Saturday 1st February 2020 We left home at 8 a.m. to be chauffeured to Alicante train station by our son Nick. The fast train to Barcelona departed on time at 9.25 and just four-and-a-half hours later, having stopped just three times on the way, at Valencia, Castellon and Tarragona, we alighted at Barcelona Sants station in brilliant sunshine. We have excellent trains in Spain, fast, smooth, quiet (on modern track) comfortable and excellent value; we paid twenty-four euros each, in First class. Very civilised! By 3 p.m. we were at Barcelona International Airport, so had a long wait until our 9.35 p.m. departure. Fortunately, we were able to check in the rucksacks straight away at the Qatar Airways bag drop, then had a leisurely lunch of barbecued ribs and browsed the smart shops. Barcelona is a ... read more

Sunday 30th June 2019 Our journey home on Lufthansa went smoothly, and both flights were on time. The timing of the first flight, however, was not conducive to slumber, so we didn’t try to sleep, just watched movies. We got up at 8 a.m. on Friday, which was 5 p.m. here in Spain. We landed at Alicante airport twenty-four hours later at 5 p.m. yesterday. Needless to say, by the time we did eventuality get to bed here at home last night, we had been up for too many hours, so we didn’t do a lot today! Although travel is great, it was lovely to get home to our dogs, Mutley and Megan. Nick and Mam have a new little rescue dog called Flor. Actually, we thought that we were going to adopt her, but we ... read more

Sunday 23rd June 2019 Eleven intrepid travellers and one sea captain, set forth for three and a half hours this morning to navigate eighty-eight kilometres of ocean, in search of Killer Whales. The captain was Jimmy, a marine biologist from Victoria and the passengers comprised of five German tourists, four Canadians and John and myself (two brave Brits paying cheaper “Senior” rates). Our craft was a fast twelve-seater Zodiac, the only one on the west coast that has six double seats and a walk around edge, so everyone can stand up (if they really must) and everyone has a “window” seat (well they would if there were windows but the Zodiac is an open inflatable-rib boat); a great craft for close-up views of marine life. One doesn’t just don life jackets to get on board, we ... read more

Tuesday 18th June2019 Dawn came early to Ucluelet harbour and by 6 a.m. the sun was casting golden shimmers in streaks over the water. Ucluelet is a unique natural harbour, reached from the ocean by a long inlet dotted with islands, from the jagged rocky end to this mountainous and deeply- forested peninsular. The Ucluelet Peninsular is surrounded by a distinct marine ecosystem full of seabirds, seals, sea lions, eagles, whales and sea otters. The forests are home to black bears, cougars, wolves, deer, moose and raccoons. Ucluelet means “People of the Safe Harbour” in the indigenous Nuu-Chah-Nulth language spoken by First Nation peoples in the area. It is one of the most beautiful harbour settings we have ever seen. The little Dixie 4, our cruiser for this morning’s marine tour, was skippered by her owner, ... read more

Saturday 15th June 2019 Yesterday we left Kamloops and headed for the hills once more: actually, they are of course mountains! From Kamloops to Vancouver, the fastest and most direct route is on either the Trans-Canadian Highway, or Highway 5. We actually haven’t been on the Trans-Canadian for quite a while, not since we left Lake Louise and ventured forth up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. The most scenic route however, is Highway 97 to Cache Creek and then Highway 99 to Lillooet, then over the mountain passes to Pemberton, Whistler and on to Squamish (where we are now) and finally following the coast down to Vancouver. What a drive! Fabulous! Yesterday’s drive took us to Turikwa Lake, following the Thompson River valley to Duffy Lake then down to the confluence of the Thompson and the ... read more