| Wonderful World of Melrose and Bill | |||
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Saturday, April 07, 2018 ( 9:37 PM ) melrose Hi, everyone. Usually, my Blog reads from the start of the occasion to the final from top to bottom. But, this posting is not in that order. When I began the blog on April 6th - I expected to complete it at the time. That didn't happen. So, instead of deleting what I had already done - decided to continue on ... I soon found out that way is difficult... but persevered - it now reads from the end of the journey to the start - sorry about that. If you prefer the correct order - please start from Victoria on March 21st starting at the bottom to the top. I'll get it right next time. Mel. # ( 7:56 PM ) melrose Powell River: Powell River was the second to last stop of our wonderful Holiday to Vancouver Island and the West Coast of Southern B.C. Visiting Joan and Richard was another beautiful highlight in our journey. After many years of traveling and living in Foreign countries they are now retired and settled in Powell River. They have built an absolutely gorgeous house on the way to Lund. The small town of Lund is the end of the road North on the mainland. This monument signifies the start of Highway 101, known as the "Pacific Coast Route" which starts in Lund B.C. Canada and ends in Puerto Mont, Chile. it is 15,202 Km. in length.    Nancy's bakery is a very popular spot for visitors and tourists - I had been told by at least 3 people to be sure to go there and have a Cinnamon Bun. We enjoyed the bakery - but ordered a cookie rather than the bun... the cookie was good.  Joan and Richard with Bill.  Another interest to see in Powell River is "The Hulks" - Large ships made of wood, steel and cement that were brought to Powell River to act as a Breakwater in 1930. They are still floating but no longer needed to calm the water.  Our second to last Ferry ride for this trip was from Powell River to Earl's Cove. We stayed in Gibson's on March 30th - before our trip on the Ferry from Gibson's to Horseshoe Bay on the 31st. We will spend Easter with the family in Port Moody and Burnaby before returning to Kamloops April 2nd.. What a wonderful holiday we had!.  Read more » # ( 6:26 PM ) melrose Campbell River: From Port Hardy on March 27th, we traveled to Campbell River for our last stay on Vancouver Island. Campbell River has really grown in size since we were last there 29 years ago. It is very much a working fishing community with it's harbour full of fishing trawlers.     # ( 4:34 PM ) melrose Port Hardy - the furthest North that the road goes. Much to our surprise - Port Hardy is a beautiful vibrant place with a very nice hotel. We expected there would not be much there. The "Quarterdeck" hotel room, had an excellent view of the harbour from our room. The Bar and Restaurant were actually attached to the hotel by a canopy (for the rain)... and the food was delicious. The people were also very friendly.      ( 1:23 PM ) melrose Gold River was one place Bill really wanted to see. It was an amazing small town in that it had new buildings, a nice new tourist information and many fairly new houses in various subdivisions. We stayed in the nice new 'Gold River Chalet' ... but there was almost no where to eat - we only saw a deli that was near the motel ..... they said there was a pharmacy - but we did not see it. It may have been because it was Sunday ~ we also saw very few people. When we checked out in the morning - there was not even anyone at the desk in the hotel. We drove to the inlet where the Uchuck 111 was docked - Bill says this boat takes tourists from the inlet out to the ocean in the summer. The front of the ship is the front area that drives the boat - the tourists sit on the yellow benches on the new section at the back of the boat ... I'm sure it would be a very interesting trip on a nice day. We did not see a person anywhere - there were trucks parked by the road - - probably belonging to workers at the mill but no one anywhere..... the quietest town we have ever seen.     Telegraph Cove: was a real highlight to see. Again, there were not many people because of it being winter - but there was a girl who helps out there who told us all about the place. It has a very photogenic setting with the mountains and the beautiful cove. The buildings are heritage and artistic.... and the main attraction is the Whale Museum, privately run.  The museum is the red building in the distance. Inside the building are the bone structures of whales and other sea life. We were amazed to see the size of the Killer whale - it took up the entire length of the building! I could not get a picture of the entire length so had to take it in 3 sections. this picture is just the tail section. Telegraph cove would be a great place to visit in the summer time.       ( 8:22 AM ) melrose Ucluelet, and Tofino: After leaving Qualicum, we headed off on Hwy 4 to Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino on the west coast of the Island. when going over the mountain pass to Ucluelet, we encountered a 'real' winter storm - but, once we were back down to sea level it was nice and sunny.  We encountered a 'real' winter snow storm just after Port Alberni going over the mountain pass. But, once we were back down to sea level it was nice and sunny.  We stayed at the "Whale's Tail" motel in Ucluelet. The town centre has very interesting statues made of some sort of metal. .. a tree .... a surfer.... also a beautiful lady with an eagle.   We drove North to Tofino, saw Long Beach and stopped at Chesterman Beach which is at the north end of Long beach, just before Tofino.  Chesterman Beach is absolutely beautiful.  Surfers were out in the waves in wet suits, - waiting for just the right wave.  And .... this fellow was taking a rest in the sunshine. What a beautiful place this is. It would be a wonderful place to visit again.  Tofino is a quaint small town where we enjoyed the sunny afternoon taking pictures and walking around to see it all. It reminded me of Bella Coola - only a bit larger. The Anglican church is one of the oldest building in the town - it was established in 1913 and has a beautiful setting near the water.. The small tiny building is filled with "free Books".... how neat. I also visited the museum, where I learned of the history of Tofino and also the Native Art Gallery where they had many over $5,000.00 paintings ... while Bill had a rest in the Honda.   It was a beautiful sunny day and ... the Blossoms were Beautiful. After leaving Tofino - we drove back over the mountain pass where most of the snow had melted and we stayed the night at the Travel Lodge in Courtenay - we didn't see much there as we arrived late in the day. - but had a great breakfast the next morning before traveling on to Gold River. # Friday, April 06, 2018 ( 10:32 PM ) melrose Victoria: We just returned on Monday, April 2nd. from a beautiful 12 day holiday on Vancouver Island and the B.C. coast. We saw many places, visited "long time" friends, and learned lots about the towns and villages. We were so excited to leave that we left March 20th, a day earlier than planned ~ we stayed in a nice new Motel in Abbotsford and were ready in plenty of time the next day, to catch the 1:00 p.m. Ferry over to the Island. Our first stop was in Victoria, the Capital City of B.C. where we spent the first morning touring the inside of the Parliament buildings - something we had never done before.   We spent the entire afternoon and evening with our friends Nedra and John. Nedra has been a dear close friend since grade 6 in Kelowna and it is always so fun to visit them. They took us on a beautiful drive all around Victoria. We stopped in for a visit with another long time friend and neighbour, Loralee,from Kelowna, where we enjoyed afternoon tea with sandwiches and sweets. How enjoyable and the food was delicious. After 2 days in Victoria we went on to Cedar, near Nanaimo to stay for one night with Daphne and Ron - my dear school friend and Neighbour, Daphne, always so patient ~ she made sure back then, that I got to school everyday on time.  Qualicum Beach: The next day we were off to Qualicum Beach before taking the road over to Tofino and Ucluelet on the west side of the Island. # |
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