Thursday, January 21 – Getting Connected

Slowly we are getting over jet lag, acclimatizing to the heat and humidity, and learning to understand the Australian accent.  It amazes me that peoples who have developed from the same lineage have such different accents. Think of the Brits, the Aussies, the Kiwis, the Canucks, and the Americans. Each of them sounds “different” and even within these countries people from different areas have different accents. Why is this? I’ve sort of done a quick Google search on this and can’t really come up with any explanation other than that different people living together tend to speak the same way because it is easier to understand each other. Nonetheless it is a pretty amazing phenomenon.

On Thursday Sue and I went to get what we needed to get “connected”. First, the Opal cards. These are free smart cards that you load up with money to pay fares on the buses, trains, and ferries. When you travel you need to “tap” on at the beginning of your journey, and tap “off” at the end of the journey. The system automatically computes the fare for your journey and deducts it from your outstanding balance.

Next came the SIM cards. These I got at the Telstra store. Aus $2.00 per SIM card and the starter package is Aus $30 for a 28 day service. We have some brand new HTC unlocked phones that we bought in Canada before we left, and we are finding them very different from my Samsung and Ray’s LG!  Regardless, we feel better now that we are “connected”. Of course the only people who know the phone number are Alanna and Sue and Jim!

Sue on The Great North Walk

White Heron

After getting sorted in the morning we went for a walk with Sue and Jim on part of the Great North Walk. The length of the walk is 250 k and goes from central Sydney to downtown Newcastle and it was created in 1988. The part of the trail we did was mainly through the mangrove forest in East Ryde. We saw a white heron, which is a smaller version of the blue heron we had in Ontario, and ibis which is a long legged wading bird with long pointed beak

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Friday, January 22 – Circular Quay

On Friday morning Ray and I woke up early, around 7:00 a.m., and felt that we had whipped jet lag into submission and that we were ready to take off for our first run in Sydney, which we did. Even although it was early, it was hot and humid; we had to run down a considerable sized hill to get back to the Tarbin Cove trail that we had walked previously; and we got totally lost in the maze of residential streets. We soon realized that travelling 10,000 k two days previously and running in 30C temperatures after being used to running in 0 C – 5 C temperatures did not make for a stellar run. Nonetheless, we did about 6.5 k and crawled back to the house for breakfast. After some food and quick shower Sue drove us to the Woolwich Wharf for the 10:30 am ferry to Circular Key in Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District).  Here we got to use our brand new Opal cards. The ferry system is amazing.

It is an independent system of ferries in Sydney harbour and on the Paramatta River in Sydney. The two storey green and creamy yellow boats race in and out of the docks and across the river and harbour narrowly avoiding sail boats, motor boats, and other marine vehicles. They are very agile with their double hulls and add fun and vitality to the water scene just like Scuffy the Tugboat.

Once downtown, Ray and I began to feel the heat, the humidity, and the effects of our early morning run! But it was exciting to be there. We saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge which spans the harbour.

As we gazed admiringly at the bridge we realized that people were climbing the bridge and walking over the upper level of the arch. I recalled that I had heard someone talk about “climbing” the bridge. I checked this out, and yes you can do that for a basic fee of Aus $158 (weekday) and Aus $173 (weekend). Not sure I feel like spending that much money just to climb up the bridge, but it is a great idea!! Have since read that Lonely Planet suggests you can get just as much fun by running or walking across the bridge in the allotted pedestrian lanes!!

Next we went to the Opera House and walked all around the outside of this beautifully architectured music hall. The cloud-white, shell-shaped sails soar up into the blue skies creating an unforgettable image back-dropped by the Sydney Harbour Bridge and in stark competition to the enormous cruise ships that download their passengers into the streets of Sydney for a day’s sightseeing.

I recalled visiting the Opera House in 1993 to see Sue’s daughter perform in a school competition and thought this time we should take one of the tours, but once again we weighed up the cost of the two hour Backstage Tour at $165 times 2 so Aus$330 and didn’t feel like dropping that amount of money on the experience. Nonetheless we were in awe of the beauty created by the Danish designer Jorn Utzon in 1957 (building lasted until 1973 with much controversy along the way). So, we moved on with our walking tour to the Opera Café and lunch. We had to protect our lunch from the seagulls after we noticed one gull just about snatch the food out of the mouth of one of the patrons. They are very brazen!!

"Satyr" A Statue By Frank ‘Guy’ Lynch

Then it was off into The Royal Botanic Gardens. Here a natural beauty awaited us; 30 hectares of gardens squeezed between the ocean on one side and Sydney’s downtown skyscrapers on the other. We wandered around the pathways past beautiful sculptures, towering trees, and a kaleidoscope of colourful flowers. A sweet aroma from the flora filled our nostrils and made our senses swirl.

Our next stop was a guided tour of the NSW Government House built around 1836 to 1845 in a gothic revival architectural style. It was interesting hearing about the development of the house over the years, and seeing the beautiful state rooms with their elegant 19^th century furniture.century furniture. 

After the tour we chatted with an Australian couple who had visited Toronto and Vancouver with fond memories! Next we set off for the waterfront and Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair passing playful ducks dipping for food in the ponds, ibis whose long beaks could spear you like a hat pin if they confused your foot with a worm, and nesting seagulls who were squawking angrily at their rivals as they tried to oust them from their nest and the egg-hatching process.

An Ibis

Mrs Macquarrie's Chair

Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair is situated right on the point and is a sandstone rock hand cut by convicts in 1810 into the shape of a bench for Governor Macquarie’s wife. Tons of tourists must visit this site as we could hardly make our way past the rock and on down the peninsula. On the way, we passed the St. George OpenAir Cinema located near the point. This provides about 70,000 cinema-goers annually with first class cinema and new releases on the big outdoor screen as well as first class cinema in the background: the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and city skyline.

And then it decided to rain….really rain! Of course Ray and I had ignored the weather forecast and had nothing with us for rain. We decided that we would have to cut our walk short and head back to Circular Quay and the ferry. So moving quickly, and enjoying the rain, we headed back through the gardens with fleeting views of the Sydney Fernery, the Palace Rose Garden, and the Palm Garden. By the time we reached Circular Quay, we were dripping puddles with each step….and getting cool.

Selfie in the Rain

We stopped for a cup of tea and coffee before catching the ferry...and to warm up. We weren’t heading home though. We were meeting Sue and Jim and a couple of their friends in the pub for dinner!! Thinking quickly, I phoned Suzie and asked her to bring a change of clothes for me and a sweater for Ray.  Of course, once we got a glass of wine in us, all memories of being wet and cold faded and we enjoyed our $10 fish and chips and another glass of wine!

Saturday, January 23 – Cockatoo Island

After breakfast on Saturday morning, Jim and Susan suggested we take advantage of a “free tour” which was advertised in the local paper “Sydney Morning Herald” on Cockatoo Island and Jim drove us down to the ferry at Woolwich Ferry Wharf for the next-stop ride across the Parramatta River to Cockatoo Island. I had heard of the island but had no idea what it was all about, and Jim and Sue had never been to the Island! Sometimes it takes a “tourist” to prompt locals to investigate their heritage!! We had a grand time! Prior to European settlement the island was populated by Aboriginal people. Then the British came along and between 1839 and 1869 the island was used as a “convict penal establishment primarily as a place of secondary punishment for people who had reoffended in the Colonies.”  Then between 1867 and 1991 it was the site of one of Australia’s largest shipyards. In 2010 the island was declared as a UNESCO heritage site. So needless to say it was an eclectic tour with a mix of different structures, ranging from the isolation cells in the prison to old machinery from the shipyards. Today, the island also has a “tourist” industry, as tourists flock there to learn about Australian development. In addition there are tents and a tent site which offer super luxury glamping, glamping, and  camping. Also, you can rent a four bedroom house, or an apartment. It’s not cheap, but rather neat to be able to do that right in the middle of the river overlooking the landmarks of Sydney.

Solitary Confinement Cells

Some of the old Shipbuilding Buildings

Is it Camping or Glamping??

They still have pull chain toilets

January 26 is Alanna’s birthday, and Australia Day. So we have decided to celebrate both albeit that it may be a day early to celebrate the birthday. Guess we will just have to celebrate it twice!! Happy Birthday Alanna!!! We love you and wish we could be with you to celebrate your special day. Love and hugs from us all!!

Stay tuned for Australia Day Activities!

On The Move Again - Jan 17-20

We left Squamish at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday, January 17 and rolled through the sweating mist and dark grey ground clouds hovering over the Sea to Sky Highway. We managed to avoid the puddles, the rocks, on the road, and the kamikazi drivers!! Our nerves were at full alert, the excitement butterflies in our stomachs were working overtime, and our minds were looking ahead to sleep mode for 25 hours on the plane.

On the way to the airport we picked up Azalea who was going to take our car from the airport, go back into Vancouver to load up her stuff, and then drive up to Squamish to stay in our house while we are away. “Change” seems to be in the air all around us. Azalea’s boyfriend has been offered a job by Apple and was given eight days to get himself to the Silicon Valley. Azalea and he and his father were in the midst of packing his stuff in a u-haul van ready for the move down later in the week.

Fish Tank at Vancouver International Airport

Fish Tank at Vancouver International Airport

We arrived at the airport in good time and moved smoothly through the security line. In the past we have forgotten to remove nail files, pen knives, and scissors from our backpacks and water from our water bottles but this time we had been vigilant!

There was lots of excitement in the loading lounge. We watched about six police walking up and down the aisles of the patiently waiting seated passengers with their sniffer dogs who, with tails wagging and nostrils flaring, sniffed shoes, legs, and any bags that may be on the floor beside each person. We watched a couple of people being taken aside and their bags searched. Our minds raced to think of what the police were looking for: drugs, guns, explosives???

The Back-End of the B-777

The Front-End of the B-777

 Loading 275 people on a Boeing 777-ER requires patience but soon we were aboard, stuffed in like cows in a cattle car. The engines roared into life, the plane reversed smoothly out of its bay, and then turned onto the runway. For me, the most exciting part of an air journey is the take off; the building of speed, the thrust of gravity that hammers you into the back of the seat, and the sensation of being lifted up into the air as if you are lying in a floating hammock. The rest of the journey was smooth and steady, all 10,000 km of it. The Cathay Pacific flight attendants ran up and down the aisles serving lunch, then dinner, then breakfast in the 12 hours 27 minutes of the flight into Hong Kong. They could have been training for a 10k – actually, they probably ran 10k during the flight!! The meals were delicious and tasty albeit with no regard for calories. The flight attendants must have been exhausted by the time we arrived in Hong Kong.

In contrast to the activity around me, I calmly watched three films: The Bridge of Spies, The Dressmaker, and Bajrangi Bhaijaan  a beautiful Hindi Drama starring the gorgeous looking Salman Khan; listened to two talk shows on Ted Talks on “Turning Points“ and “The Meaning of Work”; and listened to Mozart and other classical music all interspersed with walking intervals, stretching, and conversing with other travelers headed for exotic destinations. The time passed easily, and I enjoyed these quiet (well, hardly "quiet" with 1000 tons of screaming aluminium all around, but there was "quiet" in my mind.

We only had 2 hrs 25 minutes to wait between flights and by the time we had wandered through the terminal to the new departure gate and once again negotiated the security process, it was time to reload, this time on an Airbus 330-300 carrying 242 passengers. Remember I mentioned that we had been diligent in removing all “no fly” articles from our carry on back packs. Not true. When the bag went through the security camera on the conveyor belt, a “foreign object” was detected…..and Ray lost his nail file! Ironically, we went through a second security check in the corridor leading onto the plane, but compared to the previous one this one was like and a promise! This shorter portion of the flight – 8 hrs 30 minutes – was passed in dreams with phantom figures serving food to people in the seats around and beside me. I awoke refreshed in time for breakfast and then we arrived in Sydney – where at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday January 19 the temperature was 25C.

Walking through the Sydney Terminal my mind roamed over my years in Toronto living with Sue on Davisvile Avenue and tried desperately to remember when it was that we had been in Sydney with her and Jim previously. The more recent trips to Vancouver came more readily. How is it that some relationships from the past remain some of the most prominent relationships in our lives? Both Ray and I were excited to meet Sue and Jim again…..and then we were through customs, picked up our baggage, I managed to lose the information card I had completed on the plane and had to do a repeat, and then we there…in Sydney….and then Sue and Jim were there…..and we realized why we were here. We haven’t skipped a beat.

Chatter has been our main activity since we arrived. I am determined to get jag-lag over quickly and stayed up till about 10:30 p.m. last night, although I have to admit that the last couple of hours I needed matchsticks in my eyes to keep them open! Ray in the meanwhile managed a nap earlier. After the nap, Ray and I went for a lovely 5 k walk along the side of Tarbin Creek. 

Carbin Creek

Tarbin Creek Walk

Today, Ray and Jim went off together doing “men” stuff…and Sue and I went to the Top Ryde Shopping Centre on Victoria Road to buy some basics that I needed. It is a huge mall something like the Eton Centre. Sue says it was the first mall built in Sydney and not one of the larger malls around. Seemed pretty big to me!!  I spent the time in the later afternoon catching up on my blog. Then it was dinner time. Sue and I decided it is fun “to be living together” again!

PS – The temperature today was close to 40C!!!

Press Release: Advance Notice of 2016 Travel Stories

Ray and I have planned another trip. We are leaving Vancouver on January 17 arriving Sydney on January 19. We will stay with our friends in Sydney until March 1 approximately when we will rent a car and drive to Adelaide. In Adelaide we will take a 10 day camping trip with Intrepid Travel across to Perth arriving in Perth on March 18. Then we will fly to Borneo for a 12 day trip in Borneo to see some orang utans and climb Mt. Kinabalu ending April 6, and from there fly to Bali on April 7. We have a house rental in Ubud from April 7 through till May 24. We fly back to Canada leaving Bali on May 26, with a stopover in Hong Kong to stay with a friend for the weekend. We leave Hong Kong on May 30 and fly straight home to Vancouver.

Stay tuned....and travel vicariously with us!

Brief Notes on our Trip to Sonoma and San Francisco - December 2015

Alanna had a leadership course held in a facility in Sonoma CA and we agreed to drive down with her and take a few extra days on the journey back. We had a great time! While Alanna was in her course, Ray and I visited San Francisco. Have you ever been there? We saw and enjoyed the main sites like Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman’s Wharf, but the main appeal of the city for us was the different neighbourhoods and the eccentricities of each. We saw some fabulous “painted” steps, took a ride up California Street in a cable car, watched hundreds of sea lions lounging on docks at the wharf, walked around China Town, had pizza at Calzone’s in the heart of North Beach, and walked for miles through the Golden Gate Park and the endless beach close to the bridge. 

On our way back to Sonoma up the Northern California coastline we managed a hike in Muir Woods among the magnificent redwoods, a visit to an air museum in Santa Rosa which featured military planes since 1960 including the F-15 Eagle which was the first plane to arrive overhead the twin towers on Sept 11, 2001, an overnight stay in Bodega Bay in a hotel I nicknamed “tinseltown” because of all the outdoor Christmas lights, and a trip to Pt. Reyes and a 300+ step descent and ascent to and from the lighthouse. 

Then we picked up Alanna and did a massive drive up the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, visiting sites like Cape Foulweather (so named by Captain Cook!) Cape Disappointment, and Eureka where the first two-man prototype of the chain saw was successfully tested in 1905, then over to Interstate 5 and straight back to Squamish. 

Beautiful, beautiful, coastline. Very under-rated and well worth visiting – out of season!! We had an exciting second last day dodging torrential rain, road closures, land slides, fog, gale force winds, hail, and finally snow, but we made it safely to our destination in Astoria, Oregon. On our drive home from Astoria the next day we narrowly avoided landslides and a tornado but experienced more flooding than I have ever seen in my life. So, all in all, an exciting trip! Oh, and we also picked up a couple of young people who had run out of gas on the most deserted part of the highway and were able to guide them through their decision making and take them to the nearest gas station 12 miles away who promised to see them safely back to their car.

For more pictures see: https://flic.kr/s/aHskqdSjKq 

We're Back! Catch Up....2015

After a long hiatus we are back!! A lot has happened in the last three years, but this post will focus on the happenings of the immediate past and the most recent "trek". Some of you will recognise it, but there is only one story, and this is it.

November/December 2015

I’ve thought a lot about the concept of “legacy” over the past few months, and what my legacy to the world might be. I think I have found it!!  I haven’t built an empire, saved a human race, or advocated on the world scale for human rights, but I feel that my friends, and acquaintances, have shown me what it is. I believe that truly “living” life takes courage, and I think my “legacy” is, to model the belief in yourself that you can do anything you want to (within the realm of possibility).  I think I have lived this belief for longer than I have realized!! After all, didn’t I turn my back on the safety of living in Edinburgh and strike out, alone, to Canada (1969)?  I have tried to encourage others to believe in themselves too, for example: the people I have coached throughout my career, the runners we coached through our running clinics, and through my general “always do your best” attitude to life. This “faith in myself” didn’t come early to me. It took me till about my late 50s to realize it. It was the climb up Huayna Picchu (aka “The Hike of Death”, Machu Picchu, 2009), and the trip sliding down the roof from the peek, and the steep steps down the sides of the ruins with 3000 feet drops on 3 sides to scramble in an ancient stone window to safety, that taught me, after I had a quiet talk to myself to calm the eruptions taking place in my stomach, that I can actually rely on myself, that I can do it! I had to, there was no alternative then, but it took a risky event like that to make me look inside and see the strength and courage that was there. Of course, my best that time may not have saved my life, but the message I walked away with was one of “do your best and you can do it.” 

So with all this courage pushing us forward, Ray and I made the decision to sell our house of 36 years, leave the province of 40 years of residence, leave the safety and security of close friends and community networks we have built up over these times, and strike out for a new life in Squamish, BC. 

 But, oh yes, I forgot, my parents set me a good example……and as Alanna said, “Mom, your parents had to cross an ocean to be with you, you only have to cross a country to be with me!” …..and Alanna and her husband are living here…..and we have a few long time friends close by in Vancouver….hardly a repeat of 1969!!  Well, let me tell you, it was much, much, harder work!! Anyone who has had to downsize – will understand! 

   Grandma and Grandpa Hankin - Trend Setters!

We have played around with the idea of selling our house for five years now, and made the decision that 2015 was going to be the year! But we continued to enjoy life: completed the Mt Albert 5 K race organization; Ray kept working on the executive of the OWA; we skied; organized a “home concert” for a singer/song writer friend of ours (39 people sitting listening to a concert in our lower area); trained for and ran a half marathon; endured high winds/low temperatures (-22C) on our training runs; worked out hard with Tony Horton and P90X , P90X2, and P90X3 from BeachBody.com;  were treated to a visit to Cavalia by a good friend;  took a trip down to Annapolis to see our friends and ran through the naval academy grounds surrounded by good looking, young, polite, naval officers; spent time with friends; spent time with Alanna when she came home for 10 days in May; read some great books and discussed them at book club;  had a tree planting bee and planted 100 baby trees on our property with the help of friends; and come the middle of May realized we had just about danced half of the year away!  We put the house on the market on June 4, and it sold on June 7. Shocked, dazed, and unbelieving we continued to enjoy the early summer months: we headed down to PEI and New Brunswick to visit friends in the middle of July; then stayed with some friends in Collingwood. It was then that reality started to set in. We had to clean the house out, and find a place to live after September 18. We had less than two months to do it in!! So, engaging that attitude “you can do anything you set your mind to” (we forgot about the within reason), we set about downsizing from 5500 sq ft of finished floor space to 2400; found ourselves a rental property in Squamish; and cleared out!! A few things we sold; we gave two truck loads to Habitat for Humanity; one truck load to the Jewish Russian Community Centre; numerous bags to the Blue Door Shelter; and numerous bags to the Uxbridge Hospital Foundation’s “Chances Are” store. We packed boxes, and wooden trunks, and suitcases, and by September 16 we had almost done it. Our furniture was on its way with AMJ Campbell Moving, and the only things left in the house were what were coming with us in the cars! Our friend and neighbor Tamara had held an amazing surprise “farewell” party for us; our motor biking friends had taken us on a beautiful “farewell” ride around Lake Simcoe; we had eaten dinner with some of our closest friends; and we stayed our last few days in Ontario in a sanctuary at my friend Robin’s house.

 On September 23 we left Uxbridge together with 2 cars, 2 motorcycles loaded in a trailer attached to the SUV, and two mountain bikes on the bike rack on the Saab, and drove for 6 days across Canada to Squamish.

So, here we are in Squamish.  We’ve been here over two months now. It is unbelievable! The 6 day drive across the country was the transition between one life and the next. I guess our minds were “processing” the move as we rolled through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and finally BC, and we were able to leave Ontario slowly and peacefully and arrive in our new home in BC with excitement and anticipation.

 Dan and Alanna made an excellent choice in recommending our new rental house.  

Ray waiting for furniture to arrive in Squamish

View from our Squamish home

Unpacking was the WORST!!!   The clearing out and the packing up were one thing, but the unpacking went on and on….and there are some boxes sitting in our kitchen/family area that are still begging to be unpacked, but I have run out of energy! Actually, no, I have not run out of energy, I have run out of space!!!  Three boxes of china, etc. that I really don’t think I need, excepting two or three items somewhere in those boxes that I really would like! And, boxes of pictures that we have no walls on which to hang them!! Oh, and I forgot the 100 small boxes in the basement and garage filled with books, sentimental papers, and photos!!

The move to Squamish has made our hearts happy. It is wonderful being close to Dan and Alanna. We have had dinner with them several times, either at their place or ours, and several other types of outings including, for me, a session on an “Introduction to Shamanism” and a women’s circle!  Four days after our furniture arrived, we had a dinner party for 8 to celebrate Dan's birthday on Wednesday 7^th Oct! When we arrived they were so good to us and I happily said - so we'll have a celebration dinner on the 7th - then I thought Dan might like to invite some people - and Alanna said "let's make it a surprise"! So, suddenly, we had 8 for dinner.  That was a bit of a push - but it gave us a deadline and although we hadn’t unpacked everything, the bulk of it was done. It was quite exhausting!!! But the party went well, Dan and Alanna's friends were lovely, and we all had a good time! The best was the three girls got into the kitchen and "hey presto" everything was loaded in the dishwasher. In the morning, Alanna finished the washing up......and I had nothing to do!!

The rental house has lovely space and we felt very comfortable walking through the front door. The area is beautiful...what can I say....and the landscape around us is stunning. Where in Ontario the landscape was “horizontal”, here it is “vertical.” Tall fir trees, jagged topped mountains, and long tumbling waterfalls. Every time I drive down to the village from the house, I am breathless. I can’t take my eyes off the mountains around us. Every time I drive down the Sea to Sky Highway into Vancouver I am breathless. I can’t keep my eyes off the ocean. Given that the residential roads seem narrower than in Ontario, there are more roundabouts, kids, cyclists, and dogs than in Ontario, the highway is hilly, and winding, the cars fly past at outlandish speeds, and there are deer, elk, bear, and rock warnings at regular intervals, the whole business of driving in all this amazing scenery becomes a battle of focus!

Talking about bears, we had our first bear sighting our first weekend in the house. Dan and Alanna were over for dinner. Ray was outside barbecuing, for some reason he chose the front of the house to set up at, and he heard some "rattling"; he looked up, searched through the darkness, and saw a big, black, bear, shaking one of our neighbour's garbage cans. Fortunately, everyone has the big plastic roller type of bins which are "bear proof", i.e. you “lock” them. The bear had no luck, so he slowly shambled down that driveway, and up the next. All of us ended up watching him, and all our clapping and shouting, and making noise didn't bother him in the slightest. He was obviously quite used to being around!!! So...Alanna called the conservation number you are supposed to call when you see a bear, and described his activities. "Quite normal" they said!! So we took our barbecued chicken and finished cooking it in the oven!! In Ontario, we would look out of our windows and see deer, or raccoons, or skunks, or coyotes, or foxes, but if you stepped outside, they were gone in a flash!! Ray and I are hoping we don't see him out on the trail!! But, he has been back again – several times. We saw the evidence  when we noticed ours and our neighbours’ garbage cans on their side. He didn’t get into ours as it is locked, but he did get into the neighbour’s bin, which is not good at all for him. Once they get the taste of human food, they are doomed. The part that worries me the most is that he may decide to pay us a visit in the house….and yes…..they can do that!! They are supposed to go to sleep in their dens for the winter but food was short this fall and the park rangers are warning that because of that, and the fact that they can get easy food in the built up areas, some of the bears may not be sleeping!

We have volunteered as interpreters for the Eagle Watch programme – that means we get to share our newly acquired knowledge about bald eagles with the public on the Brackendale Dyke. One Saturday morning, shortly after we arrived, we went to the opening of the eagle season. The breeze and drizzle chills the bones so we made sure we were well protected with rain gear…and yes….thermal underwear. Excitement was mounting when we reached the Dyke. The eagles were coming! They were soaring across the raging river and landing in the golden coloured cotton wood trees in the Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park on the opposite bank. No human feet are allowed on that far side of the river during the eagles wintering here (Oct – March). The Eagle Watch volunteers set up a very strong telescope and we were able to see the eagles’ activities on the opposite bank. A dead salmon was being devoured. First one eagle would use his steel like talons to tear some flesh off the fish, then another eagle would land and push the first eagle out of the way, thus several eagles were able to feed off the same rotten fish. When the eagles needed a rest from gorging, they turned their back on the fish which was the sign that the gulls could step in and make a frenzied attack on the fish before the eagle turned back for its next course and pushed them aside. The eagles are majestic in the air, with their 8 feet wingspan supporting a calculated glide through the air from tree to riverside, from tree to tree, and from one side of the river to the other. They say an eagle can see a rabbit on the ground from 300 m up and 1 km away!! Several juvenile birds joined the adults in their search for food. Meanwhile, in the river the harbour seals played in the current popping their steely grey heads out of the water from time to time to spy what was happening around them….and occasionally to grab a salmon.

A group of Squamish First Nations sang a welcome to the eagles, first to the males, then to the females. This was followed by an energised dance during which the young dancers replicated the eagle’s movements with much agility.  Then there were speeches by the mayor, the president of the Squamish Environmental Society of which the Eagle Watch is a part, the leader of the Eagle Watch, and the owners of one of the partners of the Eagle Watch, Sunwolf. 

About two minutes from our house is a beautiful trail, called “Jack’s Trail”. Alanna first introduced me to the trail this visit for a morning run, and since then Ray and I have run it, biked it, and walked it. The trail was tough. Started out quite stony, then widened out and then for the most part was a long slow climb in rocky terrain up to Alice Lake - of course the return was downhill, and therefore quicker. Just over an hour and about 7.5 km. We didn't meet any bears, or cougars, but we were passed by several bikers and of course walkers. Very similar to the forests we run in Ontario. The only difference, we were running diagonally up the side of the mountain, so huge big BC trees on one side, and on the other the steep side of the mountain. We passed several streams. Really beautiful!! And this is only one of several beautiful trails to hike/bike/run/walk on!

 

We are living in a beautiful part of Canada – right up there with the best scenery in the world! If you are planning a holiday, think about a visit here! It is stunning!! We would love to entertain you in Squamish, and you will have a place to stay….not before the beginning of June though….any time after that.