Snakes and Lakes

Highlights of today according to the boys: the snake, the lake, the rows of pick and mix in the supermarket.

The abundance of wild life here in and around Dand B's property continues to fascinate the boys. Squirrels, tree bats, white barn owls, woodpeckers and this morning, the snake. The snake slithered away as they walked along the path near to the house.

Jacob loves the creek below the house, over which D built a wooden bridge. The black bear passes through every now and then, so Jacob looks carefully before walking over it. The dog and Jacob have bonded so the two are often seen lying together in any cool spot.

A short drive to Alouette Lake this morning, a breathtakingly beautiful expanse of water surrounded by steep sided conifer covered mountains. We had been warned that the water is glacier fed, so potentially very cold. Marcus and the boys were delighted to swim in the zoned day beach area where the shallower and clear water provided relief from the 34 degree temperature. Families were erecting gazebos over the sturdy picnic tables and grilling food on their portable BBQs.

Sophie, Isaac and I accompanied Barbara on the trip to her local supermarket - a 15 minute drive ....it was here that the row upon row of pick and mix sweets got a "wow" from Isaac and warranted a photo of the Lego man with the isle of sweet dispensers.

The province is currently experiencing drought conditions, minimal snowfall over the winter and three months without any rainfall has resulted in many forest fires and a level 3 water restriction. There were a couple of days rain just before we arrived, this cleared the smoke haze over Vancouver but not sufficient to help the trees which are distressed and loosing leaves. For residents there is a ban on watering lawns and washing their cars, apart from windscreens.  A camp fire ban is also in force.

The water source here for this property is a well. Though the level has dropped recently the quality has not been affected.

One of the benefits of the climate here is being able to prepare meals and eat outside. There are spray parks for the children (on the list to do),  disc golf courses -  Marcus and cousin Simon are playing this evening for the third consecutive night.

A final night around the fire, smores cooked, camp songs from the boys, bats flying around and a few mosquitos swatted away.

Tomorrow Barbara will ferry the Neweys into the city of Vancouver for the next phase of our Canadian Adventure. We leave with a tinge of sadness but a heart full of wonderful memories of the time here. Thank you.

Capillano

The boys have taken a liking to maple syrup. Their adaption of a "first breakfast" on waking in the R.V.  - is to make themselves a toasted peanut butter and Nutella sandwich over which they pour maple syrup. Second breakfast today was waffles, bacon and maple syrup.

A one and a half hour drive along the multi-lane Trans Canada Highway 1A  to The Capillano Bridge Park in North Vancouver. This highway is the main arterial route for moving  produce and goods across Canada so extremely busy with huge trucks and vehicles making their way into Vancouver.

The park is a tourist destination. This has the effect of making the suspension bridge sway a lot. On the cliff walk Jacob was not happy with the vertiginous drop, but rallied well and went round the tree trail. The boys completed The Rainforest Trail, so earned a  Rainforest Explorer Badge each.

The day was completed by a pizza supper eaten on the deck and Dave lit a fire so that the boys could make smores. This gave Marcus the opportunity to use one of Dave's machetes to produce toasting sticks for the marshmallows. A full moon, star gazing, Jack Daniels by the fireside and two very exhausted boys asleep in the R.V. Another day in Canada, many photographs and memories that will be recalled in the future.

Day 1 Kanaka Creek

The trains rumbled and hooted their way through the valley frequently overnight. The deep mournful sounds punctuated our sleep. Later in the day Jacob was delighted to see one of these enormous transport trains sliding by. The train required three engines, one at the front, the middle and the rear to power it along the tracks.

The focus of today was to adjust to the heat, 27 degrees by mid day, and to take a short trail alongside the Fraser River in an area known as Kanaka Creek. The name originated from Hawaiian labourers, known as "kanakas" in their native language, who decided to stay and make their homes on the lower section of the creek. The Hawaiian labourers had been employed on the Hudson's Bay Company ships transporting goods to Europe in the late 1800s. 

At the start of the trail there were a couple of advisory signs "Bear Activity" and caution owing to the potential of Forest Fires. As we walked alongside the river we discovered fresh paw prints of a bear imprinted in the sand and deep claw scratches on a tree. Whilst the boys picked and ate fresh plums from a tree we kept a vigilant watch for any bears!

We watched as cottonwood floated down from the trees and the boys attempted to catch the cottonwood as it drifted by. 

Lunch stop at a riverside restaurant we estimate the width of the river to be around a 100 metres, just a jot wider than our rivers. The remainder of the day passed with launching paper planes from the deck, Isaac played on Dave's 1850 pedal powered organ. Marcus and Simon drove into Langley for a round of disc golf. Photographs on Facebook. Am hopeful that within  a few days I will master importing photographs into this blog! BBQ and Grey Goose completed the day......

The Journey

As the co-ordinator of the travel plans, and having a slight distrust, or ignorance of my iPhone capabilities, my carry on bag contained a file of paperwork relating to every aspect of taxi collections, flight times, e-ticket numbers, airport maps, various accommodation destinations, transport links and family contact details.

Following a 02:00 alarm call, the following four hours drifted by calmly. Taxi collection as arranged, through airport security without a hitch and boarded the first plane from Bristol to Amsterdam.  The departure time passed - the minutes ticked away. The pilot announced that "owing to airspace activity " our departure would be on hold for a short period. We taxed forward, then around the runway, and returned to the starting position.

Then came the information that a problem has been identified with  the engines. Only one was operational and attempts to start the second by various methods one had failed. Communication had been established with the technical staff in Amsterdam. The pilot entered the cabin to state that "never in my experience had this happened" further apparatus was attached to the plane and success -two engines ready to go. So, two hours later than scheduled we were airborne, with the reassurances that " this is a beautiful plane, your safety is paramount, we will not put you at risk". For passengers who had missed, and those who were likely to miss their connecting flights, the team in Amsterdam were re-assigning and finding alternative carriers.

Fortunately,  we had sufficient time to join the next leg of the journey to Vancouver. A nine hour flight in a Airbus 330,  tracked by both the eldest grandson in England and the sister with whom we are staying for the first five days of our vacation in British Columbia.

Customs and security staff at Vancouver International Airport proved to be efficient and through - questioning why we were in Canada, for how long and where and with whom were we staying. Ralph and I were quizzed re any possible contact with Ebola. M,S,I,J had to answer questions appertaining to how many years my sister had lived in Vancouver. However, the boys were delighted to be waved through and their passports stamped with date and time of entry into Canada.

Baggage claim was straightforward, our declarations form relating to an assurance that we were not attempting to bring in fruit, seeds, knives completed and accepted and we were then allowed to proceed into the arrivals hall.

Barbara, Dave and Simon took charge of the suitcases and steered us safely to their vehicles. Having been awake for 20 hours, whizzing through various time zones we were delighted to be swept up and driven to Maple Ridge... Ralph enjoying being whizzed and swept along in Dave's new 5.7 litre V8 pickup!

We are all delighted to have been made so welcome, and this home is beautiful.

"The List"

Warm sunshine and blue sky this morning, so a stroll around the garden is enjoyable. The day poppies have bloomed and the seed heads are ripening. There are a few sweet smelling roses, the foxgloves are looking dramatic and there are masses of raspberries for tomorrow's breakfast.

Highfield in the sunshine

Am calmly working my way through the list of jobs to do before we leave early Monday morning.

Weekend preparations....

We have thought about, planned and this weekend we are preparing for the journey to Canada. Such a momentous time in our lives - visiting beautiful British Columbia to meet up with family who live and work in Canada deserves a few notes!

So this weekend will focus on working my way through "The List"

House, garden, tickets, clothes to go,