(maximize window for best viewing)
Author: Wolfgang
Travel-Journal August to November 2004
Travel-Journal
August to November 2004
Tomorrow is August 2nd - and it is a British Columbia holiday. BC Day is being celebrated across the Province with all the pomp and circumstance. Yesterday, - Saturday, July 31, 2004, - we went to Government House...
... to be once more part of the “British Columbia Day” Celebrations. From 11:00 am - 3:00 pm they offered house and garden tours with food & entertainment. The host of course was again ….
The Honorable Iona Campagnola
- Lieutenant Governor of BC and representative of Her Majesty The Queen of Canada. This place has naturally a special attraction for Dagmar since for nearly thirty years it represented an important part of her working environment. The strange thing is – although Dagmar retired in December 2002 – her former colleagues still feel as if she had never left the office. She still gets all sorts of invitations to be part of - to stay in contact with that close circle of individuals she worked with for so many years. ‘Government House’ is not only an official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, but also the Provincial Government’s center of hospitality. Accommodation is afforded to visitors that can include members of the Royal Family, international Royalty, Ambassadors, Members of the Judiciary and other honored guests of British Columbia. And as a Senior Protocol Officer of the Government, Dagmar had her share of duties and responsibilities in this regard. What a legacy …..
So we are home again and it’s nice to realize so many people in town care for us - primarily for Dagmar - and are glad to see us back. Nearly every day now we run into people who make us feel that way.
Anyway, - we shall be busy for a while – that’s for sure. Dagmar has already booked a flight for August 25th to visit her mother in Bremen, Germany.
She will be back September 16th. I have my hands full with several projects - including preparations for major renovations in Victoria as well as in Florida. We’ve decided to get rid of a lot of old stuff and spruce up our Suite …..even thinking of creating a roof-garden with our neighbors and good friends Bill and Karen - the two people directly responsible in managing our Buildings. We are also thinking of installing a La Porte (Garage) next door at the ‘Dagmar Apartments’ for our coach to be parked when we’re at home. This would be a very safe place since over time we have invested in an elaborate security system covering the entire area of both buildings. Then there are preliminary steps we have to take to get all permits necessary to build on our property in Florida. It should all be fun .....but is at the same time vexing.
BTW, since we came back in mid-June, the weather here in BC has been outstanding. When we moved into our Suite in mid-July, Dagmar immediately noticed that our local seagulls were having babies again. For many years we have been watching those two birds bring up their young across the street from us on top of the “Lécole Brodeur” French-Immersion School.
Since we came back very late this year, the chicks were already quite big. The couple had again three offspring, - like in most years.
We also found out that a date was set to demolish the school to replace it with a new building by 2006. Dagmar concluded that if they would start demolishing the school right now, - the chicks would be in peril. And since her former colleague Marc-André is the chairman of this school-board and Dagmar happened to have an invitation to attend his 50th birthday party at his office, she mentioned this fact to him and he assured her, that this concern would be taken care of. We were both relieved…since over the years we have grown very fond of those two old Love-Birds. It is always very exciting to watch this duo up close from our balcony performing their elaborate rituals in courtship, the nest-building, brooding and eventual raising of their young. (We’ve had a similar experience at our house in Sooke where we went as far as to make it part of the sale of the house for the purchaser to look after our two resident seagulls (named Albert and Gertrude) which befriended us (as well - get this - our cats) for nearly 20 years. Talk about long-levity of seagulls if they get human handouts, lol.)
But something totally unexpected happened in the last week. For years we have known about a bald eagle residing in Beacon Hill Park who makes the local press annually through his exploits of terrorizing an established rookery of blue-herons. And he does sometimes make his rounds over the city to look for prey like pets – so they say. But this time he must have figured out that there is another way to feed his young – namely looking for seagull offspring to be found on the many flat roofs of larger buildings in town. And so to our horror we noticed one morning that there were only two chicks left on the roof across from our street. We were convinced that this bald eagle had taken one chick. Sure enough, two days later we noticed that there was only one chick left. And as it happened, the following day we witnessed the eagle taking the last terrified chick in his claws and carry it away right over our balcony. Dagmar screamed at him but he just gave her a look as an eagle would when he’s determined. Besides, her anguished shouts were shushed by a huge flock of seagulls screaming and diving at the marauder.
Boy…can eagles have a mean look from up close…...he sailed only a few feet above us.
I say it’s a good thing that school is being demolished now and a new one being built, otherwise this spectacle may have repeats in the future.
On August 8th the Air Museum - located at the Victoria International Airport - had an Open House. As an old pilot like myself, this is an event which of course I cannot miss. Having flown Antiques myself - like the Ju-52 (Junkers 52/3m) as a rookie-pilot in the late Fifties working for a French consortium in the Sahara Oilfields of Morocco and Algeria, - I truly have an appreciation for old flying machines – besides some good memories. And since the Museum is located right next to the Victoria Flying Club (another place of good memories) one can be certain to run into old club buddies at such an event. And so in fact it was on this beautiful afternoon at the airport….creating more memories. Here are some pictures from this outing:
This MIG Trainer (above No30) is owned by a former club member who is looking for co-pilots willing to pay for the fuel to take his ex-war-bird up for a spin. Expensive proposition in this case. And since this dated Soviet bird is rickety as heck - and he loves stunts - he has scant takers. But I may be tempted one day …..even though I have not been flying for quite a while ….ever since Dagmar quit coming along. For those who don’t know, this was as a result of an incident where we both took a friend aloft with his wife and two young daughters. It happened over Sooke in a Cessna 172 when Gaby (my co-pilot) wanted to experience one more negative “G” maneuver while his kids were crying in the back and Dagmar (sitting behind me) told me to stop it. I paid the price for having disobeyed her….she quit coming aloft from then on, lol. But I’m going back to recreational flying one day ….since I still have that desire……
The following week (August 14th) we took Bill – our Building Manager - for a ride in the bus. We drove to Jordan River on the south-west coast of the island. It was a nice trip and we had a splendid time right where the mouth of the River meets the ocean. We ended up walking over to the local Burger Joint to have their famous Shaky Burger. Unfortunately the trip ended up on a sour note since I scraped a pick-up truck trying to make a tight left turn onto the parking lot of the French school just across our buildings. Too bad…..but that was not all ….as you’ll find out later.
Here are some pictures from that picnic on the beach with Bill:
A few days later we took another trip with our Property Manager Jason (in the meantime President of "Cornerstone Properties Ltd" http://www.cornerstoneproperties.bc.ca/by_area.php?action=details&listingid=11), his lovely wife Kim and their baby-girl Keaton. This time we went up-island. This was again a very enjoyable trip where we traveled windy country lanes up along the coast ….until Kim became seasick. Soon after - I guess more out of sympathy - Dagmar became sick too. So back to the Trans Canada Highway I went. On the way back I let Jason drive the coach from Duncan to Cobble Hill which he managed splendidly and with much enthusiasm, - as one can see in the pix below. We ended this sunny afternoon with a picnic right on the edge of the ocean outside of Cobble Hill. It was another memorable outing for all of us. Here are some pictures:
On the following weekend we made our first overnight trip up-island to Parksville. They had the annual "Sand Castle" contest on their beautiful white sand beach to which we have been going for many years in a row. But things don't stay the same. Now everything is commercial.... They are now all "Professionals" with sponsors behind them and their display area is fenced in because they now charge admission. In the old days it was done right on the beach at low tide, - then judged - and the high tide would take care of the rest. Now it's ....well...look at it.
But we had a great time nevertheless...the weather was just fantastic and the beach parties super. We also found time to relax and reflect as pictured here….
September was now around the corner and Dagmar left me for two weeks as a straw-widower. She had booked a flight to Bremen leaving August 25th to return September 16th. She flew her favorite (cheapest) route from Vancouver to Amsterdam. (She will write about that trip under a different link) Since I wanted to loose a few more pounds - as least the ones which had creped up on me lately – I found that this was impossible the moment I opened our fridge. She in fact had stocked that fridge with perishables right to the hilt so that - I suppose - would not miss her too much. Boy ….I ate Hungarian Goulash for the entire first week, lol.
Time just flew by with me engaged on the computer most of the time …..and not loosing a pound. [Should have gone to Bali again] When Dagmar came back, there was an Open House on September 25th at the Dockyard Naval Base in Esquimalt, - the Municipality we live in and where I worked for 20 years. Since my retirement in 1992, the Base had changed a lot. All old wooden buildings from WWII were replaced by modern concrete structures, Jetties were enlarged and equipped with huge cranes and the ships were all new ones. I could not find an old or familiar one in the lot. I believe they are now all resting on the ocean floor somewhere as reefs. But across the harbor at the Colwood Jetties, I could see in the distance one of the old frigates tied up but without any gun turrets or other gear . Another artificial reef and future attraction site for ocean divers somewhere along our coast…
CFB Esquimalt is the headquarters of the Canadian Navy on the West coast. The naval base is located near Victoria on Vancouver Island. Part of its responsibility includes Canadian Forces Maritime and Experimental Test Ranges (CFMETR) at Nanoose Bay.
Esquimalt Harbour Destroyer “Algonquin” “Birds-eye view of Dockyard”
CFB Esquimalt is also regularly visited by warships from the U.S. Navy, including submarines. All of the U.S. Navy's submarines are nuclear-powered and potentially nuclear-armed. The Province of British Columbia has declared itself a nuclear weapons-free zone. But because ports and military facilities are under the Federal Government’s jurisdiction, warships carrying nuclear weapons are permitted at CFB Esquimalt and CFMETR. That’s why we have the opportunity for world class Nimitz air craft carriers like the “Abraham Lincoln” or “John C. Stennis” to visit our coastline. The air craft carriers have become a tourist attraction when they visit town, unloading over 5000 US navy personnel into our fair city. If you want to visit one of those behemoth you have to get up early to avoid long line-ups since they allow only a certain number of people on board.
Here are some pictures we took during this interesting outing:
The Dry-dock is the only thing unchanged Arial View of “MARPAC”
In front of the Naden gates, the Army Vets were showing off their WWII equipment which I remembered seeing as a child in Germany as the Allies moved in. Quite a flash-back….
This old chap explains to me the workings of his 1944 Harley Davidson he was riding as a courier during the invasion in Europe. Some stories he could tell….
October had arrived and we were still not ready to start with the Suite renovations. So we decided that it would be too late to start now and postponed this task to be performed on our return next spring. At least we did put the furniture we wanted to keep into the office next door which Bill does not use since he works from the office at the “Court”. Now, each of the four floors in “Dagmar Court” (where we live) has two cubicles of which Dagmar uses five to store her ‘stuff’. This is in addition to the cubicle she and all tenants have in the storage room. All this ‘stuff’ is now parked in boxes inside our Suite because the cubicles are going to be renovated while we’re gone. Our Suite looks like a war-zone now:
Mostly rubbish to my mind…but not to Dagmar’s, lol. I acquiesce only since it is supposed to end up in her future ‘private museum’ (or will it be - ‘mausoleum’?)
One thing is for sure, the Suite will not look like this again….
When we came back with our new coach past July, we parked as usual @ Fort Victoria. But this campground is so full now, that they only had the storage area available for parking. But this area has no electricity which I need to keep things proper. So they charged me the full price for the site which came to approx. $500.00 per month. I decided to purchase a La Port (Garage) to be put up in one corner of our parking lot next door (“Dagmar Apartments”). Bill and his friend Claude told me that they would erect it for me once it arrives. This is what happened in October. Here are pictures during the process of erecting this huge structure:
ONE PORTABLE STRUCTURE;
22ft wide x 12ft sidewall x 17.5ft high x 48ft long
That’s how it all started. Here is Bill, his darling wife Karen and Dagmar conversing…
…and up it goes….
…with expert advise from Bill’s son Chris, who especially came over from Vancouver to help his dad.
Here one can see it from different angles. Now the hard part begins….the heavy canvas has to…
…be placed on top. Here is Trevor the fearless acrobat (top and below); Bill doing the heavy work;
Claude in his element as a real pro; ………and finally me having to hold on to something just watching those guys.
Tenants were not just busy looking, but took on chores under the direction of Master Bill.
We’re getting to the end of the long weekend spent building the structure.
Final touches were performed during the following week when I brought in the coach.
Here are some pictures as seen from Head Street.
Fits right in
I have to mention one more thing. The day we brought the coach over we had invited Bill, Karen, Claude and Bill’s Assistants Amey and Trevor to a picnic in our coach. After lunch we took off - without Amy and Trevor who were unable to attend - and headed once again to our favorite spot on Jordan River. We did a repeat of what we did with Bill only a short while ago and had a marvelous time as one can see from the two pictures.
We ended up with ‘Shaky Burgers’ again and once dusk settled in, headed home. When we arrived in Esquimalt, I planned to park the bus for the first time inside the new Garage. Another tight squeeze because of parked cars and I had my second mishap. I scraped the bottom of my coach and damaged a few things. Too bad…because it spoiled again what had otherwise been a fantastic excursion.
In the following weeks I had my insurance take care of the damage but the lesson is learned….this is a BIG BUS and with the allowable maximum limits of 45feet length and 8.5feet width it takes some getting used to. But I’m sure I’ve learned my lesson well and will be especially careful if I encounter tight spots. In over fifty years of driving those two incidents were the first and only mishaps I’ve brought about driving motor-vehicles. Hopefully they will be the last ones too……
November was spent with repairing the coach at “Gray Line” and getting ready for our six months winter hibernation down South. We finished the last doctor and dentist appointments including our annual medical check-ups, making sure we got enough medication to last the entire trip and other such mundane - but important tasks. The weather was also getting… well, miserable and we were looking forward to leave as early as possible. But time kept running away (isn’t it strange how time seems to fly in retirement?). In the end I had to change our travel plans. Initially we wanted to travel due East to get to Chicago in order for the “Liberty Coach” HQ to perform some outstanding warranty issues. On the way East we planned to visit our friends Bill & Sharon in Rimby, Alberta and Horst & Erika in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. But as our departure date was delayed further and further and the first blizzard visited Chicago, we decided to reverse our itinerary and travel instead in the opposite direction. Can you blame us judging those pictures? …..
So we will let the good people who sold us the coach in sunny Stuart, Florida look after our problems first and then next spring - driving back home along the Eastern Seaboard - make the initially planed visits.
The summer of 2004 just flew by and we’re looking forward to the next chapter in our travels. Six months at home is ….well - six months. Six months travel is ….well – it seems in retrospect like years. That’s why we want to do this as long as we can and are trying to stay healthy and keep in shape. We have been doing just that since we got back home in July. We managed to go three times each week to the Naden (Military) Gym and Pool complex for workouts. We truly had fun doing it and enjoyed each workout which consisted of 45 minutes non-stop laps and 45 minutes of aqua exercise in a class setting. This we followed occasionally by a workout at the gym when I had some energy left. Not too often though, lol…… But right now we are feeling in great shape and are determined to keep up the pace until I get down to my size 38 again. I went at the beginning of the year from a clothing size 50 to a size 42 ….which I am still today. Now comes off the remainder with a new round of Atkins and concentrated gym work. Oh yes, - we bought a nice portable gym (Ultimate Trainer), taking our bikes along and are going to join our TTN friends in their regular morning power walks around the “Thousand Trails” camps. Departure date is set for December 10th 2004 and we can’t wait to get the show on the road……
More later…..
Return to Index: Travel-Journal 2004
