Is it really summer tomorrow?

Is tomorrow really the first day of summer in Canada? Looks more like winter to me!

 

We decided to do the Peak to Peak gondola ride today but were not really prepared for just how much snow is still on the mountain tops. I thought we'd do a couple of alpine walks, but, no, they were all closed as they are still covered in snow.

The bottom of the valley looks like this:

The top looks like this:

 If we had this much snow on our mountains at home we'd think it was a bumper snow year, but here the ski season is well and truly finished.

The Peak to Peak involves one 20 minute gondola ride to the top of Whistler Mountain and then another one 4.4km ride above a valley to the top of Blackcomb Mountain. This ride has only 4 support poles holding it up. The longest unsupported span is 3.024km long. It's highest point above the valley floor  is 463m. It is quite an impressive engineering feat.

First bear encounter

We went for a gentle cross country ride on our downhill bikes today, along one of the valley trails in Whistler and met this little fella happily eating dandelions.

We watched him for about five minutes from about forty metres and then he disappeared quickly down the bank when another two people walked down the trail from the other direction. My guess is he/she was a young 'teenage' bear, not fully grown but old enough to leave mum - not too scary.

Whistler!!!

We have seen more rain than sun so far in Canada. And the jet lag has been really bad. Both Joel and I have made some really silly mistakes. I have actually kept a list of some but I'm not telling! I wonder if that is what the beginning of dementia is like.

On Monday morning, before collecting the motorhome, we took a quick train trip in to the city centre of Vancouver. We were there before all the commuters and the city was just waking up. Vancouver has a nice mix of old and new buildings and a great board walk on the harbour, all seemed very clean and orderly and snow capped mountains were occasionally visible under the cloud.

It rained all the way to Whistler for my first RV drive on the right (wrong) side of the road, but we made it!

Spent our first day in Whistler sorting out bikes, and walking around the village and bike paths and trying to get over jet lag.

Today - Wednesday - we had our first ride at Whistler!! The weather looked like clearing at first but changed it's mind after lunch and we got wet and muddy. Did four rides on three different tracks before getting too wet and too cold.

Already, we have met two of the downhill mountain biking boys from Hobart here! The world is small. Joel is converted - he loves this place.

There are pine trees everywhere and snow capped mountains all around. It feels like we a staying in a forest of Christmas trees. We have seen a squirrel, and some giant slugs, but no bears - yet.

 

Everything is BIG here - big coffee (medium at Maccas is the largest Aussie size), utes are really trucks, mountains of course are big, meals are big, even the slugs are big!



 

Maccas calling

Well - it is now 1.38 am Monday morning in Vancouver. I have had about 4 hours of solid sleep brought on by the exhaustion of travelling across multiple time zones and now both Joel and I are wide awake! Our bodies think it is 7.25pm on Tuesday night. I know this because my laptop tells me that is the time back home in Devonport. It is amazing how tiring sitting in a plane and watching movies can be. We are waiting for Maccas to open at 5am for breakfast.

Road Trip !!!

You always need a book to read on a long flight so as I am embarking on the huge road trip around Canada, I thought it would be appropriate to read the ultimate road trip book - On the Road by Jack Kerouac, which I've never read. I went to the Devonport bookshop especially to buy On the Road and was very pleased to find they had one copy on their shelves. Now it is in my bag waiting to be read on the plane.

What is it about 'road trips' that Australians, and apparently Americans, and probably Canadians, love so much? Most Aussies have this intangible but recognisable hankering to hit the open road and escape. When I think of my past holidays they are mostly road trips.

Is it some connection with our collective memory of pioneers and the wild west, heading off in to the unknown to make your fortune - the spirit of adventure - exploring and discovering new lands?
Or is it an unarticulated need to escape the modern 21st century rat race that our lives have become and find a simpler, more real and authentic way of life, even if only for a brief time.

All I know, is that as I think of getting in the motorhome and hitting the road, the words - freedom, escape and adventure come to mind.

The packing begins

I am reminded of how much I hate pulling bikes apart and how ridicously hard Sunringle rims are to get tyres off and put new ones on! I thought that after 3 years of riding with the same tyres the bike came with, I would put some new ones on for Canada. Arrggh! Joel's bike was much better behaved and is now tucked up snugly in its box.

Weird

I aspire to be slightly weird and open people's eyes

This wayward Aussie woman is off wandering the world again!

This time to Canada for almost 2 months with my son Joel, and our bikes, in a motorhome. We aim to wander all over British Columbia and the western part of Alberta in the Rocky Mountains.

The wandering begins Saturday 25th May!

If you want to follow us - keep coming back here or use the subscribe link at the top right of the page.