rock. We stopped for a late lunch back in the small town of Hope before taking the scenic route back home.

Well today Steve and Sue (mainly Sue) kept me busy!  After a quick breakfast and waving Steve off to work, Sue and I set off on a long walk that took us down the side of the Capilano River to the shore where we walked along Ambleside seafront all the way to Dundarave. Along the way there were little parks, various children’s play areas, art exhibits and gardens that are being reclaimed by the provincial government so that seafront land cannot be developed.  We raced back to see Steve for lunch at his workplace in East Vancouver before heading up to the Cleveland Dam which holds one of the reservoirs that provides Vancouver with its fresh drinking water.  The dam and reservoir are set in an extensive forest, access to which is restricted so that no water contamination can take place.  We hiked down to the bottom of the dam to see the falls and on the way saw a black bear munching on some greenery in the forest…my first, albeit very distant, encounter with a wild bear.  Many thanks to my trusty guide Sue and her excellent bush tracking skills for noticing – I would have been oblivious otherwise!  We carried on and saw the salmon ladder before hiking all the way back up to the top!   An hour later Steve returned home from his day’s work and suggested that we go mountain biking…so out we went!  It was a beautiful summer evening so we went up to Lynn Canyon Park for what ended up being a 13+ mile on road and off road cycle.  Some trails were more interesting than others!  However what was a former logging road has been closed to vehicles and so a perfectly good road is now used for cyclists, runners, walkers, roller-bladers, in line skaters and skateboarders.  Off that road there are many forest trails around the various lakes.  On one of those we can across a deer out eating her evening dinner – she was far away at first but we remained still and quiet and she came within 20 feet of us before we decided to back away and leave her in peace.  A very full but thoroughly enjoyable day!