Canada

We arrived at Ottawa in the afternoon (19th) and cousin Pamela and Robin picked us up from the airport and took us to their home in Perth. The location is wonderful adjoining one of the many lakes in the area. Apparently we brought summer with us and drinks on the landing was the place to be. Friends George, Julia and daughter Nikol also joined us and spent some time on the Seadoo. The tow tube was used the following day by Helen (a first) and Nikol. There are no photos of this as Gavin was driving the Seadoo – however the screams from the back when they became airborne could be heard by any who were near the lake. Helen also had sore muscles that took several days to subdue.Sons Neil and Raymond (together with Abe) had been working in the house and garden during the day. There also had been some frenetic activity during the previous few days to upgrade the bathroom to the guest bedroom for (in Raymond’s terms) the Royal visit. These were finished the previous day. All are justifiably looking smug at meeting the deadline imposed by Pam. Neil had also cooked a magnificent dinner.

As we were only a little tired we then moved into town to party at one of the local drinking establishments. Raymond is an excellent drummer. Unfortunately we had missed his session with a group but after some persuasion he did give us a solo (with occasional assistance from a couple of musicians). I could have listened for hours but as the pub was closing and Helen kept reminding us as it was now 3:30am her (UK) time and as we had been up at 5:00 to catch the ‘plane we went home to bed and passed out.

The following day was a bit of catch up and Duncan (Pam’s dad and now 94) came over for a couple of days. The dinner conversation was lively as he had just received (via an assistant who works in the retirement village) his first emailed letter. There was quite a debate about the merits (or otherwise) of the security of email versus normal post. I am not sure we convinced Duncan of the merits of email.

Young Nikol was also good fun and one of those natural linguists who was about to start French at school (to add to her English, Bulgarian and some Russian).

We had been lured to Canada on the promise of a few trips on a large boat (which was to have been acquired prior to our arrival). The purchase did not proceed so we had to suffer rides on a smaller boat. Space was at a premium…

We tripped through part of the Rideau Canal (1832) which is now a UNESCO heritage site. The reason for the waterway from Ottawa to Kingston (on Lake Ontario) was as an alternative route for Canadians to using the St Lawrence river. The St Lawrence is also the boundary with the USA and those warmongering Americans. Pam arranged for Duncan to join us at a couple of the locks who as an ex-Navy man was happy to give advice on locking maneuvers.

We overnighted at Opinicon Lodge near Chaffey’s lock. The accommodation built in early 19C was, to say the least, interesting and had not been updated for some while, if ever. We had a small two bedroom cabin (Spruce) with chairs outside so that we could participate in a pre-dinner drink essential given the restaurant was dry. The evening meal and breakfast were huge.

This was fortunate as we were also given a packed lunch. Unfortunately the bread on my sandwich was mouldy and together with numerous wasps resulted in lunch being abandoned.

We moved down to Jones Falls which is a historical site comprising 5 locks, a substantial stone wall dam, a blacksmith (who turned out to be a singer and known to Pam) and a young woman who was carding and spinning wool in the lockkeepers house. This turned out to be quite a long visit as the young woman volunteered an interest in pharmacy and I foolishly mentioned that Pam was a pharmacist. (Pam’s Perth Pharmasave is the oldest pharmacy in North America.) They embarked on a conversation about who new whom, schools, joint acquaintances, who had what illnesses, births, deaths, who was sleeping with whom etc etc. We managed to escape back to the boat after an hour or so.

It is rapidly becoming a tradition when we visit Pam to have a round of golf at Royal Ottawa (there are reciprocal rights with Royal Canberra). It is a beautiful course with tight greens and the course uses the natural layout of the land for its humps and bumps (ie it was constructed with minimal earthworks). The last occasions I played Ottawa I had good rounds however this time it was the course that won (although Robin and Neil went pretty well). As usual we caught up with the girls afterwards in the bar. The 18th green (behind us) is wide but short and a substantial pitch up and over a water course which all helps to add to the psychological challenge (that and knowing everyone is watching).
After the golf we went round to see Neil’s latest development project. It is a 16 bedroom building which houses single woman whose rental is met by the government. The accommodation is excellent and is nearly completed and has 100% occupancy. Coupled with a thriving DJ business Neil has some pretty high energy levels!

The reciprocity arrangements at Royal Ottawa meant that I picked up the bill and so Robin insisted on shouting dinner. This magnanimous gesture was supported by a carefully selected restaurant slightly out of town. Neil was unclear as to why the restaurant was so special but the reason became clear when Robin produced two discount coupons to ensure the meal was cheap – sorry represented good value. Mind you the food was good.

After the Rideau Canal Pam suggested that we take a couple of days and explore the thousand islands in the St Lawrence. One of the benefits of a small boat is that it can be moved on a trailer so we set off and put the boat in the water at Glen House resort near Gananoque. It was a beautiful evening and we were looking forward to a couple of hours exploring. Unfortunately once we had the boat in the water it would not start. Robin and I then spent a couple of hours cleaning terminals etc (all to no avail) while the girls took off to the bar. Apparently such troubles do not occur on larger boats.

The following day (after a damp start) we loaded the boat up and drove to Gananoque where we had a pleasant lunch and a brief stroll around the water front.

We then went to the theatre to see a locally written and produced play entitled the Molly Coddlers. The start of the second half was viewed from the rear of the theatre overlooking the water where a paddle steamer was boarded by pirates (no pictures of the boarding – copyright etc).

We returned to Perth, dropped off the boat and then went to George and Julia’s for a meal. George had cooked a great meal including pork steaks, peaches and cream corn on the cob (a must have from my perspective), peppers and beans.

Win (who has been wonderful in helping and looking after Duncan over many years) also joined us and we met her friend Ralph.

The pre-dinner activity which included some ten pin bowling using WII, a couple of bottles of wine, food and the stress of a small boat were all too much for Robin who did not quite see the evening out…

Helen and I had arranged to fly out from Montreal as we had not visited the city for over 20 years. We had planned to hire a car but Pam generously suggested that they would drive us up.
We arrived late afternoon (via Ottawa to deliver a wheelbarrow for Neil’s development) and started at the Jacques Cartier Place with Nelson at the top overlooking proceedings.

After a brief stroll through the town (which in parts has the desired French feel to it) we headed to the harbour.

After a brief stroll through the town (which in parts has the desired French feel to it) we headed to the harbour.

The girls took the alternative route through the gardens which adjoined the train line – difficult to see but a train engine is in the shot.

We also briefly called into the building below which looks like a museum but fortunately hosted toilets and less fortunately shops.

For our evening meal Robin was attracted to the “all you can eat mussels” and impressively went through 3 bowls. I have not heard how he pulled up. We then drove to the airport Travelodge (with the assistance of a local work crew who allowed us to follow them through a complex series of diversions). Pam and Robin then drove back to Perth. We had a wonderful time in Canada and look forward to returning once our hosts have forgotten how exhausting our stay was.

England

My best man (Steve) and his wife Jilly flew to UK from USA to catch up with us on Monday (22 August). They were due in UK later in the week for a wedding but brought their flight forward. We opted to eat out and went to the Fat Cat in Solihull. Lunch was quite a protracted affair and although we had started at 12:00 or so we were still there at 4:00. In order to be able to fit in some dinner we opted for a walk.Across the road is St Alphege church where Helen and I were married 36 years ago. Steve insisted on taking a photograph notwithstanding the flowers were for a funeral service that had been held earlier in the afternoon.These ‘photos were taken by Steve as I tend not to be in too many of my own! (See http://stevenjill.blogspot.com/ for more photos.) We caught up with Jo and Beckie in the evening and went to the Boot in Lappworth for a pub dinner. Jilly was also kind enough to arrange for me to stay at her Mum’s house in Reigate so that I did not have to leave so early the following morning when taking the Pathfinder back to Calais. I drove down to Reigate and arrived at 23:00.

It was lovely to catch up with Mum Berryl who appears to be as sprightly as when I first met her nearly 40 years ago. It was also a great time saver and enabled me to have a 6 rather than a 4am start the following day. In fact I just managed to catch an earlier ferry and this enabled the return journey to be made earlier so I had time to spend on London. No ‘photos of channel crossings 7 & 8 (the view had not changed much) and it was another calm sunny day. On Wednesday we said our goodbyes to Jo from Birmingham airport and set off for Canada. Jo is great company and her generosity in allowing us to use her house as a base tripping in and out as we wanted made life very easy.

The Hook of Holland

Where has 2.5 months gone? We finally had to make the trip back to England and close our 2009 European adventure. We sailed from the Hook of Holland to Harwich (more a North Sea than my 6th channel crossing).
The shipping at the port (which adjoins Rotterdam) was none stop and ranged from Rhine barges (front left) to the largest sea going container ships (see mid background right).Looking to the North of the estuary the beaches cater for the tourist industry.

After a 6 hour relaxing crossing we reached Harwich. We then towed the van to Solihull late Friday evening and parked it outside Jo’s house. We spent Saturday cleaning the van and on Sunday placed it into storage to await our return in 2010.

Amsterdam

We had read about the Hermitage museum in Australia and made this our first point of call. It is from the museum of the same name in St Petersburg. The amazing display of Russia’s history included gowns and uniforms of the 200 year period prior to Stalin.
Amsterdam is fascinating with interest around every corner. This was in the entry foyer of the car park building.

On our way back to the site we had noticed some riot police. We were crossing a canal when our way was barred by the police who leapt out of their vans in riot gear. We had nowhere to go. Next a van pulled up on our outside and more police jumped out this time with dogs straining at the leash really revved up and high on Adrenilin. Helen was clearly glad to be in the Nissan Pathfinder with the windows up. Next I looked in the rear view mirror and saw police on horseback at a quick trot coming towards us. Even the horses were up for it with mouths foaming and salivating. What had we done? Fortunately they all moved down the side of the canal and turned around some 100 hooligans who apppeared round the corner running and chanting. We realized that England were playing Holland in a soccer “friendly”. As the match had been underway for half an hour these hooligans could not have had tickets and were solely their for their idea of fun. (Photo courtesy of Helen publications.)

The following day we made a second trip into the city and took to the water. The maritime museum includes a copy of a three master used for training.

Nearby there is a floating Chinese restaurant which is a (smaller) copy of the famous one in Hong Kong. Jo and I had had a meal in the HK version in October 2008 during our Blediscoe cup trip (Helen was not with us due to a sinus headache).

The views from the canal trip constantly changed with a mixture of bridges, churches, residential, commercial and museums.

The architecture is varied but within clear planning constraints which ensures that whatever the age of the buildings they work together. (Shame about the b...y signs though!)

There are a range of gable ends from including “stepped” and “bell”. Each building has a hook at the top of the gable to enable furniture to be moved into the building via the windows as the stair cases are too narrow.

This is one of the famous views looking through a series of nine bridges which also align with cross canals.

Some of the facades are highly decorated.

We enjoyed Amsterdam notwithstanding that some parts were quite seedy. We did find ourselves wondering through the red light district where Helen noted drug exchanges, windows where lingerie was modeled live (not apparently selling clothing) and some areas which were catering to visitors who were purely interested in cheap food and drink with absolutely no interest in the history of the city. It was noteworthy that there were very few Dutch in these areas but many Brits. Now about these two likely lasses...

Many of the shops in this central location had pretty tacky goods for sale however there were some with some interesting goods. The ceiling to this shop was lined with clogs for sale.

Bikes were also everywhere. It was often challenging crossing a road that handled pedestrians, cyclists, trams and cars (all with their own designated pathways). This was the first multi story cycle park we had seen.

Amsterdam and Holland were definitely worth the visit and will be put on the list where further exploration is warranted.

The Zuider Zee

We reluctantly left Denmark and headed via Hamburg to Holland. An area I can recall from school boy geography was the Zuider Zee and we decided that we would include this in our trip down to Amsterdam. Increasing the land mass of Holland was the dream of Cornelis Lely (1854 - 1929). The first stage was a 17 kms levee that sealed off the North sea and with dredged material will enable Holland’s land mass to be increased substantially.
Locks at either end allow shipping to pass in and out. Holland’s response to global warming will be interesting. It currently has many wind powered generators.

Two thirds the way along the levy there is a viewing tower which helps to give some perspective as to how big an engineering accomplishment this was. There is a neat rig in the carpark.

Silkborg

Our site in Denmark was overlooking a lake near Silkeborg in Jutland. We were drawn to a trip on the Hjejlen an old paddle steamer.
She was beautifully decked out both above deck and below.

The rear cabin had plush carpets and seating which led to the toilet (or head for our nautical readers). It made queuing a pleasure.

Once in the toilet 2 steps up had to be negotiated to use the throne. This was curious until it was appreciated that the outlet had to be just under the waterline so as to enable waste to go straight into the lake. Environmental management is not a widely understood phrase.

There were four in the crew, two of whom worked below stoking the fire. There was not room for visitors in the boiler room but the action could be viewed through a window.

The two cylinder engine (one shown here) glistened with regular cleaning and oiling.

Hjejlen was built in 1861 and renovated in 1994.

The lake was bounded in places by houses with gardens that looked like they were part of a gardening competition. All included one or two boat moorings.

One stop (where we got off for a walk) was Himmelbjerget which was originally purported to be the highest point in Denmark at 147 metres. An earlier owner had wanted to charge visitors to climb to the top but the King decided this should be for the people and purchased the property. Shortly afterwards, following a more detailed survey of the country it was discovered that another piece of Denmark was higher by a couple of metres.

So we climbed to Denmark’s second highest "peak".

The view was great. This shot shows Hejejlen returning and also the campsite (left middle distance – our van is the one on the.…)