cornerduck - murray coates

We are semi-retired and live on Saltspring Island in British Columbia,Canada with Casey the Beagle . We are usually here from October/November until the end of May. In the summer we can be found at West Hawk Lake in the beautiful Whiteshell Provincial Park near the Manitoba/Ontario border. West Hawk Lake is a crater lake formed by a meteorite crash and is over 500 feet deep.

We are trying to do active holidays that require training in advance of the trip. Staying moderately fit seems to be easier if you are preparing for a specific objective such as hiking the West Coast Trail etc.

We find this website to be very helpful when planning a new adventure because you can almost always find a blog by someone who has been where you want to go. Thanks to all the other helpful bloggers

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Joined on: February 22nd 2008
Last Login: December 1st 2009

Blog Entries: 7
Photos: 119

TB Code: [blogger=62205]
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by cornerduck, order by Date newest first.

By cornerduck
September 29th 2009

Habitat for Humanity Armenia plus Turkey,Greece and Georgia Asia

thessaloniki
waterfront track

I am one week away from leaving on my next Habitat for Humanity trip (my first as a leader) I will leave Canada on October 7th and fly to London on the usual direct flight from Vancouver to London. I will overnight there then fly to Thessaloniki in Greece on Easyjet. After a day or so there, I hope to catch a train to Istanbul and spend 2 days there. I will then take the famous Dogu Express across Turkey to Kars. From Kars things are less certain but I hope to catch a bus to Tblisi in Georgia. In Georgia [View Full Entry]

By cornerduck
July 13th 2009

Iceland Bike trip Europe » Iceland » North » Seydisfjördur

bikes on the train
Train system is very bike friendly in denmark

We have just returned from a cycling trip to Iceland via Denmark and the Faroe Islands. We left Winnipeg on June 20th and flew to Copenhagan via Reykavik. Bikes came off the the plane in Copenhagan with some issues-mine was out of the box but luckily all the pieces were there. As it turned out Jan's bike suffered some damage as the rear brake and derailer were out of adjustment. Never underestimate the amount of damage that baggage handlers can do - on the outbound we put bikes in boxes but probably didnt pay enough attention to taping the boxes shut [View Full Entry]

By cornerduck
May 26th 2009

West Coast Trail North America » Canada » British Columbia » Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

our hiking team
here we are looking clean at Kilometre one in Bamfield

We have just completed the West Coast Trail from Bamfield to Port Renfrew. We started by spoting a car in Port Renfrew prior to the hike. Our hiking trip then started on May 17th when we picked up our son Ryan and his partner Michelle at the Long Harbour ferry on Salt Spring. We then drove off the other side of SSI and made our way over some dusty and bumpy logging roads, arriving in Bamfield at 6.00 Saturday nite. We camped in Bamfield and the next morning got shuttled out to the Parks Canada HQ. Parking there is not recommended [View Full Entry]

By cornerduck
January 28th 2009

Yucatan Central America Caribbean » Belize » Belize Barrier Reef » Caye Caulker

sandos playacar
On the way to what passes for their beach (global warming ??????)

We are just getting ready for our next travel adventure which will take us to Cancun, Mexico via Atlanta,GA on Delta from Vancouver. We then will stay at Playa del Carmen for 4 nights before catching the bus(non-chicken) to Chetumal for an overnight. Next day we catch another bus to Belize City and will stay on Caye Caulker for 3 days. Next stop will be Flores and Tikal - We are going to do a birding tour followed by a zip-line adventure. The most dangerous part of the trip will be the time share presentation we have agreed to go to [View Full Entry]

By cornerduck
October 24th 2008

Habitat for Humanity trip to Jordan Middle East » Jordan » East

Jerusalem
view of Old City from Moiunt of Olives

I am gearing up for my next Habitat for Humanity trip to Jordan-will leave Canada on Oct 27th and will visit Israel first. The HH build starts in Jordan (Hakaba) on Nov 1st and will last until the 10th. Hope to update as I go. Jan is tired of long plane rides so is sitting this one out-I flew from SSI to Winnipeg on Oct 19th-then down to lake to stay for a few days. Oct 26/08 came in from West Hawk Lake yesterday- weather is just in process of changing here in Manitoba ( went through a short snow event) [View Full Entry]

By cornerduck
June 7th 2008

Habitat for Humanity trip to hungary Europe » Hungary » Central Hungary » Budapest » Pest

Prague Accomadation
great B and B in Prague

We are in the final stages of packing for our trip to Europe to build houses for Habitat For Humanity in Szarvas,Hungary.We will fly to London from Vancouver on May 12th, then to Prague on the 14th. We travel next by train on the 16th to Budapest. THe Habitat portion starts on the 17th in Szarvas and will last until the 30th. We then will come back to Budapest and take a boat to Bratislava.By June 2nd we will be off to vienna by boat on the Danube again. We fly back to London on the 4th and then home on [View Full Entry]

By cornerduck
February 22nd 2008

our trip to santa catalina North America » United States » California » Los Angeles » Long Beach

avalon
main beach area

We are leaving on March 1st for a quick trip to Southern California-Vancouver to LAX,-We arrive too late for transport to Santa Catalina so will stay on the Queen Mary on Sat nite , then helicopter over to Santa Catalina on Sunday morning (sounds decadent but there was a package special) We will stay on Santa Catalina Sunday night and then return to Long Beach late on Monday. Will fly home to SSI on Tuesday.This is the last flight of our Air Canada winter get away pass.Will provide more details later. Arrived back from LA sans luggage on the 4th- Catalina [View Full Entry]

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Blogs & Travel Journals