murray coates

cornerduck

murray coates

We live on Saltspring Island in British Columbia,Canada and are usually here from late fall until the end of May. In the summer we can be found at West Hawk Lake near Lake of the Woods.

We try 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 Coast to Coast Trail etc.

The Travelblog website is 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.

Habitat for Humanity has become a major part of my life as it provides a basis to help people as well as travelling to new places. I just finished my 15th build.The total number of countries visited as at October 31st 2018 is 102.

Lots of plans for 2019 and beyond- Wales hike, Nepal Habitat Build and maybe Antarctica.

Kiva.org - Loans That Change Lives - great program - have made over 60 loans in various parts of the world and always get repaid so I can lend again....

Habitat Malawi 2018 with a safari

Africa » Malawi October 24th 2018

Museum of Human Rights- Winnipeg

cornerduck

The first stage of any long trip is the packing process. This time, I had decided in the spring that I would be returning to Salt Spring and leaving for Africa from there. This turned out to be an error as we decided to stay at West Hawk Lake until the end of September where we enjoyed what turned out to be a wonderful stretch of warm fall weather except for the last few days. This meant that I would be leaving for Africa from Winnipeg and I was missing a few basic necessities (such as luggage) I ended up buying a canoe bag (MEC Scully 100) which will be good for canoe camping as well as GV travel. Closing the cabin is always easier when you can spread it out over a long period of ... read more

Mexico 2018

North America » Mexico » Jalisco » Melaque January 28th 2018

El Palmar

cornerduck

In late January, we decided to go to Mexico for an 11 day stay. In order to be considered a true citizen of Salt Spring Island, it is required that you go to Melaque, Mx for a few weeks every winter. We stayed at the El Palmar Resort which is actually owned by someone from here and it is very focused on the tennis crowd. I considered coming out of tennis retirement and packing my racquet but resisted- Jan is planning to play every day. The first few weeks of winter have been very wet on the west coast and the weather on our day of departure was described as an "atmospheric river-" I think they were expecting 150 mm of rain on the west side of Vancouver Island. The snow depths in the interior are ... read more

Habitat trip to Sri Lanka

Asia » Sri Lanka » Western Province » Negombo October 11th 2017

One of many trains at the Paradise Beach Hotel

cornerduck

(Oct 11,2-17)I am in the final stages of packing for my 15th Habitat build which will be in Sri Lanka.(country number 101) The flight leaves tomorrow from good old YVR on Cathay Pacific and we will be switching planes in Hong Kong (four team members on the same flight. ) It is a long haul as we leave at 245 PM and are supposed to arrive in Colombo at 1110 PM.(just under 20 hours) The next wave of people from our team of 14 will start arriving early the next day. As usual, the trip starts with an early ferry ride (0620) and includes the bus and skytrain legs to the airport... I have new Bose noise cancelling earbuds and have booked an exit row seat ($150 USD) so am looking forward to a relaxing flight. ... read more

Hiking the Coast to Coast trail in England

Europe » United Kingdom » England » North Yorkshire » Yorkshire Dales May 30th 2017

Mile zero

cornerduck

We have just returned home after another epic May adventure. This year we hiked England's Coast to Coast trail which starts at the Irish Sea and ends at the North Sea. This trail is about 190 miles. Our journey (Jan, Marsha Brown and yours truly) started with us embarking for London Gatwick on May 6th via Calgary, arriving in the UK the next day. After the usual tedious flight, it was on to the British rail system using our 3 day passes. The train system is very efficient and easy to use with our first leg being the Gatwick Express . The GE takes people to Victoria Station where you have to switch to the subway (Tube) to get to Euston Station. Thanks to Richard Branson, by 5.30 PM we were in Lancaster at the Royal ... read more

Habitat build in Trinidad plus trip to Bequia

Central America Caribbean » Trinidad & Tobago » Trinidad » Port of Spain March 20th 2017

Scarlet_Ibis_SMTC

cornerduck

We have just returned from a Habitat build in Trinidad. On this trip, I achieved my long awaited objective of visiting 100 countries, based on the rules of The Century Club. Trinidad was number 99 and St Vincent got me to number 100. We left home on March 2nd in order to have dinner with friends in Vancouver and take in the Cavilia Odessey Horse Show-quite an extravaganza. The next day it was off to the airport at 9.00 to check in and have a White Spot breakfast. I was wearing my rather beat up Blundestone boots on this trip so decided to search the airport for a shoe shine kiosk. It appears that many airports in Canada have had their shoe shine programs franchised by Aurora which may or may not be progress. Ten dollars ... read more

Habitat build in Romania plus train trips through the Balkans

Europe » Romania » Moldova » Bacau » Bacau September 16th 2016

Train station in Zagreb

cornerduck

Just a few more days before my departure to Europe for the Big Build in Bacau, Romania. As part of my plan to visit 100 countries by the the time I reach 70 years of age, I am going on a pre-build tour through the Balkans. The first stop will be Ljubljana in Slovenia, then Croatia,Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia before arriving in Romania. (late breaking news, on a count back, I discovered that I am going to not achieve 100 by the end of this trip.) On September 20th, we left West Hawk Lake after the usual fall shutdown and drove to Winnipeg and then Lorette for a last visit with Aron, Fran and Xavier. Jan will be in the Winnipeg area for a bit, and then she will drive west to Ymir and on to ... read more

Bike trip in Europe -from Switzerland to the Netherlands via France, Germany and Luxembourg

Europe » Germany » Rhineland-Palatinate April 30th 2016

a crane carving in France

cornerduck

It is April 29th, and we are starting to pack for our big bike trip in Europe. The first challenge is to fit all our clothes etc. into bike panniers (each of us gets 2) This is a good thing as it focuses us on what is really necessary when travelling. We have now done our final training rides as of yesterday (April 30th) and I have about 1400 kilometres since Feb 1st. We have been doing Salt Spring and Vancouver Island hills so the river valley rides in Europe should not be too tough but there is always wind.. As usual , the first stage is the ferry trip to Vancouver. We are leaving on the 0615 Long Harbour ferry , then bus to skytrain and on to YVR. We will then have a long ... read more

Over the mountains beside the old lock system

Costa Rica with side trip to Nicaragua

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Tamarindo December 5th 2015

black bellied whistling ducks at the condo

cornerduck

Several weeks ago,we returned from another visit to Costa Rica- this time we went for a destination wedding near Tamarindo in Guanacaste. I think CR is now off the list but we did have a good time. The worst part of Costa Rica is the trip to get there. We had to exit Salt Spring to get to Vancouver-that was day one. Day two , we flew to Houston via Calgary for another overnight and day three, we finally arrived in Liberia. Getting there is not half the fun, but it was a self inflicted wound as we had chosen the cheap flight option. This was also our first try at flying with no checked baggage which worked out fine, proving that one can survive with minimal luggage. I think we saved about $25 for each ... read more

Wisconsin woods and water, 2015 bike trip

North America » United States » Wisconsin » Three Lakes August 18th 2015

Early Morning departure

cornerduck

This year we decided to go a little further afield for our summer bike trip by travelling to Wisconsin (we also did the Olympic Discovery Trail this spring before leaving for West Hawk Lake-5 ferry rides,a couple of hundred kilometres and lots of hills) We arranged a fully supported tour through Around Wisconsin Bike Tours choosing the Northern Woods Tour which was to be about 500 km in 6 days. There were four of us in total - myself, Jan and 2 other lake friends. The first part of the Wisconsin trip was a 5 hour drive to Hibbing and another stay in the Hibbing Park Lodge (still no sign of Bob Dylan) The next day we drove to Three Lakes via Duluth. Minnesota and Wisconsin are both very popular fishing and cottaging destinations and there ... read more

Habitat for Humanity build in El Salvador

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador June 6th 2015

Mayan site near San Salvador

cornerduck

Another great Habitat build done and I am now back in Canada at the cottage for the summer.Thirteen people this time and it was an excellent group. In spite of the fact we only had 8 days, we were able to quickly function as a team throughout the trip and everyone had a great time. Some of us (10 which turned into 9) arrived the evening before at the main airport in San Salvador. One member of the group who shall remain nameless fell asleep in the Toronto airport and missed her connection. After gathering everyone up, we were transported to the Morrison Hotel by van( about a 45 minute drive) On the way downtown, we learned that the people of the city were in a major state of anticipation for the Oscar Romero beatification ceremony ... read more

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