New Dawn

After a great first night back I was up in time to witness my first aussie dawn in over five weeks.  As if on cue, I got quite a light show.

And on that note I'll conclude this blog of My 2012 Canada Trip.  Special thanks to Nancy for letting it happen, Randy and AJ for the invite, all those who extended their homes and hearts to me, a relative stranger,  those who covered my back at work and at home, and all those nameless strangers who got me through the rough bits.

If stressed, sleep.

Mishka the cat waited patiently for all the welcoming visitors to leave our abode and for my bags to arrive (in the chaos of Brisbane Airport they'd been delayed by eight hours, to be delivered by the airline - which they were).  Then, with all the aplomb of the cat that he is, he found himself a nice spot on my new suitcase and had a bit of a cat nap.  Welcome home, indeed!

Welcome Home!

You can probably see how glad I was to get home in this photo.  Most of my immediate family were there to greet me.  Boy did I feel welcomed and special!  Thanks so much guys, you really know how to make a man feel special.

This picture was taken at Adelaide Airport about ten minutes after I got off the plane.

G'day Mate!

One of the happiest moments of my trip was when I got on the Qantas plane at LA, to be greeted by a casual 'G'day mate' by the steward.  I didn't realise how much I'd missed our native informality, let alone the drawl, until I heard it.  All of a sudden I felt that I was at home amongst my own - despite the hour wait on the tarmac and the 14 hours to Brisbane.  At Brisbane, things were too chaotic to snap a pic, but I did get this one as my final flight leg came in over my native home of Adelaide.  Brown and flat, I love it.

Los Angeles Airport (near Hollywood)

After a two and a half hour flight (and two hours checking in at Vancouver) I had just enough time to choke down a cigarette in Los Angeles while walking between terminals.  There was something appropriate about the fact that I was greeted by TV cameras and celebrities in this city the home of Hollywood.

Then, it was back into the queues and swarming humanity of this mega airport, and an hour long wait on the tarmac before take off on the 14 hour flight to Brisbane.

Vancouver Airport

I had several hours to kill at Vancouver Airport while I waited to board my Alaska Airways flight on the first leg of the trip home.  You can see that I didn't particularly mind!  With over 24 hours of aircraft boredom and airport chaos ahead of me, the relative serenity of the place was a blessing.

You'll note I have a disposable coffee cup in hand, from the 'Tim Horton's' franchise.  A puzzle to me when I arrived in Edmonton, I was introduced to them by my cousin during week three.  A great find.

Hwy 1 - The Transcanadian

On the final run to the airport we found ourselves briefly on my old friend, Highway One.  I think this was about the last chance I had to get a picture of the iconic signage associated with this amazing road, so grabbed the chance from the moving car.

In case you forgot my comments when I stopped the traffic on it in Golden, it's something like 6000km long, the Canadian equivalent to Route 66 in the USA (but thrice as long) and the Prince's Highway in Australia (not sure on the distance).  One day I'll travel more of it.

Old Vancouver

Leaving Grenville Street precinct for our round about trip to the airport I could see how the suburbia we passed through, reasonably inner city ring, was of similar appearance to Old Strathcona back in Edmonton.  Hardly surprising, as they were built up around the same time.

Here there was more emphasis of being posh, with price tags of million dollars for these otherwise fairly plain homes (as Vancouver houses go).

Street Banners

Granville Street was decorated with street banners, adding a splash of design and colour to the (pleasant) urban streetscape.

Like back home, a fair bit of symbolic homage is paid to the original inhabitants of these lands, of which these signs are typical examples.  Native iconography is a big thing, much of the better grade souvenier carrying it (produced and patented by first nations peoples).  Also like home, disadvantage and prejudice lie barely beneath the surface, and the mortality and lifestyle statistics are frightening.  In some ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Granville Street

My last few hours on the ground in Vancouver were spent along Granville Street while my cousin did her business nearby.  Nominally an area of upmarket boutiques and lifestyle stores I had an interesting time of it, even finding that 'special something' for my beloved wife Nancy (not that I was worried, but time was running out for the 'perfect gift' to 'leap out at me' so it was good that it did).

The clean streetscape, trolley busses and snow capped mountains in the background combined to give a good final impression of this very impressive city.

Fire Truck

Passing through the town centre at the top of the bay we went past the municipal centres, including the Fire Station.  I couldn't resist the photo opportunity as Fireman Sam was out waiting for his next job.

If you haven't noticed, it has been one of my 'things' while writing this blog to cover most forms of wheeled transport (and others) that I've seen.  For which I can blame the influence of a certain red headed two year old and his passion with all things mobile.  No problem, has been great.

Bay View

My final morning in Canada dawned to a fine if cloudy day.  After a bit of fuffing around at the cousin's we headed off to do some business in town and then out to the airport.

Winding out of Port Moody we paused for a moment to grab this picture across the inlet.  In warmer weather the locals bring their families (and no doubt their dogs) down here for a bit of a splash.

Final Canadian Sunset

View through the blossom tree from the front yard of my cousin's home.  Taken during an add break in the televised hockey game - Vancouver Canucks v L.A. Kings, Cannucks won 3-1 to keep themselves in the playoffs (Kings only need to win one more game to progress into the next round).  The next day I would start my journey home.

Intrepid Explorer

This picture was taken just before I left the woods for home, in a brief moment when the rain lifted allowing me to set the camera down.  It is (perhaps) interesting to compare it to the picture I took a month previously while walking in Stanley Park.  Then, I had gone for a walk on my first full day in Canada.  Here, I went for one on my last full day, about 20 miles away from site of the first walk.  The grin, however, remains the same.

Descent

Having wound my way over various trails through the woods to the top of the trail (and another thin finger of suburbia intruding on the forest on the other side) I returned home by the most direct possible through the rain.  That involved descending this path - photo is taken from the bottom looking up.  I was struck by the fact that, despite the differences in the detail, I could be walking in a temperate rainforest in New South Wales, Victoria, or even in one of the patches hidden in the Adelaide Hills near home.  Nature is indeed amazing.


Fallen Tree

Here is a view typical of the forest floor from the edge of the track.  You can see the large trunk of a fallen tree (chopped down, fell down?), complete with its resident colonies of moss and fungus.  As this photo was taken the rain started to fall heavily again (leading me to get the wettest I'd been on my whole trip).  The fungus from the previous picture can be seen growing on the upright trunk on the left.

Fungus

If you haven't got the picture yet, I again say the forest above Port Moody is wet.  Besides the mosses and lichens, there's fungus feeding off all of the rotting material everywhere.  For example, these odd looking outgrowths on the trunk of deceased tree.  In this fungal colony, individual growths varied from smaller than an inch to over a foot in diameter (not pictured).  Maybe due lack of sunlight, however, I didn't see many toadstools or mushrooms.

Puddle or Pool?

Walking in nature can lead to all sorts of odd experiences and questions.  For example, walking along the muddy track my eye was caught by a strange sight down a subsidary trail - it appeared to drop off and I could see clouds beneath the level of my feet.  Getting closer to investigate I realised that there was actually a patch of water crossing the track, and it had been the reflections in the pool which had been playing games with my eyes.  you might be able to get the general 'feel' of it from this photo, and the fact that the forest floor was absolutely sodden.

Trail Construction

The steep slopes and wet surrounds combine to necessitate a network of paths through the park.  Here you can see how the locals (the park is maintained by local county authorities) utilise timber from the park itself to build and maintain the network.  The land for the park was donated by a benefactor decades ago, it having been subject to clear fell logging.  The forest you see is all, therefore, '2nd growth forest'.  There's still a fair bit of lumber lying around.

Moss on Tree

Due to the moist air blowing up off the bay and dumping its load on the hill slopes facing the bay, their is relatively high rainfall in the area compared to the nearby metropolis.  So much so that it never really dries out, resulting in a large canopies of moss draping the woodlands.  Quite picutesque.

Park Path

Undeterred by the morning rain, my cousin set up with her dog to meet her friend and go for a walk in the woods.  I accompanied them, but the rain was too heavy to intelligently take my camera.  Later in the day I returned on my own, camera in hand, to where the path vanished into the woods...


Moody Bay

This is the view from near the bottom of my cousin's street.  You can see the inlet that comes in from the Pacific Ocean, bringing both the cool moist air and large ships to the Port located at the top of the bay.  Originally a logging community, the area had became a 'cottage community' by the 1920's where rich folk from Downtown had escaped the summer humidity.  The working port still functions as such and big ships fill this inlet regularly.

Rainshower

Looking up the street, this is a typical suburban view in this part of town.  You can see an isolated mini rain shower is dumping itself behind the houses in centre picture.  You might also be able to get an idea of the steepness of the slopes around here - where the land climbs up from the inlet that gives the suburb its name.

Resuming Normal Service

I awoke the morning after the Grease production to the sights and sounds of rain.  During a convenient break in it, I popped across the street for a picture of the house I'm saying in.  My cousin's home is behind the blossom tree.  You can see how the forested park behind their property comes down to the backyard.  Depending on time of year, birds, bears and deer have all been seen in the woods.

After my brief interlude with a text post on the last occasion, I have returned to my task of documenting aspects of my trip to Canada through picture and word.

Going Home!

I'll finish this photo blog in style in a couple days. For now just a text update. I am writing this from Vancouver Airport and am about to board the plane. All well, all good, and excited to be on my way. Have had a great time in Canada, five weeks of excessive fun, a lot of people, a tonne of new experiences, but now it's time to return to those I love and the place I call home.

If you're reading this in Aussie, I'll be seeing you soon. If you're reading it from Canada or a Pacific Island, I'll be seeing you a bit later, but hope to do so before toooooo much longer. At least, sooner than another 33 years!!!!

Okay, boarding call. Next post will be from home, when I can wind up the last few days I have had here in Vancouver, with appropriate photos to boot. Until then...

Go Grease Lightening

Loaded up with books and a few souveneirs I purchased another suitcase for the return trip and found my way to the trainstation in time to be late for the Westcoast Express to Port Moody, where I was to spend the next two nights.

I caught the next train, was picked up by another cousin at the station, fed up on lovely lasagne, and then went to see a 'middle school' (Grades 6,7,8) production of Grease. I smiled the whole way through. Great job kids!

Bookshop

MacLeod's Bookshop had attracted my attention on my way to Victory Square, so it was with some pleasure that I returned to it after my lunch with a friend. It was jam packed with books, you had to step over unsorted piles of them crowding the aisles.

About an hour later I left, having picked up a few choice treasures.

Canada's bookshops are interesting to me, partly because the books are slightly cheaper than at home, mainly because a greater number than I had expected are books I haven't seen before.

Victory Square

I eventually found my way to Victory Square, the old centre of Downtown (though no longer at the centre, it apparently is still the centre of public ritual, such as Remembrance Day). I had arranged to meet up with a friend from Australia who is working in Vancouver these days, and had suggested we meet here - partly because it lay in an interesting part of town I'd only seen in passing on my way out in March, partly because it's a good landmark. People were choofing in the park, cops were driving by, the cannabis culture shops and uni students were obvious. Nice Vancouver vibe.

The centopath says - 'Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, their names shall liveth forever'. Makes you think.

Pipes

Getting off the train in town my first task was to get some money (I had exactly $3 on me). Emerging from the bank, I heard the sound of bagpipes. That brought back pleasant memories of my first time in Vancouver, so I followed the sounds and found this guy, cloven feet and all.

Only in Vancouver, I suspect, would you find this as a 'normal' part of city life.

Bus (Bike, Truck) Train

Getting off the ferry and keeping moving was a good idea as it enabled me to hop on this bus and get to the train station (just) in time to get the train into Downtown Vancouver.

Possibly the saddest thing I saw on my whole trip occurred on the bus leg of the trip. On the opposite side of the highway a bike and truck had just had a collision, first aid was being applied to the motionless cyclist and the trucker was going through shock. No one deserves to be where either of them was, no matter how stupid.