Canada - BC reunion tour 2008 - Part I

Completed on: Feb 27, 2009 @ 22.00 BST

Seth had his half term from Feb 10~22, so we decided to take him out of school for a couple extra days to meet all his relatives. On Wednesday Feb 6, we took a train from Bournemouth to London to stay the night, as our flight was scheduled for 2.00pm on Thursday Feb 7. We thought this would break the trip up a little. So, armed with a portable DVD player (a godsend if you have a 4 year old), IPod, a MP3 player, our passports and as much lugage as we could possibly carry, we were off to Canada.

PS: Any red timestamps that you may see, were taken with Kim's camera phone, and the time is in GMT (which is why it's sunny at 2.00am) instead of PST.

Greenland - If you are travelling far (our flight was 13hrs), you should figure out where the sun will be, and try and be on the opposite side of the plane. This will allow you to still see the scenery, at the same time as allowing you to sleep if you like. We were fortunate to have a fairly empty plane to Vancouver, which allowed us to have the middle 3 seats, and the right 2. One problem with taking Seth, is no matter how long he was up for, since it was still daylight, he wanted to stay up. When we eventually got him to sleep, it was on the decent within the boarders of the lower mainland, or about 4am GMT.

Now ... where exactly are the next handful of pictures taken above? The one little jingle (if you can call it that) I heard was: Greenland is made of ice, and Iceland is green. So, going by that, we are somewhere over Greenland.

Vancouver - If you're not from around Vancouver, I'd recommend taking a quick trip into the Vancouver Aquarium. Kim took Seth to see all the fish, beluga whales, and dolphins. While Kim and Seth were exploring Stanley Park, I had lunch with all the wonderful folk at ACL that I used to work with.

Seth is looking at a killer whale indian statue just outside the Vancouver aquarium. It may not be obvious from the picture, but the entire statue is only supported by the killer whale's tail.

Seth put on his bubble suit, and headed into the great Vancouver reef.

We all know that Jaques Coustou had a team of experienced divers, but look at Seth! He's only 4!!!

Vancouver - Waterfront - After going to the aquarium, we jumped onto the seabus. We had a day pass, so, hey, why not. Plus, it is a nice trip regardless, and at a very reasonable price. One tip I would give you tho, is to make sure that you're in the lineup to go onto the seabus, and not the West Coast Express, or else you'll end somewhere other than North Van.

One thing Europe doesn't have is tall buildings. OK, sure, London has "The Eye" or "The Pickle" and a couple other areas, but nothing like Vancouver's coastline. Would have liked to take Seth to the observation deck at Harbour Centre, but it was getting dark, and, as you can tell was overcast. We'd planned to go back to Harbour Centre, but time didn't permit.

Vancouver - Science World - On Saturday, we had brunch at Milestones, and then went to Science World. Here is Seth enjoying one of his favourite carrying positions. He likes either a shoulder ride or a piggy back. Seth is doing a little dance, and pointing to the stars.

Here is Seth, my cousin David, and myself.

And here is Kim.

And, Seth acting cute and cheeky. Yes, he's playing and messing my hair.

When we left, there were very few buildings at this part of False Creek. If you look just behind Kim, it is crane central. We knew it wouldn't take long for the industrial part to be sold off and resold for housing. It will be really nice if they do a good job, and extend the sea wall.

Here is False Creek behind Science World. Scroll to the right to see the entire picture.

Vancouver - Airport - I don't know how many times I've been to YVR, but, I never knew that there was another termianal (no, really -- I didn't). Don't remember what they call this terminal (as long as it's not Terminal 5) but it seems to fit the job perfectly. One problem is that we didn't hear the boarding call (even though we were 30 feet from the departure lounge) and just decided to wonder over when we didn't hear anything. Good thing, as they were waiting for us!

Seth is admiring one of the locals. Not sure if this guy is allowed on the plane, as he's a little too tall. Well, that and he's a bear.

Since we arrived early, we had a little time to kill. And, since you can't keep a 4 year old sitting for longer than it takes to type this sentance, I decided to take him for a little walk. And, what better to distract him, but with a giant front end loader!

Seth tried to get in, but the keys weren't under the mats as we'd hoped.

Seth has a toy Hummer, but I think this is the first time that he has gotten right up to one. The one thing that I notice is that the Hummer actually fits into the parking space. You'll probably say, of course it does, but I have problems trying to fit my little Honda into one of our parking spots.

From the overpriced trophy Hummer, to an actual practile Hummer. I've never seen a Hummer fire truck before (and, hence the picture).

You should always take your camera with you in the plane. Two reasons -- first, it has a less likelyhood of being stolen (not that I've ever lost anything but there's always next time) and second, you can take pictures of your flight. And, when was the last time that you've seen Vancouver from the air? It seems pretty much the way that we left it, except for that big building in the middle. Not sure what that is. Scroll right to see the entire picture.

In the bottom left is UBC, across English Bay is North Vancouver, and in the middle is Stanley Park. Stanley Park is over 1000 acres and a good place to get lost, see Beaver Lake, skunks, raccoons, coyottes, deer and (yes) bats. Then connecting Stanley Park to downtown is the West End. A very nice beach, and a great lively atmosphere. Just above the end of Stanley Park is a couple yellow sulphur piles. Don't know exactly how high they are (maybe someone can tell me) but they must be about 10 stories.

I always thought the airport was bigger. Seems that way when you're wondering through the terminal trying to find your gate. There is also one tiny little penunsulia. I wonder if that is a runway for really small planes.

Unfortunately on this carrier, you don't get the little tv telling you where you are on the journey. Actually, I don't think that would really matter, as the trip is quite quick. The flight goes something like: takeoff, gain altitude, get a little snack, look out the window, get a drink, look out the window, and as you get close to Kamloops, get bumped around the cabin (if you've ever flown to Kamloops, you'll know what I mean), and start the decent into Kamloops. That's pretty much the entire flight.

I think this is the mine at Logan Lake - Afton I think (sorry, it's been a while). You can see all the piles of dirt and the crater where they've been digging. Quite impressive from the air.

Also, I don't know how I do it, but no matter where I fly, I always get the seat by the wing. Everyone else gets a better view but me.

We have just turned above Kamloops Lake, starting our decent. I think we would be over Savona right about now.

I've never really noticed it (probably because I've always been at ground level), but the trees around the lake are very sparce, whereas, on the mountains, it's quite a thick forest. On other ranges, you have thick forest, and bare on the tops of the mountains.

Kamloops - Seth's first experience of sledging was in Grandpa Don's back yard. The sled was a really nice one, with handles that allowed you to turn (brake) left and right. Yes, the sled technology has progressed a long way from the cardboard that I used. Ok, I also had a yellow banana sled which I really loved up to it's final days.

The problem with sledging with Seth, is not only does he expect you to pull him up the hills, in order to maximize his sledging experience, you also have to give him a pull down the hill. This of course allows him to break the world downhill sled record.

Here Grandpa Don is holding the sled so Seth can get on it.

Here is Seth going 30mph. Unfortunately, he is going 30mph at the camera person. We had a little game of hit the cameraman. And, since this is the last picture, you know who won. I woke up on Tuesday. Also, notice how he's not using the breaks. Brakes are for wimps!

Here's a momument to the world famous Kamloops trout, overlooking the town. In the valley is North Kamloops.

Here is Kim by the Kamloops Trout.

Ducks and geese in Thompson Park.

A look down the Thompson river, towards the Overlander Bridge.

Here is an interesting little statue -- two beavers, one with a normal beaver tail, the other with a propeller. Vrooom vroom.

Here is a panoromic picture from Thompson Park several days later (just incase you didn't think that the skies turned blue all of a sudden). Scroll to the right to see the entire picture.

Do you remember the movie "Jaws"? Do you remember the last picture from the underwater camera from one of the divers? This was the last picture on Kims camera before Buddy attacked her! Aaaaahhhhh!

Here's Buddy pug in the hallway. Strike a pose! Barooff! (that's the sound a pug makes instead of "woof")

Here, we have George, the model.

Brian and Seth decide to go for a sled ride down to the back yard. Mush doggie, mush!

Here come two weary travellers. It's been a long trek across the tundra, chasing after reindeer and elk.

Seth has spent the last three days climbing K2. His next challenge -- Everest!

Grampa Vic and Seth try out for the Canucks. They almost had a shot at a place on the squad, until this photo was leaked to the press -- they lost their chance due to "cruelty to teddy bears". They tried to explain that it was softer to play in the house then a regulation puck.

Seth and George were good friends during the visit.

Here George receives a pat on the head, for being a good guard dog.

Atta girl George -- good girl (pat pat pat).

This prooves that Seth and George have become best friends. George doesn't let just anyone sit here.

Here is Seth, Grandma Lyn and Brian enjoying a little trip out past Barnhartvale. Not exactly sure where, but out there somewhere. At this driveway, we did meet two of the friendliest guard dogs in all of Kamloops -- oops, probably shouldn't have told you that.

Looking towards the hills past Barnhartvale and beyond!

Scroll right to see the entire picture.

Four generations all together -- Brian, Kim, Great Grandma, Grandma, and in front, Seth.

Here, Seth and Grandma Cheryl are doing the "Nah" race ... 1... 2... 3...

NAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Not sure who won the Nah challenge, but they were both good sports. Maybe we'll see them both in London for "The 2012".

End Of Part I