(cont'd...) At four o'clock in the afternoon we reached city of Kelowna, just when I was about to get completely bored. Sightseeing while driving is great, but 13 long hours for a single day...well, next time I'll fly.

Kelowna is located in the Lower Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. To the west is a gorgeous lake, while the rest is surrounded by mountains. One thing is certain; the weather here is much desirable maybe because of its lower sea-level elevation. I believe it has one of the most fertile lands in Canada; its orchards and winery are everywhere. The city itself exudes an atmosphere of complete relaxation. Fresh air, a blue lake, mountains, greens everywhere, and it is less crowded. I actually felt deeply in love with the place, to the point of discussing with the wife about moving here and actually considered a career for the City of Kelowna. Few weeks after my "infatuation" waned, I got a call for temporary project offer, I had to half-heartedly turned it down; the wife wished to stay from our city of residence.       

Most of us will agree that travelling and getting to new places is priceless; however, it may always have price tags too, to be honest, ha ha! I came with a friend to Kelowna exactly just for the sheer fun of seeing a new place, and I got exactly what I wanted without taking much out from the pocket as it was only a day of stay. Seeing the marina, a public park, driving around the city, and visiting a winery proved the travel's all worth it. It was a short stay, so that afternoon after a quick rest, we had a stroll along the lake.

The lake is impressively wide. The view of the opposite side of the lake was a bit hazy from where I stood, probably because of the sun blurring my vision or simply because of its sheer distance. It was fairly busy on and along the lake: those chasing powerboats from a distance, kids playing on the sand, and adults just having their diversion with books, basking under the sun, or simply laying unmindful under their umbrella. I enjoyed taking note of these people. Even a seemingly inquisitive bird (that I captured with my camera) with her droopy wings, took a quick stop-over and postured as if surveying the same scene I was having fun watching. That was lovely.  

There was this long boardwalk at marina that we strolled along further down the beach. With numerous yacht docked and towering upscale condominium buildings on the other side, a hint of prosperity was not hard to imagine at all. Later on, upon talking to our host that night, I confirmed that Kelowna was actually becoming more economically robust; I guess, as its way of catching to its neigbouring Alberta. We would have gone to casino, but the call of the comfort of bed for that night was stronger.

The following day we went to the mall, and made a relaxing drive around and within the city. I remember driving up to the other side of the city (Kelowna West and Kettle Drive), which we needed to cross a bridge to get there. This side of the city was a complete contrast from lake dwellers back on the East side since residential houses here are literally at the slope and at the foot of mountain overlooking the lake.  This is the "ace" under their sleeve, so to speak. It was another charming part of the city, I thought.

Of course, all these wanderings around would have turned out futile had we not visited the place Kelowna is known for: the winery. We picked one of the more famous there, the Summerhill Winery. Our wine tasting experience was not bad; for five dollars you can have three different tasting of their popular wine. I loved their Ice wine, but settled to buy three bottles of white. Good complement for our baked fish-loving household, I kidded my friend.

Our drive going home was another unique experience as we headed to a shorter, but more picturesque Highway 1. This is where driving can be fun because of ever-changing landscape; the western part of the country to discover "Canadian Rockies". I intend to write more about it in details in another blog; for example, when we went Columbia Icefield.

In the end, I can say that Kelowna had imparted me a sense of satisfaction of allowing me to taste, not just its sweet wine, but a different way of appreciating a balanced dynamics - both ecologically and economically, one society should aspire.   

This is one of the best fresh-water swimming places on central Vancouver Island. It is situated at the point where an old highway bridge crossed the Englishman River. Those bridge builders took advantage of a narrow canyon in which the river had eroded hollows and platforms that were ideal for swimming and diving.

The regional parks authority has installed a pedestrian footbridge across the river on the site of the old highway bridge giving park users access to both banks of the river.

Vancouver del 15 al 23 de juliol

Doncs despres de 30 busos i 189 hores 50 minuts de viatge he arribat a vancouver. No pensava que fos el meu punt final a les ameriques, pero ha anat aixi.

Aqui a Vancouver m'estic a dos hostels diferents. El primer hostel esta a prop de la platja, a Jericho Beach, en una zona apartada del que seria el centre de vancouver. Molt tranquil i al costat d'un barri prou xulo, amb el carrer broadway i la 4^th avinguda per trobar bars i botigues. Com que el cap de setmana feien un superfestival de musica folk per jericho beach vaig haver de canviar de hostel perque no hi havien prou lloc per dormir. En el segon hostel estic ben be al centre, just a sobre del pub mes sorollos de tots els de la zona, es algo fora de lo normal aixo d'aquest hostel. Des d'aquest exploro mes el que es el centre de Vancouver. El carrer Granville, el Robson i el Burrard s'emporten el premi de botigues i bars.

Un dia llogo una bici per anar a fer una volta pel Stanley Park que es molt gran i que esta a la punta del que es la mena de peninsula on esta situat vancouver centre. Doncs una volta molt maca en bici, ho tenen molt ben preparat i hi ha un pilot de gent en bicicleta, patinan o corren. Vas fent la volta per tot el voltant de la costa. Jo vaig fer tota la volta completa fins arribar tambe a l'altre banda del False Creek, a Granville Island i gairebe cap al canto de Jericho Beach.

Doncs el que es veu per Vancouver es una ciutat de mar, amb algunes platges i les montanyes amb neu pel darrera, que diria que no estan molt lluny. Al port tambe s'hi veu bastant moviment i tambe moviment d'hidroavions. Els barris que quedan mes apartats com seria el de jericho, pues amb cases xules i zones tranquiles.

Doncs des d'aqui m'animo a fer el salt i me'n vaig cap a Australia, a Melbourne.

Nota: Bueno, doncs aquest ha estat l'ultim capitol de la serie, a partir d'aqui he convertit el blog en algo mes personal i privat, pero espero estar en contacte amb vosaltres via e-mail.

   So it's the August long weekend here in Victoria.  They are celebrating BC's 150 years.  So what did I do all weekend...well I worked.  But while I was out wandering about on my lunch time...what did I see...our world famous Snowbirds doing a few passovers our beautiful city...

I was amazed.  I only had my point and shoot camera...go figure...
But I did manage to take a few quick shots...surprise.
The weather was hot...sunny...perfect.  A bit of a breeze..
They had an outdoor concert going on the Legeslative grounds...people everywhere.
Now if you are only about 5'1"...it is not always as easy at it seems getting through a crowd of crazy people...so I tend to try to find a bare spot and stand there as long as I can....(grin).

SNOWBIRD HISTORY

Canadian military formation aerobic teams have played a major part of Canadian military aviation history.
It all started with the Siskins in the 1930's.  There have been many teams since then.  there was The Golden Hawks, and the Golden Centennaires..and are still remembered by many people who have enjoyed their exciting aerobic displays.

The Snowbirds, first performed in July of 1971, operated on a year to year basis for seven years, before finally being established as a permanent squardon on April 1st, 1978.

One of the highlights for 1975 was a midnight performance on May 11th at Inuvik in the Land of the Midnight Sun...was an awesome sight to behold. (wish I was there).

In 1976, the growing popularity of the team in the United States, was reflected in the requests for a performance at a show in Philadelphia on July 4th as part of the American Bi-Centennial celebrations.  In Canada, the team performed at both Montreal and Kingston as part of the cermonies during the summer olympics.

In the 1980's for the first time, the show opened and closed with nine-plane formation sequences and was performed in 1982 before a total audience of more than six million fans. (way to many for me).
In 1984 the team helped celebrate the 75th anniversary of powered flight in Canada and the 60th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

In 1990 the team flew their 1000 official air demonstration and also incorporated the use of red and white smoke.  In addition to their performances they performed briefly in concert with the United States Blue Angels during Disney's 20th Anniversary, and flew as part of the opening ceremonies prior to the 1991 Grey Cup Game.  In 1992 the Snowbirds performed for the Inuit conference at Inuvik, NWT and were honoured to be official ambassadors for Canada 125 celebrations.

In 2000 they had their busiest season, over 90 shows, over 70 locations all across North America.

In 2005 they celebrated their 2000 show in Reno, Nevada.  They celebrated 35 Years of Hearts.  The 35th anniversary season was dedicated to the memory of their fellow pilot and friend, Captian Miles Shelby, who died during a training accident December 10th, 2004.

As ambassadors for the Canadian Forces and Canada, the Snowbirds not only strive for aerial perfection, but they also ensure that they preserve the team's legacy of excellence in militarydeportment.  The Snowbirds consider it a privilege to perform in communities across North America proudly representing all men and women in Canada's military, serving both at home and deployed on missions oversea's.

So come and look up in the air..........it's a bird...it's a plane...it's an awesome ride!!!!!!

It's the Snowbirds...thanks for the great show!!!

We stopped at the Shady Rest on a clear, sunny, hot summer day and were given a table on the deck overlooking the beach. The breeze was just right drawing away the sun's heat. From our table we could see the jagged peaks of the coast range and in the near distance the hills of Lasqueti and Texada Islands in the strait of Georgia. An ideal setting for dinner on a summer afternoon. The Saturday and Sunday special was prime rib for $15.99 - which we ordered. The service was fast, polite and efficient, the food well prepared and presented. We enjoyed our meals and the experience and recommend the shady Rest without hesitation

Stanley Park: It's named after Lord Stanley and is the 3rd largest city owned park in North America. There were only 2 bus stops in Stanley Park with one being at the entrance and the other in the middle of the 1,000 acre park by the aquarium. Bernie thought we should get off at the entrance but I thought it would be better to be dropped off at the 2nd one. Boy was I wrong! What our original plan was to only walk about 1/4 of the 5.5 mile sea wall on the east side only; so we would be closer if we decided to walk back, instead of using the bus. Upon asking the bus driver how to go about this, he told us to follow this one road which was a main road with traffic. After walking about a mile, we asked a foreign couple upon passing if the sea wall was near. They said we were walking in the opposite direction. There was no road sign so we had no clue where we were. We wondered around aimlessly with no sea wall in sight. We went back to the direction of the aquarium and went a different direction. We had been heading in the direction of the Lions Gate Bridge which we didn't want. lol The paths weren't really marked well but we found one that said Totem Poles and decided that would head us near the sea wall. After walking a good bit going past an area that was damaged by a storm, we saw a clearing with some boys playing rugby and the totem poles in the distance. Yea, we were making progress! At the totem poles, we saw the sea wall and followed it. We thought we were further north, but here we were on the south part walking north and walked more than we had planned; a lot more! The 9 o'clock gun, Harry Jerome (Olympic runner) statue and Deadman's Island were what we passed along our walk. The Brockton Point Lighthouse was what made us realize we started on the south end of the sea wall instead of the north, meaning we would have to walk back! We wanted to see the Girl in the Wetsuit statue which we did find. It was on the sandy, rocky beach with algae on the rocks. I decided to admire it from the sea wall, but Bernie went down. Another guy went and climbed on her and looked as if he was going to mount her! Bernie said it stunk and was slippery. (the beach, not the girl haha) I got the idea to get our picture taken with like poses. This was the little fun  we had in the park. A British couple helped me pose to make sure my body was in the correct position! haha

By this time the bottoms of our feet started to hurt, including but not limited to our toes, calves and backs and we were still a mile away from the park entrance bus stop. We started the trek back and looked for any path to cut out a portion of the wall when we found the totem poles. There was also a bathroom which was filthy and had toilet paper on the floor of every stall. Nearing the entrance, there weren't any signs posted except for a map of the park with the Ideo locator or "You are here" mark and surrounding area peeled off! How irritating! Each map sign we did find was like this. To top it off, we couldn't find the darn park entrance nor the bus stop! Frustrated, we watched a bus go by without stopping and walked out of the park and on the main street and discussed what to do. Begrudgingly, we decided to walk the 2 mile, 8 + blocks, trek back to the hotel. Guess who we passed on Georgia Street? None other than the freaky, bugged out guy from the day before who wanted $4.50 for the bus! When I saw him, I quickly looked away and we ignored each other, while walking in opposite directions. He had to seen us but thank goodness nothing happened.

We were going to est at Fortes again but when looking at their menu for dinner it was double the prices of brunch. There was a RED ROBBINS one block from our hotel so we ate there and had a very friendly waiter from Nottingham named Mike. I got some drink with lime Aid, raspberry and sprite and got free refills! Also got a gourmet salsa burger with pepper jack cheese with steak fries. It ended up being my favorite (and cheapest) meal in Vancouver! Well, except for the chocolate buffet! lol It was nice to sit down but upon standing, I hurt so much that I could barely go down the steps of Robbins! Back at Sutton Place, the hot tub had just closed at 9:30p. So we got our luggage ready for departure and went to bed. What a day it had been, but still fun indeed!

we looked through the range of products available from beadwork necklaces to knitted hats and painted jewellery boxes. We took some photos of Cecil Dawson as he explained his work

     I'm not a good blogger, so I'm just going to write about my experience, and probably leave some things out by mistake.  Leaving for Tofino was an adventure.  I got to Kenmore Aire and found out that the Cessna wheeled craft I was supposed to take was still in maintenence.  I was being put on a sea plane instead; an upgrade seeing as how a one-way trip aboard one of these planes is $2,000.  It was a lot of fun and I was glad for the experience.  We landed in Nainamo for customs, which was intimidating because I had never had to explain my reasons for going anywhere before to someone dressed in a uniform looking at me in a stern manner, as if they were expecting me to rob the first bank I came to. 

     Well our plane landed at a dock, which I didn't take a picture of, but it was as "rustic" as one could get.  It looked more like someone had done the wrong measurements for their porch and accidentally extended it out into the water.  But I got to land and one of my professors met me there.  We hopped in his car and drove around town trying to locate the other two teachers.  The town is a lot like Seaside, in Oregon, if you've ever been there.  There's the same atmosphere about it, and they look very similar, but Tofino is very small.  It's also very touristy, which was fine by me; very bohemian. 

     We at lunch, as I did frequently throughout the week, at SoBo.  Oh... my... god... this place makes amazing food.  AMAZING!  The gringo chicken burrito filled my stomach at least 4 times while i was there.  They have these pollenta fries...  Yum.  The town is an eco-tourist's dream.  There is whale watching, bird watching, bear watching, tours to Meares Island, hot springs tours, canoe tours.  You name it they probably have a company to make it happen.

     We stayed at the Tofino Bottanical Gardens in the Field House, which is like staying in a hostel.  There are 4 beds to a room with communal girl and boy showers on each level.  The gardens were several acres and reached out all the way to the mudflats.  It was just so beautiful that I spend a lot of my free time walking around them.

     A fun thing they had going on was that the day we got there two of the Tall Ships (the Lady Washington and one I didn't know the name of) for the first time in history sailed into Tofino Harbour.  As they sailed in, First Nations tribes sailed out in authentic canoes to meet them as they did when outsiders first visited the area.  It was a lot of fun to watch.  That night a Joe Martin came to the Field Station to welcome us to the place by singing a chant and asking for the ancestors approval and blessing.

     The whole week was quite a blurr because we went to be around 12am and had to wake up at between 6 and 7 every morning.  Of the things I can remember off the top of my head, here they are:  We went to Chesterman Beach, the site of a deadly massacre between native people's and Spanish occupation.  We went to the mud flats and tide pools.  Taking hand-made canoes and paddling out to the island of Opitsat, Carl Martin prepared an authentic salmon feast on the beach while Giselle took us around the island to show us which plants can be eaten and their benefits.  We saw the site believed to be the resting place of the Tonquin, an American vessel that had been sunk just off shore in Clayoquot Sound.  We went to an art gallery to see a fusion of modern and classic Native American artwork created by a man who has been ridiculed for his talent.  The class was also given the opportunity to see a memorial pole being raised and a young First Nations name of the Nuh-Chuh-Nulth tribe being given his "real" name. 

     The trip was amazing and we learnt so much.  I had such an amazing time I will definitely be going back.

On Sunday morning we were up around 5:30am - checkout at the hotel was 11:00am so we had a leisurely 5 hours to pack, window-shop and have breakfast before leaving the hotel. We decided to do a bit of a photo tour up and down Denman Street  while looking for a restaurant to have breakfast. Denman's many small shop didn't disappoint us. They are full of colourful, unusual products not commonly found in other parts of Vancouver. Where else would you find a store selling PEZ dispensers with modern cartoon characters or fridge magnets with the covers of trashy 1950's sex novels - are there serious people who collect these items?? But it was colourful and interesting so we took photos anyway. 

We had breakfast at a small resaurant near the hotel whose name I have inconveniently forgotten, then went down to Second Beach. On the beach, clean-up from last night's crowd was almost complete. The sand had been groomed and the beach was ready for another day of tanning. Freighters were tugging at their anchors out on English Bay. The locals were jogging along the path above the sand and the west end lifestyle was securely restored after last night's temporary invasion.

We decided to drive out to Point Grey to have a look at UBC's Botanical Garden but they had signs all over the lot saying it was a prime car theft area so we abandonned that project and carried on to New Westminster to see if we could walk along the banks of the Fraser River.  That thought took us to Dyke Road on Lulu Island. There is very limited access to the river there but we did get an occasional glance at the water.

As we approached the Lions Gate Bridge we noticed, in the harbour east of the bridge, a huge cruise ship about to pass under the bridge heading west - probably cruising to Alaska. We turned off at the Prospect Point exit to see if we could get a photo of the ship as it went through Lions Gate. Prospect Point was full of people waving to departing passengers but we did manage to get a parking spot and we were also able to get a few photos of the ship "Serenade of the Seas" - one of three cruise ships leaving the harbour at the same time probably taking advantage  of low  tide  that allowed them to clear the bridge  and the sea bottom.

We drove fom Prospect Point to Second Beach and checked into our hotel without any problems - until the manager said "if you go out in your car tonight, the police probably wont let you back into the area"  When we asked "why?" he said "aren't you here for the fireworks?" we said "what fireworks?"  He explained that Saturday night was the last day of Vancouver's "Symphony of Fire" in which a number of countries presented fireworks displays in tme to music. Tonight's presenter, the United States, was expected to be the largest and the most varied show of all.

We couldn't believe our luck. The event was to take place only 1/2 block from the front door of our hotel. The crowd was already  beginning to form as people moved onto the beach to secure a place before 10:00pm when the program started and the audience would swell to tens of thousands.

Just before 10:00pm we went out on Denman Street, the weather was warm and comfortable. A Capoeira group was playing Brazilian music and dancing on the corner of Denman and Pendrell so we watched for a while. We went up to Nat's New York Pizzeria and bought a few slices then  passed through the cordon of the Vancouver Police Crowd Control Unit to Second Beach. A few years before, the Fireworks Festival had been threatened because of crowd problems - alcohol and violence - and because governments had banned sponsorship of events by tobacco companies but those problems seem to have been resolved. The audience was mostly young adults but there were also families with children. The show started on time and continued for about an hour. It was impressive                                                                                                                            

Vancouver is the bomb, yo.

What can you say about a fast food restaurant that sells pizza by the slice? clean, efficient, reasonably priced, good food? Nat's New York Pizzeria on Denman is all of the above. We saw them put to the extreme test during the Symphony of Fire fireworks festival when hundreds of people lined up to buy pizzas. The line moved quickly, people were served politely and efficiently and they never ran out of the wide variety of pizza on the menu. If you're in need of a pizza Nat's is the place to go!

This is a small 3-storey apartment building that has been converted to a boutique suite hotel. Although the building dates from the 1950's it has been well maintained and is very bright, clean and comfortable. Each suite has a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. Wireless high-speed internet is available in all rooms. We have stayed there twice and have been very satisfied with the accommodation and service. We have no hesitation in recommending it to others. Aside from the amenities of the hotel itself, is its location. Just 1/2 block off Second Beach and a short walk from the west entrance to Stanley Park. It is in Vancouver's very civilized west end within shopping distance of hundreds of interesting boutique shops on Robson, Denman and Davie Streets.

We had originally planned to drive to Vancouver on Sunday, meet our friends at a restaurant, attend the show, stay overnight at their home and return on the following day. That schedule seemed too intense so we added an extra day. We booked a room at the Oceanside Apartment Hotel in the West End of Vancouver - about 1/2 block from Second Beach.

Travelling on the BC Ferries in summer can result in long waits unless you have a reservation so we also reserved car space on the ferry. You have to appear at the terminal between 60 minutes and 30 minutes before your reserved sailing which gives you a little time for people watching or souvenir shopping before the ferry starts loading. While we waited we watched two gymnasts - enroute to a competition? - go through their exercise routines and a skateboarder practice his moves before a captive audience.

This is actually the fun part when we joined TravBuddy at a later date, I mean when a whole bunch of buddies had signed up before us - we're kind of having this urge to backtrack and fine-tune our memory to gather as much detailed information as we could about our past travel experience to turn it into a journal and have it shared by this community. Well, I guess another motivation that could push us even more is the notion that we are into writing and just love doing it. Speaking for myself, this is the force behind my being gung-ho about this right now. This is NOT to claim that I am a good writer. As a matter of fact, I am not - and up to this stage I am still in the process of honing my English writing. Truthfully, recognising my effort (that I put in writing) by others does not count big to me and comes only as secondary! Instead, it is this certain level of inner contentment - everytime my fingers start to tap the keyboard and my mind begins to crank-up slowly like a car's idle engine (during a terrible winter time) right after you insert the key and put the engine in pumping motion, that makes the passion within me feels at ease. In its mysterious way, writing has become therapeutic and has acted as antidote to one's monotonous life or worse, to the perrenial stress we feel, which has been a proven precursor to the degeneration of our well being.  Writing or journal- writing for that matter, is like anything else that we love doing: snowboarding with friends, eating breakfast in bed with our wife/husband, finishing our much delayed two-year old basement project, pillow-fighting with our kids, etc. They are like an imaginary vent-off valve that we invisibly attached over our head in order to release any forthcoming 'fumes' of dreadful anger. TravBuddy provides an excellent space to anyone who simply loves writing and passionate about travelling.  

Considering all the good things a journal-writing can do to us - from the idea of being able to know people in various walks of life and sharing a common interest (i.e. travelling) with them, and to being able to contribute our travel experience to others' benefit, it allows us to have a more rewarding quiet time in our study room or it cements an even more intense relationship we shared with our laptop (well, this one maybe too far-fetched, ha ha!). This is why I like this site: for me, its mission is universal. I mean, for sure anybody - at any point in his life, must have already travelled. Be it someone who is enthusiastic in traversing his city's or town's neighbouring communities, and to someone who had dusted-off his shoes at the doorstep of every single country in the whole world. At the end of the day, both have each story to share. So keep sharing your travel escapades!

Last Spring, after having done my term in consulting in one of the local companies, I was up in the market for awhile. TO BE CONTINUED.