Mayne Island

MAYNE ISLAND

Our last journey in Canada was to visit Cyndi’s sister’s (Maureen) friend Sue on Mayne Island, one of the Gulf Islands which lay off the south east coast of Vancouver Island.

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Leaving Vancouver Island

 We left Victoria on 2^nd July 2014, to catch a ferry from Swartz Bay to Village Bay on Mayne Island. 

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On our way to Mayne Island

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 First view of Mayne Island

                                  

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                                                                               First view of Mayne Island

We were met by Sue who took us straight to a local restaurant, the Springwater Lodge. The Springwater Lodge has amazing views from their balcony of the coast along Active Pass.

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Welcome drink at Mayne Island

Sue has a small menagerie of pets; three dogs and a duck!  The dogs are, Katie a large collie, Benson a small terrier who protects Sue and has a warning growl if you approach his food. 

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Bob  and Bella

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Cyndi and Katie

The other dog, which belonged to Sue's daughter Sarah, was tiny and called Bella. Bella would make herself comfortable by lying around your neck! 

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Sue and Bently

She also has a duck called Charlotte. Sue has had Charlotte since she hatched and used to carry her around in her pocket to keep warm and safe. Charlotte now assumes Sue is her mum and follows her everywhere.

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Bob  and Charlotte

Sue took us to various spots to get the feel for the island and that evening we walked along the coastal path to see the amazing sunset; Mayne is a very small island and it seemed everyone on the island knew her.

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Sunset

The 3^rd of July was our 43^rd wedding anniversary and we celebrated by taking Katie and Bella to a local park, whilst Sue had to go to work. The park was next door to a Japanese Garden www.mayneisland.com/places/japanesegarden  a peaceful area that was built to commemorate the Japanese families who had settled and worked on the island between 1900 and 1942.  

                               

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Peaceful Japanese Garden

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Peaceful Japanese Garden

The garden is now maintained by volunteers, who obviously work hard and industriously to create the ambience of a calm and tranquil place in which to sit and contemplate. 

Sue who is a superb cook had arranged a party to celebrate our anniversary and to meet her lovely friends; she even provided a cake- Thank you so much Sue! x

   

                                               

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43 years!!

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More than 43 calories

On Friday 4^th July, Sue arranged for Bob and her to have a guided sea kayak trip- she must have noticed Bob’s withdrawal symptoms! Cyndi, not a lover of deep, moving water decided to stay on terra firma. Sarah kindly met Cyndi and took her to the famous Sunny Mayne Bakery Café sunnymaynebakery.com for coffee.

  

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Sue and Bob  heading out

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Sue and Bob  heading out

The sea was mirror calm and after some instruction on how to manoeuvre their double sea kayak Sue and Bob set off in the capable hands of their guide.

Almost immediately they spotted a number of bald eagles and later on numerous seals and oyster catchers.

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Oyster catchers

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Bald eagle

They were very lucky to see a sea lion; who was probably too old to move on to his normal winter grounds. They prudently decided to give him a wide berth as he was a very big fellow.

On the way back they came across an otter – a very memorable day!

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Seals

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Sea Lion

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Saturday 5th July, our day of departure came too quickly; we caught the ferry to Tsawwassen on the mainland and had booked a taxi to take us to Vancouver airport for a flight to Manchester. U.K.

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Leaving Mayne island

 We had a small fright as we hit a traffic jam near a tunnel and yesterday the driver said they were stuck for 5 hours which if happened to us would have meant a missed flight. However the jam cleared and we made the airport in good time. We flew home to Manchester through the night and landed at 0930 on Sunday to be picked up by our son, Rhodri and a night's sleep in Chester.

  

 We found the AA World Travel Guides, “Vancouver & the Canadian Rockies” ISBN 0-7495-2458-8 extremely helpful. The spiral book is light enough to carry around with you and very informative. Our book was an old copy which we bought from Amazon but nevertheless it still did the job!

This was a trip neither of us would forget from the spectacular scenery of the Rockies to the blue and at times rough ocean; from the wide ranging temperatures 3˚f in the snow to 79˚f in the hot sun of Victoria; from the thieving raven to the baby black bear gambolling outside Jasper and especially the kind, well-mannered Canadians- an AWESOME trip in the true meaning of the word! A special thanks to Sue for making us welcome and feeding us so well!

Vancouver Island

VANCOUVER  ISLAND

Tofino
On the morning of Saturday 28^th June 2014 we caught a taxi from the hotel to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay in order to catch a ferry to Nanaimo on the east coast of Vancouver Island.

We picked up another hire car at Nanaimo Airport, a Toyota Corolla CE NVL and set off for the 5 hour drive to the west coast to Tofino. Up until now we had driven on roads that were virtually straight. We had been warned that the roads on Vancouver Island were narrow and bendy; this did not present a problem as it was like being back home in Wales!

                      

Our accommodation was the Pacific Sands Beach Resort www.pacificsands.com , which sits on the edge of Pacific Rim National Park. The rooms were spacious with a balcony overlooking the beachfront on spectacular Cox Bay, a short drive south from Tofino with great views of the ocean. 

   

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View from our apartment drive 

It was cloudy with some drizzle and very windy the surf and thunderous waves created white horses, ideal conditions for the surfers in their wet suits. Bob went for a walk along the beach watched the surfers riding the waves and seeing the huge logs washed up on the beach. We needed to purchase some supplies and visited to our first Walmart- just like any supermarket back home!

 Tofino is famous for its spectacular rain-storms and pounding surf, between October and March; whereas most hotels provide fluffy white dressing gowns and slippers, this hotel supplied bright yellow rain jackets and sou'westers; rain was forecast for the Sunday so maybe we would get to wear them!

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Bright yellow rain jackets and sou'westers; Better than dressing gowns! 

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Kate Moss stand-in 

Bob went for a walk along the beach after unpacking ?? and watched the surfers riding the waves, wishing he was 40 years younger! There were huge logs washed ashore during the violent storms littering the beach.

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 Logs washed on shore littering the beach 

On the Sunday morning, no rain but dry and sunny, we walked along the beach to the headland on Clayoquot Sound to see the surf; photographs don’t do it justice as the noise is deafening with constant sea spray- the Majesty of Mother-nature in full swing!
  

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Surf watching 

                                  

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                                                              Surf's up!

                             

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                                                                                             Surf's up!

                      

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Nice wooden log cabin - but draughty

           

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Tofino coast

As the weather was warm and sunny we decided after lunch to drive to the charming, seaside village of Tofino – famous for local culture and artisans. There were numerous eating places and quaint craft shops displaying local native work. We visited a long-house style Eagle Aerie gallery  which displays the work of Roy Henry Vickers. We bought three prints to remind us of our holiday.

                                               
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                      Tofino signpost

As the weather was warm and sunny we decided after lunch to drive to the charming, seaside village of Tofino – famous for local culture and artisans. There were numerous eating places and quaint craft shops displaying local native work. We visited a long-house style Eagle Aerie gallery  which displays the work of Roy Henry Vickers. We bought three prints to remind us of our holiday.
                      

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We bought this one

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Cyndi and yoga pose

With hindsight, we should have stayed for a few more days in Tofino because we were unable to see all that the area had to offer. We were on a very tight time-scale with regard to dropping the car at Victoria Airport. We had an early start on the morning of Monday 30th June 2014 and were on the road by 6 30am. We made good time and booked into our hotel Chateau Victoria reservations@chateauvictoria.com. The Chateau Victoria is ideally situated to walk to the harbour or into town

We headed for the Hertz office at Victoria airport and caught a bus back to the hotel; this meant we saw parts of Victoria we would not have seen and was a leisurely way to travel.

In the afternoon we walked down to the harbour area which was buzzing with activity and preparing for Canada Day on Tuesday 1^st July .

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Victoria inner harbour and Empress Hotel

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Arbutus   tree with  red bark outside the Empress Hotel 

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As common as taxis

We returned to the harbour area the next day, where the area was buzzing with hundreds of people who clearly fully get into the spirit of celebrating Canada Day - both the residents and tourists alike. There was lots of flag-waving, faces with a red maple leaf drawn on them and most of the crowd were wearing red!  There were stalls selling local crafts and the smell of the lovely food made your mouth water.

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Too hot for the Wolf crosses

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 Cooling of f

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We walked along the waterfront to Fisherman’s Wharf and looked at the variety of colourful house boats moored up and watched a local seal being fed by tourists. 

                                        

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As common as taxis

We took a water taxi back to the main harbour. These craft can only be 

described as ‘cute’; if you asked a child to draw a boat it would closely resemble these. The manoeuvrability of the boats was demonstrated when a number of them performed a ‘water ballet’ in the main harbour area in front of the crowds.

                                        

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As common as taxis

                                         

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As common as taxis

We sat on a grassy area in the glorious sunshine listening to and enjoying a blast from our past at a free Ska Festival. We wandered around watching a very clever juggler who had the crowd enthralled with his dexterity. We walked along to the grassy area in front of the Council buildings the other side of the harbour hoping to hear the other free concert; unfortunately they were having a break! 

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Free ska festival

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First in the mosh pit

 We walked back to our hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes and walked back to Fisherman’s Wharf. There is a famous fish and chip shop there called ‘Barb’s Place’. We joined the long queue and waited for our fish and chips. We sat at one of the outside tables enjoying the scenery and enjoyed a delicious fish supper.

  

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Fishermans wharf and water taxi

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House boats at Fishermans wharf

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House boats at Fishermans wharf

                                  

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House boats at Fishermans wharf

The end of our trip was now fast approaching but we still had three full days to spend with Sue on Mayne Island.

Vancouver

VANCOVER

On Tuesday 24^th June 2014 we travelled along Highway 1 heading towards Vancouver. The drivers seemed to drive within the speed limit and in the correct lane; there was no flashing of lights or horns beeping! Back home we live in the ’sticks’ where we only meet tractors or ’milking’ cows holding up the traffic, so it was with some trepidation we entered Vancouver. However, unlike the UK the towns and cities in Canada are mainly built on a grid system with the street names clearly marked at right-angled junctions;with the Driver listening to the Navigator and magnificent team work Bob’s worries were misplaced and the Hertz garage on Granville Street was found easily!

We now had four nights in Vancouver staying on Davie St in the Sandeman Suites. We could not fault the hotel and it was ideally situated to get to most areas. 

Opposite our Hotel Sandeman on Davie Street was a supermarket, Bob went in buy something, whilst Cyndi waited outside in the sunshine.  On hearing shouting, Cyndi turned around and saw a man who was shouting “Stop, Police!” to another man who immediately ran off. The ‘Policeman’ gave chase and the whole incident became surreal! The traffic came to a standstill whilst the two men dodged between the cars; at one point the ‘Policeman’ caught the sleeve of the other man who then dexterously slipped out of his jacket and ran off. By this time some of the passers-by were shouting at the ‘Policeman’, one of whom he placed under arrest!

High rise in Vancouver

 After unpacking we set off for a walk down Nicola Street to Howe and Burrard Street to find the (tourist office) Infocentre which is near Canada Place on the waterside. Here there are sensational views of the city’s port, the high-rise skyline downtown and the majestic mountains to the North. We saw tankers heading into the harbours and a number of small sea planes landing and taking off.  We stopped for food al fresco at Stefano’s the thoughtful waitress heard our British accent and brought us some HP brown sauce to accompany our meal.

Canada Place

Marina with view of Vancouver skyline.

Tanker- busy waterway 

We walked into the area known as Gastown named after John ”Gassy Jack” Deighton who in 1887 set up his saloon with a barrel of whisky and a knack for story-telling! 

Gassy Jack 

Gastown is a mix of diverse shops and creative communities, with plenty of high-end shops, restaurants and galleries, including Native Art.  According to The New York Times, it is “Vancouver’s most dynamic neighbourhood”, it was certainly colourful and had a vibrant atmosphere, with the Steam Clock www.gastown.org  being of particular interest to tourists. We sauntered up Howe Street to Davie Street via a delicious Tim Horton outlet.

Amazing sculpture in English Bay

 Wednesday 25^th June saw us hiring bikes from The English Bay Bike Co. www.englishbaybikerentals.com on Davie Street. We cycled around Stanley Park following the one way system along the sea wall.Stanley Park is over 400 hectares; it is North America’s largest urban park. 

Cycling around Stanley Park nley Park

Cyndi was a little nervous with the numbers of cyclists to start with but soon got to grips with cyclists saying “passing left”. The one way system certainly helped prevent accidents as it was popular with both cyclists and in-line skaters. Bob decided that it wasn’t worth the risk to the public or Cyndi to let her have a try at the in-line skating! We rode past playing fields, wooded areas and past beaches and had a great half day in the sunshine on the bikes.

                                            inukshuk/inuksuit

In the afternoon we walked along the English Bay to Hornby Street and caught an aqua bus to Granville Island . 

View of downtown Vancouver from water taxi! 

View of downtown Vancouver from Glanville Island

The island is full of quality craft shops, food outlets and a very cosmopolitan market selling a wide range of Asian food.  The atmosphere was very aromatic with the pungent smells of spices and buzzing with the noise of tourists. 

                                                  

                         Street performer with his Chapman sticks

We spent a very pleasant hour eating our lunch in a square, under the shade of a tree; it was very hot that afternoon, listening to a talented street performer playing an instrument known as a Chapman Stick.

During our visit to the tourist information Centre we had picked up a leaflet about a Chinese garden and thought a visit would be interesting. We walked along the Vancouver waterside passing the stadium where the City's ice hockey team play and found the garden known as Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Carrall Street, Chinatown. 

                                         

The entrance price included a guided tour and complimentary tea. We had a young Chinese girl as our guide who although heavily accented spoke very good English. 

Our guide 

She explained that the garden was the first of its kind to be built outside of China and that the Architects had designed it to be as authentic as possible. Fifty-three master craftsmen had come from China with 950 crates of building materials. They had built the buildings and gardens using traditional methods without glues, nails and screws. 

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                                                Chinese Pagoda

The gardens were designed to have a complete balance of yin and yang; to be harmonious with the elements and at peace with nature. To that end paths were designed to be purposeful and blend in with the surroundings; even holes in walls were designed so that they gave a peaceful view.  

                                                 
                                              Tranquil view through wall 


                                                
                                               Tranquil view through wall 

All the senses were used in this garden from the perfume of the carefully chosen plants to the ripple of water over stones. 

                                

                                                                 Peaceful shaded view 

                                                       

        

                                                           

                                                    Worn Stone 

Even the pond was thoughtfully designed to reflect the sky and surrounding greenery; to further engender a calming  ambience Koi were swimming in the waters!

                                      

                 Pond thoughtfully designed to reflect the sky and greenery

Our guide explained that Chinese scholars took many years to learn the meaning of and to write Chinese symbols. We all had an attempt at using the traditional pen and ink but it was an art in itself not to have the ink running down the page. 

     

Trying the art of Chinese writing 

The whole Garden www.vancouverchinesegarden.com was a place of peace, tranquillity and utter calmness hidden away from the frenetic world outside its walls- well worth a visit!

The M. P.'s creed?

We returned to the hotel via Gastown, visiting a First Nation craft outlet. We were “entertained” by a further episode of Law and Order from our balcony- we heard sirens outside and watched as the drama unfolded! Outside the same supermarket two Police cars arrived, sirens blaring, lights flashing. The Police with batons rushed into the shop; a further lone policeman arrived on a bike followed by a Medical rescue van. A handcuffed man was led out and put into one of the vans – we never did find out what had gone on in the supermarket.

This makes it seem like a rough area but far from it; there was clearly a wide mix of people from well -heeled to those living on the streets, but at no time did we feel threatened and everyone was pleasant and helpful!

Friday turned out to be damp and dismal, taking the advice of a colleague, Margot,  back at the National Botanic Garden of Wales www.gardenofwales.org.uk   we caught a bus to the Anthropology Department of the University of British Columbia. This in itself was worthwhile as we were able to see other parts of Vancouver off the 'Tourist' route.

          

Museum of Anthropology 

The Museum of Anthropology was founded in 1949 and is Canada’s largest teaching museum. The entrance fee included a variety of guided walks given by knowledgeable volunteers. They explained about the artefacts such as the canoe and baskets; why and how they were made. They explained about the First Nation people their history and in particular about the Haida. We were shown replicas of their houses, examples of their totem poles. 

    

Huge Log House and Totem Pole 

Totem Pole with symbols

 

Bodies were placed on top of this funeral Pyre 

The various symbols were explained particularly the importance of the Raven to their culture. The carving work on display was amazing, especially that of Bill Reid,  as was the use made of natural materials for basket -making, or animal skin for clothing. .

     

Bill Reid's fabulous  Raven carving  

This is a superb museum and to do it justice you need more than a couple of days; we only had the one! There is so much to see and do in Vancouver you could spend your whole holiday just in one place but we had to move on to Vancouver Island on Saturday morning.

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