That's all folks!

It seems that the public are clamouring for more thoughts from Chairman Riddo!
But the holiday is over and like us reality has returned. The Holiday news is suspended until our next little trip.... I'll keep you posted. If anyone wants to check out where we stayed I've posted comments on Trip Adviser, (Tripadvisor.co.uk), on the following hotels and attractions:
Port Renfrew: Coastal Kitchen
Sooke: Sooke Potholes:
Field: Emerald Lake Lodge:
Sooke: Country Cupboard Cafe:
Vancouver: Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver:
Jasper: Lobstick Lodge:
Banff: Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa:

Bye bye, thanks for following, and watch this space!

Dave

Day – 15 Loafin' around locally...

Nothing really thrilling to report today, we have been really lazy, went into Sooke to post yesterday's blog, had a coffee at “The Reading room” and bought some milk, (I said nothing really thrilling didn't I?!)

After all this excitement we went to a local park called the Sooke “Pot holes”, they are a series of deep pools along the Sooke river caused by the rocks and steep river banks, it was actually a nice walk, we saw some youths swimming and climbing the “cliffs” at the side of one pool to jump in – it looked impressive, and certainly very cold.

Further upstream we were able to get to the water and yes it was cold! We paddled and lazed about, we also saw some large pebble “structures” that someone had built by the water – these structures are based on the idea of “First Nation” statues, (a bit like Stonehenge, they are common in British Colombia).

Because not much has happened I've included a picture from yesterday – remember I said I saw a car in the forest?

Day – 14 Lumberjack country...

Another late start, sat around, ate brunch and read our books..... Later on we went into Sooke to do some food shopping, make phone calls and send blogs – the weather was relatively chilly today so Jan bought a “Canada” fleece, very touristy!

After we returned and stowed the shopping we decided to explore further up the coast – the terrain gets a bit wilder and everything is more remote. We went north west up the Port Renfrew road. The road is actually a virtual dead end 74km away, it finishes at an ocean headland, with only “logging trails” off the road at rare intervals.

Along this road we came to “China beach”, it's a bleak but beautiful stretch of sand and pebbles, and some really huge bits of driftwood, apparently they do have tsunamis along this coast, this may explain some of the wood “wreckage”. What can't be explained however is the wreckage of a car we came across, deep in the forest! How it got there is a mystery, the trees around it are dense, and the nearest road is a quarter of a mile away!

After China beach we kept on to Port Renfrew, it really is remote, very much like a pioneer settlement – we were hungry and hoped to find some kind of burger cabin for the hikers, but what we found was a truly remarkable café! - a very modest shack type diner, with plain tables and bare walls, but a fabulous choice on the menu – Jan was delighted with all the “veggie” options! The atmosphere was very friendly too and the prices were cheap, great!

Before returning, we decided we had to go as far as we could before falling into the Pacific, and so we went to the park at the headland, called “Botany Bay”, here we found another coastal gem! Rock pools, driftwood, big trees, and lots of atmosphere. A long drive back, but a really worthwhile, memorable trip – and the furthest west we shall be going.

Day 13 – A close encounter with a grizzly.......

A very relaxing day, we are taking it easy.... There's a beach at the front of our cabin – down a treacherous footpath, and we went for an explore after our late,lazy breakfast. The beach was shingle and pebbles, and deserted, there was lots of bleached driftwood, and evidence that the sea must get really rough at times.

As we walked along Jan was watching some Canada geese – Canadian Canada geese in fact (!), I suddenly saw a dark shape to the left, mostly obscured by a sand bank, it was a big animal, it was black, it's ears twitched..... bloody hell! A big bear! Honestly my heart was racing, I ducked down and called Jan over, “there's a big bear just over that bank”, I said.... What to do? I wanted a photo but I also didn't want to be a Teddy bear's picnic..... We sneaked forward, and suddenly there it was, sitting down... a cow! (Well, have you have seen a cow on a beach?)

After we recovered our shredded nerves, we spent a great 45 minutes or so watching the Sandpipers,(or Dunlins?), flying about and feeding.

In the afternoon we visited the local town, Sooke – where there is a nice internet café, and enquired about whale watching trips. Apparently the weather is expected to change – to be possibly stormy, and so Jan didn't fancy it!

Day 12 – Vancouver Island and the back of beyond....

We have left Vancouver, sailed across international waters, (for a while we were in the US of A....), and now we are in our little cabin overlooking the Ocean, relaxing with a lager.

The capital of Vancouver Island is called Victoria, and it's a wonderful place, it looks very English, there's a Captain Cook statue and several posh looking hotels – it seems like a step back to Bournemouth in the 1950's , ( I imagine!).

After a wander around Victoria we set off to our cabin in “Sooke”, only it's not actually in Sooke, its about 10 miles North west – the scale of things changes when you get closer, from Kimberley in Nottingham you may as well say “just up the road from Victoria”, but when you're here it's really 40 miles away Victoria!

The place is lovely, it has all the amenities we need, but no Internet! So blogging will be less frequent, I'll have to go into Sooke library every other day! Never mind, I'm sure you'll cope!

Day 10 - What a gay day!

Well, today was "Gay pride day" in Vancouver, lots of streets were closed down and there was a parade which lasted over 90 minutes, not just gay groups actually, the theme was "Pride" for all sorts of reasons. It was great fun, some really outrageous floats and "exhibits, it was loud, colourful, and busy - unforgetable!

In the afternoon we took the sea bus over to North Vancouver, to a place called the "Capalano" suspension bride, it is a long pedestrian rope bridge in a forest park, suspended woodland walks, log cabins etc. very relaxing. For our last night here we're off to find a cosy diner.

Tomorrow we will be on Vancouver Island, and I don't know how I shall be fixed for an Internet connection, so transmission may be interrupted.

Day 9 – Vancouver, Jan is well, and Stanley Park is bloomin' big!

Jan is back to her old self...... should I be worried? We explore Vancouver, it seems like a really nice place. The weather is good and so we walk, and walk, and walk..... first to “Gastown” which is an old refurbished, trendy area, where they have a steam powered clock! It chimes every 15 minutes and if you stand too close you get wet.

At the harbour front there are sea planes you can watch take off and land, or even go on I suppose.... There is a walk around this wonderful park called Stanley Park, it has beaches, forests, lakes, cricket, (yes cricket!), Native American totem poles, and loads more. We walked around it, and through it, you would no know you were less than a mile from a big city, really nice, but as I said big, and now we are knackered! But not too knackered to go out soon for some food and drink!

ps can I have an email from anybody who is reading this blog please? A kind of customer survey!
Dridsdale(at)hotmail(dot)com

Day 8 - "Phew! a funny ol' day on the Rocky Mountaineer!"

A funny old, long, long day indeed.... we awoke this morning to continue our train trip and Jan was suffering from a nasty migraine! Oh no! What to do? Obviously all we could do was grin and bear it, (or rather, all she could do...), but the prospect of a 9 hour journey in a coach full of fun-loving tourists was a bleak one..

We told our hostess Julie that Jan was feeling unwell, she called the train manager Natalie, and within 10 minutes Jan was given seats where she could lie quietly in privacy - she had an entire 88 seat "Gold leaf" coach to herself!! It was an empty, spare coach, they even put the air conditioning on for her!It didn't stop her from feeling grim, but if you're going to be poorly, better to do it in luxury eh?

The next issue to thwart our trip was a delay, a long hold up caused when a freight train in front of us managed to damage the track whilst entering some sidings, the damage was repaired, but in doing so the engineers caused some other damage.... then a car tried to "jump" a level crossing and cause3d an accident so the police were called.... 3 hours later we moved on.

As a result of this delay the train driver reached his maximum driving time allowance and so we stpped again whilst a relief driver was sent for.... 1 hour later we moved on.

Eventually we pulled into Vancouver 5 HOURS late!!! The journey had taken 14 hours, the delays were a real shame because they spoilt what should have been a wonderful second day...

Now we're in the hotel, (which seems excellent), Jan is feeling better, although already dozing, and tomorrow is ahead!

Day 7- Ever westwards, on rails!

Today and tomorrow we are traveling on the “Rocky Mountaineer”, a train which crosses the Rockies from Jasper to Vancouver. There are loads of British folks on the train, it travels at a really leisurely pace, often stopping to pass or be passed by freight trains – which are up to 120 carriages long! The route is often just a single track, and so passing only happens at infrequent sidings.

Each carriage is nice and roomy, and has it's own “hostess” who serves meals and gives out info about the journey. It's very relaxing, and air conditioned – there is a heatwave outside, and it is expected to be 40 degrees in Kamloops, (our overnight stop.)

Day 6 – Hot water and wild life....

Another good day, we went north on the Edmonton road, to visit a hot springs site at a place called Miette, we've never been to natural spa before and it was a real experience! We had a hot, warm or cold pool to choose from, the water was “sulphuric”, and the morning was very relaxing – just soaking in the shadows of the Rockies, the weather was glorious and the café served nice blueberry scones too!

We returned to Jasper for a late lunch early tea, because then we went on our first, (and probably only!), organised tour - “Discover wildlife”, it was a bit like a Rockies safari, we encountered two black bears, a deer and a couple of elks! It was good to see the animals, but I don't like sitting in coach being ferried about....

Looking forward to tomorrow when we board the train!

Day 5. North to Jasper, over the Ice fields

The long drive day, 230km to Jasper, along the "Ice fields Parkway". This is meant to be one of the most picturesque roads in the world, and yes it is!... You see a glacier or a lake an think "wow that is incredible", and round the next corner there's more! the pictures speak for themselves...

In Jasper now, and Jan "is hungry", so I might check out an elk burger....

Day 4, Just moseyin' around the lake

We have spent the day at Emerald Lake, very relaxing, we did the “round the lake trail” in the morning – just over 5 km, and very pleasant, the weather was great.

After lunch we tried out the hot tub jacuzzi! It was actually too hot, like a very hot bath.... a bit of reading by the pool next, very chilled.

In the afternoon..... a childhood ambition realised! A Canadian canoe across an open like in the style of Davey Crockett! Really good and it's surprising how far you can get in an hour!

A storm has brewed up now, really dramatic, you could hear the wind coming through the mountains, and the mill pond lake now is very choppy, we got out just in time.

Day 3, Lake Louise and a “bear” encounter.....

Again we took to the back roads, driving to Lake Louise on the old Route 1, an amazing journey, huge mountains on either side and few other cars. At Lake Louise village we headed up the valley to the actual lake and guess what....

A Black bear appeared at the side of the road! We pulled in and watched, the bear peered over the roadside barrier, seemed to look left, right, and left again, and then crossed in front of us! No more than 4 yards away! A great sight!

At the lake we “sightseed” - a wonderful beauty spot, the water is very green – all to do with the minerals apparently. We then set off to walk a trail up to Lake Agnes – 4 km, and fairly steep... At this little lake was a “Tea lodge”, where you can have...... tea, and a bun or two, we duly followed this custom. The folks who run the lodge actually live at the site, and stock is helicopter in on a weekly basis. It rained a lot during our hike, but as it was fairly warm the rain was actually welcome.

After Lake Louise we moved on to our overnight hotel, at Emerald Lake, but en route we stopped at a place on Kicking Horse river called “Natural Bridge”, a place where the river flow has eroded the rocks and formed a ….... natural bridge, because of minerals from the hills the water is almost pure white – strange.

Our hotel at Emerald lake seems good, we have a lakeside cabin, unfortunately there a 5 or 6 whacking great trees between us and the water's edge, but I suppose that's just being hyper critical!

Day 2, onwards and westwards! Calgary to Banff

A strange night last night... due to the flight yesterday and the time difference, we both slept well, but were wide awake at 1:00 am! Down for breakfast for 7 o'clock – on a Saturday! (Breakfast was great.)

Collected the car from Hertz and set off, we wanted to avoid the main “Trans Canadian “ highway, and so opted for the quieter(!) 1a, which took us to Cochrane and Canmore, before reaching the main Highway and entering Banff National Park. Roads are great and scenery is already wonderful – apparently it gets better!

We got to Banff by lunchtime, (it's only 120 km), and so we headed for Sulphur mountain to ride up on the cable car. The views were good as the weather is warm and sunny, at the top I continued up a board walk to an historic “Weather station” type hut thingy, whilst Jan sat at the peak-top cafe and relaxed....

On the way back to our hotel - the “Caribou lodge”, we actually saw a caribou! At the roadside munching the grass and causing a traffic jam!

Heathrow delay! - UK to Calgary

We were sat on the plane at Heathrow for almost 2 hours because the weather was so bad! - low and heavy cloud! Never mind, eventually got away and the flight was no problem – except for the selfish woman in the seat in front who reclined her seat for almost the whole 9 hours...... Why do people do this? Don't they know that someone behind them has no leg room?

Calgary is weird, it's obviously a commerce centre, not really anything for tourists, tall anonymous office blocks all over the place, and not a bar or diner anywhere! Any way, because of the time difference, going to bed at 9pm, but it feels like 3am!

Humber Bridge..

I went for a bike ride into Lincolnshire a while ago, and stopped off at the Humber bridge, I had to ride onto the footpath to get this pic, but I think it was worth it.... I've tweaked the image using an effect called "tiltshift". After this stopp I went on to Hull and then the coast - good day!

Out on the road!

Had a good ride up to Stockton on Thursday, came back Friday. The back road through Hawnby was fun, but quite muddy - here's the Google map.. you may need to move the map around to find the route..

View Larger Map

It's D Day!

So after waiting 6 months I can finally get back on the road after my driving ban! It hasn't really felt like a long time to be honest, and although it was a bind at times I got used to the bus and doing more walking......

So I have paid  my debt to society, but I don't think the system is right or fair at all. The ban has not made me a "better " person, because I thought I was an alright person before! It hasn't made me a better driver because I know my driving was perfectly safe before, (no claims in 20 years). It has made me more cynical of the justice system, and more bitter about the drivers I see everyday doing much worser things than I ever did and apparently getting away scot free....

I feel less inclined to be positive towards the justice system, because they have screwed me over to the tune of probably about £3000 and I haven't done as much harm to society as many I see every day!

Anyway, rant over, the actual driving yesterday was uneventful. it felt like I hadn't driven since the night before, never mind 6 months ago! Next weekend the bike will be available to me, then I can really believe it's all over!

    

What to do........

Well this is the first time I've blogged... so far so good! The reason I mainly wanted to set this blog up was so that when we, (the family), went away on holiday we could upload a sort of virtual postcard.
I might become even more geeky and post other stuff who knows...
Now I want to see how to upload pictures, I'll experiment with a few random photos from this computer.
Ah! I didn't expect this picture of Haworth high street to appear there.... never mind, it's a start!