Blogs from British Columbia, Canada, North America
Vancouver - The FINAL resting place of the car
Published: May 27th 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver
May 27th 2012
When we woke up in Jasper we had every intention of paying to dispose of the car and then either hitch hiking or catching a bus to Vancouver. We went to the towing company that would tow the car out of National Park and were about to pay but had no cash and they did not take debit. We drove to the nearest ATM and pulled our cash out, but on the way back we stopped in an empty parking lot and did a few donuts to say goodbye. After a good slam on the brakes all of the noises suddenly stopped. The brake screeching was gone, and the strut noise was gone as well. We made the decision right then that it was fate and we had to try to drive it to Vancouver. We ... read more
Grenville Channel and Dixon Entrance
Published: May 26th 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Prince Rupert
May 24th 2012
Wednesday May 23, 2012 Bishop Bay to Kumealon Island Cove Our itinerary today takes us through Grenville Channel a forty five mile long mostly straight fjiord that carries all the Inside Passage traffic and we felt like we had it all to ourselves. Steep green walls, hundreds of waterfalls, calm waters, and a carrying current were all ours today. When we had had enough we turned into the very back of a pretty little bay and watched the sun set. Thursday May 24, 2012 Kumealon Island Cove to Foggy Bay As we passed the entrances to the Port of Prince Rupert we saw at least five massive bulk carriers waiting to be loaded with some sort of ore, and bound for the orient. One ship, 867 feet long, carried the name Bulk Hong Kong - how ... read more
May 22nd 2012
Tuesday 15/05/12 – This morning we took the bus to Granville Island, which contains a public food market as well as many arts and crafts shops. There were several interesting shops to browse through and I found a lovely set of polar bears carved out of white marble, but unfortunately they would probably be too heavy to cart around, so I had to put off buying them. When we got back to the hostel, we found out that the bikes had been cleared by customs, hurrah! We went to the customs office and collected the paperwork to take to the warehouse in the morning. The afternoon was then taken up by packing all our stuff into logical pannier bags that will slot into the panniers. Unfortunately, some bastard at the hostel stole our milk out of ... read more
Till the end...Part 2
Published: May 22nd 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver » YVR
May 22nd 2012
OK...I'm lasting longer then I thought I would...here I will post the latest from YVR... oh oh ooooh oh I'm still alive hey hey hey hey I I I Wo I'm still alive...... read more
Bishop Bay Hot Springs
Published: May 26th 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Prince Rupert
May 22nd 2012
Tuesday May 22, 2012 Windy Bay to Bishop Bay Hot Springs The clouds lift and patches of sunlight show here and there as we travel down passages, through narrows, reaches and Channels. For many hours there is not a boat to be seen and we grumble a little when see any boat that disturbs the solitude. We turned into Butedale to see the ruins of an old cannery. Many of the large warehouses have collapsed and only one house had smoke rising from it and a light was on. What we marvelled at was the large waterfalls coming from Butedale Lake above us. We read that one old guy lives there and works to preserve what he can of this bygone place. A nice flood tide has carried us along for most of the morning and ... read more
Windy Bay (Fjiordland)
Published: May 26th 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Prince Rupert
May 21st 2012
Monday May 21, 2012 Oliver Cove to Windy Bay (Fjiordland) It was raining when we got up this morning and it has rained all day. We turned up Mathieson Channel into a gray drizzly Fjiordland and we discussed whether to take a shorter route through Jackson Passage to Finlayson Channel, the main Inside Passage Route or stay with our longer more scenic course perhaps without the scenery. We stayed the course and were rewarded with stupendous views up Kynock Inlet with its towering waterfalls and sheer granite cliffs rising thousands of feet above sea level. According to our charts in one spot where we sat the mountains above were 3,100 feet and the water beneath us was 1,339 feet deep. We drifted to within fifty feet of a cliff to take pictures of a waterfall and ... read more
Erste Woche als Schulkinder
Published: May 20th 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver
May 20th 2012
Die erste Woche liegt hinter uns und sie ist rasend schnell vergangen. Am Montag war unser erster Schultag (sie kennen hier übrigens keine Schultüten). Dieser bestand bei uns ausschließlich aus einem Englisch-Test um uns in die richtigen Level einzustufen. Erstaunlicherweise sind Arne und ich im selben Level - aber in unterschiedlichen Klassen - aber ich gebe Arne noch max zwei Wochen dann geht er eine Stufe höher. Der Schultag hat für uns 4 Stunden (von 9 bis 13 Uhr). Er ist unterteilt in zwei Themen: morgens Vokabeln, mittags Grammatik. Jeden Freitag gibt es einen "Test" um die Woche zu reflektieren und um eventuell in die nächste Stufe zu kommen. Jeder Lehrer geht bei der Vermittlung des Stoffes etwas anders vor. Bei Arne wird mehr auf Kommunikation geachtet, bei mir mehr aufs Schreiben und Lesen. Die Klassengrößen ... read more
Quick summary of last few days
Published: May 21st 2012North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver Island
May 20th 2012
Just gonna try and do an update of the last few days because didn't have access to internet (grrr).. Anyway, second day on the Rocky Mountaineer was also good...lots of changing scenery- some of it surprisingly seemed really dry with salt bush and dry earth despite snow and massive running river. Some of it reminded me of the Flinders Ranges a little - I'll try and post a pic to show what I mean. So, we went from snow capped mountains, to more barren terrain onto lush, green hlls and back to snow capped mountains towards Vancouver. Beautiful rivers, bridges, tunnels...just fantastic. The train was really comfortable and luxurious....food was special. Met some nice people and got some hugs and exchanged emails. Was told by Boston couple that they ...and I quote...'are in awe of me'...(ok, ... read more
May 20th 2012
Saturday May 19, 2012 Port McNeill to Fury Cove At 5:00 AM the lights on both boats were on and coffee was perking. We looked at charts and Dick said he would follow us and off we went into the sunrise. At 10 :40 AM we were rounding Cape Caution in Queen Charlotte Sound and of the usual death grip on the wheel, wondering what it's like to die and istening to the moaning behind me, the Little Liza is on autopilot, the gentle wind is at our backs, BJ's reading some ancient and forgotton lore, and I'm scribbling my thoughts in a journal. I've heard QC Sound refered to as the Queen's Pond and today the description is apt. Sea Nile is within radio range and at Egg Island I made my a course change ... read more
May 18th 2012
...sind wie im Flug vergangen. Nach unserer Ankunft sind echt herzlich von unseren Gasteltern empfangen worden. Eva und Arlo sind in unserem Alter und haben zwei kleine Kinder (2 und 4). Als Inhouse-Babysitter wohnen die Großeltern ebenfalls hier. Wir haben dadurch die Chance viel zu reden und es auf die unterschiedlichen Interessen anzupassen. Speziell die Kids entsprechen wahrscheinlich unserem Wortschatz am ehesten :) Unsere Unterkunft ist super und lässt keine Wünsche offen. So haben wir nicht nur einen großen Raum mit Fernseher, Bett, Couch und kleiner Küche, sondern auch ein eigenes Bad für uns. Wenn dies noch nicht gereicht hätte, so gibt es auch WLAN... Ordentlich nach deutscher Gründlichkeit sind wir am Sonntag erstmal auf Erkundungstour gegangen und kurzerhand zur Schule gelaufen, Starbucks gefunden und uns mit den Geflogenheiten des öffentlichen Personennahve... read more
