Blogs from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, North America - page 69

Well, we are all breathing a sigh of relief - we have successfully shifted the second and final load of stuff from my grandmother's house in Vancouver to my parents' place in Bamfield so, at long last, the Big Move is over. This truckload featured such delights as a dozen concrete Besser blocks (my Mum's crazy idea - why, we shall never know), several garbage bags full of raspberry bushes (dirt, leaves and all) and, as the pièce de résistance, an unbelievably heavy, full-size upright piano. How on earth do you move a piano into a house on a small island with no roads and only accessibly by boat? The mind boggles. Let's just say it involved a crane, a herring skiff and the brute force of five strong men. The pictures say the rest...... read more

Today's outing was to Pender Island. To get there we needed to travel up island to Sidney to catch a ferry, for a 45 minute ride. Wayne and Nichole organized the excursion to go play frisbee golf. Eric and I had never done this so we figured it was a golf course that you use frisbees. Not too difficult right? Were we wrong! Frisbee Golf is better described as a sport for mountain goats! The course is on the side of a mountain and the idea is to throw your frisbee up or down, in between and around trees toward a steel pin or basket (depending on which course you're on). There are 27 holes.... three sets of nine, most valued at par 3. There were five of us playing. Eric, me, Peter, Wayne (pro) and ... read more

Eric and I left Vancouver after a delicious feast at Slickitty Jim's Chat and Chew Diner! We travelled to Victoria on the ferry (Eric's first big boat ride), and found our way to Nichole's place. Wayne arranged for them to be away for a little while in the afternoon just long enough for us to get there and get ready for the big surprise! The plan was to be in their back yard, behind their plum tree just partially out of sight so that we could shock her a little. Wayne thought it would be a good idea for us to be raking his grass and fallen fruit (not sure why we fell for that ruse). When they came home, Nichole was more than a little concerned that there were some strangers in her back yard ... read more

After breakfasting with Maureen and Marcel, we left Parksville around 10 am, headed northward. We chose to take highway 19A almost as far as Campbell River, and really enjoyed meandering through tourist country along the water. The traffic was light, and we drove leisurely, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the oceanside communities between Parksville and Campbell River. While this is a prime tourist destination, it hasn’t been developed to the nth degree as so many places have these days. There is room for wildflowers to grow between the well-groomed gardens, and there is a casual friendliness in this area that makes me feel guilty when I lock the car door behind me before going into a café or shop. I imagine it must make me look like someone from a big city, and that ... read more

Canada Day, take 2 It’s been overcast much of today, and at 5:00 pm it seems to be turning cold. We are parked again at Long Beach, amongst the surfers, who are here in force. When we first got here, around 8:30, all the best view spots were already taken. We settled for one of the lesser view spots, made and ate our breakfast of oatmeal, Buck grapefruit, and mocha, and then headed for Tofino, where we aspired to use the Internet and take showers. We succeeded at the first, but failed at the second, so I think tonight it’s going to be sponge bath in the camper time. Or maybe we should fill the black plastic shower bag and put it on the roof for a few hours to see if it works in this ... read more