Canada coast to coast
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| Horseshoe Bay |
When I last wrote I was about to set off for a Ferry to take me from Vancouver's pretty Horseshoe Bay across to Vancouver Island and Nanaimo (Nan Nye Mo).
On the bus to Horseshoe Bay I gasped as we rounded a bend and a cyclist appeared in front of the bus struggling up a steep ascent. The momentum of the bus was such I was convinced the cyclist would be joining me in the front seat via the windscreen. Fortunately my grasp of physics was insufficient and the meeting of matter averted. The jolt sparked my fellow passenger, a sprightly gentleman of advanced years, to recount his days of cycling this very route 60 years ago. In those days, he recalled, there was little traffic and he and his friends were the only cyclists. That contrasted sharply with today when the road was a rubber blur of 2 and 4 wheel users. My new friend, Bob - was coming back to revisit the days of his youth - his first trip along the road since he pedalled it a little before I was born. We arrived at Horseshoe Bay which he remembered as a jetty and a hut where salmon fishing was the only disturbance. He was horrified to see a small town, and bustling harbour. He looked around, shook his head and told the driver he would stay on as the bus turned around to head back to Vancouver.
Having not seen the original bay I was not as dismayed as Bob and happily passed an hour waiting for the ferry.
In Nanaimo I stayed in a quaint B&B run by some lovely people. After dropping my bags I went to explore my home town for the next 4 days. It was Canada Day so once the festivities ended, around 5:00pm most of the town shut down. I wandered along the coastal park and came upon the statue pictured.
I learned it is of 'Black Frank,' then did a double take when I saw that he died in 1992. I thought he was some early explorer from the 1700's - but Frank James Ney was a local character and politician. One of his great achievements was creating the 'Bathtub race' across the Straits of Georgia. Having spent almost 2 hours in a ferry making the same journey I am in no doubt about the epic difficulty of crossing it in a bath tub. It is amazing that Black Frank came up with the idea but far more amazing that he convinced anyone else to do it! How would that conversation go, "I've got this great idea...." "So Frank, we cross the ocean and you want us to use a bathtub? Can we keep the plug in? The race continues annually but now involves small motorised vessels which race around the islands rather than to Vancouver. 
Nanaimo is a fairly quiet seaside town though with a busy quayside where yachts dock. The original Hudson Bay Company Fort from 1853 stands proud looking out to sea. A restaurant doubles up as the local seaplane airport. After about 1 hour I had pretty much seen the main sites of the town. So I was delighted when at Breakfast Dave, who runs the B&B, asked if I would like to see the wild Nanaimo. We met up - Dave with his backpack, hiking boots and truck. I changed out of my disco pants and we prepared to go. Dave said he would bring the dogs for their walk. I asked 'So what sort of dogs are they?' Behind the question lay an anxiety, I have never had any pets and have always felt a little wary around animals that have teeth bigger than mine or a desire to sniff, lick or perform other activities that I would not normally encourage on first meeting. Without missing a beat Dave said "Two wolves and..." I never did find out what the over dog was. "Wolves" I said incredulously. He explained that they were a more gentle breed of wolf and had been crossed with a labrador. I was not appeased. Fortunately they travelled in the back of his pick up truck. On the walk they paid no interest in me what so ever, though would push me out of the way when they wanted to get past on a narrow path. We were in a remote spot next to the fast flowing Nanaimo River. I was beginning to relax as Dave told me he had often encountered bears in this area. He was really putting me at my ease! He said that a couple of weeks ago he rounded a bend and disturbed a bear. Usually they see him and the Wolves and run off. This one didn't, it stood up, it was aggressive, it was angry and it was huge. Even Dave was perturbed. The wolves, realising the danger, went into attack mode. After a brief skirmish the bear ran off and all was well. I looked at the wolves in a new light and thought it is good having them along. Of course Dave did manage to spoil it. Looking wistfully into the dense undergrowth he said, "Not sure if they could handle the cougars."
Safely back and with a new found appetite I went out to eat and found a fantastic place. It appears a health conscious place; lots of organic food available, four Yoga studio's, many champions of the 'slow food' movement - so I thought after weeks of no home cooking and lots of processed food it was time for something raw. Power House in Nanaimo delivered the goods. Pesto Pizza without any dough, mozzarella, tomato sauce. I was intrigued and half expected a tomato with some basil. Instead the base was raw carrot, dates and other vitamin laden ingredients combined, then spinach a pesto sauce - it tasted incredible and my body really appreciated something healthy after so many meals cooked until the last vitamin disappears.
So while I have been away enjoying myself, (and collecting some fantastic information on employment schemes that have been both inspirational while also opening my eyes to the very real challenges that lie between people with learning disabilities and real jobs for real pay) I have left my family behind. During my time here my son, Josh has had his 21st birthday and then flown out to America where he will be sports coaching for the summer. My daughter, Amy, has recently returned from working in Australia over the last 2 years and is now looking for work in the Event Industry and my wife, Sheila has been holding the fort, managing the problems and stresses that arise in family life and keeping everything running at home. I couldn't have embarked on this adventure without the support of Sheila and the best wishes of my children. I do feel guilty talking about fantastic experiences that I am having in glorious weather as England seems to become soggier and more grey. So my next Blog will look at a couple of incidents and stress filled days that may help in a small way to restore some balance and so when Sheila is putting the bin out in the rain, or helping one of the kids sort out a nasty letter from the bank, or the car won't start then hopefully she will know how much I appreciate her and that I have hit the odd blip along the way.
But before then I will finish today by saying a big thank-you to G-Form. They very kindly donated one of their incredible products to keep my laptop safe. They make all sorts of protective cushioning from sports wear to laptop cases. I have silently thanked them on a daily basis as I have clashed my laptop in the case when lugging bags in and out of hotels, offices, upstairs, through doors, on planes and on all my travels. I am convinced it would not have survived without the protection of the case. So in thanks I end with a couple of photo's of my 2 constant travel companions - laptop and it's G-Form minder.
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| Working on the Ferry to Vancouver |
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| yet another Hotel room - but the same set up |
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