Catching up

After 4 days without the laptop, there are a few stories to tell and pictures to show. Tried using my phone to keep up to date but my eyesight was challenged and my fingers too big for the keypad.

From Vancouver we picked up a hire car and headed for Horseshoe Bay and the ferry to Nanaimo - fairly uneventful journey - but some great scenery and as we stood on deck in the sunshine, we could see the rain showers on the island. Luckily we missed most of them and managed to find our way to my cousin Andi's place just in time for happy hour and a couple of beers with Uncle Stan followed by dinner in the local pub with a great selection of local beers and then home for a glass or two of Black Bush with Andi.

On Saturday we started with a tour of the 5 acre property where they have lived for about two years. While we visited the chickens, sheep, horses and Bella the highland heifer,

we were accompanied everywhere by her 5 Australian Cattle Dogs.

I think Linda would have been very happy if she could have managed to take one of the three week old puppies home to Moyhill.

A bus ride and other attractions

Apologies but this post was written last week but I was unable to post it because my new tablet died on Friday and it has taken a couple of days to work out how to get it going again

As we left the hotel on Thursday morning - up, breakfasted and out before 9.00am - we discovered that some of the interesting characters from the previous night were still around - nothing threatening but Linda felt it was a little 'edgy' while I felt it was sad to see such a collection of people with little or no hope.That seems to be what you have to expect in almost any city these days particularly one with a mild temperate climate like Vancouver.

Our first stop was the Hastings Urban Farm - which we could see from our hotel window - an interesting project supported by a number of volunteers from the street community where the biggest threat to their vegetable and salad production for a number of local restaurants appeared to be the local rodents. Despite this problem, they had an impressive crop of potatoes, onions, leeks, courgettes, salad leaves and pollinator plants along with a seed bank.

After a stop at the visitor information centre and a walk around the deck of Canada Place, we decided to try out one of the Hop on/Hop off bus services. We got a great introduction to the city, had a walk on the trails in Stanley Park, visited the public market at Granville Island and finished up with a visit to the Sun Yat Sen Gardens in Chinatown before heading home for a late siesta.

We had dinner in the Pourhouse on Water St in Gastown - good food and wines but our server seemed compelled to announce himself and what he was planning to do each time he came to the table. Not a problem when he was describing the food on the plate but a little excessive when he came to fill up the water glasses or remove empty plates or bring new cutlery - if he thought he was enhancing the expected gratuity then he was probably sorely disappointed - annoying little fecker!

Seemed like a long day

As we were checking into our hotel downtown Vancouver last night we noted that it was 9.30pm or 5.30 am at Moyhill so about 19 hours travelling including a 90 min delay at Heathrow because of a severe thunderstorm which disrupted the departures programme.

Managed a glass or two of fizz, a reasonable meal - as airline food goes -  an excellent Californian Chardonnay and equally good Pinot Noir, two movies - the Coen Brothers 'Hail Caesar' and Tarantino's 'Hateful Eight' - which were both excellent and a couple of hours kip - so almost a perfect journey apart from the slight delay.
We are staying at the Skwachays Lodge which is described as an 'Aboriginal Hotel and Gallery'  and in addition to being comfortable and very stylish is also an interesting social enterprise. There's a good chance that at least one piece from their Gallery will be coming home with us.
Because of the delayed arrival, we just managed a quick Thai meal and decided to skip the night club - although there were some interesting characters in the streets as we walked home - maybe tonight we will feel more like sampling the nightlife.

Just for a change - a summer expedition

Since there are a number of places that we would like to visit which are not warm enough in January and February, we thought we would try something different this year and are just about to head off to Canada for a few weeks - mostly in BC and Alberta with a stop off on the way home to see the CC&Coke drinking banker cousin - who tells me he no longer drives a BMW - probably upgraded to something more in keeping with his executive position!

We are flying from Shannon - via Heathrow - to Vancouver with BA on  Airbus 380 - have flown once before en route to Joburg last year and remember it was very comfortable so looking to a glass or two of fizz, a couple of movies and perhaps a few hours kip.
We arrive in Vancouver on Wednesday evening so time to get changed and check out the night life - or perhaps grab a burger and crash - lets see how we feel when we get there.
Sitting at Shannon with the obligatory glass of the black stuff - we are on holiday after all! Already thought of two things we forgot but thankfully nothing of any importance. Watch this space.

Things - and places - change!

While the beach at Samara is as special as ever, and our villa at Samara Paraiso was a real treat, the town of Samara has changed over the last 6 years.
Partly because of the growth of tourism in the town - probably inevitable - the place has become almost a stereotypical resort town - it is hard to differentiate between the product being offered by any of the restaurants, bars, tour operators or hotels
On our last visit we regularly saw large numbers of Brown Pelicans and flocks of a variety of Terns flying overhead and fishing in the bay, However over-fishing on an industrial scale - which has since been stopped - has resulted in a shortage of food for the Pelicans and other sea birds, so that this year we saw only one or two Pelicans over the whole week.
Having said that, we enjoyed our stay in Samara - although it may be a few years before we are back again - there are so many other places still to visit.

Reading Material

While we are travelling, we usually manage to devour a considerable collection of books. I am still very grateful for my first Kindle - still going strong after 6 years - and while I enjoy holding a real book, I appreciate the freedom that the Kindle gives me when we are on the road for 6 or 7 weeks.

As usual I chose a work of history to underpin my reading for the trip - The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan is probably one of the best I have read for some time. Last year it was Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples which contributed to his Nobel Prize citation but I think Frankopan's book was more readable and covered a much wider scope. While it's a pity that events of the last year or so in Syria and Iraq were too late to be included, I thought that his focus on the effect that events in this region have had on the rest of the world over the ages were particularly apposite.

Of course there had to be some 'lighter' material and William McIlvanney's 'Laidlaw' trilogy provided some rather dark relief. It was hard not to recognise the progenitor of so much 'noir' writing - whether in Scotland or Scandinavia. It also taught me some Glaswegian phrases that I'm unlikely to hear from my wife and my mother-in law.

In contrast, I started reading Kate Atkinson and enjoyed 'God in Ruins' so much that I went on to read 'Life after Life' and have already downloaded 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' for the flight home.
Of course I also managed a couple of Camilleri's 'Inspector Montalbano' novels as light relief along the way.

Linda has enjoyed  both the McIlvanney and Atkinson books but is saving 'The Silk Roads' for the journey home.

God knows what I will read when I get home - but at least I will have the Daily Telegraph crossword.

Just like the Howlers

Since arriving at our villa at Samara Paraiso we seem to have adopted some elements of the life style of the Howler Monkeys.

We are up at dawn and busy for a couple of hours walking along the beach before returning for breakfast and a leisurely day in the shade by the pool. Just before dusk we stir ourselves into action and head into  town for a cocktail and dinner. Then it is home for a nightcap and bed in time to meet the dawn the following day and start all over again.

To break the routine, we went on a kayaking trip this afternoon along the Rio Ora - quite leisurely floating down stream with the tide so that we reached the beach as the tide turned and were carried back upstream again.

Saw a good selection of birds and other wildlife - although by this time we could probably have taken the place of the guides.