Endless Summer

After the glorious summer we've had in British Columbia this year it's certainly drawing to a close now. Leaves are changing and the weather has turned cool and wet once again. This year we've decided to treat ourselves to endless summer and are giving winter a miss by heading south, way south. In fact, south of the equator to the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. It will be our first trip ever south of the equator and after spending the last six years living on a small sailboat north of 50N, it will be a welcome treat. Currently boatless, having sold Gjoa back in January and hating the modern rigors of flying, the only other way to get there was by big ship. We were intrigued by the thought of cargo ship cruising and looked into it only to find that it's almost equivalent to the cost of going on a leisure cruise ship, where the cargo is all human (or more like all money) with better food and more stops. We didn't think big ship cruising would be our 'scene', but, were willing to give it a try and booked onto a 43 day cruise with Holland America Lines. Our boat will be the ms Noordam, which is a midsize ship by current standards, but, it seems huge to us. We've crossed the North Atlantic in just a 35 foot boat which is probably the size of one stateroom on this behemoth.

We will be stopping at twenty different ports of call: USA, Hawaii, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Australia and New Zealand. Maximum time at sea between ports is five days.

Waiting months for departure has been hard, but, finally, finally we're on our way tomorrow. It's all very exciting and we're looking forward to it. We will spend some time in both New Zealand and Australia on arrival. We're not sure what the internet access will be like, or cost, on the ship, so posts to this blog may be intermittent for the next couple of months. We are back on land November 8, the day we arrive in Auckland, New Zealand to what will be the start of a second Spring in 2016 for us!

CONTINUE READING

Winnipeg?

Winnipeg? Yes, Winnipeg...

We still had some time left to go before our cruise departure date and we had some business back east that needed attention, so, we embarked on a very quick one-week, 6,000 km round-trip across 1/2 the country to Winnipeg and back. The road is good and the traffic and weather weren't bad. It wasn't as onerous a trip as it might sound. We've driven across Canada a number of times now. Some might find it boring, but, each province is so different and beautiful in its own way that we find it an interesting trip each time.

Heading across southern BC the trees had started to change and there were swathes of brilliant yellow leaves that glowed in the autumn sunshine. Not as spectacular as fall leaves in Ontario, but, very pretty nonetheless. Alberta seemed newly full of wind farms and not in a good way, They spilled willy-nilly across the landscape crowning every slight knoll. Saskatchewan was its usual flat self, but, it was great to see the fields at harvest time, flowing with waves of golden grain.

Occasionally a small town would loom up, a few of which still have traditional grain elevators.

After crossing Manitoba, we just touched into Ontario. The landscape immediately changes dramatically into the Canadian Shield: rocky, pink granite outcrops with many deep, dark, beautiful lakes. We turned around and came back into Manitoba for a couple of stops in the Winnipeg area before heading back to BC.

First was the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba. Yes, we were interested in the heritage buildings, but, we were more interested in the restaurant onsite. There were many Mennonites in the rural area we lived in in southern Ontario when we were first married and this was when we were first exposed to 'Food that really Schmecks' (first published in 1968, this was the title of a Canadian classic Mennonite cookbook with a new (to me) word that was so evocative of the cuisine that the term has stuck with me all these years later). The book has been updated and republished and is available at https://www.amazon.ca/Food-That-Really-Schmecks-Staebler/dp/0889205213). The restaurant was great and after a feast of borscht, home-made bread and rhubarb dessert we toured the lovely, very interesting grounds.

We then headed toward the 'big smoke' of Winnipeg where we planned to put right an oversight that we'd become aware of last year when we'd met a couple of Australian cruisers in the North West Passage. They had made a special trip to Winnipeg to view the Hudson's Bay Company collection at the Winnipeg museum. We were so embarrassed, as Canadians, that we'd never even heard of it that we decided we must get there someday and so we did. It actually was a very small collection that we think could have been better. There must be thousands of artifacts and only a very few were on display. The museum seemed rather tired around the edges, so, we suppose that maybe it's the typical museum funding and space problems that are to blame. There were a few interesting things, like this child's jacket made from loon feathers.

Then, in a purpose-built gallery, there was the Nonsuch replica which made the trip worthwhile. The Nonsuch was the first ship to sail into Hudson's Bay in 1668. The success of its voyage and the furs brought back to London led directly to the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. The Company is still in business and is one of the oldest companies in the world, albeit now owned by an American firm.

The full-size replica was commissioned by the Company and was built in Devon, England in the late 1960's. It did sail around the English Channel for a while before being shipped to Canada aboard a cargo ship. The quality and detail is absolutely amazing and a sight to behold.

CONTINUE READING

Sunshine Coast Trail

As you may remember, the first week of May was the first week of our summer-long road trip. We spent it on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia which is a strip of developed coastline, on the mainland, running north from Vancouver. It's a somewhat isolated area as you need to take two ferries to reach its northernmost point, but, there are a number of very nice communities along this stretch: Gibson's, Sechelt, Powell River and Lund among them. Along the way we noticed a few signs indicating access to a hiking trail, the Sunshine Coast Trail http://sunshinecoast-trail.com/

We had recently decided to reacquaint ourselves with backpacking and equipped ourselves with new gear in anticipation of our upcoming voyage to New Zealand. We'd toyed with the idea of doing the famous Pacific Coast Trail, along the west shore of Vancouver Island, as a gear shakedown, but, because it's so famous, it's very busy and requires pre-booking of a hiking slot meaning you have to stick to a schedule, not our idea of a wilderness experience at all. In contrast, the Sunshine Coast Trail was relatively unknown, uncrowded, free and sounded more like it. So, when we found ourselves homeless after selling our camper van too quickly we thought a visit would be just the thing to use up some of the time before our departure date.

The Trail is 180 kilometres in length and is billed as Canada's longest hut-to-hut hiking trail. It was recently listed in Explore magazine as one of the fifty best hikes in the world. We didn't have the time, or more likely the stamina, to do the whole thing in one go. We decided on a 50 kilometre loop from Sarah Point to Powell River. This is advertised as a three day loop. We decided to stretch it out, take our time and doubled that estimate to take a week.

We took a water taxi from Lund to get to the start point and gradually worked our way through all the ups and downs (which can be as hard as the ups) of the trail. We found it a hard go in places, especially where there was sharp and crumbly rock on the trail, just waiting to twist your ankle. The trail was exceptionally well-marked and maintained, all done by volunteers. It was impossible to get lost.

We were lucky and only had one afternoon of rain in the entire week, but, it did bucket down almost every night. The sleeping bags and tent got damp and stayed that way. This was our first time camping in a rain forest and we found it not pleasant, it was like sleeping in a wet, green, sponge.

The drier and higher rock bluffs at the upper elevations did provide better camping and spectacular views in places. There were a couple of small lakes and ponds along the way which were supposed to have good swimming, but, the silty, mucky bottoms and snakes spotted in the water turned us off. We found ourselves missing the thousands of lakes in Ontario with their dark, clear water and smooth rock bottoms. We only saw three other hikers all week. The only wildlife we saw was a group of three young otters and the aforementioned snakes. One night, at dusk, there was an awfully loud crash which we attributed to a bear which must have tried to get at our food bag (hanging high up between trees) by standing on a huge, rotten log which broke off and crashed to the ground. Luckily, it didn't crash on the tent and also lucky the bear must have had a good scare because he didn't come back! Ironically, when we got back to 'civilization' G was making an early morning coffee run to Tim's when he had a close-up encounter with a huge bear nonchalantly strolling down the sidewalk in Powell River. This time of year, bears are a real problem there. Unfortunately 38 had to be destroyed last fall. They get into the garbage, compost and fruit trees.

The last time we did a backpacking trip it was so long ago that the only outfitter available was Canadian Tire, so, you can imagine what the gear was like: huge tubular aluminum backpacks, hiking boots of heavy leather with steel supports, tents and sleeping bags that were enormous and weighed a ton. We thought that all the new gear available now would help to make the experience a lot more enjoyable and we were right. We  relied heavily on the recommendations on http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/ and found their assessments and ratings to be very helpful in our choices.

1. Trekking poles - We'd seen people with these and thought they were an affectation, but, do they ever make a difference to your stride and confidence level, a must-have item.

2. Tent - We chose the Swedish Hilleberg Anjan 2. It's not available in Canada, but, was worth the effort to import it from the US. It weighs just 58 ounces and is a breeze to erect.

3. Sleeping Pads - The item that made the most difference to our comfort was our choice of sleeping pad. We went with the crazy expensive Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite and it was worth every penny. It is light (340g), doesn't bottom out, doesn't deflate during the night and keeps you warm, dry and comfortable. It also rolls up into a tiny bag. We added a couple of ultralight inflatable pillows which added to the comfort level.

4. Backpacks - Osprey Aura AG 50 for A, Osprey Atmos AG 65 for G. We were able to pack enough food and gear for a week's trip in these.

5. Chairs - There's nothing worse than trying to get comfortable in camp when you might only have a wet rock, or, log to sit on. These Helinox Ground Chairs, available at MEC http://www.mec.ca are an incredible design, they fold up into a tiny bag that weighs just 640g, provide great back support, allow you to stretch out your legs and are very comfortable.
 

6. Camp Stove - MSR Pocket Rocket. Inexpensive, small and light enough to carry two, we also had these on our sailboat for backup cooking facilities.

7. Sleeping Bags - Although new and lighter sleeping bags were enticing, we decided to keep our old Kluane Mountaineering down sleeping bags that we mail ordered from Edmonton around 1981. They cost a fortune back then, but, have proved their worth over the years. They don't leak down and still keep us warm, so why change. Out of curiosity, I just checked and Kluane Mountaineering is still in business http://kluane.ca/

Now that we are so well-equipped it opens up a lot of free backpacking and backcountry camping opportunities that may hopefully balance out the cost of all the great new kit. We've already spent more than a month living in the new tent which is certainly cheaper than a hotel.

CONTINUE READING

End of Road Trip

Sadly, the time had come when we needed to return to Vancouver to sell the van and prepare for the next phase in this adventure. We gave ourselves plenty of time to sell, we had four weeks before we would get desperate. We were unsure of the market and it was the end of the season. After researching BC out-of-province vehicle import rules (this is one country, right?) we were happy to find that we were exempt from import certification requirements as we exceeded 3,501 kg. We rented a storage unit, dumped the van contents there and spent a couple of days cleaning what had been our only home for the last four months. With everything looking really good the ad went up on kijiji on Friday and we crossed our fingers. The hit counter went up and up and exceeded 400 very quickly, 21 inquiries followed, there were three offers and the van was gone on Sunday! Maybe we'd priced it too low? Now, all of a sudden, too quickly, we were totally homeless.

Out came the tent and we were "lucky" to secure a campsite at the Capilano River RV Park just down the street from where our winter rental apartment had been located in West Vancouver. It's in an ideal location for visiting Vancouver, if you don't mind traffic noise, as it's almost underneath the Lion's Gate Bridge. It soon began to grate on our nerves though, we felt as if we were living in a roadside ditch, which we were! Crammed in beside neighbours on one side that liked to play and sing along to loud rap music and French tourists smoking Gauloises generating blue clouds of smoke on the other, queuing up for morning showers and nightly visits by urban skunks and raccoons jarred our senses and we had to come up with a plan to get ourselves out of there, fast! When you're homeless, without a vehicle and naturally parsimonious it was difficult to come up with ideas, but, as usual, we did.

First, we decided to have a rest to recover from a bout with the flu and cashed in some points for a six night hotel stay at the Sheraton in Surrey, what luxury after living in a van all summer. Points programs seem to be getting a lot of bad press recently and rightly so. Long ago, we cancelled all our points programs except for one. The Starwood Preferred Guest program http://www.spg.com has been invaluable. This year alone we've had eleven free reward nights at very nice hotels. Points are accumulated 1:1 for every dollar spent on our Starwood American Express card which we try and use at every opportunity. $3,000 on the card means a free hotel night (some hotels, newer and fancier, cost more points). This sounds like an infomercial, but, we find this an amazing value and hope it doesn't change.

Then, rested and reorganized we decided to go for a walk, a long fifty kilometre walk, along the Sunshine Coast Trail.

CONTINUE READING

Sandon BC

On our recent Kootenay Rockies road trip circuit, we visited the ghost town of Sandon BC, one of many such boom and bust gold towns scattered throughout the Province. Some are in better shape than others and most have a tiny few dedicated remaining residents who try and keep the unique history of each town alive. Each town usually has at least one feature which make a worthwhile visit. In addition to Sandon's history of unfortunate natural disasters, both fire and flood, it has quite a few unique features.

A very impressive wooden three storey town hall, dated 1900 still stands.

This general store, now museum, is a reproduction of  the building that stood there originally. the first of many restorations planned for the town.

The jewel is the still-operating Silversmith Powerhouse operated by the Silversmith Power and Light Corporation. This plant is the oldest continually-operating hydro plant in Canada and one of the oldest of its type in the world. It was built in 1897 and is a beautifully-preserved operating example of the earliest AC generating plants, a working Westinghouse generator and water turbine driven by a small creek running from the mountains above. In the picture below you can just see the creek where it exits from underneath the building.

Sandon is also participating in other historical preservation initiatives, like this steam locomotive,

and these electric transit vehicles.

Note the wooden folding doors on these electric trolley buses.

CONTINUE READING