For Harry.......

Saying goodbye I dont do well so I say see you soon Vancouver Island, I love you. This was without a doubt the most memorable experience ever for me, a time when i spread my wings and litterally flew, thousands of miles to be with someone who has become a very special part of my life and my heart, and I say thankyou for that Harry. Thankyou for being there for me whenever I need you, thankyou for being the best friend a person could ever hope for, thankyou for making me laugh, cry, making me feel alive again, but mostly thankyou for all the joy you have bought back to my life. I cant imagine a time in my life now that you were not there for you have become so much a part of me and who I am, thankyou for allowing me to share your life and your family and for introducing me to Canadian culture. It has made its mark on my heart and will be forever burned in my memory. Thankyou for making those memories with me and I know we will make many more for this is just the beginning....How can i ever survive without Timmys, its the one thing that we do not come close to in Aussie, our icecream mountain and all its funny little mood swings it seems to provoke in me, a walk along the sea wall, indians busy with carvings and taking advantage of unsuspecting aussies (or is it canucks?) The beauty of the mountains surrounded by the ocean and all its wonderful memories, ferry rides, kayaks trips, seals, sea lions, whales, canadian geese, racoons, deer, eagles soaring, the wonderful feeling of peace one gets from being in such beautiful surroundings at times overwhelmed me and i wanted nothing more than for time to stand still so I could stay in that moment forever. Newcastle Island held its own very special beauty and that place just seemed to capture my heart in its simplicity. All the beautiful places I have seen I know I will see again soon, the cute little goats on the roof, the city of murals Chemainus that I loved so much,Victoria in all its splender, so many wonderful places and right now I am still trying to process it all in my head. The warmth and the love of a very special family who made me feel like so much a part of it from day one.....yes Vancouver Island I will see you again soon...for a link to my next adventure.........http://mysecondcanadiantrip.blogspot.com/2007/07/snooziebear-returns.html

Back to Goats on the roof

I simply just love this place, today we had an icecream cone outside and watched the goats playing on the roof, one went A over T and it was really funny to watch. I bought one of those gaily decorated lanterns that hang from the roof inside the shop, and also a teapot and a little metal goat. We wandered around outside and found a cute couple making out in the car park......and it was there that I had my first Canadian horse ride, I also had my very first Canadian culture taste test initiation (which is one I am not about to forget)....hot pepperoni, a fresh pickle and a can of coke......I is one tuff sheila tell ya......:)

Englishmen River Falls

OK...This place was so beautiful, so peaceful, so calming, reminded me of home, of someplace in the heart of our Grampians, apart from the fact that its been so long since i saw water flowing freely like this ....a perfect waterhole at the bottom of the falls, ideal for swimming, felt like the inside of a freezer..brrrrrrr, a perfect place for a picnic, this place is pretty special..... and it comes with a unisex bush dunny......what more could one want? I felt right at home.

Sand Castles at Parksville

Now this is a sandcastle!!!!.....hard to believe but its true. Sand sculpturing in Parksville is an annual event and allows solo and team competitors to enter their work. They have a full 16 hrs to complete their masterpeices, between 10-20 ton of sand is used. Unbelievably talented people, and every single entry is amazing.......

Cameron Lake

Just had to stop here to take these pics on the drive to Port Alberni cos I thought it was really pretty...

Port Alberni

Port Alberni is a city about 50 kms from Nanaimo, the drive to here was beautiful and the view from the pier was very very nice, especially after I found myself a cute little old man to share it with. The shops here were nice too and I found a cute little jade bear with a fish in his mouth, jade is good luck, not so for the fish.....perhaps for the bear and hopefully for me too....

Cathederal Grove

Cathedral Grove is a rare and precious surviving stand of ancient Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and western red cedar (Thuja plicata). The oldest and most majestic trees in Cathedral Grove are about 800 years in age and measure about nine meters in circumference.
They are the veterans of a devastating forest fire 350 years ago and a terrible wind storm in 1997.

Many species of wildlife use the old-growth forest as their home, including several types of woodpeckers, owls, insects, reptiles, amphibians, deer, elk, black bear and cougar. The Cameron River, which flows through the park, contains rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout but all i saw today was a black slug and a green frog....sigh!!...I found this place very spiritual and extremely peaceful.....

Tim Hortons - Yummy

I have learnt several things while staying in Canada. A thong is something worn on your bum not your feet, that is called a flipflop. A G....I wont go into that....... A soft drink becomes a soda or a pop, a chinese spring roll an egg roll, a dimmy a wonton......gezeeee, a footpath is a pavement, a mall sounds like some kind of underground animal or a bikie chick, a dollar becomes a loonie and 2 dollars a toonie....say no more eh????.....when i start callin things loonies its bad, anyway another thing I have learned is that in Aussie we have no place, and I mean noooooooo place like Tim Hortons, its to drool for, and I drool so well. From timbits which are the donut holes...yummy, to a million flavors of donuts, muffins, cakes, bagels, coffee.mmmmmmmmmmmm, pops?.....iced caps, did I say coffee?..probably the best I have had, hey no meat pies here but the coffee and the timbits make up for that. In fact at my very first timbit tasting i think the final count was 15....nooooo not all in my mouth at once. I am wondering if it is at all possible to become Mrs Tim Horton....... I had a Tim Bit eating contest with Harry. He ate 6, I ate 17 - Do Not Mess With Aussies eh!!

My Ever Expanding Bear Collection