Two relatively short flights from Heraklion, Crete and Athens, Greece took us back to the UK where we had a brief and busy stopover before leaving Bristol for Canada. A connecting flight from Schipol in Amsterdam took us north over Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Bay where we then crossed the Hudson Bay and the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta before arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia. We had an overnight in a nearby airport hotel which gave us the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep! The only negative of longer haul flights is the jet lag - we have yet to find an effective way to combat the fatigue.
Next morning we took the British Columbia ferry service from Tsawwassen (silent "s"), to Duke Point on Vancouver Island and where we were met by our host before making the short trip to Qualicum Beach and our home for the next few months.
We spent the next few days getting to know the homeowners and "Angus", an 8-year old Golden Retriever who will be our charge
until April. The house is superb, backs on to a golf course and has a duck pond and decking from where we can enjoy the peaceful and very pleasant surroundings.
The weather since arriving has been a mixed bag of heavy showers and sunny periods so we have managed to explore the local towns (Parksville and Qualicum), and whilst taking Angus on his daily walks we have been familiarising ourselves with the neighbourhood.
Dan & Carol (our hosts), threw a party on saturday and we got to meet some family members and a few of the neighbours - it was great fun and everyone is very friendly and helpful.
We are sure we are going to have a great time here on Vancouver Island and we are looking forward to exploring further afield over the coming weeks and months.
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