Canuckian · Travels

It's a beautiful morning here in Fort McMurray! The drive up from Edmonton last night saw clear skies and the Northern Lights! Steve had never seen them before so that was awesome :)

We left Victoria at noon on Friday and hopped the bus, got on the ferry and hit Vancouver approximately 3:30pm. Went to the train station, checked in, upgraded to first class, and away we went! It wasn't really first class though, at least, I think the first class was just a sleeper compartment...it was interesting to say the least. The train we were on, The Canadian, was built in 1955 and it definitely hasn't been updated since then. Everything was green lol. We walked into our room, Suite D in the Brock Manor car, and we were in a bit of a shock. It was a room measuring about 5 feet by 4 and there were two chairs. Steve and I looked at each other and the attendent came along and told us the beds would be folded down later that night. One came down from the ceiling and the other from the wall lol.

Dinner was lovely, we had beef tenderloin with potatoes and veggies. Dessert was chocolate mousse cake and coffee. Trying to sleep that night was interesting, the train rocked back and forth. Needless to say, I was tired when I woke up the next morning! While Steve slept, I went along for breakfast and had buttermilk pancakes and sausages.

The ride through the Rockies was lovely! Clear skies all the way through and we got some really nice pictures. I'll upload them all once we get back to Scotland! Wasn't much in the way of wildlife, saw one female moose at the side of a river and that was it. Oh, and ducks. lol

Got into Edmonton around 6pm last night and then it was a drive up to McMurray. We got to my parents house around 11pm, and stayed up til 2 am catching up with my dad and talking about our trip so far etc. Slept like a LOG, woke up at 10am this morning and here I am with a cup of coffee. We're all going fishing today and it's a perfect day for it. Dad went out yesterday and between him and his friend they caught 160!! So the fishing is good at the moment.

I'm going to go give Robin a shout though, and then go get ready. Write more later!

I am feeling very emotional this morning.In fact, I think I'll probably burst into tears on the ferry.

Our week in Victoria has been fantastic, and I'm sad to be leaving. In fact, I feel my eyes welling up already. Is this how it's going to be? Being very upset with every place we leave because it's a week closer to coming back to Scotland? I am very fortunate that I have two homes, but I don't think I realised really, how much I miss Canada until we actually came back. It's hard.....the computer desk at the Abbeymoore sits beside a window, and I can see the sun rising up over the trees. It's going to be another gorgeous day. Our bus leaves at noon for the 1pm ferry to Vancouver.

I've got two days of updates to catch up on so away we go! On the 23rd, when I last posted, we walked downtown and spent the morning at the museum. The RBC is one of the best museums in Canada and with good reason! The First Nations exhibit is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, it always leaves me a bit upset because it really does show how the affect of the white man coming had on all the tribes. After the museum, we headed down to the Causeway to get on our whale watching boat!

The whale watching was fantastic, though it wasn't without problems. We were scarcely out into the San Juan Strait when the boat shut down. Engine failure! So we had to go back in and switch to another boat lol. After an hour delay, we headed back out. We came upon a group of transient Orcas feeding. The marine biologists on the boat thought they were feeing on either a porpoise or a seal. It was awesome! They were about 200 yards off the boat, but with our 8 MP camera we got some good shots! What a feeling it was to see the huge dorsal fin slip out of the water and back down again. Awesome. We could actually see the pod split up to surround the prey and see the two groups rushing towards each other in an attempt to get it! Awesome.

After the tour, we got back to Vic around 4pm. Went to Milestones, had cheeseburgers, and then Jenny picked us up! We went up to her place in Brentwood Bay and watched Strange Brew! For all those canadians who haven't seen it, you really must! It's the quissential Canadian film! Instead of swearing now, I've been saying 'take off you hoser!' lol Brilliant.

Jenny dropped us off around 10pm and we went straight to bed.

Yesterday, Leah picked us up. 15 minutes late I might add lol ;) (Sorry Leah, had to rub that in one last time lol) and we headed up island. First was a pit stop at Timmys where double doubles were the order of the day. Oh Timmy's, how I love you! Then we drove up, pulled into Chemainus for a bathroom stop. Then it was upwards to Coombs! When I was younger, and we came out to the coast to stay at my grandparent's house in Qualicum, I remember going to Coombs. Seeing the goats on the roof, the big black horse that you could take rides on (he wasn't there), and the shops along the boardwalk. I remember my grandma doing her shopping at the market there actually. We spent most of the afternoon at Coombs, it was about 3pm before we headed off to the beach at Parksville to check out the sand sculpture competition. We walked around on the beach for awhile, awesome day for it. Warm and sunny. The water was really warm, and we saw thousands of little sand crabs scuttering about. Leah picked up some sand dollars, much to my protestations. I was feeling a bit guilty cause I had picked up a clam shell and was wanting to see what was inside it, so Isaac smashed it on a rock for me and ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww the clam came oozing out. Yuck lol.

After the beach we went to Nanaimo and did some shopping. A lot of shopping. The mall had all my old favourite stores. and the food court! I was torn between Taco Time, New York Fries and A & W. I settled for A & W. Taco Time changed their menu! That bites.

We left Nanaimo around 9pm and headed back down the road. Got back to the B & B around 11 and promptly went straight to bed.

There's so much here we haven't done, but that just means a return trip. *sigh*

Not only are we saying goodbye to the Island, but the people as well! Jenny, it was fantastic to see your place and to hang out with you! Thanks again for picking us up at the airport :) We'll see you in Edmonton next week! Mary and Cheryl, it was so great to meet you guys! I only wish we had had more time to hang out. :) Leah, I'm going to miss you dearly, we had a great time hanging out with you and Isaac. I still find it hilarious how close Steve and Isaac are. :)

Right, I'm crying now, so I think I'm just going to wrap this up. I'll write again from Fort McMurray in a couple of days!

I woke up in a panic this morning at 5:30 am when I realised that we only have two days left here. OH NO. :/

Steve wants to move here. lol He is absolutely enamoured with Victoria and I haven't seen him look this relaxed and happy in a long while.

We've been doing so much walking that my legs are going to fall off. They're so sore this morning that I can't even walk very well. Eee. lol Yesterday we went back downtown and did some shopping. More walking. We went to the undersea gardens, had lunch at Darcy's Pub, sat at the Causeway for an hour so, just watching everyone go by. Today we're going on a whale watching boat at noon, afterwards we're going to the museum, and then the day is finishing up at Jenny's place for dinner :)

Tomorrow we're going up island with Leah and Isaac! I'm pretty happy about that, Steve gets to see where I spent my summers when I was little. :)

Leah I think I'm getting Isaac's cold.

Wow. It feels good to be home.

I don't know where to start with the first entry so I guess I'll just start from our departure from Scotland! Lots to cover. :)

The flight to Canada was long and uncomfortable. I think I managed only half an hour of sleep. I can't sleep on planes, it's next to impossible! The flight itself was uneventful. We left Glasgow late, left Manchester late and still managed to get to Vancouver on time. The feeling I got when we flew over Alberta, Steve was asking me what the names of all the lakes were LOL. Then the plane flew over the Rockies and oh, that was amazing. I tried to take pictures but they didn't turn out decent. We were sitting right over the wing so it wasn't a clear view at all. We circled Vancouver and came in for the landing. Got off, went through customs.

Vancouver Airport is stunning. The glass roof, the haida totem poles and the artwork...just stunning. I adore the aboriginal artwork of the west coast, but more on that in a bit lol.

Baggage claim was a bit of a annoynance. One of our suitcases was 2 kilos over the weight limit, but they hadn't said anything about it going in oversized baggage. So when our suitcase didn't come onto the carousel, we started panicking a bit. I was panicking because I didn't want to miss our connecting flight to Victoria, and Steve was panicking because it was our suitcase. Leave it to me to not be concerned about our luggage, that's how bad I wanted to get to Vic! Steve found it in the oversized baggage claim, and by this point we had an hour to get from the main terminal, to the south terminal which is all the way on the other side of the airport grounds. We hailed a cab and made it to the south terminal, checked in, and at 16:45 promptly, we flew over the San Juan de Fuca Strait to Vancouver Island.

Our friend Jenny met us at the airport (thanks again Jenny :)), we got our luggage and headed in to the city.

I don't mean to be dramatic or anything, but everytime I come to Victoria, I really feel like I'm coming home. And I certainly did Sunday night. The sun was shining, it was warm (about 25 degrees C when we landed), the ocean was shimmering, and Victoria spread out below us as we came down the Trans Canada Highway.

We did a pit stop at Tim Hortons, I delved in to my maple glaze and honey dip doughnuts. SO GOOD. :)

Got to the Abbeymoore (http://www.abbeymoore.com) checked in, freshened up, and off we went to Milestones to meet my friends.

I was in for a bit of a surprise, as my best friend Leah had previously told me she wasn't able to make it. So we get in to the Inner Harbour and are walking down the steps to the restaurant. I see Mary and Cheryl and head straight to them, hugging them and saying hello when I hear this 'HEY' lol. Turned around and there was Leah!! So it was a great surprise and it was so nice to see you all! Cheryl and Mary, I hope you had a great time, I certainly did, even though I was quite exhausted. :)

Afterwards, Steve and I were tired, so Jenny dropped us off and we crashed around 10:15pm. Yesterday morning I woke up at 6 am, and sat outside on the balcony of our room, watching the sun come up. I was feeling quite emotional all day yesterday, now that I'm back, I don't want to leave. (I know, everyone at work is going to be like 'I told you so!' lol. Steve woke up at 7 and we went down to breakfast at 8. SO GOOD. WE started off with a fruit salad bowl, with homemade granola and ISLAND FARMS yoghurt. (Seriously, best yogurt in the world). Then we had the true homecoming breakfast, blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and sausages. Yum.

After breakfast, we set out. 9 am. I took Steve down to Ross Bay Cemetary at the foot of Fairfield, and we walked along the coast towards downtown. Lovely morning. Warm and sunny. We did SO much walking around yesterday. And shopping lol. We each got Haida rings. Steve got the Thunderbird, and I got my trademark Orca. We went to ROOTS where I bought some clothes. We took loads of pictures, had lunch at Milestones again, went to the Museum gift shop (we'll go back to the Museum itself today), walked around some more. Then at 5pm Leah came to pick us up, and she took us up to Mt Tolmie. A first time experience for me. What a view! A 360 panorma of Victoria and the surrounding area. Wow. Stunning. :) Then we went back to Leah's and hung out there last night. Got back to the b & b around 9:30 and crashed.

So here I am, day 2 of Victoria. It's 7:30 in the morning, I've had my shower, waiting for Steve to get up. I don't know what we'll do today, but you know what, I don't care.

I'm here. And it's great. :)

In light of the recent changes to the baggage restrictions, I took our cameras out of the suitcases and put them into our carry ons.

Steve's taking on two small suitcases and I'm taking on the big one. I've eliminated one bag altogether so we'll just have three total.

I phoned Zoom last night to see if we could upgrade. If you sit in premium you get a 30 kilo baggage allowance, compared to the 20 in economy. Unfortunately, the premiums are all sold out. :/ So it looks like we're paying an extra £6 per kilo in our luggage.

I tried to downsize, but this is stuff we NEED to bring. Mostly wedding stuff so it really can't be avoided.

I'm still debating on bringing the laptop, but I probably won't.

To do list for today:

Clean the kitchen
Finish laundry
Finish packing Sam's stuff
Vaccuum
Wash the floors
Put everything else away
Take the rubbish out.

Steve finishes up work today. Hurrah!

Well, hopefully 7 days from today at this time will see us at Glasgow Airport, being checked in with the minimal of fuss.

I've already resigned myself to the fact that we're not allowed to take anything on the plane with us, aside from our tickets and what not, so I'll have to carefully pack the cameras into the luggage. I just got my Nikon fixed too, it better not break again!! :S

So far two suitcases are packed. One is soley Jenny's stuff and the other is full of stuff for my parents and various people. I'm debating on scrapping the second suitcase if it means we'll have less hassles checking in, but I haven't decided yet. I may just ship it before we leave so it gets to Fort McMurray the same time we do. Decisions.

Oh crap, I just realised that I was supposed to have a hair appointment yesterday and I clean forgot about it!!!! :S Oy.

Anyway lol.

I have a lot to do this week. I finish up work on Thursday. Took Friday off so that I can spend the day cleaning the flat, washing the floors and getting the place ready for being unoccupied for a month. Samwise gets picked up on Saturday to go to his host family. Laundry, packing, cleaning. That sums this week up.

I hope it goes by fast. The quicker I'm in Victoria, the happier I'll be. :)

Like I need any more motivation to get excited about the upcoming trip home, but I'm just going to do a blue print of what is on our itinerary! We'll need a holiday from the holiday when we get back! ;)

Depart Glasgow on August 20, stop over in Manchester, arrive in Vancouver BC on August 20 around 2pm local time. We hop on a Pacific Coast flight to Victoria at 4:30, arriving in Victoria for 5pm.

List of things to do in Victoria:

1. Hang out with friends at Milestones.
2. Hang out with my best pal Leah (I can't wait to see you!!)
3. Show Steve all my favourite places. Munro's Books, Ross Bay Cemetary, the Denison Road Observatory, the RBC Museum.
4. Go shopping for Haida jewellery and artwork for our flat.
5. Craigdarroch Castle, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Whale Watching, Ghost tours, University of Victoria (I need UVic souvenirs lol)
6. ROOTS
7. Oak Bay
8. Seeing my cousin and his wife!

We depart Victoria on August 25 at noon. We get on the bus from downtown, up to the ferry. Arrive in Vancouver at 3:30pm where we go to the train station. Our train over the Rockies leaves at 5:30pm.

(I am so excited for the train trip!!!)

Arrive Edmonton, Alberta on August 26th at 5pm. Either my brother or my mom will be meeting us and then we drive for 4 hours up to Fort McMurray; aka my hometown

August 27th: Fishing with my dad and folks somewhere along the Athabasca or Clearwater Rivers!
August 28th: Dentist appt in the morning, and then out to Gregoire Lake with my pal Robin!
August 29th: No plans yet lol
August 30th: Tour of the Oil Sands! Steve and I depart from the Oilsands Interpretive Centre at 10am.
August 31st: Depart for Edmonton!

In Edmonton we will be staying at the Sutton Place Hotel right downtown. This is the wedding weekend so it will be insanely busy!

September 1: Spa at WEM with Christa and Robin, I have to meet the florist, the hair stylist, the cake people, the rehearsal at the church, and see all the family as they start taking over the town lol

September 2: Wedding day! Ceremony at McDougall United Church for 2pm, Reception following at the Edmonton Petroleum Club at 4:30pm. In between these two events, we'll be getting pictures done at either the Royal Alberta Museum grounds, or at a school downtown (don't know the name of it, but apparently the grounds are gorgeous). Time permitting, we'll do pictures at both.

September 3: Talks currently going on about seeing a Rugby match this day, but I have to see how time is. I don't know if we're suppose to do a brunch with everyone before they all leave town.

September 4th: Sightseeing day for Steve: West Edmonton Mall, Royal Albert Museum, wherever else he wants to go!

September 5th: Audiologist appt in the morning for me and then it's on to Calgary!

September 5th: Afternoon, arrive in Calgary. Need to sort out my storage unit but I haven't set anything in stone for this yet. Staying at Christa's place.

September 6th: Possibly Storage unit stuff, but again, not sure yet.

September 7th: Taking Steve to Drumheller hopefully with Christa and Jay. Fingers crossed!

September 8th: Planned to head down to Nanton this day to stay with my cousin Bev and her family. Want to take Steve to the Lancaster musuem there.

September 9th: Nanton

September 10th: STEVE'S SURPRISE. (Can't divulge this information, in case he reads it :)) This is also our one year anniversary of our wedding in Stirling!

September 11th: Head to my cousin Maureen's place sometime in the evening at Springbank.

September 12th: Springbank

September 13th: Springbank

September 14th: Depart Calgary for Scotland! Arrive Glasgow on the morning of the 15th at 10am.

Wooooo. Busy.

lol