Not Bike Travelling Canada and the USA

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
Well, Tassie Dave was quite content to use all the available bandwidth on the Lake Leake Forum Projector, and due to the Lake Leake Social Club meeting the second night we never got back to any more slide shows. So since some may be interested, I thought I'd post up the pics I was going to show of my recent trip to Canada and the USA, even though I didn't ride any bikes!

My sister was living in Montreal and my Dad and Step Mum live on Vancouver Island, so the purpose of the trip was to go see my sister whilst she was still there, and pop on down and see NYC and Washington DC briefly. We were restricted to 3 weeks due to my fiancee being a school teacher and needing to be back for first term, and a friend's wedding the day before we left.

Cattle Class through Auckland and on to Vancouver for a night to recover somewhat from the jet lag. If you haven't travelled on Air New Zealand lately, you've been missing out! They are cashing in on The Hobbit / LOTR franchise and have made a rather amusing safety briefing video

www.youtube.com/embed/cBlRbrB_Gnc
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
Arrival to a gloomy overcast Vancouver day, catching the sky train direct from the airport to down town in about 20mins for about $5.50! Come on Melbourne, you have something to learn from this...



A night in the city to recover from the jet lag a bit, then on the train back out towards the airport, and a bus link to the Tswassen Ferry terminal for a ride across to Vancouver Island. The cloud was a touch higher and the North Van mountains are just visible in the distance



My dad had said it was supposed to be sunny, things are looking a little brighter across the ditch so hoping for some improvement





The trip take us through a string of smaller islands, with awesome houses nestled on the banks - what a place to live, eh?



With the crossing timed to meet the sister ship right in the strait and a blast of the horn







Arriving at the terminal and walking up to meet the folks, then a drive to Sydney, yeah, that's right, Sydney, (which is just outside Victoria, the capital of BC) where we go for some lunch of Clam Chowder out on the little blue pier restaurant. Talk about driftwood...



The Empress Hotel in Victoria, the thing is covered in green ivy in the warmer months, and turns red in the fall



Parliament building across the harbour. Victoria is supposedly the busiest airport in the world without a runway, float planes are in and out of the place like flies in the peak tourist season, but still regular flights throughout the year



Things stay gray for the day, only a little glimpse of some sun here and there. We arrive at the folks home in the dark.
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
A calm morning and this is the view from the house, across Cowichan bay into Genoa Bay with Mt Tzouhalem dominating the horizon. Not bad, eh?



A wander down to the Cowichan Bay marina where a plethora of fishing boats and marina pong delight the senses. This old girl was one of my favourites



Obviously Canada is the home of maple syrup, here some locals are collecting their own. It is a fairly clear and runny liquid, only becoming dark and rich with heating to further concentrate it.



The Kinsol Trestle over the Koksilah River, had been left abandoned and deteriorating after the last train rumbled across it in 1979. In 2008, a restoration project was undertaken and it is now part of the Trans Canada Trail, which you can walk, cycle or horse ride over. No motors allowed though :(



http://www.kinsol.ca/





A typical Canadian lake side. This is Shawnigan Lake.



Hummingbirds are local to the area, and my dad and step mum have a feeder on the veranda, and managed to camp out long enough to capture this little guy in flight. Shy though, he didn't like the flash, and was off in well... a flash!

 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
The small marina below the house, so calm, so peaceful, the calm water, misty cloud and hint of sun. Bulk Carrier ship anchored in the deeper water.



This old wooden twin mast is a father son restoration project. Been going at it for quite a few years now



Down in Duncan for lunch and a walk around the "City of Totems" came across a Ural Sidecar outfit. The owner returns and says it is a 2006, last of the carby models before they went all modern with EFI



Chemainus is up island a little. It is a town of murals, and where Sheffield here in Tassie got their idea for the murals depicting historical scenes of the area. Understandably, the theme for most of these here are First Nations and logging



After a few nights on the island, time to head back to Vancouver for a couple of nights



It was a perfect winter day. We look forward to a day in the city on the morrow
 

dougman1

Part of the furniture
Hey Robbie, Nice Innit. You have some serene shots there mate. Very nice to see a different part of the world.:clap:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
P1030423.jpg


:glu
What a promise in that shot...imagine THAT on a clear day with the mountains and glaciers above the water and the ferry in the midst of it :eek::eek:

LOVE IT!! Keep going....this is EXCELLENT!! :lao
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
After arriving in Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, negotiating the public buses to North Vancouver where a uni mate and his fiancee live, the next day we wander down to the quay to catch the sea bus across the harbour to the city. The pea soup fog that greets us however, does not bode well for a fantastic site seeing experience of this beautiful city

Canada Place emerges as we near the terminal



A trolley bus hop on hop off tour round the city saves the feet for a bit, until we require lunch and stop for a walk around Granville Island and the markets there, then hop on the next bus to China Town, (missed out on the narrowest building, ony 4ft wide at the narrowest point as it was covered up with scaffold for maintenance work) where we walk to Gas Town, a really nice old warehouse district, bit touristy, but the best feature is a steam driven clock, which whistles every 15 minutes instead of chiming



By the time we walk up and do a lap of Canada Place, the dark is here, extremely quick! Cloud has lifted during the day mostly, but still a wisp remains, and we don't bother with the Harbour Tower observatory







Next morning, we take the bus up into Lynn Canyon. If you go to Vancouver, the Capilano Suspension Bridge is one of the big tourist things to do. As a result, it also commands a tourist rip off fee, something like $30 odd bucks per adult for the privilege. Much closer, and a hell of a lot cheaper (ie FREE) is Lynn Canyon. A much smaller but still extremely pretty and accessible canyon complete with suspension bridge

We arrive and I'm wondering why so many cars are in the car park, and there's HEAPS of people! What the? It is a frosty morning, and all these jokers are up in the cold for some sort of run up through the trails. Too keen. We wait for them all to trample across the bridge and disappear into the thick trees before taking some unobstructed photos





A walk around here is good for the soul, until my fiancee starts having an asthma attack with a mild panic attack we head back to the bas stop to wait in the frost.

My mate lived right next to the North Vancouver Town Hall, and right outside is a little EV charging station



My mate takes us for a drive up Mt Cypress. About 14 years ago, on my first trip to Vancouver, I learnt to snowboard up here, and the trees were covered in snow, and the carpark was covered in snow. Poor season this year though, the carpark is bare, and huge. The expansion of the complex is obvious, new runs visible up hills and parts that were just trees



Back down into the cloud and mist and back on the sea bus, and train to the airport for the crappy flight to Montreal. Tip: Avoid Air Canada
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
Montreal, what can I say, it was bloody cold! The nice thing about Vancouver is that it is reasonably mild, being on the coast and the nice warm Pacific Ocean. Montreal, though accessible to the sea, is further inland. Walking around Vieux Port and the squeaking snow underfoot, I'm wondering if we are in Russia, the aged and weather beaten silos prominent, and there's a lot of them



Frozen Locks



Frozen Harbour



Frozen ships



We need a break from the cold, and the Notre Dam Basilica offers this. Inside is just quite, well, it is grand, really amazing, the beautiful carving, the organ, the altar, but I'm struck by the needless opulence and extravagance. We had to fork over 5 buck just to get in, and the prayer candles all round vary in price, sorry, donation, in order to light one up and get your religion on. Sorry, not for me. I don't believe there is anyone up there listening anyway. Pretty grand church, but



The Bank of Montreal, one of the oldest banks in Canada. No photos allowed inside, but the black marble columns inside holding the place up are a striking feature.



Old Montreal, being just above the port, is much the same as Salamanca. Plenty of tourist shops, catering for the masses of cruise ship hoards in the warmer months. The buildings are still quite nice to look at, and the odd shop to duck into for a few minutes to get the feeling back in the extremities







So we bought a t shirt or 2, some maple cookies and it was dark.
 
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