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I'm trying

...but where is this all leading?

Posts tagged with "vacation"

Random pix...

Thursday, 17. July 2008, 03:07:46

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of a recent road trip.

Bob's Lake. Fishing was good, though the fish were too small. So peaceful, the only sound heard was the whining of the mosquitoes. We would've stayed longer if not for that.

Found a swing at the other end of the lake. Nothing like a swing to make you feel young.

Vermillion lake. Isn't vermillion red? The water was turquoise. Hmm.

Heading down along the Fraser river to Lilloett. I just love this rugged landscape!

Forest fire! Started by a huge R.V. that just blew up and caught fire. Tried to take a picture of it but it didn't turn out. Good thing we got through when we did because the next day the whole highway was closed for several days.

Big slide!

Heading down into the Fraser Canyon. The muddy Fraser River. All that silt carried down to the ocean has formed the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

Stay tuned for Hell's Gate Canyon!

13 Comments

Well...

Saturday, 31. May 2008, 07:10:16

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I'm in the process of moving. And I have no camera to document the happenings. Tomorrow I shall take pictures of all these boxes and empty walls. I'm a bit sad to be leaving this small haven, my first home since first moving to China I can't remember how many years ago. It doesn't matter. Starting a new life full of possibilities. Exciting, and a bit scary.

Even Lola is freaking a bit! I think she thinks I'm going to leave her again. Right now, shes' purring away, sitting on my lap.

So, what to do while taking a break from packing. Reminisce about three months ago. What day was that? Day 5? 6? No matter. Here are more photos of the best vacation ever. Bahamas..day whatever.

It's Easter. Maybe Sunday. Everything is closed up. We decide to head north somehow, to see what is supposed to be the best beach on the island, Cocoplum Beach. Heading out the door I almost step on a little chameleon. I am astonished at how quickly they turn turn colour, almost instantaneously, to blend in with the environment. OH! Look at my wrinkly fingers! Yikes!


Anyway, as we've discovered, the best way to get around the island is by hitch hiking. People are so friendly here, they even stop to pick you up when you don't really want a ride! The first ride we get is only up to the airport. But it is in a proper taxi, driven by Mr. Rolle. Who just happens to be a cousin of Esther Rolle, the actress. What was she in? Good Times? And Roots? Can't remember. Anyway, the Rolles are famous around here. Mr. Rolle tells us stories of his youth, and the changes he has seen in island life since then. He drops us off, and we promise him, that we will call him to take us to the airport for our departure in a few days. So, we start walking down the road a bit. It's a hot hot day. Humid. Cars , trucks pass, and stop, ask us where we're going. Nope, not going there. But after a few minutes , success. A pickup truck. A young man dropping his girlfriend off after a night of partying on the Easter weekend. He drives us most of the way to the beach and then we walk about a kilometre or so down to the shore.

Yes, it is the best beach we've seen. No one here but us. Well, for a while anyway. The water is shallow and warm. I spend much of the time, combing the sand for shells and other interesting things.


"W", relaxing. Nice hat. Locally woven.


Yeah, hot humid day. And when we get back to the cottage, what is on TV but the World Figure Skating Championships! What a thing to be watching in the tropics! Unbelievable. And the best part! A nice Canadian boy won the gold! Happy happy day.

17 Comments

Bahamas Day 5

Monday, 14. April 2008, 03:53:16

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Half way there. :rolleyes: Day five, Good Friday. Everything is closed here. Good thing we stocked up on supplies the day before. The Bahamas makes very little of it's own products, most is imported. Twice a week the mailboat comes in with fresh supplies. We find the supermarkets quite well stocked except for fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. These things sell out very quickly. Anyway, this day we decide to stay close to home and explore the beach next door. One of the owners of the cabins says that when he was a young boy, the very best snorkeling in the islands was off this very beach. At the beach now is an old pier and abandoned beach villa/hotel which is being renovated, very slowly. We find a nice quiet stretch of white sand and settle down. I decide to go do a little beach combing. Conch shells everywhere! I can't believe they eat the animals that live in these things.



Along with the conch , unfortunately I find an enormous quantity of empty beer, wine and liquor bottles, buried in the sand and tossed into the ocean. I decide to do a Good Friday deed and try to clean up things a bit. Here's my collection, hardly a dent in the problem.

After a bit of a swim and snorkel, (which is getting better and better) we retire back to our beach blankets. Over at the beach villa we see a lone figure. He approaches us. With a machete. :eyes: And two coconuts. He first drills a little hole in one of the coconuts so we can drink the water from it, and then shows us how to open it. The coconut meat is actually like jelly and is not too sweet. Quite refreshing. The old man tells us he is the security officer for the hotel and that anytime we want we are welcome on this beach. He also gives me a detailed explanation on how to kill a conch and then make a stew. Somehow, I don't think I'll do it.


Just off the beach to the right is an old pier. I decide to go snorkeling there for a bit. I was not disappointed! The variety of fish was incredible. Blues and yellows and purples. A parrot fish ( I think), thousand of groupers, snapper, big eyed pink fish and various coloured angelfish. I can only imagine what it was like 50 years ago before the coral began dying off. Fortunately, further north of this island, the government has made the reefs a protected area, a National Marine Park.

Afterwards, refreshments...and

..a little toe fun. :D

17 Comments

Bahamas Day 4

Saturday, 12. April 2008, 04:30:09

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Okay okay, my mom has been nagging me for the next installment of the Bahamian trip. Work's been busy; it's hard getting back to work now after all that relaxation! Been running a lot too, how many days left until the big run? Trying to not think bout it too much. Up to running 1:20 with few walk breaks!

So, day four. We decide to take a little ferry across to Stocking Island where the best snorkeling is supposed to be. It's a blustery day once again, but hot and sunny. Full on sunscreen and long sleeved shirts and hats. No burns on this holiday.

Yikes!

It only takes ten minutes to get across. There are a lot of sailboats and yachts harbored near the island. Water is calm and clear.

We walked through a mangrove jungle to the Atlantic side of the island. The trees are very low but dense and diverse.

Here's the real ocean!

Well, the snorkeling wasn't so good...but...

13 Comments

Bahamas Day 3

Thursday, 3. April 2008, 16:18:08

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Woke up at 7:00 a.m. which is really 4:00 a.m. my time, so I decide to go back to sleep until 9:30 ! :up:
After a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon we set off to town. First destination is the tourist bureau. It's a hot day, maybe close to 30 degrees, so when we enter the office it's a bit of a relief to get a blast of cold air from the air conditioning. The manager is on the phone. She is wearing a full suit with coat! I'm thinking, why not turn down the air? We look at a few brochures while waiting for her to finish. I listen to one of the conversations and what she is doing is giving out the menu of the day for the local restaurants! We ask her a few questions all of which she cannot really help us with. One of which is, where do we catch the bus? Oh, there's no bus anymore. So...what do we do? How do we get to the various beaches and sites around the island? It's not a big island, but 30 miles is a bit far to walk, even with Walky's help. So, when in Rome...


What do the locals do? Hitchhike! Hey, I've never hitchhiked before. Never. But, the people are so friendly here, and it feels safe. It's not long before a nice young man with dreads pulls over in his big truck and asks us where we're going. Man-o-war-cay. Well, he's not going that far, but he'll drive us anyway. We start chatting. Life. Island life. The important things in life. He's a young man but he's got it right. Moved from Nassau to this island because his family had a big section of what is called generational land. He's going to build a house on it now.

He drops us off, asks a couple of local girls how we can get to the cay. When speaking amongst themselves the locals have a totally different accent. Very hard to understand, a bit Jamaican/Haitian/Creole/English. But when speaking to us, the accent is very neutral.

Off we go, through an old cemetery, up over a small hill, and there it is. WOW! Blue. Green. Water. White sand. Man-o-war Cay. When the tide is low, like now, you can walk across!

Here we go. Walking across! I'm speechless. It's unbelievably beautiful. And we are all alone!

Well, almost alone.

After about one kilometre we make it to the other side. The Atlantic Ocean!
Ah, we are not alone. One lone kite surfer battles the waves. Looks like fun.

Relaxing once more. I think this is going to be a pretty good holiday. :happy:

Hmmm..I wonder when the tide starts coming in?

20 Comments

Bahamas Day 2

Tuesday, 1. April 2008, 04:16:47

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Up super early again. It makes me tired to even think about it. Feel so nauseated from the early rise I have to take a gravol. It might also have something to do with the extra strong rum punch W made last night. Just to make sure we were getting our money's worth he snuck back to the bar and poured us a couple of strong ones. I couldn't finish it. :drunk:

Anyway, the taxi arrives on time and we get to the airport in less than 10 minutes. For some strange reason the ride that cost $10 yesterday now costs us $20. Grrrr. I hope this is not a sign of things to come. As we take off it is still dark, but the sun begins to rise just as we land in Exuma. The weather is a bit blustery but fairly clear. The airport is small and we walk around wondering where the baggage claim area is. Oh, there it is. The sidewalk. :rolleyes: Welcome to island life! Relax relax.

The taxi ride is a bit longer, 15 minutes and we arrive at our cottage at 7:20 a.m. The place looks deserted. There are four cottages. Which one is ours? We wait a few minutes and then W decidees to walk into town to phone. Town is only a 10 minute walk away. After he leaves I start to poke around. No sign of life round back. I peek in one of the windows and see a man watching the morning news! He tells me that the cottage next door is empty, and it should be open. It is. But it is not clean. Weird. They knew we were coming early. I take a look around. The place is really nice! Bright and cheery. Television. Fully equipped kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. All the comforts of home. It's bigger than my apartment! :up:

Anyway, as it turns out, there was a miscommunication (not on my part) and the owners thought we were coming later. No one had ever arrived so early before. So, what to do before the cleaner arrives? The lady next door feels bad for the mixup and invites us over for breakfast, bacon and eggs. So friendly. She's lived here most of her life. Her family goes back generations.

Afterwards we decide to hang out at the beach...right across from the cabin. No need to go far the first day.

View from our patio!


It's a bit windy!

One of my favorite pastimes , beach-combing. A huge sponge!

Relaxing finally.

Coconut trees everywhere, we knocked a few fruit down and tried our best to open one. We wouldn't do very well on Survivor.

A thousand words.

14 Comments

Bahamas Day 1

Saturday, 29. March 2008, 16:29:42

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Up at 4:00 a.m. the first day to catch early and cheap flight to the Bahamas. Dressed in summer clothes and the weather is cold and rainy as usual in Vancouver. No matter, we'll be warm soon. Rab and Jazz are along for the trip, they travel free because they can fit in the seat pouch. Of course it will be Easter soon, and it just so happens that it is their birthdays as well. How could we leave them home?

"Hey dad, didya 'member the sunskween?"


We fly into Calgary first with a short wait for the connecting flight. Weather is good so far! Westjet is awesome. Every seat has its own television screen so you can watch any show or movie you want without fighting over the channel changer. :D

Somewhere over someplace flat.



Arrive into Nassau in the early evening. Weather is blustery but warm. Only an overnight stay here. The hotel is only 5 minutes from the airport and yet very quiet. No desire to stay in Nassau due to all those silly spring-breakers . We prefer secluded beaches with no noise and no vomiting teenagers.

Lookit the turquoise water!


The hotel is not as nice as I had hoped. First of all the owner is quite eccentric and has a "Fawlty Towers" sign over the front door. Hmm, is that something to be proud of? He rattles off the rules for dinner and drinks so fast I can't understand him. He gives us strange directions to the room. Was that 17 steps or room 17? The electronic key has a piece of tape on it that says 16. We manage to find the room after a few misturns. Put the key into the slot of room 16. Nothing. Try 17. Nothing. Go back to the office. All he says is , "Oh that happens sometimes." Then he gives me another key, and as I'm leaving, I hear him call out, "#16 poolside". Back to room 16 then. But guess what? The key doesn't work. Grrr. I then try #15 just for the heck of it. Guess what? Yeah, it works. The room is a little tacky but clean. We freshen up a bit and then decide to try some dinner. Not really hungry but we figure it best to try to get our internal clocks changed to island time.

"Hey dad, whatz the drinkin' age here?"



After dinner we walk a bit on the beach. The sand is so fine and white, it sticks to your feet.. The sunset is glorious but the clouds are a bit ominous. We fear bad weather for our holiday. Early rise again tomorrow, destination Exuma !

13 Comments

Bahamas' teaser...

Saturday, 29. March 2008, 00:41:21

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Arrived home early this morning to freezing temperatures and...SNOW! It's Vancouver! What is going on? :confused: Anyway, just finished uploading photos and now comes the editing and selection process. Lola is glued to my side right now, she missed me terribly. :frown: If I get up and go to another room or outside she goes into a panic and starts howling! Poor thing.

Anyway, here is a teaser photo...more to come soon. :smile:

11 Comments

Almost...

Monday, 17. March 2008, 05:05:18

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Only a few things to do today, finalize packing and photocopy some documents.

During breakfast, waffles of course, we hear a familiar sound...

MRRROEOOOOOOWWWWMRLROWOWOOWOOWOGRRROWOWOMROOOWEWOOOWWWWWWWW

Cat fight.

Go out to see what it's all about. Lola is standing her ground, her back arched, tail fuzzed, defending her yard. There's a new cat in the neighbourhood, grey tabby siamese cross. It's all Lola needs, to have me as backup, and she's off like a shot running that cat across the garden and under the fence. She turns and slinks back to the house. Her job is done.

Afterwards we run a view errands, one is to Staples to photocopy our passports and travel info. Then to get a bit of food for dinner. Get home around 4:00, just enough time for a long run before dinner. Training for the 1/2 is progressing slowly. My lungs are up for it, but at times my knee does not appreciate all the pounding. I've discovered that if I run for ten minutes then take a short one minute walk break, I'm able to run much further. Anyway, beat the rain and made the entire run in just over an hour. By my calculations that must be about 10 km. Only 10 more to go! Hmm, two months until the race, is it possible?

Anyway, iced my knee right away and had a bite to eat. Then, on to the final preparations, packing up. The first thing I decide to do is pack up my travel purse. Two credit cards, driver's license and medical card. Oops. Where's the passport? Must be on the table in my big purse. Not there. That's weird. Wes has his. Where's mine? I venture down to the car, maybe it slipped behind the seat. Not there. My heart is starting to race. WHERE IS THE PASSPORT!!!!!! Wes gets on the phone to Staples. Staples is closed, but the security guard answers. Nope, nothing turned in. :eyes:

WHERE'S MY PASSPORT?!!!!! After a bit more frantic searching, I call back Staples again. Maybe someone is there, and they'll let me look around the store. Maybe, maybe. The guard answers again. IT'S THERE! :faint: So we make a mad dash back down the store before he leaves. Yay. Good karma I think. I have no idea what I would've done if it had not been found. Nothing like this has ever happened before. My tummy is still a little upset from all that adrenalin.

Anyway, all packed up now. Relaxing, listening to the rain which I will not miss one bit. I have this to look forward to...:D


7 Comments

Busy

Sunday, 16. March 2008, 05:21:50

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Work's done for the week. Done for two weeks. I've been boss for a bit while my bosses were away. Busy getting ready for my spring break trip. No camera to take pictures of spring, it's here. Flowers blooming, trees budding, birds pairing up. Leaving for the Bahamas on Monday. Oh dear! It's Saturday night. Well, all is good. Will maybe post something more substantial tomorrow. No guarantees of anything from down south though. No internet access in the cottage. Maybe that will be a good thing, a break from the digital world. Yeah. Will take photos though. Will take photos. Yeah. Life is good. Life is good.

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