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World Oceans Day

Pacific Ocean - Click for larger

In 2008 the United Nations General Assembly designated June 8 as World Oceans Day. It's a day to celebrate oceans, those massive bodies of water that generate the air we breathe, control our climate, help to feed and entertain us, and support a rich biodiversity of life.

Our very own Canadian Government first proposed the international day in recognition of oceans at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Canada is lucky in that it has shores on three of the world's five designated oceanic divisions:

The Pacific:

Pacific Ocean - Click for larger

Pacific Ocean - Click for larger

The Arctic:

Hudson Bay/Arctic Ocean - Click for larger

Hudson Bay/Arctic Ocean - Click for larger

The Atlantic:

Orby Head, PEI - Click for larger

Bay of Fundy - Click for larger

Gulf of St. Lawrence - Click for larger

Kellys beach, Kouchibouguac - Click for larger

Iceberg Alley, NL - Click for larger

I think the recent BP Oil Rig disaster off the coast of Louisiana gives this World Oceans Day even more importance. After all there may be five ocean divisions but really there is only one world ocean. Oil from this disaster may not ever show up on beaches in Canada. But still it will affect Canada and the rest of the world.

Migrating Shorebirds, NB - Click for larger

Poor Man's RV

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Maybe it was the recent full moon. Or maybe I have simply been overwhelmed with the preparations for our upcoming photo journey - after all it is going to be a long one. Mostly while lying awake in the comfort of our own bed my mind has been wandering back to this sign in the Yukon:

Bear Warning Sign - Click for larger

It is haunting me.

We tent camped near that sign and indeed the soapberries were ripe and plentiful on our campsite. The few other campers were all in some sort of hard-sided accommodation like truck campers and RVs. If a bear wanted a little protein to accompany his fruit we were the obvious choice - we were just behind a thin nylon wall. Yet come morning we never saw any indications that bears had been around our tent - no droppings or scratchings and even the ripe berries were still waiting to be eaten.

But still that sign haunts me.

Grizzly Bear - Click for larger

I'll admit it - I'm afraid of bears. I'm tired of being bear bait. This time on the road I don't want to wake up in the tent and wonder if the rustling noises I'm hearing outside are made by the little chipmunk we saw earlier or something bigger, much bigger!

Chipmunk - Click for larger

Why is it little rodents can make so much noise anyway?

No this time I wanted options on how, or more correctly where, we sleep. Especially if a bear has been spotted nearby.

Black Bear - Click for larger

Bighorn Sheep - Click for larger

So these past couple of weeks when I've been unable to sleep, instead of counting sheep I've been thinking about options, wondering just how to sleep on the road with something a little more solid than a tent between us and the bears. In spite of my last posting/shameful plea seeking sponsorship from RV Manufacturers or dealers, I came to the conclusion that we would have to take the matter into our own hands. We would build a platform to sleep on in our van.

It took me awhile to convince Ron that it could work. We stood outside and stared into the open van and measured and "discussed". Gradually I turned those sign haunted nights into planning and design sessions. Eventually we were ready to try building something. See Ron's recent blog posting for the results.

There will be no inside plumbing so I'll still have to get dressed and go outside to find the nearest outhouse when nature calls at night. (I'll make Ron walk me so don't worry Mom!) And I'll still have to dress while lying down. It may not be the luxurious accommodation I've been lusting over. No it's rather more like a Poor Man's RV. But the walls are not only harder than tent nylon there are plenty of tinted windows. The windows just might offer scenic lakeside views. We'll be able to stargaze from bed through the tailgate window and possibly even watch bears munch on soapberries. Maybe, just maybe, this time while on the road instead of being spooked by outside noises I can finally get some sleep!

Kluane Lake, YT - Click for larger

A Confession

(also known as "This Space for Rent")

I must make a confession. While camping this past weekend I coveted my neighbours trailer. Yes it is true - I want to be trailer trash!

Robins in Nest - Click for larger

We tent camped at Rondeau Provincial Park, hopeful that staying in the park would allow us to view and photograph many beautiful migrant warblers travelling to their northern nesting grounds. And indeed we did see and photograph some lovely birds.

Baltimore Oriole - Click for larger

The hikes at dawn were good for the soul. The rising sun warmed our backs and lit up the little birds as they flitted about.

Magnolia Warbler - Click for larger

I really enjoyed that. Honest. A beautiful Pipevine Swallowtail, a butterfly that's rarely seen in Canada even posed for the cameras.

Pipevine Swallowtail - Click for larger

But sadly all these sightings just weren't enough to keep me from lusting over the trailers of other campers. No doubt I was drooling when we were invited to step inside a friend's trailer. I just couldn't help myself!

No I couldn't stop myself from imagining Ron and I having a meal or processing the day's images at the table while sitting on chairs with real backs, rather than the backless benches of a bird-dirt splattered picnic table. We wouldn't even have to set up a dining tent let alone haul bins back and forth from the car. Instead everything would be stored away in the handy cupboards. Just how much food could be kept cold in the refrigerator when a bag of ice wasn't hogging space? I wondered how comfortable the always-made Queen-sized bed would feel compared to our air-bed that becomes slack with the dropping night temperature. About four steps is what I figured it would take me to get from that warm duvet covered bed to the enclosed bathroom - no shoes or pyjama bottoms required. I also wouldn't have to worry about the unzipping of tent flaps and running out into the dark to look for the nearest outhouse with who knows what (bears?!) might be lurking nearby. In the morning I could actually step out of bed and choose from a drawer what clothes to put on that day. I wouldn't have to put back on the yesterday's clothes (the night before I usually forget to find fresh clothes from the great abyss the van becomes on road trips). But the best part of all would be those clothes could be put on while standing up! I wouldn't have to struggle into jeans while lying down - something I thought I could stop doing when the skin-tight jeans from my youth went out of fashion. Even undergarments could be put on correctly rather than leaving me feeling slightly askew all day.

Sleepy Raccoon - Click for larger

Yes indeed, a trailer or better yet a truck camper or van would be ideal for our up-coming road trip across the country. So if there are RV dealers or manufacturers reading this blog we are open to offers of your providing us with one. In exchange you would get the free advertisement in this space. No doubt I would go on at length about the RV's many features and how we were enjoying our travels in it. And of course there would be pictures of the RV against some stunning vista. But failing the selling of this space (and my soul) I will try to remind myself of the advantages to our tent camping: the lower fuel consumption, the portability, nothing to tow, low enough to get into underground parking garages, the not having to sleep with odours of the day's meals... I'll pretend that we have sacrificed our comfort in order to be more environmentally friendly and help save the planet. And if during our journeys any of you out there are indeed reading this blog, maybe you might even believe me. Well maybe just a little!

Canada Welcomes the World!

It starts today. Canada hosts the world at the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now that's exciting! The world will be impressed. And it should be. Vancouver is a beautiful city.

Vancouver skyline - Click for larger

It has even been rated by The Economist Intelligence Unit as 2010's best city in the world to live.

But British Columbia is also a beautiful province.

Duffey Lake Provincial Park - Click for larger

They really weren't kidding when they put the slogan "Beautiful British Columbia" on their license plates. Everywhere you look there is a beautiful vista such as snow capped mountains, lush rainforest, and rugged Pacific coast.

Rainforest - Click for larger

Pacific Rim - Click for larger

The province boasts the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies - Mount Robson with its head in the clouds at 3954 m. 12,972 ft.

<---Mount Robson - click image for larger view


It also has clear mountain lakes and tourquiose streams. The tourquoise and emerald lakes and streams are caused by the way the pulverized rock in the water called rock flour reflects the light.

Emerald Lake - Click for larger

And there are spectacular waterfalls too - lots of them. Like Helmcken Falls in Wells Gray Provincial Park. It's a 141 m. (463 ft.) high plunge type falls and the fifth highest waterfalls in Canada.

Helmcken Falls - Click for larger

There are many ways to get out and enjoy all that wonderful scenery.

Paddling a canoe - Click

Fishing - Click for larger

Lakeside camping - Click for larger

Surfing - Click for larger

There is also the diverse and interesting wildlife. Everything from these tiny little Pikas - a relative of the rabbit

Pika - Click for larger

to Stellar Jays (British Columbia's provincial bird)

Steller's Jay - Click for larger

Caribou,

Caribou Calf - Click for larger

Bison, Black Bears and Grizzly Bears to name a few.

Grizzly Bear - Click for larger

Even delicate wildflowers like these Sparrow's-Egg Lady's-Slippers (a wild subarctic orchid species that is found only in Canada and Alaska) are found in British Columbia.

Sparrow's-Egg Lady's-Slipper - Click for larger

Yes indeed - British Columbia and Vancouver are beautiful. No doubt the city and the province will make all of Canada proud.

Groundhog Day

February 2nd is Groundhog Day. That means today in places all over North America like in Wiarton, Ontario we expect a woodchuck,

Groundhog - Click for larger

this large furry rodent more commonly called a groundhog, to predict the length of winter. Usually winter looks something like this in Southern Ontario:

Winter at Presqu'ile - Click for larger

Normally in our area a groundhog would be hibernating at least until March. But on this day the legend has it that a groundhog will awake from its winter sleep, poke its head up out of its den and look around.

Groundhog - Click for larger

If it sees its shadow then it goes back to hibernating thus predicting another six weeks of winter. If the groundhog doesn't see a shadow then it will be an early Spring.

Trilliums - Click for larger

In Wiarton this responsibility is given to one woodchuck named Wiarton Willie. This year he predicted that there will be another six weeks of winter. Considering the official start of Spring is at least six weeks off then odds are, he is right.

Scarborough Bluffs Winter - Click for larger