Giant Catch-Up Post

Despite what it says on their website you may have noticed that Capilano RV Park does NOT have internet access. At least, they don't from the shelter of your mid-80's RV. Apparently they do, but people had been losing money in it, so I assume it was some coin operated job - not particularly useful for a professional like myself.

Anyway on with the show - this is going to be a bit of a long one, so I'd grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger if you prefer).....

Monday – Pre-Flight Checking, Tom’s Never-ending Cellar
Monday was a pretty busy day as we readied the Turd for flight.

I started work on the poo-valve, to discover that the entire fitting that merges everything ready to be piped out into the ground is all cracked and messed up (my guess is that someone stuck it back together at some point to fix it rather than replacing it) so I have to buy a new one. Ripper.

So even though I didn’t get to mess around with the poo, the day just seemed to fly by. There was heaps of stuff to be sorted through, and we cut up all the plywood skirting that I’d made at the beginning of the season.

Ian (one of the ripping Riverside staff) lent us a rotary saw, which made pretty quick work out of the plywood. I love power tools. They’re load, and they make work easier. What more can a man ask for?

So as the afternoon drew to a close, we started up the fire pit and fired up the Weber. Tom popped over with some warm brie which he’d stuffed with garlic and some bottles from his seemingly endless cellar of his own wines (and ports mind you).

Above is one of the last pieces of snow left around the turd. You will see this piece featured later on.....

So as the light faded we had some brie, grilled some steak, and drank many bottles of wine, beer and port. We had visitors from all over the campground, including some good ole’ boys from Georgia who were taking their million dollar RV up to Alaska.

Our other neighbour Bob popped in (six-pack and McDonalds in hand) to round off the evening and finally as the wee hour of 1AM rolled around we stumbled into bed.

Oh, and I took pictures. Here's some of them now....

I agree this picture is boring - but it is only included to counterpoint previous pictures of how snowy everything was. By the time I write this, it's probably getting close to vanishing.

These poor souls are from Woodalls (the campground guide). Hope they didn't mind the smoke!

Our last sunset in Whistler!

I got a bit camera happy around the fire. There are many, many, many pictures of flames. I present only a few so as not to bore you to death. I like this one. It kind of looks evil.

I had the idea of lighting Tom and Kat with the flash, but still making a long enough exposure to do something nice with the fire. Pity I don't have an off-camera flash though!
I don't need to talk about these, they're just pictures of fire. Still I think they're kind of interesting.


...and the last one. I ceremoniously popped the last bit of snow on top of the bonfire.... rest in peace snow season 07/08!

Tuesday – Flight of the Turd
So a little worse for wear the morning of reckoning arrived.
We conducted our final pre-flight packing, including the stowing of the TV.

In the early afternoon we fired her up for a little shakedown run to the gas station to get some propane, inflate the air ride suspension and check the tire pressures.

There are two rear wheels on each side on the turd, and I had an issue filling the inner tire – I’m pretty sure it was because the inflator connection at the gas station was too short - but I think something like this could be the ticket!

I will try to purchase something like this ASAP before we’ve driven too far.

The Jeep was successfully docked to the Turd at approximately 14:00, and with a little sadness and a little apprehension we commenced our launch.

After a bit of a problem getting the hitch to lock into place, we were all sorted and on our way down the Sea to Sky highway – which is undergoing construction along its entire length for the 2010 Olympics – so in places the road is in fairly poor condition.

I’m pleased to report though, that the Turd made it to Vancouver easily – the oil and filter change on the weekend seems to have helped a bit – the giant 454 was purring along nicely.

Capilano RV Park was a little difficult to get to, even though we knew roughly where it was – Mr. GPS got a bit confused and I swore at him a few times before we made it to the entrance.

We were surprised at how much the nightly rate was (CAD40). Oh well, such is life I suppose.

We headed out to dinner with Jacquie at Red Pepper (the restaurant that you might remember I went to when in Vancouver waiting for China Mike) which wasn’t bad, although a little oilier than last time. Jacquie was just starting a 30+ hour drive to the Yukon. Better her than me I say!

Sadly, it was then time for bed. I’m sure it wasn’t even 22:00

Wednesday - Bikes, Aquarium, Stanley Park, Gastown
You may remember we actually purchased bikes in Florida.

I hadn’t ridden mine until now, so we decided to ride across the Lions Gate Bridge to Stanley Park and the Vancouver Acquarium.

Jacquie had told us it was a “short walk”. I’m not sure about that – I’m going to vote that from the campground to the aquarium would be more like an hour to an hour and a half.

For me who hadn’t ridden a bike since being in Melbourne, it was like climbing a freaking mountain. I had to pause a few times on the way over lest my heart actually explode out of my ribcage. The bridge seemed to go uphill forever.

An old lady with a walking frame could probably have powered past me. In fact, I'm sure one did.

Thankfully there was a long downhill stretch to Stanley Park. I believe it’s the biggest urban park in North America (if not the world). Alas, yesterday it was cold and tending to rain, so we weren’t super enthusiastic about wandering around it.

We arrived at the aquarium, and had a nice sit-down. Phew.


There was a cool First Nations sculpture out the front. I was only able to get a nice abstract detail shot of it. Shame, shame, shame.

The first thing we saw were giant man-eating seagulls. I’m not sure if they were REALLY man-eating, but they were big enough to take you out if there was a few of them and they were really keen on the food you had in your hand.

There were also some industrious blackbirds – one of them was smart enough o pick up the whole tray of leftover fries, and carry them to the roof where he could dine in peace.

All things being equal the aquarium was pretty cool. I especially liked the exhibit which had recreated local spots around Vancouver Island, showcasing the wildlife and conditions that exist at various places.

It made me want to dive again. I wish we had a bit more time here (and our equipment).

We started the long ride home. On this leg I felt much stronger, but Kat was a bit tired. It started to rain a bit, so we were pretty happy when we arrived back at the Turd.

That evening we headed down to Gastown to indulge in some Indian.

Gastown was strange. It reminded us a bit of Collingwood/Fitzroy. Lots of cool stuff, but jam-packed with crazies and hobos. Oh, and no parking either. Sound familiar?

Indian wasn’t too bad, but expensive - $100 for two people is a bit ridiculous, especially since we had one beer each. Won’t be doing that too often. At least we have leftovers for another meal.

Thursday – Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden
Despite not being yellow, Kat thought it would be nice to go to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden. A bit of tranquility never goes astray I suppose, so we trundled off down to Chinatown.

Not surprisingly Chinatown during the day is nicer than Chinatown at night. Still there are many hobos and drug dealers, but hey, as a man who lived in Richmond/Abbotsford/Collingwood for such a long time I should be used to that shit, right?

Anyhoo, Kat drank the magic Chinese Tea and thought she was a hamster!


Like a portal to another world...........


Kat and friend.....


The themes for the day were shooting through windows/doorways/arches and a bit of documentary style photography of the windows (which are all different).


I think this post is long enough as it is, so.... here's a link to the Chinese Garden Gallery!

*** PICS ARE NOW UPLOADED!!! WAAHAHHAHAHA CORONA!!! ***

Well I think that's enough for this post. Tomorrow I'll post the amazing adventures of the girl who didn't check to see whether her visa was still current before crossing the border into a new country. It's a nice children's tale.

G'night!