Canada

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!

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

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.

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

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.