The Road Goes On…

Category: Places

  • North Saanich, BC to Port Alberni, BC

    After a great breakfast with our friends we started the next leg of our journey northward on Vancouver Island. Our first stop was at the Malahat Skywalk. This attraction features a walk through the forest partly on an elevated walkway with a number of art installations including several sculptures of native wild animals.

    The walkway ends at a large circular structure that one can ascend for magnificent views of the surrounding area including a sweeping panorama of Mt. Baker, Finlayson Arm, the Saanich Peninsula, and islands in two countries.

    The middle of the tower has a spiralling slide that takes you down on a mat in 8-10 seconds. Alternatively, you can walk down. Martin took the slide and Ruth did the walk. Although the slide was only a few seconds it did produce some dizziness.

    A non-dairy ice cream help regain stability. We prefer the real dairy stuff though.

    Off we went to Cowichan Bay were we found a the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre and Cowichan Wooden Boat Society. They were celebrating their annual wood boat festival but didn’t really engage with us.

    We walked around the harbour a bit and thought sailing would be a nice thing to do sometime on our trip.

    Chemainus was our next stop and here we found a wonderful bead store that was closing with 40% discounts. Ruth was in her element. Pearl earrings, fresh water pearls, semi-precious stone beads and some clasps came with us. Lots of material for future projects.

    Hwy 4 to Tofino currently has construction work going on and is closed for many hours each day so we wanted to get closer to be able to get through in the morning before work started. Our idea was to stay at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park but their last site had just been taken and we thought if we have to stay in a parking lot it might as well be a free one.

    Port Alberni, on the other side of the construction has both a Walmart and the fabulous Little Bavaria Restaurant with authentic food. Well worth the visit!

  • Sidney/Victoria, BC

    After publishing our blog entry from yesterday we spent a wonderful evening driving down to Victoria along the coast seeing many magnificent and expensive houses along the way. A quick check online showed that some of them were in the $14.5 million dollar range. Their views of the ocean are beautiful and we enjoyed the evening sunshine.

    In Victoria we specialized on the floating houses at the harbour. They are very colourful and often had amusing signs and details.

    Of course there had to be an ice cream for all four of us.

    The next day we walked into Sidney again, this time on our own. We stopped at one of the piers where we watched the seagulls and crab fishing. We enjoyed the area as much as we did on the first day.

    While strolling through town we stopped in a couple of shops where Ruth found a very colourful sweater at a fair trade store. After all the shopping we needed some food and found the Taco Shell restaurant. The person serving us was super nice and multilingual having come from Egypt and speaking some German and French. The burritos were excellent!

    No map for today.

  • Sidney, BC

    Today was a day exploring the area with our friends. After a wonderful breakfast we walked to Sidney along a path right next to the water. Lots of interesting houses and beach area to see.

    We had a nice lunch at Seahorse Cafe in Rentwood Bay, right by the water.

    No map today as we didn’t drive with out van.

  • Hope, BC to North Sannich, BC

    The morning came really early with the alarm waking us up at 6AM so that we could get to the ferry terminal for our trip the Vancouver Island. No coffee or breakfast! Although we didn’t have any reservations we didn’t have to wait too long before we could get onto the ferry.

    The weather was fantastic and provided beautiful colours for photographing the water and the islands we passed on the way.

    Our dear friends and former neighbours moved out to North Sannich about 2 years ago so we visited them at the new house. It was a long overdue reunion and it was also great to see them and their two dogs again. We drove to Sidney and walked around the market with fruit, vegetables, clothing, jewelry and entertainment.

    Dinner was at Pier Bistro across from the fish market.

  • Greenwood, BC to Hope, BC

    After a great sleep we drove through rocky mountain areas that gradually became desert-like. After quite some time we arrived at the top of a hill overlooking a large lake and the town of Osoyoos. It was extremely hot and dry and walking through the town exhausted us somewhat. We visited a small gallery with air-conditioning and had a great conversation with a couple that were exhibiting artists there. Lunch was at Smitty’s and consisted of waffles with local peaches. Yummy!

    This area is known for its wines so we stopped at one of the vineyards and picked up two bottles of red wine.

    The town of Hedley is a pretty neat place. Hedley is a former gold mining town that mined $47,000,000 in gold between 1904 and 1955 when it closed after the orebody was exhausted. At today’s gold prices, those 2,417,405 oz of gold mined would be worth $4.7 billion dollars!

    The town has a variety of interesting sights, including deluxe outhouses from competitions over the years, colourfully painted houses as well as some more historical buildings.

    Hwy 3 in this area has a number of steeper hills with some sharp turns. One beer truck didn’t quite make it….

    We stayed at the Sunshine Valley RV Resort & Cabins where we were warned that there was cougar in the area. We went for a swim in their outdoor, indoor, and hot tubs. It felt really luxurious which was good since it cost $87 for the night!

  • Creston, BC to Greenwood, BC

    We had a deluxe breakfast outside on the picnic table at our campsite today with scrambled eggs, bagels and cream cheese, apples and coffee or tea.

    Creston is a vine and fruit growing region in a valley between the mountains. We had passed a number of fruit stands on our way in yesterday and today we bought some cherries, apricots and blueberries at a fruit farm close to our campground.

    Next up was Nelson, BC. A friend of Martin’s had suggested we visit there and we found a slightly 1960s hippie culture town. Lots of grey beards with ponytails and pot shops.

    Ruth was inspired to check out the flower power dresses outside one of the shops.

    A mural in the city showed the outdoor mountain culture.

    After having a long lunch at Tandoori Indian Grill in town, we set off in search of an alpaca farm. Alas, this was not to be, as the alpacas seem to have left their farm.

    Driving through the mountain passes for hours is pretty strenuous on the vehicle, the drivers, and the people behind us who were stuck with us slowpokes. Our van did a really good job in trailer mode which uses the engine to slow down and thus spares the brakes from burning up on the downhills.

    Christina Lake is beautiful and gave us a little bit of rest.

    Tonight we are in Boundary Creek Provincial Park which is just off the highway and beside a small creek which is very soothing, unless a truck happens to be driving by.

  • Fairmont Hot Springs, BC to Creston, BC

    After a busy morning getting our van cleaned, filled and dumped we did a last walk through the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort with its beautiful scenery.

    The pool area was already nicely occupied and reminded us of our swim yesterday.

    We headed south again, this time taking a slightly different route so that we could visit the town of Kimberley. We’re glad we did! First up was lunch at The Shed, a BBQ joint with brisket, pulled pork, cornbread and beans. We had a fabulous lunch for around $40.

    After some browsing through the shops in town we briefly visited the visitors centre where we learned that the last tour of the day of Kimberley’s Underground Mining Railway was leaving in about 30 minutes. Fortunately for us, it was just around the corner. It was a real highlight of our trip so far and one of the best mine tours we’ve ever done.

    The 2 hour tour starts at the station and gradually winds itself up the side of a hill where we got to see quite a number of deer.

    Bill, an old miner, gave us so much insight into how mining is done and lots of new terms. Muck is the correct term for the ore that is being removed. We got demonstrations on how some of the equipment was used – boy is it noisy.

    After leaving the mining tour we were looking for a place to spend the night when we saw a new wildfire that had just started today so we thought it best to put a bit of distance between us and it.

    We’re in Creston, BC, a small town with lots of fruit trees and vineyards. The local Husky gas station also sold propane and had a couple of large bays with pressure washers so we gave the van a well deserved hosing down.

    Scottie’s RV Park and Campground was just down the road and it is a great family run cosy place to spend the night.

  • Bellevue, AB to Fairmont Hot Springs, BC

    The morning began with a visit to the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre which tells the story of the massive slide that happened in the early morning hours of April 29th, 1903 and is Canada’s deadliest rock slide, killing more than 90 people. A total of approximately 110 million metric tonnes of rock came off Turtle Mountain and buried the valley below to a depth of up to 45 meters (150 feet).

    The mountain is still unstable and another slide will likely happen in the future. It is good that we didn’t know that last night as we soundly slept in a nearby campground. The Alberta Geological Service has a variety of sensors on the mountain and can detect minute changes in the rock movement.

    Our next stop was to sample cinnamon buns at a cafe that had been recommended to us by the visitor centre in Lethbridge, but, alas, we were disappointed. They certainly didn’t live up to the ones we’ve enjoyed in the Yukon.

    Sparwood is another town along Hwy 3 and it features the largest tandem axle truck in the world – capable of carrying 350 tonnes of stuff. Only one was ever built and here it is. Be the envy of the neighbourhood with a 3300HP, 16 cylinder engine, although you won’t win any races with its top speed of 48km/h.

    Our final destination for today was the Fairmont Hot Springs in BC where we relaxed in the pools.

  • Lethbridge, AB to Bellevue, AB

    Our first stop for today was at the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site. This site was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list at the 1981 meeting as a site of outstanding universal value forming part of the cultural heritage of mankind. An interpretive centre teaches about the history of the area.

    Prehistorical Plains Indians herded buffalo over cliffs to their deaths and then butchered the animals for meat to survive the winter months and used the hides and bones for clothing and tools. Over a period of almost 6000 years, at least 4 different Indian cultures used this site.

    After leaving the buffalo behind us, we traveled on a gravel highway until we met up with Hwy 3. Our next stop was the Lundbreck Falls, a very picturesque place to have lunch followed by a hike to see the twin falls.

    The second cultural place of interest was the Bellevue Underground Mine, a former coal mine. We donned miner hard hats with lights and walked 1000ft into the pitch black mine to learn how coal was extracted during its operation between 1903-1961. According to our guide, some children as young as 12 worked in the mines, a dangerous and difficult environment to be in. Miners worked 8-12 hours a day for little pay.

    The coal wagons, each weighing 3-6 tonnes, were pulled out of the mine an average of 6 at a time by Clydesdale horses.

    The guide, a university history student, was excellent, informative and engaging.

  • Lethbridge, AB

    After some quick grocery shopping at Walmart we stopped at the Lethbridge information centre to get some suggestions for what to do in the area. Wow, did we find a lot of possibilities. So many, that we didn’t manage to make it out of Lethbridge.

    Our first adventure was at the Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre in nearby Coaldale. Here orphaned and/or injured birds find a forever home if they can’t be released back into the wild.

    Admission was $14 for adults and $12 for seniors (60+) and a bag of duck food was $2. We invested Ruth’s senior rate discount in a bag of duck food. The first birds we encountered after entering were ducks and Canada geese – not exactly birds of prey unless small children with food are involved.

    Next, we saw the cutest little (and bigger) owls and were even allowed to hold them.

    We learned that owls with yellow eyes are active during the day and those with black eyes are nocturnal.

    The next area housed eagles and hawks, but those required professional handling as eagles can have a wingspan of up to 2.4 meters.

    At 1:30PM there was a bald eagle flying exhibition featuring “Grace”. Grace weighs 7.8 lbs and definitely had attitude. Some chicken bits at both ends of her track kept her focused and flying back and forth. She also eyed some donuts that one of the visitors was eating but the trainer kept her from enjoying those.

    The staff was super friendly and knowledgable and answered all questions in detail.

    After watching the birds being fed, we too were hungry and headed to a food truck event at Henderson park in town where we sampled a taco with brisket, and another with pork belly. Both were excellent! Next up was the brisket on a bun truck but their fare wasn’t as good as the tacos. To finish off, we had to make sure that the ice cream truck offered tasty treats. We were not disappointed.

    Now stuffed, we had to do some exercise and walked around this lovely park which features the Nikki Yuki Japanese Garden, a huge pool and a lake.

    Our last visit for today was to the Lethbridge Viaduct, also known as the High Level Bridge which was constructed between 1907 and 1909 at a cost of over $1.3 million. It is over 1.6 km long and has a height of 96 meters above the river bed. It is the largest of its type in the world!

    The beautiful structure of the bridge lends itself to abstract photography.

    Ok, we didn’t make it very far today, so we’re back at the Walmart for the night.