Well after a considerable lull in postings about my adventures, I can finally reveal that the silence has been due to my intensive training efforts for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Here you can see that the results of all my hard work has paid off, and I’ve come away with the gold medal. In something. Against two odd looking people who I could probably have beaten with my hooves tied behind my back.

The view out to Stawamus Chief from the Spit.

And now looking down to the Chief, Howe Sound and Squamish from another vantage point. Taken on the hiking trail to Elfin Lakes – which is part way to Mt Garibaldi, the ever present mountain which lurks above you as you sit in Squamish town. Unless it’s cloudy. So in other words you may see it once or twice a year.

So now after a week in Squamish (with the bunny feeding, the hiking, the climbing, the squirrels, the chipmunks, the Scattegories, the bath robe parties, the bicycling round town, the Walmart visits, the inaugural Tim Hortons visit, the sitting in traffic on the Sea to Sky because their blasting to widen the road had made large rocks fall of the existing bits of road reducing it to one lane, the wandering around Whistler, the discovery of a very gold and shiny puffy vest in the North Face store, and the complete absence of any bear or cougar sightings) a trip over to Banff on the mighty Greyhound beckons…

A photo from the magical Canadian bunny homeland, where bunnies swarm about your ankles and hop all over you and try and steal your carrots if you’re not holding onto them carefully.

As most normal people do, we went kayaking in a glacial fjord with our kind Vancouver hostess as soon as our luggage had been safely stored. The fjord, Indian Arm, is just next to Vancouver.

Thanks to the water/camera issue, no good cameras came along on the trip. And this shot just doesn’t do justice to the scenery there. But maybe you get the idea. Also, there were seals (they look like Voldemort) and islands. It is a lovely place.

Stop over in Taipei on the way to Canada. We arrived in the evening, and China Airlines provided us with swish (there were free combs! and it was on a golf course sponsored by Jack Nicklaus) hotel accommodation while we waited for our transfer flight to Vancouver the next afternoon. This pretty flower was found while wandering around town in the morning.

A sunset
 

Windmill in station country
 

The Newell Highway
 

River red gums and a dirt road
 

When I was a young girl…. I remember when this was still a lake
 

It seems to be in need of some repair however…

(An open letter to the common-sense impaired group who we met up at Mt Stirling)

Hello. While your spur of the moment decision to ‘go for a hike in the mountains’ was a reasonable one, and you seemed quite nice people, there are a few points I’d like to mention.

1) It’s a good idea to check the weather before you go to the mountains for the weekend, particularly to an alpine area.
2) Dress suitably! This means bring a waterproof layer, and warm clothes. We do not recommend wearing jeans (which end up wet thanks to hiking in the wet snow, and then stay wet) and sneakers (which also stayed wet all weekend).
3) Bring some form of light. You arrived in the hut at night, and had no source of light at all. If we hadn’t lent you a headlamp, how were you planning to cook your dinner?
4) Bring some matches, or a lighter. This was the second flaw in your plan: you couldn’t see, AND you had no way to start a fire.
5) A compass and map are also recommended items. You had neither. And when you don’t have a map, and have very poor senses of direction, DON’T TAKE RANDOM SHORT CUTS!
6) Sleeping bags that are actually suited to the temperature are a good idea. If you don’t have a warm enough sleeping bag, then have lots of warm clothes to wear IN your sleeping bag. If you have neither of these, and can’t acquire them, then DON’T GO TO THE SNOW!

Other points of note:

1) The Coles Green Bag was an interesting choice for carrying your stuff up the mountain. But amusing.
2) The bag of plastic knives and forks, and paper plates. The six pack of steak knives. All still in their packaging straight from the supermarket. Also amusing.
3) The use of a cake tin as a saucepan. Entertaining.
4) Do not toboggan on the emergency rescue sled!