Homeward bound

Yesterday we enjoyed a day trip to Lasqueti Island to visit friends. The only way to reach the island is by boat, plane or passenger ferry; we took the hour long ferry across the Strait of Georgia. Residents on board the ferry had all kinds of totes on dollies, as well as bags, boxes and pets. All of the cars that are on Lasqueti were barged over; we saw the barge tied up to the pier. While now there's a concrete boat launch, it used to be that the barge would nose up to a beach at high tide, and you'd gun the engine of your car and drive it up the beach quickly so as not to get stuck. Not so much drama these days. We had a delightful day and in the afternoon enjoyed the sunshine at the beach.

Today we packed up our campsite and loaded the car just before it started to rain; luckily it was a short-lived shower. We caught the 12 noon ferry and were home by 3:00, greeted by the cats who recognized the sound of the car.

Ferry photo by Patcard (Flickr Creative Commons)

A kayaker and dog off Qualicum Beach

The Kinsol Trestle

From Duncan we drove down winding country roads, past farms and hay fields, until the pavement ended. The gravel road got narrower, rougher and twisty; finally we reached the parking area for the Cowichan Valley Trail - the section with the Kinsol Trestle. This historic railway trestle was apparently about to fall down, but with community donations and matching grants, it was rebuilt and re-opened two years ago. It's one of the highest wooden trestles in the world, at 145 feet above the river. The trail is for walkers, cyclists and horseback riders only, and we met lots of walkers plus two people on horses.

 

 

 

Cowichan Bay

The tiny village of Cowichan Bay hugs the edge of the water; some of the houses and stores are on stilts over the water.

 

 

 

Late afternoon sun on the boats in the bay.

 

Face to face with a cougar

We drove to the town of Sooke, west of Victoria, and stopped at the visitor's centre. They had a great little museum there too, which we enjoyed. Around one corner we came face to face with this cougar!
Later we rode our bikes on a different section of the Galloping Goose trail, up to the Sooke potholes - natural pools at the base of waterfalls. Too bad it was too cool for swimming...

You know you're in a temperate rain forest when you find a big banana slug on the side of your tent!

Victoria, capital city of British Columbia

Victoria, on the southern end of Vancouver Island, is the capital city of our province. It enjoys a mild climate and so has some beautiful gardens. We enjoyed our stay, visiting with family, and touring the Royal BC Museum.

Boats moored in the Inner Harbour, with the Parliament Buildings in the background

 

The Empress Hotel in the late afternoon sun; it faces the Inner Harbour in Victoria

Metchosin and the Galloping Goose Trail

Metchosin, west of Victoria, always makes us think of the very funny Tom Henry, and his CBC radio program (and later a book I think) Dogless in Metchosin. It's a very beautiful and rural area between Victoria and Sooke, at the very southern end of Vancouver Island.
First was a visit to the Metchosin Art Gallery, to see their show Threads 2013. The fibre artists exhibiting were members of the local branch of the Surface Design Association; we saw some amazing art quilts and weavings.
Then it was time to get on our bikes and find the Galloping Goose Trail, which used to be a rail line. We rode past small farms, huge rock cliffs, mossy trees, arbutus trees and lakes. We could see fog to the south where the beach was but we were in sun up on the trail.

 

 



Driving down island

We left the hot 30 degree heat wave in the Cumberland Courtenay Comox area and drove down island to the cooler south end of Vancouver Island. On the way we stopped in Duncan to see an Art Quilt show, as we'd met one of the artists on Cortes Island, and wanted to see her quilt. Each quilt had to be 12" by 12" and there was an amazing variety of colours, styles, and techniques.

Then we drove the Malahat highway on our way to our chosen park, missed the turnoff as the signage wasn't great, had to turn around, and then was in the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic leaving Victoria! Luckily we didn't have far to go, and made it to Goldstream Provincial Park; we've never been there before. We didn't have a reservation, wondered if we'd ever find a spot to pitch our tent, when a fellow pulled out, and we were able to claim the site. With towering old growth forest all around it's quite dark, and when we leave it's always a surprise to see how bright it is out, after being in the heavily forested campground.

First a Post Office now the Wandering Moose Cafe

The imposing old Cumberland Post Office was built in 1907; now it's found a new purpose as a happening place: the Wandering Moose Cafe, with high ceilings and beautiful old wood floors.

Bikes and bears

We explored some of the easy trails close to town and then came upon this sign:

Cumberland

Cumberland was a coal mining town in the 1800's, and now is a quiet village with a main street that's about six blocks long. Tourism is big here now as they have well developed mountain biking trails and a lake. We've enjoyed really warm sunny weather and relative quietness; next weekend is Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race where they first kayak on the lake, then mountain bike on the trails above town, and finish with a run down the Main street. The race is sold out and 450 racers plus friends, helpers and spectators will decend on the village of Cumberland next week.

The view of the lake from our campsite; quiet until gunshots from the rifle range across the lake started up!

Always hard to leave Cortes Island...

We had dinner on the deck of our favourite restaurant, surrounded by flowers.

The view from the Floathouse Restaurant in Gorge Harbour

 

We were the last car on the ferry; they had to pull away from the dock a few feet to get the ramp up without hitting our bikes!

Old Schoolhouse gallery on Cortes

Fish sculpture outside the building

This old school, with wood floors and big windows, is now an art gallery

We enjoyed a show by three Cortes artists; the theme was seaweed


 

Backcountry bike race

Yesterday we both went in the Bike Race on Cortes; I did the 5 km one and Brad rode the long one, up steep rocky roads, through mossy glades, mud, skinny single track with rocks and roots and over narrow bridges in the forest. The winner did it in 59 minutes on a single speed custom built bike.




The start of the 5 km race for "kids and mellow adults!"

Brad in the blue shirt at the start of the 18 km race

Sunset from Smelt Bay Cortes Island

The only trouble with sunsets is that it's hard to stop taking photos; thank heavens for digital cameras!
The herons had priority on the rock; if a seagull was on it and saw a heron coming in to land it quickly took off.

We were way at the end of the sandy beach; Quadra Island is on the horizon, with Vancouver Island beyond. Two herons flew back and forth; we also saw kingfishers and diving ducks.

Beautiful Cortes Island BC

We've been enjoying cycling, beach walks and camping on Cortes Island; we haven't been here for a few years - from home it's almost a full day and three ferries...

Looking across to the Whaletown pier from the ferry as we arrive

Flowers in the Hollyhock garden

Campbell River

We started our Vancouver Island trip in Campbell River and were delighted to see a path all along the water. We cycled to a park with all kinds of big chainsaw sculptures.

The RCMP Musical Ride

Recently, we were fortunate to see the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Musical Ride. After some warm-up acts: Japanese drumming and a police dog show, the 32 horses and riders entered the outdoor grass ring. About half the riders were women. They ride with such precision; some of the drills are quite breathtaking. 

 

Three Bars Ranch

Dennis took me up and down mountains, across creeks, across fields and through forests. He's a big Bay, my horse for the week at Three Bars Ranch, where I spent a week at the end of July. And what a week it was: I rode a lot, went river rafting, tried target shooting and archery, watched a reining demonstration, a fire hose relay race and a crazy Wranglers against the Rest of the World soccer game.
The ranch is between Cranbrook and Kimberly in South Eastern BC. They have a creek on one side, a river on the other, and beautiful mountains all around. While they raise cattle, they also train reining horses, as well as run the guest ranch. It was a great week, full of fun, friendly people, good horses and trails.

 

 

Flying home today

by caribb CC

Today we fly Madrid - Frankfurt - Calgary - Vancouver. Now that the weather has warmed up somewhat, we expect it all to go smoothly.

We were surprised to see on the news a few days ago that the Frankfurt airport had pretty much been shut down, due to the unexpected snowfall over Western Europe.  We're hoping that everything is back to normal by now.

We enjoyed our time in Spain, and would like to come back when it's warmer! Thanks for following along loyal readers; until next time!

Cordoba to Madrid

Today we took the AVE train from Cordoba to Madrid. AVE, which stands for Alta Velocidad Espanola, is the high speed train that can go up to 310 km per hour. It got us back to Madrid in less than two hours.
The Renfe, or Spanish train system, is known for a difficult website, though the web fares offer a significant discount. We found it not too bad, with some research and preparation. Your best bet is to read this extremely helpful article: A Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in Spain, which has a section on How to Use Renfe.com

AVE train, by rofi

It has invaluable information, and walks you through step by step, from setting up an account, why you want to have one, to searching for the train you want, and actually purchasing tickets; it was written byThe Man in Seat 61.



Street art in Madrid



Adventures in eating

First of all, mealtimes are different here. Breakfast is early, but lunch is anywhere between 1:30 and 4:00; this is the main meal of the day... after that there are always tapas.
At lunchtime there's often a Menu del dia, or menu of the day, or special. This includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Our favourite was in Granada, where for the appetizer Brad had paella and I had salad, and for the entree we both had tuna, which turned out to be enormous tuna steaks, and for dessert there was flan.
Also in Granada was a rather surprising meal: Brad had seafood soup, which included everything in its shell: clams and prawns; I ordered sole, and was surprised to have a plate put in front of me with two fish, bones included!
As soon as you order a drink, a small tapa usually follows: often olives, or a small vegetable dish. Also served is bread and breadsticks; there's always olive oil and vinegar on the table: for your salad, and also you put olive oil on your bread.
The draft beer is like light beer at home, and here in Southern Spain (not the case in the north we hear), you can order a small beer, called a cana. The red wine is very good, as is the sangria.
We've had some delicious tapas: deep fried eggplant with honey, mushrooms with garlic, artichokes with onions, prawns and potato...

Of course dessert is another whole category. The hot chocolate and churros in Madrid were delicious.
The confiterias (pastry shops) are outrageous with their extensive selection, and have to be tried.
There are small fruit stands and shops everywhere you go, and some have signs that say "don't touch the fruit!" You just say what it is you want, and the shopkeeper selects it for you.

Hot chocolate and churro, by Moyan Brenn CC



Proper names for dressage moves

Thursday, when we went to the Dressage Exhibition, we saw some incredible dressage moves, but didn't know the names of them, as they're not something you see every day. Probably only classically trained expert dressage riders would perform them.  Yesterday, when we visited the museum at the dressage school, there was a handy display that named all of the moves, and also gave an explanation.
Here's what we saw, with links to short Youtube videos:

Courbette: the horse jumps on his hind legs; there was no rider on the horses doing this - just a rider guiding them from the ground.

Pesade: the horse rears at a 45 degree angle.

Piaffe: the horse trots in place; there's not supposed to be any forward or backward movement.

Capriole: probably the most dramatic move; the horse jumps up and then kicks out his hind legs behind him.

Levade: the horse rears up, but then sort of sinks down, so that they're at a 30 degree angle.

Spanish Walk: a slow, high stepping walk where the legs are thrust out in front.

Passage: a vigorous trot, high stepping where the legs seem suspended in the air.

More Jerez dressage school

Yesterday we went back to the Dressage school for a tour and to watch horses and riders training. There are a few different things you can study here: saddlery, riding, driving, to be a vet assistant, or a groom.
The most popular program is riding, and students can study for either two or four years; then they usually go home and become dressage instructors. To apply, you have to be between 16 and 24 years old, speak and write Spanish, and be a fairly high level dressage rider. As well as a written exam, applicants have to do a practical test, on one of the School's horses that they've never ridden before; they only get 10 minutes in the warm-up ring on the horse before the dressage test.
While on average 60 people apply every year, only 6 are accepted. Students pay only 1000 Euros per year, since the school provides scholarships, in order to encourage the best students to apply.

Our guide in the tack room

In contrast, private students pay 2000 Euros per week! We saw two of those in the ring; they're easy to identify as they wear whatever colour they want, whereas Dressage students wear green, and instructors wear dark blue. Fourth year students may be invited to ride in the exhibitions, like the one we saw yesterday; only two or three students were in it yesterday we were told, all the rest were instructors. There are 15 riding teachers and 2 driving instructors. Some of the instructors have been to the Olympics and also competed in the World Equestrian Games, which was held in Jerez in 2002.

There are 120 horses on site; all are stallions if they're pure Spanish horses, or geldings if they're a mixed breed horse. Most come from their own stud farm, but some come from the Military, as they're one of the sponsors of the school. The horses' training starts at age 3, and by the time they're 7 they may be participating in the Exhibitions. When they're 20 they're retired to the stud farm (the best), or sold.



A student lunging a horse in the outdoor arena with the indoor behind

After the tack room and stables, we walked over the Carriage Museum; one big carriage was used a few years ago for the King's daughter's wedding in Seville, the carriage was pulled by 6 bay horses. We then went to the arena to watch some training, and also walked through the saddlery. Each horse has his own made-to-fit saddle and bridle.

It was a very enjoyable tour; Brad did an informal survey of our tour group: most of the women were riders, the men were not. One fellow said "I just cut hay..."








Jerez dressage

Dressage training by Alcalaina CC



This morning we walked to the Dressage School; it's so well known here, and so many people come to see their performances, all you need to say is "the school," and people know what you mean. Started in 1973, La Real Escuela Andaluza Del Arte Ecuestre (the Royal Andalucian School of Equestrian Art) trains riders in riding and driving. We saw individual riders (one woman and the rest men), four riders and then eight at a time, doing drill team moves. Two carriages, one with three horses and one with four performed, one doing such tight circles you held your breath.
No photos were allowed once the show started, so we only have the one below of a rider in the warmup ring at the end; people were starting to arrive.

The ring at the Dressage School

After that we walked around the corner to the Sandeman sherry cellar for a tour, tasting, and tapas. After learning that they use only American oak barrels, and much detail about the process, we got to the tasting room where we sipped three types of sherry: Palomino fino, much like a dry white wine, a medium sherry, very smooth, and a dark one which was really sweet. Two flamenco dancers performed on a small stage with a guitarist, which was a unexpected treat.

Our guide at Sandeman Cellar

Plaza de Espana and the University of Seville

We took the tram down to the Plaza de Espana, built as the Spanish pavilion for the World's Fair here in 1929. It's a giant semi-circle, with a moat, a fountain, and a huge plaza. Beautiful tiles represent each province of Spain, from A to Z.

Later we walked to the nearby University of Seville, which is housed in the old Royal Tobacco Factory. We each had a lemon Fanta in the student cafe, full of students with laptops; the cafe is a modern corner (modern tables, chairs and large glass doors) in an old building, but with marble floors. 



Brad on the Plaza de Espana

Our search for a laundromat led us past this great cafe where we enjoyed a snack and conversation

Inside the cafe were the usual hams hanging by a foot...