Blackduck59

So this fits perfectly, you are already coming to the Island I'm an island guy so local knowledge here is better than Vancouver. Once you get things more sorted we can work out when and where to meet up.

That is interesting. Let's see if we can make something happen. I don't suppose that your cruise visits Victoria? We are just trying to sort out a short notice move for my Mother in Law. She is having to move to a higher level of care so things are moving fast over here. Hopefully we can get everything sorted without much stress. Cheers, Lyle & Lynn

Roger that. We fly out to Boston on 21 August. Keep in touch.

I don't know for sure about sticker shock but remember Norwegian beer in Norway is the local brew, not some high end "Import". I'm thinking a pint of local draft ashore will be less that the price of a beer on the ship.

We really are looking forward to it. We chose this itinerary because it included Newfoundland. We do hope that weather does not get in the way sometimes that port gets cancelled.

We are booked at the Hyatt Place Boston Seaport, we went through booking dot com and the cost is $550.00 US for 2 nights.

We're looking forward to visiting Newfoundland, we will be there in early September. Cornerbrook is the port stop. We don't have anything planned but have seen a few things we will check out. Through my sea cadet connections I was "Screeched In" at HMCS Quadra here on the wet coast; how can you do that you ask? Well there was a large contingent of staff at Quadra from Newfoundland and one of them was an "Screech In" Officiate. So I was duly Screeched in and have the certificate but, I've never been to Newfoundland. If I can re-do the ceremony while I'm there I will, if not I'll get a shot of screech and hopefully a souvenir shot glass. Other than that we'll just enjoy the friendly people we know we will encounter there. While the result of the submersible search was tragic, some reports coming out now are that the implosion was captured by navy technology that is quite secret. Perhaps the lesson to be learned from this tragedy is that it is time to leave the Grand Lady alone. Titanic went down 111 years ago. There is nothing further to learn from diving on her now. Let's leave this grave site alone, before we add more lost souls to the tally.

We're doing our part. Chicken pie for Lynn. Butter Chicken pie for me No dead 'orse, Lynn can't eat tomatoes and I thought curry sauce would go better with the butter chicken.

Safe travels home Mic & Rosie

We did take the opportunity to show Lyndon a plethora of bridges. The original plan had us taking the Lions Gate north and coming back via the same bridge. Unfortunately the Lions Gate was packed south bound. So adapting to that we went to The Iron Worker's Memorial Bridge. Then we had to get across the Fraser River to get to the airport, each successive bridge was packed so finally we ran out of bridges and had to take the last option. Safely on the same side of the river as the airport we took the opportunity to go to a small village at the sea side called Steveston, spot prawns were in season but we passed on that and had some hot beverages and enjoyed some good conversation before we had to get Lyndon to the Airport and us to the ferry terminal. Cheers Lyndon Lyle & Lynn

I had a look at the few photos we took and they aren't very good so I won't post them. It was so nice to meet a person with someone who we have met through CC and we had a nice visit.

We spent a nice day with Lyndon. We had a nice lunch at the brew house then went on a scenic drive. Of course there were several times we didn't know exactly where we were, but that was all part of the fun.

Lyndon was at Granville Island today. We have reservations for lunch at the Stanley Park Brewpub. After lunch we can continue the drive around the park. Unfortunately the sea wall was severely damaged in a storm almost 2 years ago. Repairs will take some time so that popular walk is not available. We're going to take him over the Lions Gate Bridge to the north shore for a quick look. After that it will be back over the bridge and hopefully we can find parking at English Bay. I had poutine with my take away burger for supper today. It was okay but it was a fast food place. There are a couple of places here that are owned by Quebecois that make outstanding poutine. We will be trying poutine when we are in Quebec in September.

I just got off the phone with Lyndon, we're going to pick him up at his hotel and spend the day with him. The interesting thing will be that we will all be tourists. I rarely go to the mainland and even less often into downtown Vancouver. Lynn grew up in Vancouver but has been here in Victoria for 23 years. Hopefully we don't get too lost and can get him to the airport without any aggravation. After we drop him off it's an easy route to the ferry and we will be on the 1900 hrs. sailing. We will be sure to get a photo.

Way over on the other side of the country but that doesn't surprise me, there are plenty of idiots everywhere. There is a herd of Roosevelt Elk that hangs out in a little town called Youbou (pronounced you bow) about an hour north from my place nobody bothers them and they don't bother anyone; unfortunately we here on the news that some loser went out and poached some of them. They just kill them sometimes take the rack and almost always leave the meat. If you're going to kill the animal you better be eating the meat (elk is excellent meat). When the locals hear someone messed with their herd they are not amused. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be caught poaching Elk on Vancouver Island.

Probably not, I haven't really seen any reporting on it so far. I was just commenting that some people are completely unaware the peril they put themselves in when dealing with wildlife. I certainly wouldn't want to be wandering around bear country without a gun, especially if those bears were Grizzlies or Polar Bears, they seem to think anything that moves is food. Moose and Elk are both big animals and hitting one with your car is likely to total the car and the animal would get up and walk away.

I'm glad to hear your are having good views for your land adventure. We are considering a cruise tour option in Alaska and Yukon. I spent 7 weeks in the Yukon in 1977 while I was in cadets. Lynn has never been to the north other than our Alaska cruise. I am interested to see how Whitehorse and Dawson City have changed or remained the same. I also spent 2 weeks at a bush camp outside of Carcross that summer. I don't know if any tours go there, I hope they do. Enjoy the rest of your tour, we're looking forward to meeting you on Saturday.

That is sad news, bears are unpredictable creatures. I can never understand the people who get out of the vehicles to get up close and personal to take a "selfy" with the bear cub on the side of the road. Of course they have no idea where momma bear is or the world of hurt you will be in if she catches you that close to her cub.

This story has made the news here in Canada. It has been reported here that this is the worst death toll in a crash in 30 years in Australia. The details we have heard are very few but it sounds like the driver is in for some pretty harsh scrutiny.

I think perhaps the better tactic for "Craft Beer" lovers on any cruise is to research your ports of call for craft breweries. I'm guessing that the beer selection on board will depend on where in the world you are cruising. Another member posted finding some "unusual" brews aboard a repositioning cruise that had just left the Australian operational area. These could have been mass produced Australian or Kiwi brews and would only be unusual for someone not from there. I'm guessing the beer selection on our New England/East Coast Canada cruise in August will be mediocre at best, that being said we will probably find at least a few unique brews in every port. Unfortunately these won't be covered by your drink package but alas such is the price of a proper "Craft Beer" Cheers everybody.

@lyndarra there was a little dinghy in the yacht basin today, you might have found interesting.

I can't say we have such a thing here, we do have karaoke though. I haven't seen it offered anywhere lately.

Glad you've had good weather so far @lyndarra. We had a bit if a turn here, it has cooled down and is raining today. Hopefully it is raining closer to the fires about 3 hours north of here.

I just now saw on the TV, we just had a large contingent from South Africa today. They landed in Edmonton so I assume they will be working the Alberta fires. President Biden also pledged support from the US so we are grateful for that. Any help is certainly appreciated. Of course the usual load members from the US congress are beeking off about Canada and the smoke. Of course while we were eating smoke from fires in the US that was okay. All I know is we are doing what we can with a lot of help from our friends to get these fires under control.

We've made contact with Lyndon, we will go over to Vancouver to meet him on the 17th