One Final Entry

Our final full day outside of St. John's was a bit of a re-cap, and a gift to ourselves. The day dawned cold and cloudy, with serious threat of rain. So we decided to run into St. John's briefly, and leave the bike at Canary Cycle to be boxed for the trip home. A miserable trip, weather misty and grey. But, with that done, and an obligatory visit once more to Rocket, we were off for our reward. We went back to Dildo, to the "Inn by the Bay", with Coleen and Karen, and Tammy to welcome us. It was indeed a pleasure to be back, and we had wonderful rooms in the place, and wonderful weather by which to enjoy it.

















The afternoon was spent just walking to the post office, sitting on the deck, talking and lounging. After another meal at the "Dildo Dory", where fish&chips, and chowder was on the menu, we returned to our rooms and settled in to our beds for a last sleep in the relative peace and quiet of Dildo. We knew it would be hard to leave.

But leave we did. The next day was clear and cool. We were off by about eleven, drove to St. John's, and settled into our room (they had it ready for us), returned Jenny the van and negotiated with the rental place to get another vehicle. We had booked a Chevy Impala because of it's space for luggage, but they offered us a Ford Explorer with even more room. We took it, unsure of how we would negotiate this mammoth vehicle through the streets of the city. But it simplified some things: we could put both bikes into it for the trip to the airport, and thus do it in one trip.

How to spend the final evening. Barry and I were hungry, Darlene not so much. So Barry and I went out to "Oliver's" for a fine meal, and Darlene joined us for part of it. Then back to the hotel and a sleep in a hotel room. We missed Dildo already.

The next day went easily. Getting everything into the massive vehicle was not difficult; negotiating it out of the parking place and onto the road was tough, but we got it done eventually. And then we were off, stopping only to put lots of gas into this thing.

And so we finished off, flying our way to Halifax, and then to Hamilton, where Nancy was waiting for Barry, and our arranged taxi drive was not waiting for us. We got another taxi, and we were home. A very nice trip, in a wonderful place: we will go back, sometime!

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Location:Sydenham St,Dundas,Canada

Conception Bay to Old Perlican

We came here yesterday, choosing to drive across from Dildo on Trinity Bay to Conception Bay, getting to this bay at about harbour Grace.

(In this province, or at least this part of this province, what bay you come from matters a lot. Since life was mostly about fishing in the old days, and transport was by water, your neighbours were the people on the same bay as you. Getting across land to the next bay was not easy.)

Going by car was relatively easy, and involved crossing some more of the barrens. It was pretty flat, once we were up from Dildo. And until we got to the start of Harbour Grace. Conception Bay, I guess because it's closer to St. John's, is more "modern". The houses are more fixed up, the roads are bigger (even four lanes in places), and there are malls. When we got to Carbonear, there was a Walmart, a big shopping centre, lots of traffic. A big place compared to what we had seen over the past ten days.

We are staying at the Carbonear Hotel. This is also a place out of the 1970's. Not quite plastic on everything, but thin cotton sheets on sagging beds, small and noisy fridges. Apparently, we were lucky to have a place. Most of the time, it is full of folks who work for the Hydro Utility and are building capacity for the Muskrat Falls development. But they are away this week, so the rooms are available. The view is over the harbour and quite beautiful. The boardwalk goes from the centre of town, past our place, and out to the barrens.

And again, the people are generous and friendly. Darlene asked the resident of one of the other rooms where we could go for a coffee. This man—a man in his seventies who had the appearance of having seen a lot of poverty in his life—suggested he would bring down some fixings for us. And sure enough, a few minutes later, he appeared with some instant coffee, sugar, and Carnation milk (this is Newfoundland, after all). Very thoughtful, and a wonderful gesture.











We decided that yesterday would not be a bike day. We walked into town (about a kilometre), and had a pint at the Stone Jug, a pub in town (probably the only pub in town). Food was good, beer was good, ambiance was okay, music too loud. But, as usual, the people were great. My waitress saw I was reading a book by Austin Clarke, and asked if I knew some of the authors she knew in this area. We had a good quick conversation.

Walks and rests made up the rest of the day, and we finished with a beer down by the water.












We hoped to go biking the next day, and that's what we did. We had planned out a route which took us mostly up the coast, with of course lots of ups and downs. But wonderful scenery. The weather was a bit iffy, lots of wind, cloudy, and eventually rainy. So, after only 45 km, we capitulated to the rain and wind, and put the bikes in the van, drove up to Old Perlican at the tip of the peninsula, and then came back to Carbonear.









































This place reminds me of some of what I had seen in Cape Breton, but bigger and more of it. There are enough quaint villages to fill a large catalogue. There are fancy houses, old houses, abandoned houses, poor houses. Lots of cemeteries, many churches.

We stopped for a bit at a bakery along the road.














I asked the daughter of Nora (who was kneading dough in a dishpan to make her nine loaves), how she liked it here. She had had to go to Edmonton for work, but found it mind-numbing. She was glad to be back where (as she says) she can hear the whales and the stream from her front door. Don't know what there is for work for her, but she is clearly attached to this place—at an age of, I guess, 20 years old.

We had planned tonight to be going to a music festival. We checked on it, and when we went, it was raining a bit, there was a group performing, and all of three people in the audience. We felt sorry for the folks organizing and those performing, but we didn't want to be there, either. So we had a mall cafe dinner of fish and chips (good cod there as well), and came back to the hotel.

Tomorrow: we'll see, but it's looking like rain, so biking is unlikely. More likely, we'll drive into St. John's and drop my bike for the start of its trip home.

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Location:High Rd S, Carbonear, Newfoundland, Canada

Many pieces of luck

The last two days have been remarkable in so many ways. We were stopped at a place called "The Wilds", in the south of the Avalon. When we got up in the morning, it was raining. But that was fine: we had planned to drive a ways anyway. So we packed, got in the van, and headed north by a somewhat circuitous route (going west to catch Hwy 80 before going north to Dildo.

What we had not realized was that some of this road was gravel, and quite pitted. And the rain came hard, and long. By the time we got as far north as the TCH, I (the driver) felt we had to stop and let the rain slow down before we went on. But slow it did.

We had thought we would go up as far as Hearts Content, before stopping. But we decided to go through Dildo (which was just off the highway), and our luck began. We saw a couple of B&Bs, and decided to try one called "Inn By The Bay". And what a good choice that turned out to be. Run by a couple of women, they gave us a good deal on two rooms, and we settled in. Went off for a lunch at the local restaurant (the Dildo Dory), and then back to the B&B. By now it was starting to clear, and the evening was fresh and clear. Our B&B has a fine restaurant on site, but was closed that night, so we had a snack supper in the main room, watching the sun go down over the bay.












We slept wonderfully, and pretty long, given that we were in bed by nine.

I had a walk in the morning, down to the harbour and back, before breakfast. Checked my mail, read some, and had a great breakfast provided by the B&B. Then we were off on the bikes, for a ride up the coast.

A little ways up, I stopped at. Home Hardware to by a small tool for the bike. Bad choice: while I was there, my bike fell over, the contents of my front bag dumped into a puddle. Not too bad except for my iPhone, which got wet. I dried it off, but it was not going to work. Sigh! Definitely an "Oh, shit!" moment.

However, what are you going to do? So we went off again, along the road past Hopeall, Greens Harbour, Whiteway, to Cavendish, where we stopped to take a picture by the beach huts pictured on the front of the Newfoundland map and tourist brochure. Then on to Heart's Delight, and then Heart's Desire, where we met up with Darlene for a lunch by the dock. I placed my phone in the sun (it was now a clear sky) in the hopes that it would heat up enough to dry out. No luck: it was dead.






The scenery, as above, was spectacular. And the riding was not too bad: some up and downs, but pretty straight-forward.

But we have learned here not to trust the weather to be consistent. By early afternoon, it had clouded over and was spitting rain. We were in Heart's Content, so stopped for a coffee and some carrot cake in the local restaurant, served by a rather unhappy waitress to match the mood of the sky. And we decided we would push on to Winterton, with Darlene's help and encouragement.

Winterton had a Wooden Boat Museum, which we decided to go and see, and we were glad to have done this. A fascinating trip through the intricacies of boat-building, and boat evolution over the years. They had some wonderful t-shirts, but unfortunately none in our size. We had biked almost sixty kilometres, and that was enough.

So back to the B&B by van, arriving by early evening. Time for a shower, a bit of wine, and then supper here.





But there was the "Miracle of the iPhone". I thought I would check again to make sure the phone was really dead, and I got it to light up. Kind of a bizarre pattern on the screen, but there was life. I plugged it in, let it charge a bit, and it seemed to be okay. Glory be to Cod!

And supper was not too bad, either.

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Location:Front Rd,Dildo, Newfoundland,Canada

Over and up

Today was to go from Trepassey to St. Mary's. This meant traversing a peninsula, which of course means going up hills. We were told that it might be a long hill, and it was. But not as bad as those we had met the first two days. And it was foggy, although the fog lifted quite a bit by the time we got going. The photo is looking back at Trepassey as we left.






You get an idea of the amount of climbing. Again, once we were up, we were in the 'barrens", and this time it was really barren: no trees, nothing but scrub, moss, and wild flowers. And one little house stuck out there with, incongruously, a locked fence at the entrance to his drive.


















This trip across the barrens went on for about twenty kilometres. There was wind and there was fog. Temperatures were moderate, so it wasn't too bad. And traffic was very light.

Then a lovely long, curving descent into Peter's River, St. Stephens and St. Vincent (The three communities are all within a few kilometres of each other). Here we stopped, and Darlene came back with an excellent lunch, which we ate on the tailgate.


After that, we were off again for another 20 Km to Glaskiers, then St. Mary's, and finally to Riverhead. (Here, we found that the local saint was St. John the Worker, who was the patron saint of, among other things, the cemetery.)

At that point, we had covered about sixty kms altogether, and I was ready to quit. Barry agreed, so the bikes went into the van, and we drove to a hotel/camping area/golf course called "The Wilds", where we are now. Tomorrow will be a driving day, going up to Heart's Content (don't you love the names?).

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Location:St. Mary's, Newfoundland, Canada

Time in the Barrens

Getting here was not half the fun. The trip out of Ferryland was a lot of up and down, going from Ferryland to Fermeuse, to Renews, to Cappahayden. (You know you're in an interesting place when the spell-checker underlines the names of all these towns.)

Our place in Ferryland was run by a couple that do some singing for charities, and so on. They had agreed to sing a few songs for us after our breakfast, and we were delighted to be on the receiving end of those. Charlie plays the button accordion and Maxine plays a guitar. Maxine sings.

Then off on the bikes, of course going uphill from the start. Some downs, some ups. But after Cappahayden, we were up on "the Barrens" (pronounced Bah-runs, in Newfoundland). And barren it was. The picture doesn't really show it too well, but there was a lot of land that looked like the great north. Short of trees, and trees that were very short. Scrub bush and lots of wildflowers. It was both stark and beautiful.












After about 45 kilometres of this, I was bushed. And by then, Darlene had thankfully come along with some lunch for us. I decided to do the final 16 km or so in the van, but Barry pushed on, even doing the steep hill coming into Trepassey (the call it Coarse Hill Road—I like that). And we are staying at the one and only inn in town. The Trepassey Inn is out of the seventies. It has wonderful friendly and helpful staff, but the facilities need some refreshing. To its credit, it was clean and pleasant, and the area was quiet and dark for sleeping.

(Trepassey was on its way to becoming a major town back about 20 years ago. The fish were plentiful, a factory was being built, there was a commercial centre that was as big as any on the South Shore. The schools were full. But then the cod fishery collapsed. The enrolment in the school went from 800 to 24! Businesses closed. Lots of people moved out. The town now looks like something, as Darlene says, between Cornwall and Sudbury.)

A fine supper, followed by a fine sleep.

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Location:Highway 10,Trepassey,Canada

Puffin and Huffin'

We were in Witless Bay. And that is the area of a nature reserve, specially for the Puffin. One of the dangers, apparently, of being a puffin, is that the fledglings, when they learn to fly, see the lights of the town and think that they are the moon, so fly towards them. Local people volunteer to capture them and release them from the much-more-dangerous terrain around where we were staying, and releasing them into the waters of the Bay, where they learn to swim, dive, and escape many of the dangers of their early life. This has been going on for many years. And, thanks to Peter (our host) we got to see it today.

He came and knocked on our door, said there was a release going on this morning just down the road, so of course we went (or at least Barry and I went). The young puffins do not have the multi-coloured beaks of their adults, or the sad eyes, but they are still cute and are a fair size. There were about ten of them, captured the previous night. We were told that the waves were high and the kelp was in to shore, so they might not do the release from here, but instead take them out on a boat and release them from there.


















After that, we were on our way. Little did we know that one of the hardest places to get out of—on a bike—was Witless Bay. A long and hard climb out of the bay onto the flatlands got me warm, and already tired. But then there was a longish area of gentle hills and valleys, and the next many kms went fast. Before hitting other bigger hills.

We had agreed to stop in Tors Cove, where our friend Dave Paddon recommended a friend at Running the Goat Press. So we did that (down a steep road from the highway), spent some really nice time with the folks at the press (and bought one of Dave's books), had some food and set off again.

Land was pretty good to us until we hit Admiral's Cove and the town of Cape Broyle. From here, there was a long, tough slog up a hill to the town of Calvert. I had to stop part-way up and rest, before completing it.

Fortunately, from here, it was almost all downhill into our stay for the night, Ferryland. Darlene and I had been here four years ago, and had visited the digs around the Colony of Avalon, dating back to 1610! The place where we are is owned and operated by the woman who runs the museum, so her take on history is much appreciated. We had a lovely chat with Maxine and her husband Charlie (or Darlene did, while I had a sleep to recover from my ride, and Barry went for a walk about 3 km out to the light house). They also sing (this is Newfoundland, after all), so we might get some music with our breakfast tomorrow.

















But back to tonight. We went out, back to Cape Broyle and the Riverside Restaurant, for a pan-fried cod dinner that couldn't be beat. And some fish and chips, also with cod, that was spectacular.

On the way home, we had a quintessential Newfie experience. We had been warned to watch for moose, and sure enough, a mother and calf walked right out in front of the van. Fortunately, the van brakes were good, and there were no calamities on either side. But it took a while for our hearts to slow down.

Now home and to bed. Tomorrow we try for Trepassey, but probably we will not bike the entire 74 kilometres.

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Location:Highway 10,Ferryland,Canada

At Wit's End

I stole the name of this post from the cafe up the street in the little town of Witless Bay, which is situated on its eponymous bay. We are in a B&B at the seaside, a few kilometres outside of the "centre" of town. And today was our first bicycle day, getting here by bike from St. John's.

Yesterday was actually the day I should start with: it was a very good and lucky day. I have had concerns about how to get my bike back to Ontario. I assumed that any bike shop could pack it in a box, and I would get it onto the plane and home. Turns out to be more complicated. Stores here are running out of bike boxes, being the end of the season. And they ask for a few days to do the work. And they don't open until a very relaxed 10 or 11 o"clock (—"ish", as they say). And they are open even shorter hours on Sundays. So I had thought, what if I could leave it with them, they packed and shipped it to me. I would be without it for a week or so, but then would be okay. I went into the shop when they opened, and they said "of course", no problem. And it is even cheaper than I had feared, so I can drop it off the morning of my flight, and they will look after it for me.

Then we went to a shop to look for a t-shirt, and we were lucky in finding that without too much trouble. And then we went out to rent the van. After going through the motions, we had our massive "mini"van, went back into town, shopped and even found a parking place on the main drag outside our hotel.











Early supper in our room, some packing, and early to bed.

This morning, we were up and getting our things out to the van. Then a final breakfast at the Rocket Cafe (for me, a breakfast croissant followed by a pain au chocolat). Then we drove out towards the edge of town, Barry and I got our bikes out of the van and put on our bike shoes, and we were off. Darlene had her first experience of driving the van, and followed us. This was a shake-down for us. The trip itself to here was only about 30 km, with some serious hills, but otherwise uneventful. And we got to the B&B by about noon (Darlene of course got there before us). Hosts were Peter and Mary. Peter took a liking to DArlene and talked with her for quite a while before we got there. He is a sculptor and worker in clay. He had several statues in the wooded area around the house, which he called his fairies. And a garden which he was proud of. A lovely place, looking out over the bay, with the fresh air coming in the windows, along with the sounds of the sea breaking on a pebbly beach.





And, I understand, there are puffins around here, although I haven't yet seen one.

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Location:Bears Cove Rd,Witless Bay,Canada

A good first day

The day broke early for us: about 6:00 local time. And the sun rose through the window of our room quite a lovely sight out through the mouth of the harbour. Made contact with Barry, and we went out for a coffee. It is cooler and fresher here than at home, the air is lovely. And St. John's is as pretty and charming as I remember. Coffee was a long affair, catching up between Barry and I, as we looked over the downtown and onto the harbour.

Barry and I walked along Water Street (the oldest street in North America), looking in windows, visiting a few shops, and then went home to put our respective bikes together. Then back downtown to get the tires inflated, and see what would be involved in getting my bike back home at the end of this trip. Turns out to be a bit more complicated than I had thought, so some re-thinking will take place, and re-planning.

Eventually we got some lunch as well at a pub called the Yellow Belly Brewery(one Darlene and I had been to on a previous trip) and ate outdoors, enjoying the fresh air until a city truck came along to suck out the sewers.






Fortunately, we had also found another cycle shop near this place, one which was much better with us at finding solutions to our needs. I will talk with them this morning about how to get my bike home after the trip.

Darlene wanted to go back to the Inn for a bath and a read, so Barry and I set out to walk up to Signal Hill: a walk which is all uphill, and not mildly so. But the view was amazing.







Needless to say, the walk down was easier than the walk up. We came down through a part of the City called The Battery, and into a downtown park facing onto the Port, before going home. (Those are statues of the Newfoundland dog and the Labrador dog that the children are on.)



Supper was very local, and very good. Cod Tongues, cod fillet, fish soup, mussels. And local beer. Darlene went out for some music after that, and she tells me had a wonderful time listening to fiddles and singing.



I was asleep quite quickly, waking with the sun again this morning.
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Location:Duckworth St,St. John's,Canada

A Rocky Start

Well, we had decided to do a bike trip in Newfoundland. Barry was coming from the far other side of the country, and we would meet in St. John's, bike down the Avalon Peninsula and around, coming back up to Carbonear on Trinity Bay, then back to St. John's. Now, how to do it.

Darlene and I were ready to go. Turns out that some construction work at the house (new windows) had to happen on the day we were leaving, so there was a bit of extra disruption there to begin with. But we know the guys doing the work, and it was also kind of exciting. So we were all set, bags packed and bike in a box for the trip. Cab was called.

Omar, the man we have used in the past, arrived a few minutes late (no big problem: we had planned a good cushion of time), and we got the stuff in the van and ready to go. As we drove off, the van produced this "thump-thump-thump" with every bump, coming from the rear wheel well. Doesn't sound good. We stopped and looked, couldn't see anything wrong, and continued on. But the sound continued, and we stopped again. (Thoughts of a wheel coming off while we were driving on the highway did not appeal.) Again, nothing to find, so we went gingerly on to the Hamilton Airport, via the slower back roads for safety, and made it okay.

Then at the airport, we had to check in the bike. They (not surprisingly, needed me to open the box, so they could check the contents. When I did, I discovered that the bike shop, whom I had paid to pack it up for me, had neglected to deflate the tires as they needed to do! So more fiddling, re-taping, swearing, and so on.

It was a relief to get onto the plane. We had the exit aisle seat, so had some more leg room, and also a full row for the two of us. A very pleasant flight. And even the holdover in Halifax had a certain pleasant feel about it.

Getting into St. John's was easy, bags arrived quickly, and we got into the van for the ride into town. Our driver was what I had hoped: a Newf character who regaled us along the way in, with stories of his family and the city. We knew we had arrived on the East Coast, my son!

Everything was quiet at the Inn, Barry had arrived and gone to bed, and we got some help from a fellow guest in hauling our bags up the three flights of stairs to our room. Soon to bed and soon to sleep.


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Location:Duckworth St,St. John's,Canada

The Big Day, July 2, 2016

The Wedding Day can be viewed as a piece of theatre. It is staged, formally presented, prepared and rehearsed (at least in our minds) for days, weeks, and months. And it is presented to an audience, who in this case pays with their time and attention and affection.

This day began with an Act 1 that involved an early rise from bed, many showers for Darlene and the "boys", which used up all the hot water. Ad Darlene getting her make-up on.

We then all went off for the men's shave and Darlene's hair setting/blowing. This was on Hatton Row, a jewelry area in downtown London. Darlene was dropped and we went around the corner to our barber shop. We entered, and there was a woman doing the cleaning and setup for the day. She spoke little English, but it was clear that nothing else was happening. We waited...and waited...and waited. At ten, an hour after we were apparently scheduled, we left in frustration, and headed back to the flat. So this Act had a closing scene of sadness and disappointment. But something had to go wrong on this day, so perhaps this was it.

Act 2, in the flat on Abbey Street, was one of dressing. Getting the suits and the dresses on, getting the ties tied, tiepins on. What they call button-holes here (boutonnières), and corsage for Darlene were all set out and put on where appropriate. The photographer came and started her work with us.














The men had decided that we would try to walk the distance to Trinity House: it is not more than a km or so. But it started to rain, so we took a few more photos and set off in cabs. By the time we got to Trinity House, the sun had come back out. So Act 2 ends with a smile.

Act 3: getting ready at the Trinity House. There was a string trio in the gallery, and the room was set up from the previous day, with seats assigned and programs on the seats. Dan and Katy had to meet separately with the Registrar, to verify their credentials, they said (?!). Then, as people began to assemble, we got ready to accompany Dan into the room. I had expected Darlene to get a bit teary at this point; I was startled to be aware of my own teariness as we got ready for the ceremony to begin. Our boy was entering into an adult, formal, mature relationship. And yes, it doesn't matter and changes nothing; but yes, it matters a whole lot and changes everything.

We got him safely to the front of the room, and then turned around to watch as Jim and Claire accompanied Katy.

Act 4: The Wedding ceremony went off as programmed. Readings from Darlene and I went well; that from Claire was well-done, but the mike was poorly placed, so we didn't hear her as well. But all was done according to protocol, and they were truly married.






























Time for intermingling in the larger room of the House, then we went out and the confetti was thrown, we took some more pictures, and we headed off for the reception at Maltby Market. This is, of course, the dramatic climax.

Act 5: Reception. Most of the guests went from Trinity House to the Market by old-fashioned double-decker bus. (It was delayed due to an anti-Brexit demo.The rest of us got to the Market by taxi, and actually arrived after the bus had got there. There was some final setting up at the Market to do, but overall, it went quite well. Lots of people, an obvious affection for our Dan, and a large number of family for Katy. A lot of mixing, a lot of noise. There were pictures projected onto a wall, a bunch of cards and well wishes in a bucket for them, flowers (local) in many places. All inside what is usually an antique store, closed and re-purposed for the wedding reception.

The Maltby Market is a high-class market, open on weekends only and serving a variety of gourmet food from various cultures (as well as alcohol, pastries, and so on). Some of the vendors had been commissioned to be there to ply their wares to us. And a photo booth in a microbus parked on the street. So lots to do, and enjoy. And the weather cooperated, with only one fairly hard rain at the start of the evening.

Speeches followed. Jim Bennett, in contradistinction to his earlier statements, made a wonderful and sincere speech to thank folks for being there. Dan then made his speech, timed and constrained by Siv (since Dan is known by all to go on longer than anyone else). Then I gave my speech, and finally Katy gave her speech.

And then it was to the cake cutting. Since Katy does not like sweets that much, they had a "cheese cake" made up of rounds of cheese, as well as a more traditional sweet cake. Both were delicious.

And the final scene of this act was a happy time dancing.

Act 6: The Epilogue: By now, I was bushed, as was Darlene. We decided we would go home, and did so. But the other revellers lit Tiki torches, and marched down the street to The Grange Pub, where they continued to drink and dance until 1 AM. Dan and Katy headed off to the Shard for their fancy night on the 47th floor room of the tallest building in the city. We learned the next day that they had swum in the pool on the 52nd floor, an infinity pool which goes close to the edge of the building, and looks out over the city.

I slept the sleep of the dead.

If all this world's a stage, these players did their jobs well, and the play was a success.



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Location:Abbey Street,London,United Kingdom

Pre-Wedding Times

Our time here prior to the actual wedding was not too planned out. We had a few tasks to do for the "couple", but they were only a few and not too onerous. So the Tuesday was spent reading, walking a bit, sleeping some more, and eating. It was a weather-challenged day (they seem to have a number of these here!-do they not know it is summer!). So after a fair time at the flat, we went over to Dan's place and hung out there, chatting and so on. Jamie was the good one, going for a 7 mile walkabout in downtown London, and visiting a few museums along the way. The rest of us were just lazy. And after supper, when Darlene and I went to bed, Shane was off to his Mosque downtown for a midnight mass. In truth, he also hoped to meet some women there that he knew.

But Wednesday was even more lazy from our point of view. It was quite windy, cool, spitting rain: a good November day. I was up through the night, but the both Darlene and I slept until almost noon. The boys at this point were already up and ready to go out to meet up with the women that Shane had met the night before. And Jamie, unfortunately, was there as well; unfortunate because he had wanted to go down to Portsmouth by train, had gotten up and gone to the station, only to find that the trains were all cancelled for the morning. He gave up and returned to the apartment.

They went out for the day, Darlene and I stayed around the flat mostly, going out to do some shopping nearby. We had a fancy supper planned with Dan and Katy, Jim and Claire at a restaurant called "Hibiscus", which is Michelin-starred. It was a rush for both Dan and Katy to get there, but we managed to meet down there, and had a wonderful tasting meal which included pigeon, eel, lots of interesting veggie arrangements, paired wines, and excellent service. Very nice, and much appreciated. Katy and Dan were doing this as a "thank-you" to the parents for their support and work, and we feel well-thanked.

It is interesting to share the flat we are in with two or three other males. Pat is a constant, as is Shane (Dan's very good friend from Guelph days). Jamie (a good friend from Parkside days) is with us until Thursday, and is also a neat guy, working in a welding shop at present, still living in Dundas, and enjoying his first trip to the UK. On Wednesday, Jamie took a long walk from here, over the London ridge to the downtown area, back to the Tower and over the Tower Bridge, then home: seven miles in total. (They measure distance in miles here, for some strange reason.) Wednesday, Pat and Shane went to have lunch with some women that Shane had met when he went to his mosque for the Ramadan services on Tuesday night. They ended up walking about 15 km, going to Hyde Park, having lunch, and so on, and had a good day ins pit of the rain.

Thursday was a day of kind of hanging around for Pat and us. Shane went off to Oxford to see a girl friend of his who is at school there. We hung around this flat for a while, then went over to Dan and Katy's flat and hung around there. There were a few jobs to do. Darlene and Pat went to the Borough Market to buy food for supper (a beef roast that couldn't be beat; some wonderful veggies), and I went out to get some prescriptions filled for them, and to get some keys cut. Katy, unfortunately, had to spend her last day of work before the wedding at a talk well out of town, so got home late-ish. But supper was ready, and we settled into a fine evening. Both Katy and Dan had arranged to have Friday off, to get ready for the wedding.

And that day—Friday—was full of running around for them. They had access to Trinity House, and used this to get the flowers set up, and the programs put out. We cleaned their flat, and got our flat ready for Dan to come over for the evening. Pat and Shane worked on getting the shoes shone, and the flat tidy.






Katy and her clan were gathering at their place for that final evening, and went to the Grange for supper (I think). We had a late supper here at our flat, and went to bed early for the wedding night. Some good omens came in the form of a double rainbow, and some spectacular views from out 15th floor flat over the town.





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Location:Abbey Street,London,United Kingdom

To London for the "I do's"

Well, we've been here for two days now, and it's a real antidote to the hot, dry weather of Southern Ontario. It is cool (read: 16-18 degrees) and moist here, with some rain, and a fair bit of clouds. Although, to be fair, also a fair bit of sun (for London).

The getting here was, as one might expect, an adventure. We were all set to leave about suppertime on Sunday, and Darlene casually said (she admitted later it was a ploy to give me something to do to allay my anxieties) the we might just check to be sure the plane was on time. Sure, I said flippantly, and fired up the computer. Checked the web site, and learned the plane had been delayed by three hours! Oops, thanks Westjet (sarcastically), and thanks Darlene (really). Quick call to our taxi driver, who re-arranged his schedule to come later on, and we settled into another three hours at home.

So the plane trip began at about 1:00 AM Dundas time, (already 6 AM London time), with supper provided at about 2:30 and breakfast about 4:30 Dundas time. Totally confusing for my poor old biologic clock. However, the good news was that the flight was smooth and the seats allowed some sleep. And weather in London was pretty good, even too warm. After a train ride into London, we arranged to get the flat key to the rented B&B, and settled in a bit. The flat is in a co-op apartment, 20 stories tall (we are on the 15th, which the wind seems to recognize and challenges with some regularity), and is sparse, but adequate.

The "boys"—our Pat, Shane and Jamie—were on their way back to London from the stag they had shared with Dan and others up in Scotland. Katy, bless her!, was able to get home a bit early, and even buy some supplies for the flat, so we went to her place about six, and had a wonderful supper she had prepared, once everyone had arrived. An early-ish to bed, and the day was ended.




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Location:Abbey Street,London,United Kingdom

Final Day in Africa

Today is our final day here, and the final day in Africa. We hoped it would be special. I had hopes to see some giraffes, and the other three in our group of tourists wanted to see lion cubs. So Matt and Moses (our guide and spotter) set out with us in the direction they thought might fill all our dreams. For most of the trip, it was a pretty dry run: lots of scenery, some stops for pretty birds and flowers, but not too much else.

But then they got wind of a leopard in the area, and the guides were off and driving fast to try and find it. We met up with another two vehicles. One of the went into the bush a ways, and the staff from the other two decided to go on foot to see what they cold find. They were gone a while, but did manage to find the leopard. For me, remembering the three leopards we had unexpectedly found last year, it was a bit melodramatic. But the others were excited, and so it was worthwhile.




The really exciting things began after that. We found a herd of elephants (perhaps the ones we had seen the previous day), and decided to investigate. Turns out that one of them was lying down in the mud to cool off (itself a rare enough thing to happen). We watched as she tried to get up, with eventual, but gradual, success. And we parked on the road, as they walked by us, as close as another car would have been, and close enough to look into their eyes, and hear their breathing. They are magnificent creatures, and I felt honoured to be in their company like that. We moved the vehicle a bit, but mostly just sat and let their interactions flow around us. One of them was a little baby elephant, and one was a big male. The others were in between, probably a total of ten elephants. An amazing morning.








So we were late for breakfast, and then went over to the Sabi Bush Lodge (where we had been three years ago), to look at some gifts, and also to try and meet up with our guide from the previous trip, Jabu. We succeeded in both tasks, and returned home to a hot afternoon. A sleep and a shower were in order, before the afternoon drive. And they were had.

More elephants on the afternoon drive, along with a good range of Cape Buffalo, antelopes (kudus, impalas), some wart hogs, wildebeests, and so on.










Late supper, then tired and to bed, before our final morning. It was with a lot of sadness that we packed up. But the staff helped by starting a bath for Darlene, and putting candles by the tub, and rose petals on the bathroom floor and on our bed. The moon was in the waxing gibbous phase, and visible out the windows from the bath, much to Darlene's delight. So I guess it was pleasant, ignoring our upcoming departure.

And the next morning, our last game ride, had some tension. I still had not seen any giraffes, and was a bit disappointed by that. Matt and Moses were helpful, and we took off in pursuits of where they might be. It turned out to be a momentous morning.

First, as we looked in the more forested areas, we found a mother leopard with her cub. This mother had had two cubs in the spring, but one had been killed, so this was the remaining one.









We watched for quite a while, but eventually the mother got fed up with our presence, came close to our vehicles, and hissed at us; we beat a hasty retreat, and she settled down.

And then...there they were, the giraffes we had been looking for. What magnificent creatures, ungainly and elegant at the same time. My trip was now complete, and I was joyful.









And so it ended, and we were left with our 36-hour travel day to get back home. This was somewhat relieved by the long part (Jo'burg to London) being on an Airbus A380, which is a huge plane (450 passengers on two levels) with lots of room for the passengers in Premium Economy. And then the trip to Toronto, where we got bumped to Business Class, and the perks that go with that.

A great vacation.

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Location:Sabi-Sabi Little Bush Camp