MELBOURNE

The next leg of our Australian trip was Melbourne, the so called sporting capital of the world. On arriving at the airport we were met by m y daughter Kellie who had flown down to Melbourne to meet us. It was great to see her again.


We caught a cab from the airport to our accommodation in the suburb of South Yarra. I had booked the accommodation on the net and it appeared to be a great bargain, $120 a night for five people. We weren’t expecting anything flash, just comfortable.


From the outside the place didn’t look to promising, a non-descript block of flats. We marched up the flight of stairs and entered the flat. My first impression was one of “god what have I done.”


The flat was super tiny. I entered and poked my head around the corner and took a quick step back. Tammie looked at me with a “what’s wrong” look on her face. The one bedroom had a queen sized bed and a set of double bunks and it looked as if someone was sleeping in the bottom bunk. I gingerly prodded the bedcover with a toe. Nothing moved. I moved toward the bed and ripped the covers off with one swift movement. There was nothing hiding under the covers thankfully.


On closer inspection we found that all of the beds were unmade, the bathroom was a mess and not at all clean. The flat consisted of a small living area with a foldout bed, small kitchen and the one bedroom. Not a great way to start our stay.


We kicked the girls out and Tammie and I set forth to clean the place up. The end result was much better at least the place was clean. We saved money but paid the price of sub-standard accommodation.


I contacted the owner who blamed everyone, he came across to me as a real shylock. He promised me a refund of a day’s rental as well as free accommodation in one of his other houses. In the end I received half a day’s refund and a lot of hot air. Lesson learnt.


Over the next four days I caught up with good friends and did minimal sightseeing. Tammie and I went into Melbourne central and went to the State Library in the centre of the city. Tammie was keen to see Ned Kelly’s armour that is on display on the upper library levels.


As we approached the glass case that houses the armour we were horrified to find the case empty. There was a note attached to the case that stated that the armour had been removed so it could be shipped to Glenrowan for the Ned Kelly weekend. The armour would be back on display on the day we left Melbourne. Damn!


The girls did lots of shopping as we were staying near the swank shopping precinct of Chapple Street. The days flew by and we soon found ourselves in a taxi on the way back to the airport. Our Melbourne leg of the trip was over.

AUSTRALIA BOUND

After a lot of anticipation, waiting and mucking around the day finally arrived when we were to leave for Australia.


A problem that confronted us was how to get to Vancouver airport. The car was too small to fit us all in, to catch a flight to Vancouver we would have to travel to Kelowna which is 100k’s away and the car issue would present itself again. We tried to hire a car but all the local car companies wouldn’t do one-way hires. We looked at the Greyhound bus and that was somewhat viable, though the usual 4 hour plus trip would turn into 7 plus hours and a lot of bus changing.
A conundrum indeed!

In the end a friend of ours Ramona came through and offered to drive us to the airport.
It was a flurry of activity in the last hours as we did the final packing and made sure that the house was in order. So at around midday we all piled into Ramona’s van and headed off to Vancouver airport.

Now one thing we hadn’t added to our calculations was that Monday, 02 August was the British Columbia Day public holiday. The traffic to the town of Merritt was heavier than usual and we pulled off there to get gas. Big mistake! The town was gridlocked with vehicles; the lineup to get gas was 10 or more cars long in every station. The fast food joints were packed. So a stop that should have been a short one quickly turned into a long one.
Once on the road again we noticed more and more traffic and we halted to a crawl when we were more than 150k’s from Vancouver alarm bells started to toll. That first bumper to bumper stall was the result of an accident but the closer we got the more frequent the stops began. Mild panic started to set in.
Tammie started to work the phone to find a solution and she did. She arranged for a local cab company to meet us at a designated point just off the highway. The cab had the local knowledge to get us all to the airport much quicker than Ramona could use what little local knowledge we all had.
The cab was waiting as we pulled up and we quickly transferred all of our bags and set off. True to the cabbies word he had us at the airport in 40 minutes which was 70 minutes before our flight. We all piled out of the cab and made our way to check-in. It was there that Cameo realized that she had left her laptop in the cab. Damn!!
Tammie made a flurry of phone calls to try and track the cabbie down. Initially she had no luck.


Check-in went smoothly enough but security was a nightmare, it was the most stringent security check I have ever gone through anywhere in the world and it included a full body scan with one of the newly introduced body-scanning machines.

Finally we were all done and made our way through US Immigration, which I always find strange that you pass through US Immigration on Canadian soil and once through you are in the USA even though you are still in Vancouver Airport.
Whilst waiting to board our United flight to San Francisco Tammie received the news that the laptop had been located and would be held at the taxi company office. It was nice to receive some positive news for a change.
The flight to San Francisco was full and none of us sat together. We had a very short layover in San Francisco before boarding our 747 flight to Sydney at 2310. This flight was fully booked and we were lucky to get a row of four seats together. The first shock was that there were no individual entertainment systems in the seats, something that I haven’t experienced in any international airline for the past four years. Oh well we would have to put up with long-range viewing of whatever they served up.


The flight was okay and we were in darkness for the entire 14 hour duration We slept fitfully through the flight and arrived at Sydney blurry eyed at just after 6 am in the morning.


The adventure had begun!

LONG TRIPS

It is 4:45 on a Friday morning and I am sitting here questioning why I get up at 2:30 in the morning to watch a football game from the other side of the world. It appears to be an easy thing to do when your side wins, but when they lose you question your sanity.


Still, I had to be up early this morning to take my two sons to the airport for them to start their long journey back to Australia.


Their first leg will be a 75 minute drive to the regional airport at Kelowna for a 50 minute flight to Vancouver. They will have a four hour wait there until they catch a V Australia flight to Los Angles. There they have a seven hour layover and I suggested to them that they catch a cab to Venice Beach which is only seven miles from LAX.


Of course that is the easy part of the trip as they then face a 14 hour flight back to Brisbane, Australia. They leave just before midnight on Friday and don’t land in Brisbane until 7am on the Sunday morning. A long, long trip from Okanagan Falls!


It has been great having them both here in Canada with us and I hope that they have enjoyed their time here and that the visit has broadened their horizons and given them both the desire to travel more in the future.


We will soon be travelling in their footsteps as we take off for Australia this coming Monday. Our route will be a little different as we will get a ride to Vancouver airport and then take an early evening United Airlines flight to San Francisco. We will then have a short stopover there before boarding a United Airlines flight for Sydney.

We then have four days in Sydney and Melbourne followed by eight days in Brisbane. We then fly to Darwin for five days before we split. I will stay in Darwin whilst Tammie and the girls fly back to Brisbane before departing for Canada.


Exciting times ahead!

GABRIOLA ISLAND

The aim of our visit to Gabriola Island was to swim, go clam hunting and kayaking in the hope of seeing a killer whale or two, unfortunately plans don’t always work out the way they are supposed to.


The advertisement for the beach cabin we booked stated that the cabin was located on the beach. Well that wasn’t quite correct as we had a road separating us from the beach which was rocky rather than sandy.


Never mind, Tammie and I went for a swim in the late afternoon. The water was refreshingly cool. The cabin was basic but had all we needed to enjoy our stay. We had a quiet night at the cabin and made our plans for the next day.

During the night Mother Nature decided to intervene by sending a might north-westerly wind to whip up the waves and blow the tops off the trees. The sound of the wind awoke me at dawn and I walked or should I say was blown down to the beach to see long lines of whitecaps and waves pounding the shore. I knew that there would be no water activities that day.


So kayaking and the beach was out, perhaps we could still go clam hunting. No that was quickly ruled out when the landlord informed us that you needed a permit to hunt clams. Damn!


All that was left was to explore the island by Jeep. The drive around the island took around half an hour. There was minimal traffic on the road so it was a leisurely drive. We decided to check out the petroglyphs that Gabriola is famous for.


Petroglyphs are basically carvings that are carved into rock. It is believed that the petroglyphs on Gabriola were carved around the 15th century or earlier but this is open to conjecture.

Most of the petroglyphs were discovered in the 1970’s. Casts were taken of the originals and those casts are now displayed at the Gabriola Museum. The originals are kept hidden away for safe keeping. There are some originals that are available for viewing and they are located in a bushy area behind a church on the island. We were lucky enough to see both sets.

The images appear to be both mythical and factual. Whales, birds, people and fish share space with winged creatures and serpents. Experts believe that some of the petroglyphs were used in ceremonies whilst others were used to record day to day events.

We had an early start the next day to catch the early ferry back to Vancouver Island. As it usually turns out the wind had stopped blowing and the ocean was calm. We thought that we had left early enough to get a good place in the ferry line up and we were dismayed when we turned up to find a long line of cars already waiting.

We were more forlorn as the line started to move and we spied a sign posted to a pole stating that this point marked the last car to board the ferry. But the line kept moving and soon only a few cars from boarding the ferry. Surely we wouldn’t be the last car to be stopped. Our luck held and we made it aboard with two cars to spare. We were on our way back to Okanagan Falls, via Harrison Hot Springs.
We needed fuel when we landed in Vancouver Island so I pulled into a gas station. Whilst there two young girls approached the car and asked if we had a doobie to sell. Now I must admit to my ignorance and having no idea of what a doobie was but from the guffaws of my son’s in the back of the Jeep I quickly gathered that it was drug-related.

I said to the girls, somewhat harshly do I look like someone who would be selling a doobie? They just smiled at me sweetly, thanked me and walked away.
I wasn’t sure if I should have been angry or happy at their request. I chose to be perplexed.

 
 
 

FERRIES

Instead of driving all the way back to Tsawwassen which is just over the border in Canada we decided to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island from Anacortes which is halfway between Seattle and Vancouver.

The ferry left at 8:15am so we had to leave Seattle before six in the morning to ensure we were there in time to catch the ferry. Unfortunately for us it was a chilly foggy morning which wasn’t really conducive to travelling in an open top Jeep. We all froze on the trip especially the boys who were in the back and had little protection. The sun only poked its head through the fog as we reached the ferry terminal.

It was only a short line up and we didn’t have to wait long to board. The strange thing was that we boarded the ferry without clearing US Immigration and Customs. So they had a record of us entering the country but none of us leaving. I just hoped that this wouldn’t pose a problem the next time I entered the States.

The ferry was comfortable and sold a mean clam chowder which helped to warm us all up. The view was fabulous as the sun was now out in full force and the sea sparkled and the numerous islands that we passed shone.

The two hour trip to Sidney on Vancouver Island passed quickly and we were soon on our way off the ferry. We did pass through Canadian Immigration but it was just a cursory look at passports.

Our next goal was to find the ferry that would take us to Gabriola Island, our destination. Our GPS led us astray as we selected the quickest route which according to the GPS included another ferry crossing. It was a great idea in practice but not if the ferry isn’t due for another 45 minutes when you arrive. All we could do was back-track and rush for the terminal.

We just missed the ferry so we headed across the road from the ferry terminal to a small mall where we were able to watch the last 25 minutes of the world cup final. As we headed back to the Jeep I patted my pockets to find my wallet and soon came to the realization that I didn’t have it with me. I must have lost it when I made a purchase in a department store.

I rushed back to the store to find the cashier who served me missing. Then I spied her at the end of the store, hunched over writing. As I got closer I saw my wallet on the counter beside her. Relief! The cashier said that I must have dropped my wallet and a woman picked it up and handed it in. What a lucky fellow I am as the money was stuffed with not only Canadian dollars but Australian currency and Euro’s.

After a scolding from Tammie we boarded the ferry for the 20 minute trip to Gabriola Island. The island has a permanent population of 5,000, but this swells to 10,000 in the summer. We had book a cottage by the beach and were looking forward to a couple of days of exploration, swimming and kayaking.

KOOZA - CIRQUE du SOLEIL

Tammie had a birthday whilst we were in Seattle and to celebrate the event I took Tammie, Greg and Sean to see the Cirque du Soleil presentation of their latest event, Kooza.


I have heard about Cirque du Soleil for years but admit that I really know very little about it. I looked on the internet but that really didn’t give me much of an insight into what goes on. I suppose I really expected some sort of high-brow, arty-farty event with performers in silly costumes leaping around the stage doing silly things.


I was wrong!


We decided to take a cab to the event as it was on the other side of Seattle to where we were staying. The Circus was held in a huge park to the east of Seattle. As the cab pulled into the park we spied the blue and yellow, conical shape big top. A stream of people headed for the entrance.


There was an air of excitement as people thronged the outer extremities of the big top waiting to take their seats. A buzzer rang and a rush of people headed deeper into the huge tent to find and take their seats.

Though the area was compact it was amazing how much room there was inside. We had great seats near to the stage with an unimpeded view. Whilst waiting for the show to begin the audience was entertained by a variety of acts that took place in and around the audience. Everyone who sat there was on notice that they could be used as a prop for entertainment and derision. Most people shrunk back into their seats hoping to become unnoticeable to the wandering performers.


The thought struck me that perhaps this wasn’t going to be the performance I expected.


Basically Kooza is some sort of androgynous character who is given a special baton. Actually let’s not concentrate on Kooza as he/she is really only a backdrop to the show that links the acts. The star of Cirque du Soleil is the performing acrobats, daredevils and comedians who keep the audience both entertained and gasping in amazement.


Cirque du Soleil presents two beautiful girls who twist themselves into amazing body-bending shapes, trapeze artists, acrobats, high-wire acts. Well the list goes on and on. All of this is accompanied by a core group of comedians, clowns if you will who keep the audience in stitches of laughter with their antics. This crew also loves to involve the audience and many of those sitting in the audience were left red faced and slightly embarrassed, but none the less laughing.

The costumes were amazing and the set decoration was fantastic. The music was live and the two singers who accompanied the acts were superb.


I often looked across at Gregory and Sean to see if they were enjoying the show and every time I did they had huge grins on their faces. When asked what has been their favourite moment of their two week trip to Canada and the USA they answer without hesitation, Cirque du Soleil. Enough said!

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/kooza/default.aspx

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

As my two sons’ who are visiting from Australia are avid sport fans I decided to take them to an American League Baseball (MLB) game. The closest MLB game to their arrival point in Vancouver was Seattle so a few days after arriving we took the 300 odd kilometer trip down to Seattle.

The major embuggerance on the trip down was the hold-up at the Peace Arch border crossing. There was a long, long line of cars waiting to cross the border and it took over an hour to get to the checkpoint. Not an easy task when you are sitting in an open-topped Jeep on a hot day.

Further complications arose at the checkpoint as I had to get my visa validated which meant parking the car and entering the border protection building. The line was well out the door and you could feel the agitation in the air as just two officers served customers. This was bought about as there was some major incident at our time of crossing as a whole posse of police and Homeland Security guys bundled a fellow in handcuffs into the building.

The lineup was a real united nations of people all trying to get into the USA and by the look and angst on some faces a few didn’t make it. Finally our time came at the front of the line and I dutifully handed over my passport. The guy behind the counter asked where I was going and I told him a MLB game in Seattle. He asked what team would I be supporting. A no-brainer that one. Seattle Mariners I said. Good answer he replied and I was in. Simple as that the gateway to the USA is supporting the correct sports team!


The rest of the trip was easy except for the traffic in downtown Seattle. We found our bed and breakfast which was located in the old and exclusive part of town called Capitol Hill. It was a lovely old house with a view to Mt Rainier, but no air conditioning and a shared bathroom.

The game started at 7pm so we caught a cab. It was just a short trip to Safeco Field which cost $10. It was by far the smartest way to get to the game as we were dropped out the front and we avoided the parking fee of $25.


It is not a cheap experience going to a MLB game. We had second tier seats which cost $55. Then they plied on a number of add on costs such as ground improvement and a few others that I had no idea what they were so the final cost with tax came out at over $70.
The field was huge with a retractable roof. When we entered there were throngs of people everywhere and the multitude of concession stands were doing a roaring trade. Whereas in Australia the food-fare at sports events is reasonably basic, here at Safeco it was a smorgasbord of many food types and variety. Alcohol stands were everywhere as was stands selling all types of souvenirs and game paraphernalia. Several universities had even set up information stands inside the stadium. Just what a person needs go to a ball game to sign up for university.

We found our seats okay and sat there for a while dumbstruck at the size of the stadium and all that was going on, both on the field and off. I don’t think any of us quite knew where to look and what to take in.


The Seattle Mariners were playing the iconic New York Yankees who are only behind Manchester United in sporting recognition around the world. They exuded confidence and arrogance as they practiced on the field.
A large proportion of fans had on their team colours and it was amazing to see almost as many NY Yankee fans as Mariner fans. They were vocal especially a group of young girls who sat behind us yelling out a Yankee’s chant that ended with a high pitched Gooooooo Yankeeeeeee’s! It was cute the first three or four times but by the third innings you wanted to strangle them especially if you were a Mariners supporter.

 I must admit the game itself didn’t hold a lot of interest. There was just one home run and the rest was fairly predicable. Compared too many sports there doesn’t appear to be a lot of physicality in the game as the basemen and outfielders just stand around, waiting a lot of the time the only exercise some of them get is chewing their wads of chewing tobacco.

The attraction though was the occasion of a major American sporting event. There was just so much to take in to see and to hear. The biggest cheers and interest at times appeared to be the speedboat races and games that appeared on the big screen. It was just like a huge Playsation game and everyone appeared to get involved in the race or game and hooted and hollered for their choice. Weird!
Satisfied we left the game before the end to miss the mad-leaving rush. The Mariners were done easily beaten by the Yankees. On the way out we visited the Mariner’s store which is contained within the stadium. There is just one word for it….huge! The store was like a mini department store with every conceivable type of team merchandise. Amazing!

We did beat the rush and picked up a cab without any problems at all. The sun had just set and it was a warm, balmy evening, perfect for watching baseball.


Was it worth it? Damn right it was!

GRANVILLE STREET - VANCOUVER

Granville Street, Vancouver……..every city has one. You know that street in the part of town you don’t tell your mother you’re going to. A place that is full of vice and promise and a place where in no time at all you can find all the trouble you desire.


The somewhat strange aspect of Granville Street is that it is slap-bang in the centre of downtown Vancouver. Granville actually leads onto the main shopping street in Vancouver, Robson Street.

Granville Street is home to many of the lower priced, central city hotels, so a host of wide-eyed tourists traipse up and down Granville in wide-eyed wonder. Many in wide-eyed horror. I have stayed in such a low-priced hotel on Granville Street a couple of times now and wandered the street on many occasions. Although no expert on this city-centre part of Granville I am a keen observer of what goes on there.


If you were to walk down Granville around breakfast time you could probably get away with firing a shot down the middle of the road and not hit anyone as most of the denizen’s of Granville are late afternoon and night creatures. At this time of day the clean up from the night before goes on. A few drunken, hardy souls weave their unsteady way down the street searching for home or a darkened doorway to lie in.

There is a smattering of businesses along this part of Granville, fast-food outlets, sports stores and clothing shops but the most numerous tenants of the street are clubs and pubs, tattoo parlours and sex shops. Most lie dormant during the day and only spring into life in the hours of darkness as that is when Granville Street really comes to life.

As you walk along Granville at night your senses are pervaded by all manner of sight, sound and smells. There appears to be a beggar in every doorway, most with a chunk of cardboard with a message on it, my favourite being; “Homeless, Hungry and HIV positive.” A real winner that one it just makes me want to give.


Others are a little more industrious and they play a musical instrument, sing, well sort of, tell jokes or my favourite, play the spoons. The spoon man has a gammy leg, few teeth and wanders up and down Granville offering to play tunes with his spoons. He appears to pop up everywhere. One moment you see him outside your hotel and a few moments later he is on the other side of the road on the corner of Robson. How does he get there so quick? As he walks along he clicks the spoons on his leg in cadence with his limp. There is nothing much to it but it does have a certain mesmerizing tone to it. Spoon man is a hard worker as well, we saw him late one afternoon plying his clinking trade and from my hotel balcony 10 hours later I heard the spoons and then saw him accosting late night drunks as they left the clubs. No standard work day for spoon man it appears.


Fighting for doorway space with the beggars is a generally motley crew who appear to have no income or future. They are young people who are dressed in all manner of weird, colourful, torn and disheveled clothing. Tattoos are there badges of honour and tell their life story. Hair is optional or at the very least colourful. They often have a dog or two and sit in the doorway, chatting or trying to play and sing a musical instrument. They appear oblivious to the tourists who give them a wide berth and a distasteful look as they pass.

 The sex shops that advertise peep shows for 25 cents do a roaring trade with constant traffic in and out of their doors. Many tourists appear to shield their eyes and fumble in their clothing for a crucifix as they scurry past.


Night also brings out all the beautiful young things to Granville. The night clubs throb to the beat of music; long lines appear at the doorway where up to 10 burly bouncers, usually heavily tattooed stand arms folded in their apparent superiority. By their demeanor you would think these goons are the masters of the universe instead of plain dumb, intimidating muscle.


Granville around midnight is a people watchers paradise your eyes dart this way and that as there is always something going on. Girls parade past is the shortest of skirts, usually in a pack and a closely followed by drunken groups of young men doing stupid things to impress said girls. Sometimes they are impressed but more usually they are not.


The smell of marijuana fills the air; people appear to smoke the weed without fear of arrest. Young people stagger down the street looking for somewhere to be sick or hoping to find an easy way back home.


The throb from the nightclubs goes on and on. Granville Street has a life of its own.


Not once on these nightly wanders have I seen a police officer, not a one. Does that mean that there is no crime on Granville or is the crime self-regulated?


What I do know is that I find Granville Street an interesting amalgam of all levels of society, I am never bored walking the street just glad I don’t have to live the life and that I am beyond the days of nightclubbing and spoon-playing.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Our latest road-trip started with a very early morning start for the drive to Kelowna airport to see Cameo off on her summer trip to Ontario. Everything went smoothly and we were soon on our way to Vancouver Airport to pick up Sean and Greg.


As always the trip over the Rocky Mountains was inspiring. I have now done this trip more than 10 times and the wonder of the Rockies never ceases to amaze me with their sheer size and presence. Even though it is summer the higher reaches of the mountains are still covered with snow.


Once across the Rockies you reach the fertile flatlands that grow a variety of produce, the smell of fertilizer hangs in the summer air. The arrival at the flatlands also means that the traffic increases ten-fold and soon we start experiencing stop-start traffic snarls.


Our schedule is blown out by the traffic delays and we arrive at Vancouver Airport 30 minutes late. We have no idea if the boys have arrived or not. I get out of the car as Tammie goes and looks for a park.


I enter the packed arrival lounge and I am met by a wall of people. I crane my neck to see over the mass of people. A familiar voice comes from my left. “Dad”. And there they were having arrived safe and sound.


A quick greeting and we were on our way out of the arrival area to meet up with Tammie. More greetings and flinging their bags into the tiny TJ we were on our way into central Vancouver to find our hotel.

On check-in Tammie became our Canadian “chauffer” as the booking was made for three. The clerk looked on dubiously at this suggestion but said nothing. The room was fine we were on a high floor that allowed us a view of the city-scape.


Though tired we went for a quick walk up Granville street and had a bite to eat. As it was Sean and Greg’s first overseas trip everything was interesting and quick comparisons were made. Sean was almost falling asleep into his hamburger so he went off for a sleep as Greg had his rest a few hours later. The Canada trip was on.

SLACK!!

Yes, I know it has been a while since I have posted here. There is just one word for it, slack! It is partly the fault of inspiration.....I haven't had any for a few days and just getting around to it.

I always wonder if anyone cares or reads the blog but to my amazement I have had a few emails to let me know how slack I am. So here goes.

Firstly another Southern Okanagan weather update. Well the weather here is best summed up using a singular word again. Shit!! It is the height of summer here, folks have flocked to the area from all over Canada and the world to sample the lakes and the great weather.

Well it hasn't happened. It has been chilly, drab and wet these past few weeks and we haven't had a temperature above 26c in that time. Some days the temperature has maxed out in the mid-teens. And rain! There has been lots of it.

We no sooner take the top off the Jeep (TJ) and we find ourseleves putting it back on again. When you do ride in the TJ with the top down you ever freeze or get wet. Damn!

But all is not lost! Looking ahead the forecast states that the temperature will be in the thirties for the next week. No doubt I will be bitching about the heat in a future blog.

Not a lot of adventures in the past few weeks. Our guests have flown back to Ontario and we are busily preparing the house to rent out whilst we travel in Australia in August. It appears to be a sound decision to rent the place out rather than leave it empty for a month.

Tammie's eldest daughter, Mac has moved to Ontario where she will start university in the Autumn, the house is a little quieter and tidier for that.

The first of July was Canada day and celebrations were held across the country. We ventured down to the border town of Osoyoos to watch the fireworks display on the lake. An impressive show it was to and the pyrotechnics lasted for half an hour. Even the light rain didn't dappen the display.

Two of my son's arrive in Vancouver on the 7th July, something that I am really looking forward to. We have the first few nights in Vancouver and then drive down to Seattle to watch a Major League baseball game. The New York Yankees V the Seattle Mariners. It should be great.

After a few days in Seattle we then drive up the coast, catch a ferry for the 2 hour crossing to Gabriola Island to spend a few days kayaking, clamming and swimming. Life is tough I know.

The next day we make the trek back to Ok Falls across the Rockies which in the summer is a wonderful sight.

So a few more adventures to come so no excuses for not posting.

SPOTTED LAKE

Finally some warmish weather! The top is back off the Jeep and we are reveling in the wind blowing through our hair as we drive around.



Once again the past week has been relatively quiet with household chores taking up most of our time. Cameo played her last soccer match over the weekend. The year concluded with a tournament and the girls finished a good season with a loss on Friday night and a victory on Saturday.



The season is so short here, just a little over eight weeks. It does mean that we will now have our Thursday nights and Saturdays back again.

Tammie’s mother, sister and niece flew in from Ontario late on Sunday night. There was a mix up with the hire car which meant that they had to stay in a motel in Kelowna on Sunday night. Tammie drove back to OK Falls and her and I drove to Kelowna on Monday morning and hired an 8 seater van from the airport. What a great a bran new van for 7 days and only $280. Unfortunately you then have to add insurance, taxes and other surcharges but a great deal all the same.



On Wednesday afternoon the whole crew drove south towards the USA border to check out a local Indian sacred sight called Spotted Lake. The lake is just off the highway and protected by a heavy gate. We were lucky enough to gain access to Spotted Lake which is a rather wondrous sight.

 

The lake is cradled in between a range of low mountains. As a body of water it would be nothing special at all. What does make it special is that there are 365 circles of varying sizes within the lake, hence the name Spotted Lake.

The local Indian’s believe that the Lake holds healing power and they have been using the Lake for this purpose for as long as they can remember.



Curious I scooped up a handful of lake-water to have a taste. Yuk! It tasted terrible. The water was chock-full of minerals, salt and other unknown ingredients that made the water taste terrible. The taste lingered on and on and stained my hand white. I was actually amazed to see that small organisms lived in the water.

 

It is Mac’s graduation celebrations over the next few days and then everyone (including the dog) will scatter.

 

It was a great effort by the Socceroos this morning to beat Serbia 2-1. It was just a shame that they were beaten 4-0 by Germany in the first game as that put them behind the eight ball from the start of the tournament. In the end only goal difference stopped them moving onto the next round.



Canadian TV showed the Germany V Ghana game live so I had to revert to the internet. I couldn’t find the game and missed the entire first half. When I did find the game it was a Chinese feed so I had to mute the volume. I then lost that feed and watched a feed coming in from Brazil. Crazy!

MAC'S PROM

The rain continues to fall here in the South Okanagan and this is unseasonal to say the least. Wherever I go the weather is the hot topic of conversation. At the same time last year there was little to no rain at all and the daily temperatures were in the high twenties and thirties. For the past month it has rained most days and on most of those occasions the temperature has struggled to climb of the twenty degree mark.

Fortunately the weekend gone by was a little different, sunny and temperatures in the mid to high twenties. That was a good excuse to hit our small, lakeside beach with the fantastic views. The Christie Memorial Park beach would have to be the prettiest beach in all of the Okanagan and what makes it even better is that it is a secret to most and even on the hottest of summer days the beach is never crowded.


An added bonus of this beach is a portion of it is reserved for dogs and it is not uncommon to see a bunch of dogs chasing one another or balls into the water. Tammie and I went for a dip both days and the water was cold……..very cold!

Tammie’s eldest daughter McKenzie had her high school prom last Friday night. Mac looked great in a vintage dress we got for her in Vancouver. Tammie arranged a 1957 Metropolitan car to take her to the Prom. It is such a tiny vehicle that it was a squeeze to fit both her and the date into the car.

Apparently for some in this area the age of chivalry is over as Mac’s date did none of the organizing for the big night. Mac had to pick him up only to find him undressed and uninspired. He threw on an odd assortment of clothes which appeared to have been salvaged from the local Salvation Army store. He didn’t buy a corsage for Mac though Mac did buy a button-hole flower for him.

Sometimes we all make bad choices.


Now that the prom is over graduation is a just a week or so away and soon after that Mac will fly off to Ontario to start university there in September.


Our July plans are little up in the air at the moment. Two of my son’s arrive in Vancouver on the 7th July. Originally we were going to buy an RV and head towards Alaska, but that fell through when we realized that would not be an economical move. I was also going to take them down to Seattle to see a major league baseball game but that is in doubt now as well. Regardless of this they will have a great time here, the weather should be warm by then (hopefully) and if nothing else they will escape the Australian winter cold.

Spotted my first bear yesterday! This is the first one I have seen on this visit. It was just a fleeting glimpse from the car as we sped down Highway 97. The bear was only a little ways from the highway unconcerned with the traffic and noise. He was just poking along probably on the lookout for berries. There have been local reports of late that bear(s) have been raining garbage cans in Okanagan Falls. Perhaps this was one of the culprits.


We have visitors arriving this weekend and it is really the start of a busy two month period for us all.

GO THE SOCCEROOS!!

Gee it has been a quiet last week or so, hence the lack of content. It is really the quiet time before a flurry of activity. The weather has been ordinary with locals stating that it is the wettest spring they can remember.



The southern Okanagan region where we live is considered ecologically to be desert country but it is anything but at the moment with everything being lush and green. The temperature has crawled into the high teens most days rarely threatening the twenty mark. The beach calls but the water in Skaha Lake is still damn cold.



Now we only have the Jeep we play a constant game of top off/top on, no small task in itself. It is a real pain actually as before we go anywhere we have to predict whether it will rain or be too cold with the top off. The upshot is if we need to fit bulky items in the Jeep (which we have recently) we have to remove the top.



The good news is that the forecast for the weekend is hot and sunny with a top of around 28c. That means we can hit the beach!



We have been doing our version of spring cleaning a new railing has gone up on the deck as well as a lot of cosmetic changes around the place with more to come. I even put a new BBQ together the other day which for me is a huge task. The instruction manual almost scared me off at the start as it was thick and foolscap size. That I assembled it with a minimum of fuss was amazing.


We have family coming in a little more than a week’s time. Mac has her Prom on Friday evening and graduation later in the month and in early July two of my son’s hit Canada for a 3 week visit. The day they head back home Tammie, the two girls and I head downunder for a 3 week visit.


I would love to have everything booked and in place but because of this and that all I have been able to book is a trip for me to Darwin later in August for some RAAF Reserve training. Hopefully it will all come together soon.



I have fixed my watching sport via the internet problems but it cost me $300. I called a computer technician in to look at the desktop as well as my laptop. He was here for five and half hours at $98 an hour. I was getting more and more agitated as time wore on. In the end he couldn’t fix the desktop. He concluded it needed a new hard drive. Damn! My laptop is running marginally better and at least I can access sport online.



Because he couldn’t fix the desktop he said I would only have to pay $400. I said no way and we settled on $300 with him to return and fit a hard drive. I am still waiting.



I am looking forward to the World Cup starting this weekend. The South African time zone suits Canada and most games will be on late morning early afternoon.



Go the Socceroos!!!!!

FRUSTRATION

Frustration! The word means different things to each and every one of us.


To me frustration is paying to watch a live streamed Australian Rules football match and not seeing more than a total of 5 minutes vision out of an available 180 minutes.


I had waited with growing anticipation all week as I do every week for my taste of “back home.” My team the Sydney Swan’s were playing the Hawthorn Hawks at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Swan’s had lost their last three games and it was important that they got their season back on track with this game.


Over weeks of frustration of trying to find a live stream of Australian sporting events I had figured out that the easiest way to watch the games were to pay for them. Each game costs $6USD. Good value for 3 hours entertainment.


So I signed up as usual and wet my lips with anticipation for the first bounce of the ball that never came. My computer screen froze. I refreshed the screen and saw less than two seconds of vision before it froze again. I waited a minute, refreshed and was rewarded with another two seconds of vision. I shut the computer down and re-started it a long process and this time I got around five seconds before it froze. I wanted to throw my laptop across the room.


All I could do was wait for the score to pop up on the screen to know how the game was progressing. My team was never in front and that made it worse. In the final minutes of the game the Swan’s kicked a goal and drew level with the Hawks. I never saw any of this just the score update and the time clock showing 90 seconds to go.


Of course I missed the end of the game as I sat wringing my hands, beads of sweat on my brow. The next refresh showed that the game was over. Hawthorn players had smiles on their faces whilst the Swan’s players had grimaces. I didn’t have to look at the score to know that the Hawks had won. In fact they had won by a lousy two points.


Now that is more than enough frustration to last me a month but I went looking for more. My “other” favourite team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs were playing a match in the National Rugby League competition. And an important one at that! The fifth placed Rabbitohs were playing the second placed Penrith Panthers.


Now you would have thought that I would have learnt my lesson with the previous game. No way! I thought it was just a bad link and this one would be okay.


Fool I hear you say. Sport fanatics are like that they always are hoping for a miracle.


So I paid my six bucks and went through 80 minutes of ultra frustration. Exactly the same thing happened again. Damn! The only brightness to this mess was that the Rabbitohs won easily.


That I didn’t throw anything, kick the dog or hit the missus is a tribute no doubt to my growing old age. But boy was it a close run thing.
All the while I blamed the provider but later I found out that others in the household were having the same problems. It appeared that there was a power surge on Thursday night and whilst not frying our laptops somehow affected our laptops capabilities to stream and download.

That threw me in to a panic. How will I watch my footy this weekend? What’s more how will I watch the Socceroo’s in the FIFA World Cup. Double damn!


So in quick time I found a computer technician who will come to the house on Wednesday and fix the problem for 100 bucks an hour……………..I hope or the dog better watch out.

MT CURRY BC

Tammie and I got out and away during the week. We hopped in the Jeep and headed for Mt Curry which is about 40k’s north of Whistler.


It is a different drive in the Jeep as opposed to the van we previously drove. Where the van was all luxury and automation the Jeep is all muscle and grunt. Just the week before we had the top off but since that time the weather had turned nasty and we had received a lot of rain so the top was back on.

We went the usual route that takes us to Vancouver and there were still scraps of snow on some of the higher Rocky Mountain passes. The route differed when we arrived at the town of Merritt as we then travelled on a secondary highway that took us through some absolutely spectacular country that included snowy mountain peaks and vivid blue lakes.


The road was winding with various steep inclines which of course led to sometimes perilous downhill slopes with sheer drops to the valleys below. We forded a number of streams that bubbled and boiled and were encased within a corridor of pine trees. On a bleak day such as the one we travelled on it gave the scene an eerie look.

As we grew closer to Mt Curry we were surprised to see a large number of people walking or biking along the roadway and they always had a fishing rod hanging over their shoulder. Most of these people were natives who have the right to fish in the local waterway. It must be a popular local pastime as I don’t think I have ever seen so many fishermen on their way to or from the event.
We stayed the first night at a town called Pemberton as Mt Curry doesn’t have accommodation. The hotel was fine and we hit the hot tub but were interrupted by a large party who had just finished a mountain biking competition. We were later told that the Pemberton-Whistler area is the mountain biking capital of Canada.

The next day we headed back towards home on a lazy loop. We followed the same route for the first 120k’s and were constantly thwarted along the way by numerous RV’s. In the colder months you hardly see an RV but once there is a hint of warmth in the air they take to the road like migrating geese. Some move along at a good pace, but it seemed that all of those we encountered were either on steep, winding roads or were just out for a leisurely drive.


The country was once again mountainous and bordered by lakes that changed in colour from deep blue to a light aqua. Just as suddenly we were in the desert country of the Okanagan region and the terrain changed from a lush green to a dusty brown and the river that ran through this area had a dirty muddy look to it.

Late in the afternoon we stopped for the night at a small town call Savona, where we had booked into a bed and breakfast that was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. We certainly weren’t disappointed as the grounds were beautiful and the room was warm and cozy. The rain continued to tumble down but that didn’t dampen our spirits at all.

We had a quiet night in and had our breakfast the next day in the gazebo overlooking the lake. Mid-morning we headed off for home via Kamloops. The drive was easy as we were now on the Trans Canada Highway for part of the way and then the major southern highway, 97.


All in all it was a peaceful few days away and another opportunity for me to see a little more of beautiful British Columbia.