Rob-n-Hild, oot and aboot eh? Sorry - 2022

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Richmond - Nanaimo (111 km (66.4 km on Ferry). Max elevation - 83m)

We started the day off with a morning walk along the north side of Richmond along Fraser River. Vivian was our local guide. At the University of British Columbia (UBC) boathouse we found an art installation where we should be able to transmit sound and echo, but we couldn't quite make it work. Rob was able to talk to himself though, so that is at least something (normal)!

Along the river there were bike paths and walking paths as well as convenient rocks to sit and rest. Also nice to watch others practice their rowing - exhausting for them. The bunny rabbits along the path were much more relaxed and didn't seem to mind us being there - let alone taking photos of them.

Side note: Every evening when put these photos together we get a laugh and a kick out of a (to us) new feature in PowerPoint. We use it to create photo collages, and as soon as we paste in a new photo, PowerPoint tries to guess what is in the photo by suggesting a title for it. Today the suggestion was not two rabbits in the photos below but one squirrel and one turtle. Tee-hee.

We got as far as Bridge #2 (inventive name decided by public vote!) where we find the only hill in Richmond: So we (Vivian and Hild) power-walked/ran up the slope 3 times. Run to the top, touch the railing, run down quickly, cross the line at the bottom, turn around and repeat. Rob was in charge of recording the achievement.

On our way back we stopped by Richmond Olympic Oval built for long track skating events during the 2010 winter games. It is a beautiful building still after 13 years. It is also a very useful community activity center mixing everyone from elite athletes to those who train a lot less often and with different goals in mind ... (us?). Ice hockey, basketball, table tennis, climbing walls, group fitness rooms, yoga room, cardio machines, and weight lifting area. A great facility to have in your neighbourhood for sure.

There were climbing walls for beginners to advanced. There were walls for speed climbing, ones without ropes, and ones that you could pivot to make them harder! My hands ache just thinking about it.

Cool art installations showed various sports and a large poster reminded us that people come in all shapes and sizes - even those that are top athletes.

Outside the oval you could sit an rest on different colourful chairs and tables while enjoying the view over a pond with a fountain and an art installment of a fishing net for the prominent industry in this area.

It was time to end our morning walk and drive back to Vivan's house so we could pack up the car. Then we set off south to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen. We arrived a bit early compared to our check-in time. However, nobody seemed to care. We were given a row to park our car in, and the ticket lady suggested we wait in the market hall which had food stalls, coffee shops, and souvenir shops. We grabbed a second breakfast until we had to go get the car ready. The photo below if of the matching ferry next to ours, although ours was called Costal Renaissance.

As shown on the map below, the terminal is on a peninsula and as close to the USA we have ever been without crossing the border. While enjoying the view from the sun deck of sea lions playing in the harbour, Hild was able to write some postcards.

The ferry crossing took about 1 hour and 40 minutes but we were slow loading and off-loading. We entertained ourselves during the crossing by identifying our ferry and surrounding crafts on marinetraffic.com. Always amazing to see quite how many boats are oot and aboot in the world!

When we checked in at our hotel in Nanaimo the clerk decided we should have a room upgrade (lucky us)so we could enjoy a harbour view. Beautiful and fun because we get to watch and study the seaplanes take off and land. Fabulous! We also have a comfortable sitting area for meals prepared with groceries (i.e. salad kit!) from nearby supermarket.

The harbour in front of our hotel is so nice and fun to walk around. Commercial boats, pleasure crafts, ferries, floating restaurants, and people with their doggies enjoying the day. And of course the fun seaplanes.

May/June 2022

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