1090 Meets 5040 2009

District Conference - Victoria

2009-05-25T17:50:34Z

On Friday 22nd May Eleanor visited the B.C. Archives at the Victoria Museum (a late vocational kindly arranged by Garry) whilst the rest of us went to the Opening Ceremony which involved about 16 Youth Exchange students (the Youth Exchange programme is much bigger here than in the UK) bringing in their country flags and the singing of the US and Canadian Anthems. There were various speakers during the day sessions and a walk in aid of Polio Plus at 4.15pm. I helped Conrad erect his mobile stage and we provided bottles of water to the walkers. This entailed us driving to the Governor's House through Victoria to pick up the stage and I was able to see more of this lovely place. It is a bit of old England, quite village like away from the marina area with an abundance of colour - a beautiful city.
In the evening we were all taken to Government House where we met the Lt Governor Steven Point who hosted a really pleasant evening with lovely food and B.C. wine. The Lt Governor spoke of how Rotary had helped him personally when his daughter became ill whilst abroad and then stayed and met us all. Sally and I joined Darcy and Doug (Sechelt) for a glass of wine in the bar before turning in.
Saturday was our big day for our presentation and at 9.30am we took the stage. We played it straight and after showing the gathering some shots of Thames Valley we all spoke of what we do and what we have gained from our time in British Columbia before thanking everyone for their awesome hospitality throughout our stay. The amount of time that so many different Rotarians have given us has been unbelievable. We have stayed in 13 different venues, usually with Rotary families, and learned so much about life here. The team members have had 10 - 12 vocational visits and will each take different experiences back with them. The photos that we have uploaded tend to major on the cultural and leisure vists more than the vocational (meetings in offices don't make for good photos) but the real balance has been superb.
At lunchtime we met the Canadian GSE team (Sladjana, Jenny, Nick and Don - Rich was ill unfortunately) and they did their presentation in the afternoon which clearly demonstrated that they had been just as bowled over by the hospitality they received in England as we had here. We sat in on various other sessions including a really good Rotaract presentation and enjoyed them. On Saturday evening we attended the Conference dinner/dance (50s/60s theme) and had a great time dancing the night away. It was really good to completely relax having completed our presentations and visits.
Sunday morning was my birthday and the team presented me with a lovely set of pictures from our visit in a 'four photo' frame. They brought in a chocolate cake with candle (I ate this myself, it was extremely tasty), a card from them and also one from Terry which was a lovely surprise. We have got on so well as a team, each looking out for each other, and the birthday moment seemed to epitomise this somehow.
Brunch at 10.30 and we had to slide out of the dining room (the conference has had various speakers during the meals - this time Mark Wong, RI Rep from Indonesia) in order to check out and be taken to the ferry back to Tsawwassen for our final night. The team spent time with Sladjana, Nick and Don (we had said good-bye earlier to Jenny who was staying in Victoria) but I was a bit self-indulgent and just sat on the sun deck and enjoyed the wonderful scenery for 90 minutes.
We are now staying with out hosts in Tsawwassen (just south of Vancouver) until 2pm when we will be flying home with so many memories and experiences. It's been brilliant!

District Conference - Victoria remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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GSE team in the news again

2009-05-23T23:26:42Z

I've just found this link to a news item in the Quesnel paper:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/lifestyles/45862787.html

It's 4.15pm on Saturday 23rd and I'm about to have a nap before the Conference Dinner at 7pm. A quick update is that the weather is superb, our presentation went well, Malcolm and Valerie are enjoying being here, the 5040 GSE team (minus Rich - he's got a bug) are here and presented very well about their stay in our District. Victoria is really lovely, an amazing place especially in this weather. More detail and pictures to follow.
Greg

GSE team in the news again remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Final Stage - Victoria, 21st May

2009-05-22T13:58:50Z

I've uploaded various pictures of our journey through the Frazer Canyon (see - Authors - Wilkinson - Photos) and my first shots of Victoria.
We attended Tsawwassen Rotary Club meeting at 7.15am on Thursday 21st May. We had met a good number of the members the evening before at the barbeque hosted by Garry and Colleen and so had a good rapport with our audience who received our presentation generously.

Garry and Eleanor (not our Eleanor) then drove us to the ferry and we boarded at 10am. The ferry journey was spectacular as we sailed through the islands to Vancouver Island (Vancouver Island is as big as England) arriving at 11.30am when we were taken to Victoria and to the Empress Hotel, which is quintessentially British, where we are to stay for the District 5040 Conference.
We took Gary to lunch and spent the rest of the day shopping and enjoying some time on our own. Alison, Sally and I bought new suitcases in readiness for our journey home (we got 70% off which makes shopping here quite interesting) and we bought various bits and pieces. Off to China Town for dinner and then a pleasant walk back passing buskers and touring round the marina enjoying a warm and pleasant evening.
Today we will register for the Conference and Eleanor has been fixed up with a visit to the BC Archives at 9am. The weather forecast is for sunshine (20degrees) so looks like another good day ahead. One of the highlights will be meeting up with our very own District Governor Malcolm Boddington (and Valerie) who are over here as guests of Bob Blacker, DG District 5040 and seeing lots of the lovely people we have met during our time in British Columbia.

Final Stage - Victoria, 21st May remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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20th May - Cariboo to Vancouver

2009-05-23T23:21:04Z

Today was our long journey. We said goodbye to our 100 Mile House hosts and met at Tim Horton's coffee house where we met up with Tim, Christee, Kit and Gary, who had travelled down from Quesnel en route to Victoria for the District Conference and who had agreed to give the team a lift to Tsawwassen on their way to Vancouver Island. The journey was over 500kms and we expected it to take around 6 or 7 hours. We loaded up our suitcases and hit the road at 10am. This is the snow scene that we left at 100 mile house.

The journey was easily the most scenic we have ever taken and took us through the Frazer Canyon which was spectacular (pictures to be uploaded tomorrow). We stopped a few times including one stop at an Elvis Cafe where the owner refused to allow us to use the loo as we only wanted to buy coffee (perhaps the only occasion where we have met a miserable Canadian in 4 weeks!). Tim's wife had generously provided lunch which was lovely (she had also provided pretzels dipped in a garlic sauce which were superb) and we joined the trans-Canada highway and made our way to Tsawwassen and to Gary's home.
The weather was a complete contrast to the morning snow and we sat in the garden sunbathing in 20+ degrees of beautiful sunshine -

We were joined in a pot luck dinner (another superb feast) by members of Tsawwassen Rotary Club and had a great evening getting to know our new host club. Tomorrow morning we will make a presentation to them before getting the ferry to Victoria, Vancouver Island.
Greg

20th May - Cariboo to Vancouver remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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100 Mile House - 18 & 19th May

2009-05-21T05:30:36Z

On the morning of Monday 18th (Queen Victoria Day - public holiday) Konrad took us to look round the heritage site at 108 Mile House. Here we looked at the old school house, barn and other houses from circa 1870 which have been restored and we spent some time in the shop buying the odd present for home. Konrad showed us the portable stage that the Rotary Club have built and which he is taking to Victoria for the conference. The stage is on a flatbed lorry and both sides drop as well as the roof to provide a substantial stage for events. It has superb Rotary publicity and is being hired out regulary. Konrad (Club President) then took us to the pub and treated us to lunch.
In the afternoon April took us to Green Lake where we visited the Buffalo ranch. We had a tour and saw the herd of cow buffalo with their calves. These enormous animals are, apparently, very easy to farm so long as you have substantial fences. On the way back we called in to see April's friend who has alpachas and peacocks and other exotic creatures and enjoyed a scenic drive around the 100 Mile area.
That evening we had dinner with our host families and Alison and I were treated to Moose steaks by Gerhard and Martina together with Robin and Denny, their two sons. We had a very pleasant evening in and put the world's problems to right. We are staying in a beautiful loghouse on a 200 acre ranch with horses, chickens, pheasants and dogs overlooking some wonderful scenary around the lake and over to the snow capped mountains. There is a real pioneering spirit around here and Gerhard is the epitome of self-sufficiency.
On Tuesday 19th we were taken by Roger (Conservation Officer) in search of badgers. He explained how they are endangered, mainly due to their lack of road awareness, and we tracked two down to their burrows using an ariel tuned to their micro-chips. We identified where they were sleeping but the only sighting we got was of a stuffed one in Roger's office. Peter, who had driven us around, took us to his home for lunch and we looked at his professional photos - he specialises in cowboy pictures which are dramatised through the effects such as back lighting.
We then vsiited a loghouse building company and saw how these are constructed locally before being dismantled and transported to their actual sites. The company transports these superb structures all over the world and has recently supplied homes in Japan, Australia and New Zealand as well as in North America.
We then had an hour looking round the local shops, at our request, before going to April's home for a barbeque. April's husband, Al, cooked up some enormous ribs and other Rotarians joined us (and brought lots more lovely dishes) for a really good social evening where we showed our slides and got to know one another. The weather wasn't behaving at all well and, as the vidoe shows, we were fortunate that John had erected a large tent to provide shelter from the snow!
Our time at 100 Mile House, over the bank holiday, has provided lots of interest and time to get to know our hosts who have treated us to more amazing hospitality. The Rotarians of District 5040 certainly know how to treat visitors.

100 Mile House - 18 & 19th May remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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100 Mile House Rodeo - Ride that bull!

2009-05-19T04:59:35Z

100 Mile House Rodeo - Ride that bull! remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our first day in 100 Mile House

2009-05-19T02:17:39Z

Yesterday we arrived in 100 Mile House and we received a warm welcome from Konrad, Gerhard and April. We were all really excited to discover that we were going straight round the corner to watch the 100 Mile House Rodeo. A first for the whole team!!
Our arrival had been perfectly timed to allow us to experience the whole second half of this event, once we had made our way through the crowds and been lucky enough to find seats in the stands the afternoon started with the stick race. Some excited and some slightly reluctant children raced toy 'stick horses' around the course before receiving their prize of a bag of sweets. During the next couple of hours we were treated to barrel racing (horse racing around a course of three barrels, team roping (teams of two competing to rope a calf), bareback riding (riders attemping to ride an unbroken horse bareback) and bull riding (cowboys riding bucking bulls).
We were all impressed to see that the Rodeo was run in a very professional and safe (as possible) way but I must admit to feeling slightly nervous that the riders might be injured during the bull riding.
All in all it was a very different, interesting and thrilling afternoon. My personal favourite event was the barrel racing as the horsemanship and riding ability was quite something to see!
I have also discovered how to work the film setting on my camera and have a great video clip but unfortunately my technical ability does not stretch to being able to upload the film to the blog so I have uploaded some photos instead!

Our first day in 100 Mile House remains copyright of the author Sally W., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Video & Photos - including the eagle

2009-05-17T14:32:04Z

Tonight we managed to load Sally and Eleanor's photos on to my lap top. I hope that Eleanor's video of the eagle taking a fish from the water will appear below. More of Eleanor's photos are at 'Authors - wilkinson - photos. If you play the 'slideshow' it shows the latest additions first.
Sally will upload some of hers soon (she has taken 700 so I'm leaving her to select a few).
Greg

Video & Photos - including the eagle remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Saturday with Rotary Clubs of Williams Lake

2009-05-17T01:06:33Z

After another superb pot luck supper last night with our new friends in Williams Lake we were all up bright and early this morning to travel out to a small town called Likely. This weekend is the Victoria Day bank holiday weekend (in honour of Queen Victoria) and we arrived in Likely just in time for the their Victoria Day parade. The parade participants had gone to a lot of trouble with their costumes and props so we all enjoyed a colourful spectacle. Emily was called upon to judge the candidates for Miss Stampede Queen - a serious responsibility that she discharged very professionally. After the parade it was on to the Museum in nearby Cedar Point park. Jim kindly spent time showing us around the many fascinating exhibits before we strolled up to the lake side to see some of the gold mining machinery.
Before lunch we had time for the 20 minute drive to Quesnel Forks - an old gold mining town dating back to 1860s. It was mostly inhabited by a Chinese community and during its hey day 1893 - 1907 the mine produced almost 59, 000 ounces of gold. After the mine closed a few residents remained until the last man died in 1953. The town was left for many years but since 1995 the original log cabins have been lovingly restored. We were all interested to hear the stories of the towns and peek inside the small log cabins. Our visit finished back in Likely with lunch at the Hilton - a pub with an amazing collection of memorabilia which lined every wall - they now have one of our marks of appreciation to add to their collection!

Saturday with Rotary Clubs of Williams Lake remains copyright of the author Sally W., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Williams Lake 14 - 15 May

2009-05-17T01:47:02Z

Thursday 14th May was scheduled as a free morning (recovery after the Diamond Calcutta) but Alison had arranged a vocational meeting which went very well. I blogged and packed and Helmut served up bacon and eggs which went down very well. At 11.30 Hedy took me to the meeting of Quesnel Rotary Club at a very pleasant Chinese Restaurant ( they served up loads of courses) and we gave a 20 minute presentation which was well received. President Liz (a lovely lady of Scottish heritage) kept all under control and we witnessed the ‘happy dollar’ tradition which is done throughout B.C. whereby members tell the club of some happy event and give at least a dollar (sometimes $100) to Rotary Foundation or similar cause. I must ensure that I convince my club of the value of this as a fund raiser, it really does work well and provides a regular ‘feel good’ factor.
Liz (with husband Peder) and Kit (President of Sunrise 2000) then took us on the 90 minute drive down to Williams Lake where we met our 10th host clubs. There are two clubs here, one lunch club and one daybreak. Assistant Governor Bob Fish and wife, Lorri, together with Daybreak President John, met us at the picnic shelter in the park which had been erected by Rotary. The weather was inconsistent and changeable but John was made of stern stuff and lit the barbeque after we had taken a walk to see the Stampede Ground. John cooked some superb salmon and we were joined by Karen, Connie and other Rotarian friends together with Britnie McKnight, the Stampede Queen of Williams Lake. We were given presents of local items and made most welcome. Early to bed.
Friday 15th May
Morning vocational visits for the team with Emily doing a ride along and Alison getting in to social development issues. Eleanor and Sally visited the museum whilst Bob took me to see the Fraser River gorge between the Cariboo and the Chicotin Plateau which was spectacular. The scenery round here is magnificent, millions of trees in the Cariboo and grass land on the plateau with a superb gorge through the middle.
After lunch at the ‘Alley Katz’ we met Mayor Kerry Cook who was lovely and talked with us for an hour or so and gave us pins and bags and other goodies. We had a good frank discussion about the role of the mayor and what she hopes to achieve. We then went to the Discovery Centre, the local tourist info centre, and then did a bit of a look round the shops before coming back to the Fish residence where we enjoyed a sumptuous pot luck dinner with a good number of Rotarians from both Williams Lake Clubs. Tomorrow the gold rush trail!
I've added some photos - see Authors - Wilkinson - photos.

Williams Lake 14 - 15 May remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Eleanor - vocational visits cont'd

2009-05-15T16:38:51Z

Since my last post I have been to a variety of places, all very different from each other.

I started with a morning at the North Shore Credit Union in North Vancouver seeing their new electronic scanning system used as an alternative to managing the paper records. This has improved their efficiency enormously by reducing costs in both storage and staff time in retrieval of the records, and it was interesting to see an alternative method of managing modern records in a large organisation.

I then spent an afternoon at Exploration Place in Prince George, a science museum with an excellent educational focus. It was good to see the different outreach programmes with which they have attempted to attract new users who otherwise might not have come, from new displays, connections with the local First Nations groups and online exhibitions of the photographs.

Also in Prince George I got to spend some time with the archivist at the University of Northern British Columbia, which has a huge remit in terms of collecting area. In addition to being responsible for the archives, the archivist is also responsible for the university library's special collections of rare books, so it was good to be able to see how that is juggled as at St George's we also have collections of rare books to look after. They too have excellent links with the First Nations, so it has been very interesting to see the ways in which they are trying to reach out to the different groups in the community.

Finally, I spent a morning at the Quesnel and District Museum and Archives, a small community archive with a strong photographic collection, all of which have been digitised. It has been very interesting to see that small communities maintain their own archives, rather than sending them to the larger provincial archives as that is not common in the UK.

My vocational visits so far have been a good mixture of repositories, from the very small to the reasonably large, and have included the full spectrum of the record lifecycle. I am hoping to get to go to the provincial archives in Victoria as that would end our exchange with a visit to the very large, so round things off nicely!

Eleanor - vocational visits cont'd remains copyright of the author d005c3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Prince George to Quesnel (10 - 13 May)

2009-05-14T18:22:30Z

Our ‘rest day’ on 10th May concluded with a social dinner at Prince George Golf Club where about 30 of us enjoyed a steak dinner which was very tasty. The next morning we started early with a tour of the local brewery (Pacific Western Brewery). They were not actually brewing that day so we looked around the whole plant and went in to the canning area where we were surprised to see that they were filling cans with fizzy orange. We then went to one of the Pulp Mills in Prince George and noted how the process was quite different from the one at Gibsons in that here they were doing much more to the chips in the early part of the process and there seemed to be more chemicals about.
We lunched at Esther’s Inn with a ‘smorg’ (buffet) which was very pleasant and then we had vocational tours for the afternoon. Ken took Emily and I to meet the John, the local Community Support Officer (there are 17 CSOs in BC) at the Neighbourhood Policing Centre which is mostly staffed by volunteers. From there we visited the RCMP detachment and had a candid chat with a couple of corporals which was enlightening. After this we visited the Correction Centre (Prison) which was built 12 years ago and is a modern prison catering for those serving under 2 years or on remand. We were honoured to be shown round by the Warden (Governor) Joanne Hawkins and her deputy. We had to leave cameras at the entrance (I have noted that we don’t get many photos of vocational visits but that’s the nature of the beast – meetings and offices don’t make good photos – so most of our photos tend to be of the leisure activities) and we were shown everything in the prison. Like at home there is overcrowding and double cell occupancy. Here work parties do external work and, inside, the carpentry shop and the tailors shop were impressively fitted out. There was a sweatlodge for First Nation prisoners and plenty of evidence of work to manage all ethnic groups as well as possible. There is a significant proportion of First Nation people within the prison. We looked round the male side but the prison also houses female prisoners on a separate side. A very interesting tour.
In the evening we spent time with our hosts and I enjoyed a lovely shrimp fettuccini followed by mango cobbler which Betty had cooked for us. Gary and I then watched a film and generally relaxed before a good night’s sleep.
12the May.
We packed our bags and threw them in the 4 x 4s and then had a tour of the University of Northern British Columbia. This is a superb campus, the most modern in Canada, with every facility. The sports hall has inside football pitches and a running track at 2nd floor level going right round it. The lecture theatres are video linked to UBC in Vancouver and the technology is the most modern. Roy, one of the lecturers gave us an inside tour of the laboratories and the greenhouse providing insider information about his work on Elk and the forestry habitats. This was a super tour and a fascinating visit.
We then met the three Prince George Rotary Clubs for a joint lunch meeting and presented to around 150 people. The food was wonderful (do I keep mentioning food?) and I enjoyed crab, scallops and mussels again. Our hosts were typically friendly and generous and we were presented with picture frames as a memento of our visit.
We were to meet our next hosts at Dunkley Sawmill and so we set off South. The mill tour was fascinating watching whole trees go in at one end and wrapped pallets of planks come out at the other. This is a high tec mill with computers controlling every stage. The wood is digitally photographed and the computer works out how to cut each piece to maximise its use working at 105 photos per minute. The mill is running at one third capacity at the moment due to the economic downturn which is hitting BC quite heavily as the primary industry – lumber – is dependent on a good housing market in North America.
After the visit we met Tim Cawdell, our organiser for the northern part of our tour, who transported us to Quesnel, a smaller town centred on pulping and the lumber industry. We were taken to the home of Rebecca and Ted for a barbeque which included bison burgers. Rebecca and Ted have a lovely home overlooking Quesnel from the top of the valley. Ted is well in to vintage trucks and has some fine specimens in his garden. Ted’s workshop was a dream! We met out hosts at the barbeque and I was taken home by Hedy who, with husband Helmut, hail from Germany but have been here for most of their lives and love the area.
13th May
Today I was put to work on behalf of Rotary. It was the major fundraising event for Sunrise 2000, the breakfast club here in Quesnel. The event is the Diamond Calcutta which is a ladies evening (men only act as waiters or ticket sellers) and this was the 9th such event and is the big fundraiser (circa $8000 annually). I spent the morning helping prepare the hall with decorations and then met the team for lunch and heard about the excellent vocational visits they had enjoyed during the morning. Emily and Sally turned up with various souvenirs and were very pleased with their mornings.
After lunch we had an interview with the Quesnel Newspaper which went very well and then we had a short rest before meeting up at 5.30 for the Diamond Calcutta. This was a super evening of raffles, draws and entertainment. The main prize is a diamond ring and I sold 50/50 draw tickets netting over $1200. A great evening and a great night for Rotary, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. I slept well that night.

Prince George to Quesnel (10 - 13 May) remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Alison's Catch-up highlights - Day 4

2009-05-14T18:01:06Z

Ferries and Sunfish

On day 4 we headed north from Vancouver via ferry to the Sunshine Coast. The 1st ferry journey was spectacular in itself with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains and up towards whistler and the sea to sky highway.

We took 2 ferries and were met off the first at Gibsons by Wayne and Bob who drove us via a spectacular lunch of mussels, to Half Moon Bay, a pretty little spot where I saw my 1st sunfish.

I know the water looks a bit murky, but I'd never even heard of them so was quite taken aback!

A fabulous Barbeque awaited us in Powell River (including my first taste of BC salmon), courtesy of Vivica, and a warm welcome from Ash and Dilyse, my new hosts.

Alison's Catch-up highlights - Day 4 remains copyright of the author GSE1090, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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GSE in the press!

2009-05-14T17:54:14Z

Below are a couple of entries from local papers in BC:

www.prpeak.com/articles/2009/05/06/community/doc4a0104a950beb886311484.txt

www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/community/44769292.html

Fame and fortune await!

GSE in the press! remains copyright of the author d005c3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Alison's Catch up highlights - Days 1-3

2009-05-12T02:00:48Z

Ok, I'm conscious I'm playing Catch Up here as I've not been so good at blogging (partly, but not entirely, due to limited PC access) so I thought I'd try and catch up by listing my highlights of the GSE experience so far.

I want to pretext this by saying that pretty much everything we've done so far has been fabulous, and we've been received with such extraordinary warmth and kindness wherever we've visited it is extremely difficult to pick, but here're my best efforts...

Warm welcome to Vancouver - Days 1-3:
Fantastic welcome at the airport, and then kindly delivered by Debbie to my wonderful first host Maggie. Having fed me Quesadilla, Maggie took me on a whirlwind drive by of all the main areas of the city, including a quick stop off to take photos of bald eagles (which I was ridiculously excited about!), into the downtown Financial section, past the Canucks Stadium (essential viewing in BC just now!), the new convention centre with its sails and green roofscape, past Downtown Eastside with its evident homelessness and drugs issues (see my vocational blog), through chinatown and finally to South Street and Main Street area (SoMa?) where we stopped for Sushi. Although sleepy from the plane journey, I had a great time and it was a really good way to orientate myself around with the city.

All in all a fabulous start to what went on to be a wonderful stay in Vancouver - Many thanks to Maggie, Tom and Simon for their welcome and hospitality.

History tour of Gastown - Day 2

The new generation rotary group met up with us on to show us round the markets at Granville Island (definitely somewhere we'd like to visit on our last day for final souvenirs!) and then took us on for a tour of Gastown, which is where Vancouver first began. This really helped to build on the contextual picture gradually building up in my head of Vancouver as a city which is still transforming (as all cities are), and provided some fascinating background around the gentrification of the area that equipped me well for the my vocational visit in to Downtown Eastside the following day (see previous blog). I also witnessed my first street hockey game with an amazing backdrop of the north shore mountains!

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Alison's Catch up highlights - Days 1-3 remains copyright of the author GSE1090, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Rest Day Photos

2009-05-11T05:24:10Z

More photos of Rest Day and Prince George on Author - Wilkinson - Photos (see right margin)

Rest Day Photos remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Rest day...

2009-05-10T23:44:44Z

Today has been a really busy but such an enjoyable day...
First thing this morning Eleanor and I (who is hosted around the corner from me) went into the wilderness - we are up near Price George which is miles north on Vancouver. we went into Bear Creak and after driving for some time we saw at the side of the road a black bear and her 2 babies - it was amazing, the bear looked really healthy with an amazingly shiny coat and they were just at the road side eating. The babies seemed to be sent into the woods pretty sharply by the mother but she seemed quite happy for us to be there watching her - from he safety of the vehicle of course. amazing creatures and the hosts said that the bear was probably only 3-4 years old due to her size which is quite a young age to have babies.
when I got back, my host John taught me how to ride a motorbike!! it was awesome and after a little while I got the hang of it and rode around the garden for 20 mins or so, I am by no means an expert but was very proud of myself - I am normally really quite wimpy when it comes to stuff like that.
Eleanor and I then carried on the nature spree and went fora bike ride. Luckily my hosts John and Leslie love the outdoors and have all sorts of equipment. we saw the surrounding neighbourhood and returned back to be coerced into singing karaoke on the play station.. of course we were reluctant to do anything initially saying 'couldn't possibly' etc but of course by the end we were singing at full volume! now we are off to a BBQ with all the hosts and GSE and other Rotarians.

Rest day... remains copyright of the author GSE1090, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Ride along

2009-05-10T23:36:51Z

I had a ride along on Friday night in Surrey which is one of Vancouver's less affluent areas and an area which has a significant number of issues, not dissimilar to parts of the UK's larger cities. I was shown around by Constable Scott Nickel who did a fantastic job of explaining the systems they have there. most notably they have on board computers which allows the individual officers access to all the main information systems there and then which UK officers have to request via phone or radio, it allows for much quicker access to information and, I believe, improved officer safety. the other major difference is of course the carrying of firearms. Without exception all of them were shocked that we did not routinely carry guns and it prompted some interesting discussions about the issues police face both here and at home. we attended a number of incidents in my time with them, a serious RTC, a break and enter (burglary) in progress where guns were drawn - I made sure to keep behind the armed officers at that point - fights and several other jobs,. As at home, the police work closely with the other emergency services and it was interesting to be able to speak with them too. generally a fascinating and most unusual insight into day to day Canadian policing. It also goes to show that the essence of policing is identical, where ever you travel, its more the local policies and the individuals which differ.

Emily

Ride along remains copyright of the author GSE1090, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sally's first blog!

2009-05-10T23:15:52Z

After many failed attempts and several technical difficulties, I am now finally able to access our blog - hooray!!
We are now half way through this GSE experience and we are all having a brilliant time. I see and learn something new each day and have been bowled over by the kindness, hospitality, warmth and friendship extended by everyone I have met. Every single thing has been fantastic but my highlights would have to be the vocational days, seeing some of the local Rotary projects, meeting and making friends with all my hosts, participating in the sweat lodge and improving my Rotary club presentations.
So far I have had vocational time at St. Paul's Hospital and Holy Family Hospital in Vancouver, Powel River Hospital, St. Mary's Community Hospital in Sechalt, Rosewood Manor Extended Care facility in Richmond and Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. We also had a team tour round Rotary Hospice House in Richmond. The hospitals are well equiped and patients recive excellent services. It has been interesting to see the comparisions between hospitals in the big cities and smaller more isolated areas; unlike the UK community hospitals have emergency rooms, operating theatres and intensive care beds. So the majority of services can be provided locally. Hospitals also all have rehabilitation wards so patients who require rehab stay in the hospital to rehab prior to discharge. In the UK the majority of rehab is provided in Community hospitals - my role is to assess patients for these beds. I have been really interested to learn about the screening assessment completed by the rehab wards and the discharge planning processes in use in the hospitals I have visited. I have also enjoyed discussing my role with the staff I have met and have been asked to email back some of the tools used in the UK, so hopefully my visit will be beneficial to both sides.

Sally's first blog! remains copyright of the author Sally W., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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7th to 10th May - North Shore to Prince George

2009-05-10T22:42:18Z

I was staying with Norman and Pam for 3 nights so had hung up some clothes and was feeling at home - Norman and Pam doing all they could to reinforce thate feeling and giving me their time as well as their wonderful hospitality. I also want to acknowldge the time given to us by other Rotarians who are not hosting us in their homes. The Assistant Governors have been especially generous with their time and here, Sue the Exec AG, has overseen our time in North Shore and provided lifts, prompts and hospitality - everyone here is being so generous.
On Thursday morning we had vocational visits. Emily and I went, with Norman, to the E Comm centre where Bernie Sparrow, the IT Director, gave us a guided tour and explained how the 911 calls are handles and dispatches made. He showed us the ultra-modern IT they work with and how they handle the contingency planning.
We met up with the others over lunch and then Norman and John took us for a tour of North Shore. We went up Cypress Mountain to the ski slopes, gazed at the splendid views and visited a salmon hatchery and a damn and suspension bridge in Lynn Valley; a pleasant leisurely tour with lots of photo opportunities.
That evening we met up at Sue's for a pot luck dinner which was lovely and included some of John' home made wine and lots of friendly chatter.
Friday 8th.
Eleanor went to Credit Union with Sue to look at how the private sector are archiving and Alison, Emily and Sally hit Wallmart for some therapy. Norman took me for a brisk walk round lighthouse park to get the heart working. We went for lunch with the three North Shore Rotary Clubs and Maureen (President and bonny lass from Scotland), oversaw us being presented with ‘Brit/Canuck’ Polo shirts together with Olympic scalves/tie. This was a lovely and was followed by banner exchanges after our presentation which was warmly received.
In the afternoon Eleanor, Alison and I were treated to a sail on Neil McDonald’s yacht. A super 40foot sail boat, we helped Neil make ready and then out in to Vancouver Harbour and, with Eleanor at the helm, made for the ocean. As we went under the first narrows bridge Alison took the helm and we put the sails up and cut the engine. My patience wore out and I took over at the helm and we managed a tack. This might sound very simple but (despite my boating experience on the Thames) this was the first time any of us had sailed and so Neil was explaining everything as it happened. We came back in and Neil took us for a tour of the harbour. We had a super afternoon in the sea air.
We then went to dinner with ‘The Don’ (Don Kavanagh who was team leader with the Canadian GSE team) and met Slojana, Rich and Nick which was really good. Don’s house is something else and he had cooked us some very tasty tenderloin which was washed down by fine wine. Bob and Judy Blacker joined us for the evening and we had a great time. (I was showing my age somewhat and being a little drowsy after the time on the boat). We look forward to meeting up with the 5040 team again in Victoria in a couple of weeks.
Emily had a night on patrol in Surrey – no doubt a blog will tell the tail in due course.
Saturday 9th.
I said my goodbyes to Norman and Pamela who had been wonderful hosts and set off for the airport. Garry met us at ‘Tim Hudsons’ and briefed us on stage 2 and off we flew to Prince George to be met by a welcome team of 8 Rotarians. We were whisked off to the Railway Museum for lunch and a leisurely tour and met our various hosts who took us to their homes. I’m with Gary and Betty in their 16 acre small holding about 6 miles out of town. Three horses (Betty is suggesting that I have a go on one!) and two dogs share the place with humming birds and various wild life. The house is built of logs and is really cosy.
Sunday 10th
We have a rest day today and are staying independently with our hosts. I’ve been to church this morning (the church is more a community centre with nurseries, youth centre, adult learning centre, dining room and church hall. It has all the modern technology and sound and light systems. There are two services on a Sunday morning at 9.45 and 11am each having about 400 in the congregation. Today we had a visiting band and it was lively. On the way to church I saw my first brown bear – about 100 yards away and looking big and menacing.
Laundry and blog this afternoon, before we meet up at 5pm for dinner with our hosts and organisers. It’s been a lovely sunny day although there is talk of rain and snow to come by Tuesday.
Greg

7th to 10th May - North Shore to Prince George remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Link to Richmond Club Website

2009-05-10T13:19:36Z

Becky, 5040's web master has sent the following link which shows quite a few pictures from our presentation on 6th May.

http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/Home/homeS.asp?cid=7651

click “more” to see the write up by Keith

P.S.
It's AM on 10th May and I cannot access the site from the above so here's an alternative option to copy and paste:

http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/Home/storyitem.asp?cid=765&iid=98321

Link to Richmond Club Website remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Snowman & snowballs on Cypress Mountain

2009-05-08T13:29:56Z

Snowman & snowballs on Cypress Mountain remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Eleanor - Vocational Visit

2009-05-08T00:30:21Z

I spent Wednesday morning at the City of Richmond Archives and also with the Records Manager for the city. The Archives is very impressive, being involved at the development stages of major international standards and theory, but it was the meeting with the records manager to discuss their electronic document management system that was most useful. Everything that staff now create on the computer, so every word/excel/powerpoint file, is fed into the EDMS to ensure that it is properly managed, stored and disposed of at the end of its life. This type of system is what organisations should be aiming for, so to see it in practice and be able to discuss the process of setting it up was extremely helpful.

Thursday morning was spent at the West Vancouver FireFighters Museum and Archives, a small operation manned by volunteers but which has achieved a lot despite of this, and with the North Vancouver Museum and Archives where I was able to discuss conservation and digitisation of architectural plans and photographs, something which is very relevant to work I am currently doing at St George's.

I am looking forward to seeing what the other visits will offer!

Eleanor - Vocational Visit remains copyright of the author d005c3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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6th May - Richmond to North Shore

2009-05-07T04:19:54Z

In the morning of Wednesday 6th May the team all had vocational visits arranged for them. Sally found some good contacts in the local hospital, Alison found someone who does a similar role to herself and enjoyed a good two way exchange. Eleanor got more information from the city archives and Emily was given a briefing on Olympic security which she found fascinating.
We did a presentation for the Richmond Clubs at lunchtime on 6th May. A new face appeared and introduced himself as 'Bandit Bob' (other members told us that his name was Black Bobber or something similar). He had an Australian accent and claimed to be the District Governor but we were not taken in by such an obvious imposter. Emily will run a check on him when she next visits the Mounties - we might have a candidate for deportation here!
After exchanging banners with Club Presidents of both Richmond and Richmond Sunrise we were taken by Albert and Wally for a tour of Steveston. This is a lovely fishing 'village' with lots fo oriental influence and looks old worldly and quite artistic. There was clearly a big fishing industry here with cannery plants etc and fishing still takes place from the harbour.
On our way back we stopped off at the Buddist Temple, the biggest in North America, with spectacular Buda figures presented in gold leaf and a strong waft of incence round every corner.

Back to the hotel to say a big than you to Chris for all his hard work in organising the various vocational visits for team members, all of whom had found lots of interest and lots of contacts for future e mail linking. We were then introduced to Sue and Terry who were to transport us to the North Shore of Vancouver where we are based for the next couple of days before we fly north to Prince George on Saturday morning. It was nice to see the city horizon again as we drove through Vancouver with Grouse Mountain in the background shrowded in cloud and looking quite spectacular.
I met my new hosts, Norman and Pamela, and am 'wowed' again by the lovely house; we got to know each other over dinner while it rained outside. Its good to hear the rain coming down whilst we're inside and the forecast is promising for the end of the week. I've been made to feel at home again - it's great meeting all these different people who are all so friendly and welcoming in hosting us in their homes and making things happen for us.

6th May - Richmond to North Shore remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Through to 5th May - Sechelt to Ricmond

2009-05-06T17:35:33Z

GIBSONS
On Monday we had a leisurely start and packed our bags once again for the move just down the coast to Gibsons. Darcy came over to drive us along with Don and Donna who picked Sally up from the hospital visit she had managed to arrange. We met Wayne and Don in Gibsons and were taken directly to Molly's Reach restaurant for lunch. Molly's Reach was the stage set for 'The Beachcombers' a soap series set in Gibsons which was broadcast around the world in the 80s/90s. Gibsons Harbour was interesting and included the Rotary Pier. Due to team member demand we then had a wander around Carol's shop which is full of local art and various purchases ensued before we were taken to tour the local pulp mill. This was interesting and Don had been the manager there some years ago and so added to the commentary provided by Jim, the senior process engineer and long time Rotarian (Jim has done lots of work developing Rotaract in the area). The mill is enormous and takes in wood chips which it turns in to paper. They supply some of the major newspapers in the USA and are situated under the mountains in some wonderful scenic surroundings. That evening we had a pot luck dinner hosted by Dean Walford at Gibsons. Dean cooked some moose for us to eat which was very tasty and there were various other dishes and quite a few sweets including rhubarb with marengue (this may be the canadian spelling?) and various chocolate goodies. Dean has a superb garden which we had a tour around, lots of shrubs and different plants.
We then went home with our hosts (Chris, Anne, Carol and Manjit) whilst Eleanor stayed at Dean's and after a good night's sleep we met at the ferry at 8am when we said goodbye to Wayne who, as Rotary Assistant Governor for the Sunshine Coast, had overseen our week here and been the most brilliant orgnaniser for the whole week. Wayne can now resume retired life which starts each day with a walk down to the pier, with newspaper and coffee, in order that he can reflect on the problems of those less enlightened people who exercise political influence over the rest of us.
RICHMOND
The ferry was busy with all the commuters going to Vancouver for work (many do this journey daily) and it was good to see the smiling face of Garry waiting in arrivals at Horseshoe Bay. Tom provided the second vehicle and we sped down through Vancouver to the Accent Inn at Richmond. Here we were met by Chris, the manager and Rotarian with Richmond Club who provided us with a room each for the night and the promise of a pancake breakfast (International House of Pancakes appended to the hotel) the next morning. Chris had clearly been busy organising our various vocational visits whilst in Richmond and we had a quick planning meeting to work out who was to do what.
Emily and I went to the Richmond RCMP detatchment where Rennie, the local Superintendent gave us an hour of his time which was very interesting. Richmond is similar in size to Reading so we were able to compare issues. We all then met up at the Richmond Oval, an enormous building which has been developed to house the speed skating for the 2010 Olympics. DGE Gordon Dagliesh joined us for our guided tour.

(Various other photos - see 'Authors - wilkinson - photos)
After lunch we went to Richmond City Hall with our local hosts Wally, Collette and Chris and met Nora, the mayors exec assistant who hails from Coventry. Nora was lovely and had arranged a meeting with the mayor, Malcolm Brody, and presentations from various senior people on the economy, archives and film/business links along with a guided tour of the building. She had gifts for us as we left and we all now proudly own olympic umbrellas and Richmond pens and pins.
To complete a fascinating day we then went to the Rotary Hospice for a tour with Chief Executive, Margaret. This 10 bed hospice was build substantially from money provided by local Rotary clubs and is a superb example of what can be achieved. A lovely place which brought a few lumps to the throat (well, mine anyway).
To cap off the day we were met at 6pm by Brian, President Elect of Richmond Sunrise RC, who took us to his home for dinner. This was lovely and we met Brian's wife, Alison, his mum Lesley (a Pangbourne lady who came to Canada in '68) and his two lovely daughters, Meredith (aged 6) and Macey (3). We had a really lovely evening with them and Meredith and Macey treated us to a display of all their dressing up clothes and even allowed this old grand-dad to read them a story.
We've just had that breakfast and the four team members have all had pancakes with various toppings - they just don't care! They are now doing vocational visits and I'm catching up with e mails and the blog.
Greg

Through to 5th May - Sechelt to Ricmond remains copyright of the author wilkinson, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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