Jules
13/07/2012, BC, Canada

We finally made it over to Gabriola, after spending some time with Jess and having a day out in Stanley park getting lost at Beaver Lake and seeing my very first raccoon.

The weather finally cleared and it's been sunny and warm for the last week or so which is great, and bizarre for us because you can actually go out in it over here; we might even go back with a sun-tan if it keeps up as expected. We were here for Canada Day on July 1st which was really good, and Mike managed to find his old potato gun and take part in the local potato canon derby. He didn't win but did reasonably well considering his technology was 20 years old, and he didn't have his own hairspray.

The gulf islands are absolutely beautiful and it's been wonderful visiting all Mike's old haunts and friends and seeing all the log houses he's built over the years. We had to take Ted's truck back to Salt Spring and now we've borrowed a friend's old MGB so we've been round the island with the top down looking like real tourists, and trying hard to avoid the deer which are all over.

We've also, unfortunately, run into a couple of little snags over here to do with some of Mike's property that he left here in safe-keeping so we've had to stay around longer than anticipated, but at least it's given Mike time to be treated like the home-coming celebrity which a lot of people over here obviously feel he is. As usual hes' been working hard and helping out where he can with roof cleaning, log chopping, electrical wiring and various other assorted projects that people are up to.

One of the great things for me has been to be welcomed into the community and to meet lots of people who have apparently been following the blog for quite some time ... you never know it might even mean we start getting a few more comments now - well, I can hope.

We're in contact with James on a regular basis and alls well back on the Buzzard. In fact I just got an email from Phil over on Hog and James had been telling him that he gets more work done when we're not around so is quite enjoying it. As far as we know he's already prepped and painted the top deck and the galley and is now working on the main companion-way. I keep thinking if we stay away long enough then maybe it'll be finished by the time we get back!

The internet and mobile connections are pretty poor here so I don't get on-line much but will update when I can and let you know when tickets have been booked and we're back on our way.

In the meantime ... Love to all ...

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Jules
25/06/2012, Vancouver, BC

We spent three days with Ted and Jane on SaltSpring and then took off in their Dodge farm truck as they were heading out to Ireland for a couple of weeks. So we've got wheels which is really good and has helped get us around.

First stop was up to Black Creek to spend a couple of nights with Pete (Tiempo/Rocinante) for his birthday. He has a relatively isolated property out near Lake Orel and lives a simple life, when he's not in the Caribbean, in some beautiful wooden huts he built. All mod cons and an outhouse!

Within an hour of arriving we'd seen two beavers, a black bear and a myriad of local birds including purple headed finches, woodpeckers and swallows, not to mention his chickens, ducks and turkeys. Unfortunately the weather wasn't really in our favour and the BBQ had to be moved to his brother's more palatial, and dry, dwelling next door. But the next day it cleared up a bit and we took a walk through the forest and along the beach to Salmon Point Inn for lunch, then had another damp BBQ in the evening.

After that we made our way down to Qualicum, stopping at the Fanny Bay Inn for fresh oysters on the way. We called in to see our friends Dirk and Bea at the organic pig farm, had a wonderful supper and then headed to Parksville for the night. Next day we went to Nanaimo to stay with Martin and Maxine, drink some beer and eat raw prawns - it's a hard life sometimes.

We also did some shopping which was quite the experience, like you can buy things! At first it was wonderful to see the vast array and relative inexpensiveness of what you can get here compared to the Caribbean; looking at washing-machines almost brought a tear to my eye. But after awhile, and not that long either, it all got a bit overwhelming. How do people live with so much choice? Do people have nothing better to do than shop? And why does 99% of just about everything come from China? I guess it's the same in all Western countries but, after being out of the loop for so long, it really does make you stop and think.

Thursday we caught the ferry over to Horseshoe Bay and arrived back at Sharon and Phil's place in North Van. ready for an early start the next morning. We were at the Canadian Citizenship Centre by 7.30 am and met up with Jess and her friend Laura for the 8.15 ceremony. There were 84 people becoming new Canadians, from a total of 29 different countries. It was quite a moving ceremony and I'm sure Mike had tears in his eyes as he re-affirmed his oath of allegiance, which is not something everyone gets to do, with those choosing to become Canadian (or any other nationality I guess) quite often having a much stronger feeling of loyalty to their country than those born here and who regard it as a right.

We're trying to spend as much time with Jess as we can before she starts back at work in two days time. Yesterday we took her up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. The ski-slopes are obviously closed for the season but there were lots of mountain bikers busy going up the lifts and bouncing down the tracks, and the road trip up there was absolutely spectacular, looking out over the coastal mountain range and stopping off to see waterfalls and lakes.

On a not so good note, the ID we need from the UK hasn't arrived yet even though it was promised for early last week (obviously the Caribbean isn't the only place where things go slow), and we've had to apply for Mike a new passport as they won't add pages, that won't be ready until the 9th July at the earliest and I'm not sure we should book tickets until we have it back in our possession. Personally I don't have a problem with how long we have to stay: as long as James is ok then so are we. That being said we did have an email saying Toby had gone missing overnight and James was somewhat upset. Luckily the little darling did come back the next morning but it's not good ... I think maybe he's been grounded for a while.

We're still being well looked after and still eating wonderful food. The latest for us is the asparagus and apricots, not to mention sushi, sushi and even more sushi, and roast lamb, and ... bumbleberry crumble.

All being well on Wednesday we'll be heading over to Gabriola to finally get started on some of the sorting out stuff we've got to do over there. It's also Canada Day on July 1st so hopefully we'll be among friends for that, and hopefully the weather will be ok, although to be honest as long as it's not raining (which, incidentally comes straight down here), we're fine.

Love to all from a still wonderful, wild west Canada ...

Comments [4]

Jules
16/06/2012, SaltSpring Island

So here we are in Canada. I received notification, on my birthday, that my Permanent Residency had been approved and that I had to be in Vancouver on June 5th to attend an interview and bring all the original documentation that I'd previously sent as copies. I tried to re-schedule it but apparently it wasn't an option, and after waiting 18 months to get to this point I didn't think letting it go was the way forward. That gave us ten days to get organised!

Luckily James finally got back to the boat the following Tuesday and agreed to stay on to look after it (and Toby and Nellie), so we booked flights and left on Monday the 4th for Vancouver (via Barbados and Toronto). The flights were actually quite good, even though we ended up having two Mike Nelder announcements out of the three different airports. We arrived in Toronto at 9.30 pm and our friends Maurice and Sue, who we'd met in Trinidad and Bequia, picked us up and we stayed overnight with them. It was great to see them and even better not to have to attempt sleep in the airport like I did last time. We were back at the airport just in time (literally) to catch the 8.15 am to Vancouver. After the five hour flight we landed at 10.15, met up with our friend Sharon (who we met in Tobago Cays a couple of years ago), had sushi for lunch and made the Citizenship and Immigration appointment with time to spare.

After travelling 6,000 miles over two days to get there it took all of three minutes for me to get the residency. The card was already made up and I just had to sign for it, they didn't ask me any questions at all. It was something of an anti-climax, not that I'm complaining, it could have been a lot worse; like trying to re-new Mike's driving license which they won't do without two forms of ID and he only has his passport so we've had to send off to the UK for further ID. He's been issued a temporary one in the meantime and hopefully the further ID will arrive soon.

Anyway ... we stayed with Sharon and Phil in North Vancouver for five days, getting acclimatised and sorting out turbo fixing and stuff. Mike brought the broken turbo off the Yanmar generator but apparently they don't fix them anymore, they're classed as disposa items. We had sushi for lunch four out of the first five days and we've had drunken crab, salmon, prawns, halibut and lots of beautiful fresh vegetables: all the things we'd forgotten we missed.

The weather's been cold but beautiful with wonderful misty mountain mornings and thankfully not too much rain. Of course we're in boots and coats and had to make a few trips to the Thrift Store to stock up on warm clothing, but it's great to be snug and warm. It's the first time Mike's been in temperatures under 24C since we got to the Cape Verdes which was ... quite some years ago.

Last Sunday we met up with Mike's friends Rene and Claire. Rene is a marine surveyor and he'd arranged for us to go and look round the St. Eval which is currently in North Vancouver. We've had a brochure for the St. Eval for over six years; it's a private tug from 1931 which is almost identical to ours in shape and size and has been renovated extensively. To be able to go on board was great, it's obviously much, much better than ours on the inside but only has two main cabins and has nowhere near the amount of space inside as we do, and definitely no glass-roofed funnel.

We stayed with Rene and Claire in Tsawwassen for two nights, visited the Ladner Street Fair, had a great tour of the area, finally managed to get a Canadian sim card and a working phone, went to more Thrift Stores and then caught the ferry across to Vancouver Island on the Tuesday. Ian, our friend from Maryport who now lives in Brentwood, met us at the ferry and we stayed with him and his wife Kitty for two nights. On the Wednesday we went into Victoria to have lunch with Joanne who works for Transport Canada and who we've dealt with for the past five+ years, she has been so helpful and human in getting our ships registration sorted out, and so different to the UK officials that we first encountered. It was really great to be able to put a face to the voice and the emails; it's just a shame that the powers that be have decided to close all regional offices and transfer to Ottawa, an increasingly common problem over here apparently.

Yesterday we caught a local ferry over to SaltSpring Island and we're staying with Ted and Jane (Jake) for a couple of days before moving north to Naniamo, Gabriola and Qualicum. All in all so far it's wonderful being back, and sitting in the hot tub amongst the trees on SaltSpring is sheer heaven. The people we've stayed with have been so great and hospitable and we've been made to feel like treasured friends ... and the sun's even shining today. Oh and Mike's being his useful helpful self, he's done some dry-walling for Phil, killed a rat for Rene and is helping Ted put on a new roof as I type.

My daughter Jess who normally lives in Vancouver, left for the UK on June 1st for a month, which was great timing. And then last week she got notification that her Canadian Citizenship has been approved and she has to attend a swearing in ceremony on 22nd June. That means she's had to change her ticket to come back a week earlier ... it also means we'll get to see her sooner and be there to welcome her officially into Canada. It'll be great but has messed up our plans a bit; we now have to leave Vancouver Island to be back there next Friday and then probably come back again afterwards.

We spoke to James earlier today and things are going ok on the Buzzard. He's had a few minor problems with Toby, apparently he ran off on Hog with his girlfriend again and James had to spent a couple of hours waiting for him to show up, but apart from that alls fine as far as we can tell. I'm surprised Mike's not missing it more but he seems pleased to be back here for a while. We didn't book return tickets as there's no financial incentive with WestJet and we weren't quite sure how long things would take. It's probably just as well really as we're now waiting for things to arrive from the UK and for Mike's driving and radio licenses ... and then we have to see exactly what awaits us on Gabriola ... should be fun !!

Love to all from the wild west of Canada ...

PS Sorry for the delay in posting this. I couldn't remember our Sailblog password ... I know it now so will endeavour to update more regularly.

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