Critters, critters and more critters!

Some things have to be seen, so our search for critters began as soon as we landed but it took till the penultimate day for me to see all I had looked for.  The smallest wasn't actually the cutest, but the stripey guy who answered my call and returned to poke his nose out from behind the rocks I think did win my heart... take the journey with me and see what you think.

Who's watching who?

A different kind of REST

 Looking back on our travels it is difficult to pick out a selected best bits so have decided to just go for it and take the photos as they come and the dialogue hopefully will follow on from that. 

Way up high in the sky - sleeping takes on new heights!  Good job there was a ladder, not sure I would have made it all the way up there without.  Lake Louise Hostel, out of the ordinary and yes, price wise it was THE most expensive - but a change is as good as a rest.

Afterall, we could have been staying right by the lake and NOT being able to eat lunch in the posh lakeside restaurant.

Sunny days and not so sunny days!

Looking out on rainy spaces makes me think the time has come -

pack up the bag - load up the car -

head for the airport -

and GO!

Oops, just remembered one thing - MONEY! 

Don't worry, I'm on the case, been assured my cards will all be blocked when I reach my destination even though I have tried my best to alert them of my intent to travel.  What is it about this world?  The easier it gets to do stuff the harder it gets to achieve it!  So, the list of jobs is finally getting ticked.... the trick is to add things completed ... so satisfying to see all those ticks, joggers of success.

Meanwhile, the poor bag is feeling like an oversized stomach - one minute it's empty,  next minute it's full and never - with the same things.  I think it would be best just to put the list on the top - and have a big surprise when I open it in BC to find there is nothing there!  NOW, that would be a challenge... imagine going on a four week trip with NOTHING but money.  Perhaps that's how the rich do it?

Which brings me neatly to my latest favourite pictures....

I'm sure that's the sun peeping through!

Wonder if I will find

me and me mate

up a tree?

Lots to choose from 

in BC.

Up a tree

by the sea

what oh what

will become

of ME?

Surprises I hope

Dreams I'm sure

Sunshine most certainly

No work

Definitely

Time is a strange thing - this time last week -

The Ashes were landing
This time this week - Tom H is landing

Wonder who will land this time
Next week?

NOT MEE

Packing - is this for real?

And so it goes on!  Now it is Tuesday 29th June 2010 and just after 8 in the morning... the canada packing has been on the go for a few months now - the list is revised every few days and the clothes and requirements amended according to the weather in sunny/wet England.  After a mini heat wave, rain arrived again yesterday and there is a cool breeze today so I feel like packing a slightly warmer choice.

Blue sundress
Knickers
Suncream
Fleece
FatFace Hoodie
Midge cream
Book to read
Notebook

CAMERA

Chargers

Money
Passport
Driving Licence

The usual things - toilet bag, shoes, trainers, sandals - SHORTS (no chambray - says Bean - 'No one wears chambray these days')

NO BAGS WITHIN BAGS says Worzel

All I can think is the less the better - because I have to carry it.

So I continue to try to clear clutter and sort out garden and paint fences and watch tennis and sleep and eat!  Guess what - all just muddling along - I shall be glad to go - won't be able to do anymore then.

Wishing and waiting

Well, it's Sunday 13th June 2010 and a year ago Wizz and Tom were preparing to leave London. What a year it has been for them... and now I am wishing and waiting to start my adventure. Having just looked at Aggie's pictures of Vancouver - I am really ready to go now. Despite my vain attempts at clearing the garden and creating LESS work for myself - I seem to have created more so TODAY I am stopping and having a day off.

Heather and I have planned a little bit of our trip, first stop Vancouver, then Vancouver Island, then Prince Rupert and then joy of all joys - freedom - nothing organised until we return to Calgary to head home!

The bath is running - so I am going to try to add a google map so we can track our stops. It might not be perfect but I will try. Here goes.

Planning, planning and more planning

Well, now it is Monday 10th May 2010 and Mr Brown has decided to step down... I am a poet and ... yep, you've guessed it... there is going to be lots of this on here from ME.

So, the planning keeps going, interspersed with some spending, well actually, quite a lot of spending so I am glad that the money market is finally taking a grip or else I would be taking a grip of someone's purse and it might not be mine.

It is so exciting planning, but I like the books and magazines as well as this magical internet thing we have here. Nothing like turning the page is there? Slow, but sure. But then a bit of variety never harmed anyone... a page here, a blog there, a text here, a photo there, an itune here there and everywhere... a cue for a tune?

So far so good, we've booked flights, accommodation in Vancouver, Vancouver Island - Victoria, Tofino, Port Hardy, a cruise (sort of) to Prince Rupert, accommodation in Prince Rupert and then tiredness took over and the need to check other parts of my life took over... more of that later.

The cold weather has returned to day and snow has been forecast on the scottish hills, so what with volcanic ash, rain, snow and low temperatures anyone would think we were in England in May - how ridiculous would that be?

The big day is on its way!

Well, it's Sunday 9th May 2010 and soon I will be venturing forth into the unknown with my chum Heather. We leave UK at the end of July and return end of August with stops in British Columbia for the first leg of my big trip. I've had some little trips this year and in previous years but this is an adventure I have fancied since I was 20. I had a thousand pounds way back then which I decided to use on a deposit for a house instead of a trip to Canada - was I wrong? Well, maybe not because now I have a house (all paid for) and a trip to Canada on the horizons. Life can't get much better really.