Over the Mountains to the Interior

26 Sep '07 9:09 pm

Hello, everyone!

I just returned home at 1:00 this morning after my trip over water and mountains to the southern interior of my beloved British Columbia. It was a great trip that was supposed to have been a few days longer, but I missed my garden so much that I came home early! I did, however, make a few discoveries that will be calling me back there next summer!

I'm too tired after driving for 15 hours to post any pictures tonight (can't even type properly), but I'll start posting them here tomorrow.

It was nice to get away, but it's great to be back home (and Joey dog echoes that opinion! Laughing

)!

Cheers until then!

gordonf

27 Sep '07 9:11 am

Welcome back, Gordon, and you're allowed a rest before a post! PS Can U mail me an address to send you some seeds?
Cheers

27 Sep '07 3:30 pm

Hi, Moosey! I'll send you an address for the seeds later tonight. Here's the first post of pics from my trip.

My trip started at 4:00 in the morning with a 2-hour drive to catch the first ferry-boat from Vancouver Island to the Mainland. Of course, it was raining with a cold breeze, so I have only one picture of the boat trip.

On reaching the Mainland around 8:00 in the morning, I proceeded to drive along Highway 99 towards the ski centre of Whistler, where there are mad preparations underway for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The entire "Sea-To-Sky" Highway (#99) is being widened from 2 lanes to a 4 lane freeway, so entire mountainsides are being blasted away for it. All very controversial, of course, especially since it's happening in a very wealthy area as well as crossing several endangered species' habitats. This is an extremely dangerous road at present, and, sure enough, I was stopped at the scene of a fatal car accident. A car had rolled over the enbankment beside the roadway.

After that, I passed the village of Whistler and proceeded into the Pemberton Valley, a farming and mining area squeezed between the mountains. A lot of the valley is First Nations' (Indian) Territory, and, as such, has not been much developed, thus retaining its natural beauty. This is where the Lillooet (pronounced LIL-oo-et) River forces its way through the mountains and into the sea. It's also where the steep climb through the mountains begins. It takes about two hours to climb over the Coast Mountains into the higher, drier Interior where the town of Lillooet is located.

Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

27 Sep '07 5:39 pm

And thanks for the 'First post' - I like the promise of more to come! Your photographs are fascinating and I can't wait to go into school tomorrow to download them all fullsize and have a really good look. (Much faster and for free!)

I can imagine the preparation for the Winter Olympics! South Africa is hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup and there is a vast scramble on the go here. Polokwane, our local city and provincial capital 1 hour away is building a new stadium and there are SEVEN big cranes on site. A definite first for this sleepy town that got its one and only 10 story scyscraper in about 1977...

27 Sep '07 6:08 pm

Hi, Jack! It's good to hear from you! I love the webcam sites that you let us all in on that show areas in S. Africa. So far, I haven't seen any animals on them, but that time will come!! As for all the wild animals here in Canada, on my trip of over 1500km, all I saw was my first coyote, who gave me a "well, get on with it!" look as he waited for my car to get out of his way so he could cross the road, and a grouse, also crossing the road with that dim-witted sort of tiptoed walk of theirs! All the roads had signs warning of deer, elk, bighorn sheep, etc., but nary a one did I see!

I didn't know that S. Africa is hosting the 2010 Soccer! If you get a chance, please post a few pictures of the local building boom!

I ran up against the limit of 20 posts earlier, so here are the rest of today's pics.

-gordonf

27 Sep '07 6:31 pm

Gordon, I don't know whether 4-laned highways are worth wrecking the mountains for. But then, we happily pile in cars and drive to scenic spots. Hopefully after the road widening the hills will settle down, who knows? Sometimes in NZ there are lovely plantings of tussock grasses etc. put on road cuttings to stop erosion. After a few years it looks OK, too!

Thanks for posting the photos. My NGP (Non-Gardening Partner) is Canadian, and he knows of the places you've visited, but he's never been to Whistler. Silly bloke! he remembers that the road didn't to go far 'up there' - but he left Canada in 1971, hee hee!

Take care, and I'll be posting your seeds tomorrow.

27 Sep '07 6:57 pm

Hi again, Moosey-

As for the town of Whistler, I guess it's all right for (very) well-heeled tourists and wealthy skiers, but I wasn't impressed with all the richly-decorated new hotels, etc. It kind of resembled a Disney-esque fake Switzerland. I really miss the little Whistler that used to be there, and I didn't take even one picture! Sorry Sad

! I heard the other day that for the Olympics opening ceremony, the ticket prices begin at something like $1600.!! And we have homeless people living under bridges in this province! Shame, shame, shame!! (Of course, I boycotted the World's Fair here, too, because part of how the government paid for it was to cut back on education services!)

I'd better get off the soapbox - this is a GARDENING forum! Embarassed

Cheers!

gordonf

27 Sep '07 8:31 pm

I know well this feeling, " It was lovely , but I feel great back home!".

As always, it is SO wonderful, when a Forum member passes on to us feelings and photos, and narration, of far-away (from us) places!! I do not think I will ever have the chance to visit Canada. So, THANK YOU, dear Gordon! All photos are beautiful, but the part of mountain bloomers and river-sides was the most attractive to my eyes and my heart. I have never seen a "wild" Lupin!! Gorgeous!! The tallest ones of mine are in bloom right now ; some shorter ones bloom in late July.Those daisies are lovely Chamomiles, you know! Greece is full of them, either high on the mountains, or by the sea --- if you smelled them, you could be sure about it. My mama boiled for me some in water ( like we prepare tea) , whenever I was stomach ill , being a little girl, and it had a delicilous taste! She also washed my hair with chamomile, in order to keep my curly hair redish blond -- but with no long success ; my natural colour when adult has been redish brown...

Welcome back, dear friend!! Enjoy your Autumn garden and your lovely captures in your computer! Give tender hugs to Joey!!

27 Sep '07 9:13 pm

Hello, hello, Liza;

It's so good to hear from you again! And thank you so much for the identification of the chamomiles! I didn't recognize them as I've never seen such tall ones before! These ones were about 30 cm high, and I've only seen them about half that height. And their leaves were very finely-cut, almost like asparagus ferns.

As for maybe never having the chance to visit Canada, I feel the same about Europe and Greece, and I know how great it is to vicariously be with a friend on their travels. I tried very hard to show the wilder parts of the country (not really hard to do, as nearly everyone lives in the cities these days!) And big cities are more or less the same everywhere nowadays.

I've been having recurring dreams lately about living in the "dry belt" where I just returned from, and I must say that I felt almost as if I were returning home as I passed along the cliffs and sagebrush-covered hills. I have seen it all in my dreams so often in the middle of the night!

An aboriginal friend of mine was quite excited when I returned and mentioned to her about my experience with that coyote crossing the road. And when I told her of his eye contact with me and his expression of, "Well, get on with it!!", she became rather agitated and told me that this was definitely a sign. She said that the coyote, in native belief, is a very powerful animal, a trickster, who has powers to make things happen. Well, now, I don't really subscribe to native beliefs, but on the other hand, they're just as good as any, and I won't discard them out of hand. Maybe there really WAS something to the encounter! It certainly seemed as if he was looking right at me! And he wasn't afraid at all, unlike most wild creatures who run away as soon as they see us.

Anyway, I also discovered the existence of a spiritual community 2000 feet up in the hills above the river, so next summer I plan to revisit the same area and look around at possibilities for living there. At least I won't have to worry about getting a job!

Well, it's now 2:00 in the morning, so I really must get to bed! I'll post another batch of pictures tomorrow.

Until then, bonsoir!

-gordonf

27 Sep '07 9:13 pm

Hello, hello, Liza;

It's so good to hear from you again! And thank you so much for the identification of the chamomiles! I didn't recognize them as I've never seen such tall ones before! These ones were about 30 cm high, and I've only seen them about half that height. And their leaves were very finely-cut, almost like asparagus ferns.

As for maybe never having the chance to visit Canada, I feel the same about Europe and Greece, and I know how great it is to vicariously be with a friend on their travels. I tried very hard to show the wilder parts of the country (not really hard to do, as nearly everyone lives in the cities these days!) And big cities are more or less the same everywhere nowadays.

I've been having recurring dreams lately about living in the "dry belt" where I just returned from, and I must say that I felt almost as if I were returning home as I passed along the cliffs and sagebrush-covered hills. I have seen it all in my dreams so often in the middle of the night!

An aboriginal friend of mine was quite excited when I returned and mentioned to her about my experience with that coyote crossing the road. And when I told her of his eye contact with me and his expression of, "Well, get on with it!!", she became rather agitated and told me that this was definitely a sign. She said that the coyote, in native belief, is a very powerful animal, a trickster, who has powers to make things happen. Well, now, I don't really subscribe to native beliefs, but on the other hand, they're just as good as any, and I won't discard them out of hand. Maybe there really WAS something to the encounter! It certainly seemed as if he was looking right at me! And he wasn't afraid at all, unlike most wild creatures who run away as soon as they see us.

Anyway, I also discovered the existence of a spiritual community 2000 feet up in the hills above the river, so next summer I plan to revisit the same area and look around at possibilities for living there. At least I won't have to worry about getting a job!

Well, it's now 2:00 in the morning, so I really must get to bed! I'll post another batch of pictures tomorrow.

Until then, bonsoir!

-gordonf

Over the Mountains to the Interior

Over the Mountains to the Interior

Seeds and First Post

Welcome home, Gordon!

Over the Mountains, etc., etc.

Whistler

Welcome back, good old friend!!

Chamomiles

Chamomiles