More Days Out

After last winter spent in the Arctic, the weather here in Vancouver seems almost tropical to us. Today, December 28, it's -29C, with ice crystals, in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut where we were last year on this date. Here in Vancouver it's +4C and sunny. I don't think it's gone below 0C, during daylight hours, since we've been here and we haven't even got our winter coats out yet. It's funny to see the locals all bundled up with heavy coats, scarves, gloves and toques and we're in light jackets with zippers wide open because we're too hot! Of course, the sea is not frozen either and we're enjoying long walks along the seafront on fine days. Here is a scene that if I didn't tell you it was December, you may think it was July. It was taken at Lighthouse Park, in West Vancouver.

There were many other fine views on our walk that day.

As I've mentioned before, there is a Sea Wall promenade along the shore in front of our apartment building in West Vancouver. It's great, but, is really the poor cousin to the more famous Sea Wall around Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver. On another fine December day, we took the circular 10k walk that went right around the perimeter of Stanley Park and back to our bus that takes us over the Lion's Gate bridge to North and West Vancouver.

The morning started a little fresh and there was snow on the mountain tops as can be seen behind the interesting view of the sculpture 'Girl in a Wetsuit'.

The day warmed up as we walked along. There were a few inviting, sandy beaches along the route.

We were interested to see (and hear) many Black Oystercatchers in the shallows. A new species for us as they only exist on the west coast of Canada.

We left the Sea Wall at Denman Street, where this fun art installation resides, and finished up the day with a late lunch at a Malaysian restaurant on Denman, the Banana Leaf. What a great day out!

Another day out was a very quick overnight visit to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. The ferry trip over was 'interesting' as we were in a 45 knot gale! The wind was pinning us to the dock and the ferry had to bounce and scrape itself along the dock to get to open water. Glad we weren't in Gjoa. The whipped spume and wave tops blown flat brought back memories of past voyages in our own boat. We took a circuitous route across to keep the bow as close to the wind as possible. The motion was barely noticeable although there were a few hard knocks from wave strikes. I was trying hard not to think about engine failure as we enjoyed a lunch onboard. For the ferry captains, it's probably just another day at the office as these ferries are a lifeline, run year-round and are rarely cancelled. Once in the lee of Vancouver Island it all settled down and it was fine which is probably what the captain was counting on.

Victoria, especially its Parliament building, was lit up for Christmas and was very welcoming.

We've been to Victoria before. The reason for this visit was that we wanted to visit friends we'd met in London in 2012 when we both overwintered at St. Katharine's Dock. They also transited the NWP (in 2013, a 10,000 mile journey in one season!), so, we were looking forward to trading ice stories with them. As their boat is right in the central harbour, across from the grand old Empress hotel, we decided to splurge and take advantage of a special B&B rate being offered there. There weren't many guests in the hotel. Actually, half the hotel was closed off and covered in scaffolding as there was a large renovation going on. It didn't dampen the experience though. The hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas and somehow we ended up in one of the only two turret rooms in the hotel. It felt like a suite as the turret was just large enough to hold the round bed and the sitting area and luxury bathroom were separate. Breakfast was taken in the grand dining room which just oozed history, it felt very special.

We plan to return to Vancouver Island in the spring for a lengthier visit.

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Out and About around Vancouver

We've been comfortably ensconced in our Vancouver winter quarters for about six weeks now and are enjoying our stay very much, especially our ocean views. From our apartment we particularly enjoy watching the working boats, like this little beachcomber tug towing a log.

At ground level, the sea wall just outside our door also offers fine vistas. This one shows a huge flock of goldeneye ducks enjoying the calm conditions.

Next to our building is a 'Happy Rock', first one I've ever seen! Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but, it always brings a smile anyway. In case you can't read it, the words on the sign are 'HAPPY ROCK Just pat me to be happy'.

We're also enjoying many excursions. Our first pilgrimage was to visit the Vancouver Maritime Museum. It was a little disappointing with not much to look at, but, the primary purpose for our visit was there in all its restored glory and made up for the general lack of displays.  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) St. Roch, first Canadian boat to transit the North West Passage (she actually did it both ways) was fascinating to see 'in the flesh'. There were also a few displays of Maud (Amundsen's ship) artifacts which resonated with us as well.

We'd had to give Haines, Alaska and its bald eagle festival a miss in our rush to beat the snow on our road trip to Vancouver. We were very disappointed and so, it was a delight to find that the bald eagles also congregate at Harrison Mills, just a short drive from Vancouver. We didn't want to rush our visit so went for an overnight trip in the van. We booked onto a mini-jetboat tour that was excellent.

The jetboat was well able to hold station against the ferocious river flow and take us through very shallow waters to get us close (but not too close) to the eagles. There were hundreds resting on the river flats and feasting on salmon. They were in the trees and soaring on the thermals above us (note to self: don't look up in awe at eagles flying close overhead, one particularly low-flying eagle let loose with a rather large deposit that covered both of us. We had to wade in and wash off in the nearby stream).

There were many serious-looking lens and tripod-toting tourists about. After looking at our disappointing photos, zoom envy has now taken hold and it looks like camera replacement is on the horizon. Whatever we get, it won't be as gargantuan as this lens. This man's partner had an even larger lens and they both had to wear special chest harnesses to carry the weight of them.

The best our zoom could do is this. Hardly inspiring, but, maybe you can get the idea, the eagles were a truly wonderful sight.

Almost as good as seeing the eagles was visiting the farm animals at the farm B&B we'd chosen for the night, Blackberry Lane farm, near Agassiz BC.

In addition to the cows and goats we found in the barn, there was a resident barn cat who wasn't allowed in the house. His Blackberry Lane Institution Wanted poster clearly informed guests to watch out for his sneaky behaviour!

A walk around the resort town of Harrison Hot Springs, deserted in November, completed a delightful outing.

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