Wednesday, May 28th

Today we went to the Vancouver Aquarium with Lisa, Robyn and Lydia. We managed to watch 2 shows; one of the dolphins and one of the beluga whales...what awesome creatures!!




The sea otters were floating in the water holding hands!!

The beluga whales were soo cute!!

Tuesday, May 27

After a relaxing Sunday and a very successful day of shopping in the States on Monday, Tuesday we decided to do the touristy thing again. We took the BC Ferries across to Galiano Island to do some real BC kayaking. We left our car behind as the brochures and books all said there was transport on the island. When we got there we walked for a kilometer to the bike rental place...no one there. We were planning to hire a bike to get us to our kayaking destination 8 km away. Well, we saw someone at a restaraunt who told us the lady from the bike rentals was working at the post office so we went there to be told she wasn't able to rent out any bikes, the taxi service has just changed hands so there were no taxis, so our option was to hitch-hike. Well, luckily a nice lady picked us up and took us to the kayak rentals which was luckily open. We went for a fantastic 4 hour paddle along the shore of the island and saw the granite and sandstone cliffs, an otter and lots of seals who were blowing raspberries at us, and keeping a close eye on us. It was an awesome experience!

Saturday, May 24th

Today we went to Mt Baker with Nick and Robyn. We had to cross over the border into America and then headed towards the snow covered mountains in the distance. The road up Mt Baker was spectacular, although it was really scary. The road was windy and twisty and single lane (but for 2 way traffic!!) with sheer drops on one side, and steep mountainsides on the other. We were travelling along the very edge of the mountain!!

We stopped off at Nooksack Falls. Another awesome display of God's power. Dave and Nick of course had to go beyond the path for a "better" look.
Then we got to the end of the road...literally, we drove along and came to a wall of snow that had not been cleared of snow yet, so that was as far as we could go!! We went for a lovely walk along a ski trail, enjoyed some snowball fights and just enjoyed the cold wet snow.

On the way home we went up another narrow, windy road to get to the face of Mt Baker. We were again stopped on the road by....snow!! So Nick decided to take a walk down to the river....first he hoped we could make it down a cliff...


then we bushwacked through some trees, and finally we found a stop near the river where we just had to take a little hop to the water. There of course, Nick and Dave had to play pooh sticks but with logs and whole trees!! And we spent some time making dams on a little side creek. The water just rushes down the mountain!!
On the way home we enjoyed an icecream and then Nick decided to take us trout fishing, Aldergrove style!!

With a bamboo pole, a bit of line and a hook and bait that looked like dog poo we put our lines in the water.

and within seconds the fish were biting. Dave landed the first trout and mine came in next, flying through the trees as I yanked the hook to snag the fish. Man it was a laugh seeing the flying fish!!

My second fish was caught in a little more ladylike fashion...it didn't quite hit the trees!!
In the evening I surprised Nick by beating everyone in a game of Puerto Rico. I don't think Nick knows his sister so well after all!! Teehee, I think there will be more games Sunday night....

Friday, May 23rd

Nick and Robyn stayed home from school today to join us on a day trip to Whistler and all the stops in between. It took us over 8 hours to get to Whistler because we stopped so often to look at other things!

The first stop was in Aldergrove, to take photos of two deer on the side of the road. Along the way we had to take a little ferry across the river to continue our journey. Then we went to Lynn Canyon, walked along the river to the pools, ate pizza at a skate park in Lynn Valley, checked out the view from Cypress Mountain, stopped at Shannon Falls and walked to the base of it (got soaked), stopped at a viewpoint to see Shannon Falls and The Chief in the far distance, stopped at Brandywine Falls, walked to a lookout to see the Black Tusk, and then finally headed to Whistler. On the way, we spotted a brown bear munching the new grass along the highway! It was rather arrogant, not caring about us or the traffic, just pulling up tufts of that yummy fresh grass.
When we finally got to Whistler, we were disappointed to find that the lifts were closed (at 4:30) and there was nothing to do but walk through the village. We had a delicious meal at the Keg. As we left the village, we saw a big, black bear walking near a train track in front of a few industrial buildings. He looked so lazy and harmless...hard to believe they can be deadly! After a few minutes, he got bored of looking at us and posing for our cameras, and he slowly sauntered onto a parking lot and disappeared between some cars.
On the way home (we left at 8:30) we checked out a road that had a sign at its entrance saying "home of the future Nordic Track" (2010 Olympics) so we headed up this lonely, new road.... and suddenly started seeing bears every few hundred meters!!! These bears were much more shy, but we ended up seeing 6 of them before we turned around to head home!! That was 8 bears in one day!!! And they all looked very healthy, too- they really love that new grass!
We got home just before 11 pm... only 2 and a half hours to get home...compared to over 8 to get there! (;

Our first Bear!!



Shannon Falls


Dave contemplating the rushing water

Thursday

Wow!! We had a great day with Lisa and Lydia exploring the Othello Tunnels and Bridal Veil Falls.

The Othello Tunnels are tunnels blasted through the mountain for the old train track. The "little" river, the steep mountain sides, the green trees were absolutely awesome to see.

Bridal Veil falls had "Beware of Bears" signs everywhere but fortunately we didn't see any. The falls were another wow factor of the natural beauty here in BC.








Of course we stayed on the marked paths!!


Lydia looking beautiful in all the moss-covered trees

We Made It!!!!

Well, we have safely arrived in Canada and are enjoying the hospitality of Nick and Lisa, Robyn and Lydia. Hopefully after a good nights sleep the world won't be moving around anymore.

Travelling dramas

Hi Everyone!
Well, our trip has begun, with changes and challenges already!! Before we left home we had a phone call from Qantas telling us they were having difficulties with our flight from Perth to Tokyo so they re-routed us to: Perth to Sydney to Los Angeles to Vancouver. We were supposed to leave Perth at 0015.  We dutifully checked in only to find our flight was delayed 'til 1:45. Not to worry, we had 4 hours to play with in Sydney anyway, and we arrive 3 hours earlier in Vancouver. Well, our flight to Sydney was very quiet, we had 4 seats to ourselves, so I managed to lay down.....
Now we're in Sydney....our flight has been delayed by another hour.....we're waiting....we're tired....can't wait to get to Vancouver!!!! Yeah! There's a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!
These free internet access is great....maybe we'll find more around the world......

1 More Sleep!!

Well, the time is rapidly approaching. I should really be packing since my suitcases still stand empty, but Madyson is sleeping in my room, and really I'm a procrastinator, so here I sit... I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow already! The kids are all packed and sorted, no last minute panic yet!!
We're going to CANADA!!!

I love Fall

Well, the autumn colours are out now, and the kids have a ball going to the park, raking up a pile of leaves and jumping in them.

I love this weather....

crispy cool in the morning

sunny blue skies

crinkly leaves underfoot

red and orange trees

And just in case you think it's just an unusual year...here are some photos from last year....

Brooke's Birthday Party

On Wednesday, Brooke had her birthday party with 14 screaming young ladies. The girls were kept busy with a variety of party games and before I knew it they were being picked up already!! I love parties like that. I'll let the pictures do the talking....

Brooke getting spoiled with even more prezzies!

Happy Birthday cake (checkout Chris' blog for the cake dramas!!)

Pass the parcel and cut the flour cake....

with some interesting results. Once the lolly fell, it got to be eaten...with no hands of course!!

Chocolate game, Brooke ate so much chocolate, she felt a little green!!

And finally a team game, where each team member had to unwrap a stick of gum with gloves on,pass the gloves to the next player....first team to all be chewing on gum wins.

The parents came to pick the girls up just as they were completing this game. Apparently the screams were heard from far and wide!!

Noisy but a great party!!