Friday, October 9, 2009
Home and no job
Just over two weeks after returning from Canada I was informed by Wayne Shaw that my position at Silver Fern Farms was being disestablished in the Christchurch Office, and my last day would be September 25th. September 24th will mark 36 years since starting with Canterbury Frozen Meat (essentially the same organisation). CFM was purchased outright by Primary Producers Co-operative Society (PPCS), who rebranded themselves Silver Fern Farms in June 2008.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Canada 2009 - 24th July
After breakfast we packed the cases and weighed them. Was about 20lb overweight. At 4pm (Calgary time) we left to go to the airport, where we were charged CAD$225 for having 5 pieces of luggage and having one exceeding Air Canada's 50lb limit, although it was within Air New Zealand's 35kg bag limit. The charge should have been $325 ($100 for the excess bag, and $225 for the overweight bag), but the kind lady(?) amalgamated the charge into the one!
Shamina got the treatment at Calgary security, with her shoes having to be rescanned, and the wand waved over and under her feet. Also had one camera bag gone over, only because it had a tin of coffee (Tim Hortons) in it!
We flew on a Embrear E190, and while the flight to Calgary was clear, this time there was a lot of smoke haze from forest fires near Kelwona, about half way between Calgary and Vancouver.
When we arrived in Vancouver we could see the ANZ B747 at gate D66, and the Canadian couple behind us mentioned it was going to be a long walk from gate C45. I asked them if they were on the flight and they said yes. Going on holiday? "No, we live in NZ" was the reply. Where? "Christhurch". So do we, where in Christchurch? "Bromley".
Shamina checking out the shops before we head to the gate.
Photos are of a wooden carving in international and part of a large marine fish tank, both at Vancouver.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Canada 2009 - 23rd July
It looked like there was smoke in the sky from a bush fire. The sun was red and it was very hazy, but still warm. It was a quiet morning, with sorting out photos to go to Rozi & Naushad. Late morning Naushad said we should go back to the Bass Pro Shop and spend a bit more time there. When the ladies were ready we headed off the short distance (about 12km) to the Bass Pro Shop.
This time I took a few pictures of what has to be the best outdoor sports shop I have ever been in. Even Shamina was impressed with the number of animals around the walls, behind seats, on top of shop fittings and in the ceiling. A large tank contained a number of species of trout all swimming around, and real water flowed down several waterfalls. We spent 60 minutes wandering around, and I purchased a couple more things here, before we headed off to Deerfoot Mall, or the Walmart at Deerfoot to be more precise.
Not long after getting back to Falconridge, another jet took off heading east, but this noise was different. I went outside as what looked like a F-86 Sabre (Korean War era) went over. Wrong lens on camera. Another "no pic".
Having prawns and crab curry for dinner tonight, our final dinner before heading home. Will be in the air (Calgary to Vancouver) in 24 hours.
This time I took a few pictures of what has to be the best outdoor sports shop I have ever been in. Even Shamina was impressed with the number of animals around the walls, behind seats, on top of shop fittings and in the ceiling. A large tank contained a number of species of trout all swimming around, and real water flowed down several waterfalls. We spent 60 minutes wandering around, and I purchased a couple more things here, before we headed off to Deerfoot Mall, or the Walmart at Deerfoot to be more precise.
Not long after getting back to Falconridge, another jet took off heading east, but this noise was different. I went outside as what looked like a F-86 Sabre (Korean War era) went over. Wrong lens on camera. Another "no pic".
Having prawns and crab curry for dinner tonight, our final dinner before heading home. Will be in the air (Calgary to Vancouver) in 24 hours.
Canada 2009 - 22nd July
A pretty quiet day, relaxing, although we did go to Marlborough Mall and purchase another suitcase and some more clothes. I also got a reduced price book on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and sat and read part of it while waiting for Shamina and Rozi while they were in Walmart. Naushad was not feeling well, but we all (Rozi, Naushad, three boys and us) went out to the Royal India restaurant in downtown, for dinner. We all went in Rizwan’s seven seat Acura (I think they are made by Honda).
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Canada 2009 - 21st July
We set off just after 9:15am, heading south, again on Highway 2, but this time to Fort MacLeod, and further on the border at Carway (Ca)/Port Piegan (USA).
The destination was the third rail location I had on my wish list for the trip, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad’s Two Medicines River bridge at Glacier Park (East Glacier), and the famous barn seen in the foreground of many photos from this location. This bridge was also the topic of a Dave Smithey (model railroad mate) quiz question a few months ago, when he emailed a photo of the bridge (without barn) to Brendon Groufsky and myself. I immediately replied to both Dave and Brendon “I can’t see the barn”, which Dave knew was my way of advising I knew where it was, but was not letting Brendon know. It took Brendon a few more days of research to work out where the bridge was! The bridge, at the boundary between the plains and the mountains, was built by the Great Northern Railway, but since 1995 is under Burlington Northern Santa Fe ownership.
Half way between Calgary and the USA border, Rozi said “we have food we can’t take into USA”, so a kilometre short of the border we stopped and ate our lunch. It was exactly 12 noon anyway! We crossed into the USA quickly and with no problems; it was a quiet border crossing compared to the one at Blaine, south of Vancouver.
The landscape had changed a few miles north of the border to rolling hill country with cattle grazing and no wheat nor canola of further north. In Montana, and we only saw a very small portion of Montana, there were a few tepees to be seen, some alongside a lake and others used as rooms in a motel/camp complex. We stopped at St. Mary, an entrance to Glacier National Park (for photos), but continued on, using Route 89 and then 49, the shortest route distance to East Glacier, also known by its railroad name of Glacier Park. This turned out to be a winding, steep and narrow road, that is only open in the summer months, of about 12 miles (20km), with a 25mph (40kmh) speed limit, but it was very scenic. At one point we crossed the south branch of the Milk River, a creek about a metre wide. This river starts in the Montana, flows north east into Alberta, before turning back south into Montana, to enter the Missouri River, and ultimately the Mississippi, entering the sea at New Orleans. All of Alberta’s other river systems either flow north to the Arctic Sea or east to Hudson Bay.
We had passed the Two Medicine Lake west of Route 49, and crossed over the Two Medicine River a couple of miles short of Glacier Park, so I knew that the rail bridge was east of the town, so at the East Glacier junction of Highway 2 and 49 we turned left and within a minute we were on the road crossing of the Two Medicine River, with the rail crossing a few hundred metres north, but viewable from the road. Naushad stopped the car and I got out armed with camera and scanner.
Within minutes an eastbound empty grain train behind three locomotives, two BNSF pumpkins (orange) and a war bonnet (silver and red Santa Fe), came over the bridge, and once that had got back onto double track, a westbound grain came, this one with two locos at front and two pushing on the rear. The train was still climbing towards the continental divide at Marias Pass (about 15 miles west), so helper power was needed. This was followed within minutes by two SD40-2 locomotives, consecutively numbered (6818 and 6819), with 6818 still in BN green. These were for a work train working between East Glacier and Summit. I had fulfilled Tim’s requirement of a picture of a Burlington Northern green SD40-2. I could return home now!
Amtrak #8, the eastbound Empire Builder (passenger train), was heard on the scanner, stopped and waiting for traffic to clear after track work. I had hoped it was west of Glacier Park and I would get my first Amtrak picture, but it must have crossed the bridge just prior to us getting to Glacier Park, as there were still people at the station when we passed it. However, it was way behind schedule as it should go through Glacier Park about 10:00am.
It went quiet for about 30-40 minutes, with no trains, and we were just about to leave when we heard a locomotive horn east of us, so stayed a bit longer. The scanner was active with the work train crew (they wanted more track time but the dispatcher had trains queued up ready to go west), and then one of the three talking hot box detectors in the area (MP 1145.5) activated with its radio message of “no defects”. Soon the MP 1142.5 and MP 1138.8 detectors also reported no defects, so I knew another eastbound would be on the bridge within a minute or two. Sure enough a general freight with two EMDs (one in war bonnet scheme) and two GEs, passed over the bridge heading to Browning and points east.
I returned to the car and we went back to Glacier Park to fill up with gas (US$38), and then went west about a mile. The work train, a continuous welded rail train with Herzog equipment (road/rail) on the end, was being pushed back slowly to Glacier Park, where the work sidings are. The power was the two SD40-2s seen crossing the bridge earlier. We returned to Glacier Park and I photographed it crossing the bridge right in Glacier Park (not the Two Medicine Bridge), and then we left, heading east toward Browning (17 miles away).
The landscape changed immediately to rolling hill country, and again to the plains, and sure enough there were two westbound freights stationary just east of the Two Medicine Bridge, waiting for the work train to clear the mainline. We should have stayed at the bridge another few minutes as we would have seen another two trains head over it westbound. The railway line is just north of the road, until just short of Browning where it crosses under the road and enters the Browning yard on a large elevated curve, protected with huge snow fences.
It is 14 years since the merger of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, but there is still a lot of early paint scheme equipment. We had seen locomotives in BN green (1970-1995), Santa Fe war bonnet (1985 -1995) and two versions of BNSF orange, not to forget about the older yellow and blue Santa Fe unit seen at Everett on 4th July. The general freight trains contained a lot of BN green equipment too, but the two grain trains seen, had no BN lettered hoppers, just BNSF or other non BN/BNSF lettered hoppers.
We stopped in Browning for about 30 minutes and went to a large gift shop. Prices seemed reasonable, even when converting US$ to NZ$, but I only bought a pictorial book on Glacier National Park, while Shamina bought a few little pieces. Naushad checked out motel prices, before he decided to head home to Calgary. Instead of returning via Route 89 (St. Mary), we used Route 474 north out of Browning, straight through the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. For a minor road it was good, and it joined the highway a few miles short of the border crossing at Babb. We stopped at a little café for a coffee ($1 a large Styrofoam cup) and continued north, crossing back into Canada with just a couple of questions from the Canadian Immigration officer (how long had the Canadians been out of Canada, and how long were the New Zealanders going to stay in Canada).
At Cardston, another historic town with a museum devoted to horse drawn vehicles (stage coaches etc) the ladies spotted The Bargain! Shop and decided to investigate. As they walked in one of the staff turned the “open” sign off (it was 5:30pm), but it turned out the shop didn’t close till 6:00pm. They purchased a few things and then we continued north towards Calgary, stopping at Claresholm for a coffee and washroom stop. Another full day with 740km put on the Lincoln Navigator.
I loaded the photos onto the computer, checked the emails, and then was going to show Naushad a few pictures from the internet (Fraser and Thompson rivers), so went to Railpictures.net. The photo of the week (front screen) just happened to be a picture of Southern Pacific steam engine 4449 with passenger special crossing the Two Medicine Bridge on July 5th. Exactly the same location as where we were a few hours earlier!
The destination was the third rail location I had on my wish list for the trip, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad’s Two Medicines River bridge at Glacier Park (East Glacier), and the famous barn seen in the foreground of many photos from this location. This bridge was also the topic of a Dave Smithey (model railroad mate) quiz question a few months ago, when he emailed a photo of the bridge (without barn) to Brendon Groufsky and myself. I immediately replied to both Dave and Brendon “I can’t see the barn”, which Dave knew was my way of advising I knew where it was, but was not letting Brendon know. It took Brendon a few more days of research to work out where the bridge was! The bridge, at the boundary between the plains and the mountains, was built by the Great Northern Railway, but since 1995 is under Burlington Northern Santa Fe ownership.
Half way between Calgary and the USA border, Rozi said “we have food we can’t take into USA”, so a kilometre short of the border we stopped and ate our lunch. It was exactly 12 noon anyway! We crossed into the USA quickly and with no problems; it was a quiet border crossing compared to the one at Blaine, south of Vancouver.
The landscape had changed a few miles north of the border to rolling hill country with cattle grazing and no wheat nor canola of further north. In Montana, and we only saw a very small portion of Montana, there were a few tepees to be seen, some alongside a lake and others used as rooms in a motel/camp complex. We stopped at St. Mary, an entrance to Glacier National Park (for photos), but continued on, using Route 89 and then 49, the shortest route distance to East Glacier, also known by its railroad name of Glacier Park. This turned out to be a winding, steep and narrow road, that is only open in the summer months, of about 12 miles (20km), with a 25mph (40kmh) speed limit, but it was very scenic. At one point we crossed the south branch of the Milk River, a creek about a metre wide. This river starts in the Montana, flows north east into Alberta, before turning back south into Montana, to enter the Missouri River, and ultimately the Mississippi, entering the sea at New Orleans. All of Alberta’s other river systems either flow north to the Arctic Sea or east to Hudson Bay.
We had passed the Two Medicine Lake west of Route 49, and crossed over the Two Medicine River a couple of miles short of Glacier Park, so I knew that the rail bridge was east of the town, so at the East Glacier junction of Highway 2 and 49 we turned left and within a minute we were on the road crossing of the Two Medicine River, with the rail crossing a few hundred metres north, but viewable from the road. Naushad stopped the car and I got out armed with camera and scanner.
Within minutes an eastbound empty grain train behind three locomotives, two BNSF pumpkins (orange) and a war bonnet (silver and red Santa Fe), came over the bridge, and once that had got back onto double track, a westbound grain came, this one with two locos at front and two pushing on the rear. The train was still climbing towards the continental divide at Marias Pass (about 15 miles west), so helper power was needed. This was followed within minutes by two SD40-2 locomotives, consecutively numbered (6818 and 6819), with 6818 still in BN green. These were for a work train working between East Glacier and Summit. I had fulfilled Tim’s requirement of a picture of a Burlington Northern green SD40-2. I could return home now!
Amtrak #8, the eastbound Empire Builder (passenger train), was heard on the scanner, stopped and waiting for traffic to clear after track work. I had hoped it was west of Glacier Park and I would get my first Amtrak picture, but it must have crossed the bridge just prior to us getting to Glacier Park, as there were still people at the station when we passed it. However, it was way behind schedule as it should go through Glacier Park about 10:00am.
It went quiet for about 30-40 minutes, with no trains, and we were just about to leave when we heard a locomotive horn east of us, so stayed a bit longer. The scanner was active with the work train crew (they wanted more track time but the dispatcher had trains queued up ready to go west), and then one of the three talking hot box detectors in the area (MP 1145.5) activated with its radio message of “no defects”. Soon the MP 1142.5 and MP 1138.8 detectors also reported no defects, so I knew another eastbound would be on the bridge within a minute or two. Sure enough a general freight with two EMDs (one in war bonnet scheme) and two GEs, passed over the bridge heading to Browning and points east.
I returned to the car and we went back to Glacier Park to fill up with gas (US$38), and then went west about a mile. The work train, a continuous welded rail train with Herzog equipment (road/rail) on the end, was being pushed back slowly to Glacier Park, where the work sidings are. The power was the two SD40-2s seen crossing the bridge earlier. We returned to Glacier Park and I photographed it crossing the bridge right in Glacier Park (not the Two Medicine Bridge), and then we left, heading east toward Browning (17 miles away).
The landscape changed immediately to rolling hill country, and again to the plains, and sure enough there were two westbound freights stationary just east of the Two Medicine Bridge, waiting for the work train to clear the mainline. We should have stayed at the bridge another few minutes as we would have seen another two trains head over it westbound. The railway line is just north of the road, until just short of Browning where it crosses under the road and enters the Browning yard on a large elevated curve, protected with huge snow fences.
It is 14 years since the merger of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, but there is still a lot of early paint scheme equipment. We had seen locomotives in BN green (1970-1995), Santa Fe war bonnet (1985 -1995) and two versions of BNSF orange, not to forget about the older yellow and blue Santa Fe unit seen at Everett on 4th July. The general freight trains contained a lot of BN green equipment too, but the two grain trains seen, had no BN lettered hoppers, just BNSF or other non BN/BNSF lettered hoppers.
We stopped in Browning for about 30 minutes and went to a large gift shop. Prices seemed reasonable, even when converting US$ to NZ$, but I only bought a pictorial book on Glacier National Park, while Shamina bought a few little pieces. Naushad checked out motel prices, before he decided to head home to Calgary. Instead of returning via Route 89 (St. Mary), we used Route 474 north out of Browning, straight through the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. For a minor road it was good, and it joined the highway a few miles short of the border crossing at Babb. We stopped at a little café for a coffee ($1 a large Styrofoam cup) and continued north, crossing back into Canada with just a couple of questions from the Canadian Immigration officer (how long had the Canadians been out of Canada, and how long were the New Zealanders going to stay in Canada).
At Cardston, another historic town with a museum devoted to horse drawn vehicles (stage coaches etc) the ladies spotted The Bargain! Shop and decided to investigate. As they walked in one of the staff turned the “open” sign off (it was 5:30pm), but it turned out the shop didn’t close till 6:00pm. They purchased a few things and then we continued north towards Calgary, stopping at Claresholm for a coffee and washroom stop. Another full day with 740km put on the Lincoln Navigator.
I loaded the photos onto the computer, checked the emails, and then was going to show Naushad a few pictures from the internet (Fraser and Thompson rivers), so went to Railpictures.net. The photo of the week (front screen) just happened to be a picture of Southern Pacific steam engine 4449 with passenger special crossing the Two Medicine Bridge on July 5th. Exactly the same location as where we were a few hours earlier!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Canada 2009 - 20th July
There was some discussion about 9:00am as to whether we head off to Montana (USA) at noon, or to get up a bit earlier on Tuesday morning, and go then, and return Wednesday afternoon. This was agreed so it was a "local" day today. My request list for the day was to have another quick look at CN’s Sarcee Yard (had only seen one CN train since we had been here), go to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and if time was available also check out the Bass Pro Shop in the new Cross Iron Mills mall complex, the rest of which is not due to open for another month. When complete, this will be Calgary’s biggest mall complex employing over 3500 staff.
Naushad and I set off to 50th Ave SE and we stopped a couple of times while I photographed CN action. A Mi-Jack wheeled container crane was taking 53’ CN containers off road trucks and placing them onto the top of 48’ CN containers in the lower wells of DTTX double stack sets. Further on down the yard, a shipping container train, mainly made up of Asian 40’ containers sat on the track.
There was no CN mainline power to be seen (this is technically a CN branch line), but the yard power (three units) was assembling a train. I took some pics of the units and some of the cars in that section of the train. We then moved on to the nearby Tim Hortons drive thru and got our morning fix, before heading passed CP’s Ogden yard and going passed the Alyth locomotive depot, with at least 40 locomotives present, mostly Dash-9s.
Not far away is the bird sanctuary (9th Ave SE), so we parked the car, got the camera ready with the 400mm lens on the tripod/Wimberley head and headed in through the gate. The sanctuary has a few trails and bridges across a lagoon of the Bow River, and while we didn’t see that many birds, what we saw was interesting. A few white pelicans soared overhead, while a few species of duck (Wood Duck, Mallards, Lesser Scaup) were in the lagoon. Naushad was good at spotting birds, as well as telling me there was a deer on the bridge we had just crossed. A group of children led by someone from the sanctuary came along, just after we spotted a hole in a tree being used by tree swallows. One of the kids said that the swallows were barn swallows, and the lady asked me what I was photographing. I pointed out the hole in the dead tree limb, and she told the group that these must be tree swallows and not barn swallows as they are using an old woodpecker hole. That got me a bit excited as I have never seen a woodpecker, and we resumed walking the trails. On the track alongside the Bow River, Naushad spotted a small bird sitting in a dead tree. I looked at it and thought it may have been a woodpecker, black and white with a patch of red on the head, but it looked smaller than what I assumed a woodpecker was. I took a couple of shots before it flew off. A display in the information centre (as we went out) confirmed it was a Downy Woodpecker. Also saw some Cedar Waxwings, a Chickadee (possibly a Boreal Chickadee), a pair of Mourning Doves, and a lot of American Robins. Saw a few large nests and took these to be Swainson’s Hawk nests, although most looked old. Signage said there were more species during the fall migration south, but I thought there might have been more aquatic birds, such as Mergansers and Loons. On the Bow River were a lot of Franklin’s Gull in breeding and non-breeding plumage.
We did however see three deer wandering through the sanctuary, and two were using the footbridge to cross from one side of the lagoon to the other. There are also a lot of trout in the lagoon, most of these being a decent size, but as it is a sanctuary there is “no fishing”. The sanctuary is also a little east of the approach to the main runway (#34) at Calgary International, so was able to photograph planes at the same time. I restricted myself to plane images of more exotic planes and airlines (not the normal Air Canada and Westjet planes), but got American Airlines, United Express, Delta Connection, Continental, a Lufthansa A340 in the Star Alliance paint scheme and a F-18 Hornet from CAF in special 100 years of flight paint scheme.
Leaving the Inglewood Sanctuary we headed north on Deerfoot Trail (Hwy 2) to the new Bass Pro Shop, about 12km north of the city. I have never been in an outdoors shop like it. Departments included fishing, hunting, (both shooting and bow hunting), clothing, home furnishings (outdoor themed) and a coffee shop. It was huge, with probably more animals in it than most museums. A two story live waterfall feature was museum quality, and beers, wolves, moose, caribou, and other species abounded in the shop. One long feature had a few wolves chasing a herd of caribou down a rocky slope, the slope actually starting above the display cabinets on the second level and ending above the cabinets on the ground level. I purchased a few trout lures from here, as well as a fridge magnet.
We returned home mid afternoon after a busy but rewarding day, to find that Shamina and Rozi had just left to go shopping yet again.
Naushad and I set off to 50th Ave SE and we stopped a couple of times while I photographed CN action. A Mi-Jack wheeled container crane was taking 53’ CN containers off road trucks and placing them onto the top of 48’ CN containers in the lower wells of DTTX double stack sets. Further on down the yard, a shipping container train, mainly made up of Asian 40’ containers sat on the track.
There was no CN mainline power to be seen (this is technically a CN branch line), but the yard power (three units) was assembling a train. I took some pics of the units and some of the cars in that section of the train. We then moved on to the nearby Tim Hortons drive thru and got our morning fix, before heading passed CP’s Ogden yard and going passed the Alyth locomotive depot, with at least 40 locomotives present, mostly Dash-9s.
Not far away is the bird sanctuary (9th Ave SE), so we parked the car, got the camera ready with the 400mm lens on the tripod/Wimberley head and headed in through the gate. The sanctuary has a few trails and bridges across a lagoon of the Bow River, and while we didn’t see that many birds, what we saw was interesting. A few white pelicans soared overhead, while a few species of duck (Wood Duck, Mallards, Lesser Scaup) were in the lagoon. Naushad was good at spotting birds, as well as telling me there was a deer on the bridge we had just crossed. A group of children led by someone from the sanctuary came along, just after we spotted a hole in a tree being used by tree swallows. One of the kids said that the swallows were barn swallows, and the lady asked me what I was photographing. I pointed out the hole in the dead tree limb, and she told the group that these must be tree swallows and not barn swallows as they are using an old woodpecker hole. That got me a bit excited as I have never seen a woodpecker, and we resumed walking the trails. On the track alongside the Bow River, Naushad spotted a small bird sitting in a dead tree. I looked at it and thought it may have been a woodpecker, black and white with a patch of red on the head, but it looked smaller than what I assumed a woodpecker was. I took a couple of shots before it flew off. A display in the information centre (as we went out) confirmed it was a Downy Woodpecker. Also saw some Cedar Waxwings, a Chickadee (possibly a Boreal Chickadee), a pair of Mourning Doves, and a lot of American Robins. Saw a few large nests and took these to be Swainson’s Hawk nests, although most looked old. Signage said there were more species during the fall migration south, but I thought there might have been more aquatic birds, such as Mergansers and Loons. On the Bow River were a lot of Franklin’s Gull in breeding and non-breeding plumage.
We did however see three deer wandering through the sanctuary, and two were using the footbridge to cross from one side of the lagoon to the other. There are also a lot of trout in the lagoon, most of these being a decent size, but as it is a sanctuary there is “no fishing”. The sanctuary is also a little east of the approach to the main runway (#34) at Calgary International, so was able to photograph planes at the same time. I restricted myself to plane images of more exotic planes and airlines (not the normal Air Canada and Westjet planes), but got American Airlines, United Express, Delta Connection, Continental, a Lufthansa A340 in the Star Alliance paint scheme and a F-18 Hornet from CAF in special 100 years of flight paint scheme.
Leaving the Inglewood Sanctuary we headed north on Deerfoot Trail (Hwy 2) to the new Bass Pro Shop, about 12km north of the city. I have never been in an outdoors shop like it. Departments included fishing, hunting, (both shooting and bow hunting), clothing, home furnishings (outdoor themed) and a coffee shop. It was huge, with probably more animals in it than most museums. A two story live waterfall feature was museum quality, and beers, wolves, moose, caribou, and other species abounded in the shop. One long feature had a few wolves chasing a herd of caribou down a rocky slope, the slope actually starting above the display cabinets on the second level and ending above the cabinets on the ground level. I purchased a few trout lures from here, as well as a fridge magnet.
We returned home mid afternoon after a busy but rewarding day, to find that Shamina and Rozi had just left to go shopping yet again.
Then, it happened agaim! While I was uploading the images from the day, a strange jet sound was heard so I went outside to find a nine plane diamond formation of Canadian Air Force Canadair CT-114 Tutor's wheeling to the left overhead. Wrong lens on camera, cards in computer - missed another shot!
Canada 2009 - 19th July
The talk the previous night at the lovo, was a picnic, and Sylvan Lake (see Saturday 11th July), was mentioned as was Sikome Lake. Naushad had not been too Sikome Lake before. Others didn’t want to drive the distance to Sylvan Lake, so at 9:15am we set off for Sikome Lake. On the southern outskirts of the city Naushad exited off Deerfoot Trail onto a secondary road and then I saw the sign for Fish Creek Park, a regional park that stretches east west for about 14km across the southern boundary of the city. Near the eastern end is Sikome Lake, a man made pond, about half a kilometre long and seven feet deep at its deepest. It is drained in winter time, and has a filtration plant, so is basically a swimming pool with sandy beaches all around the lake. But, it was completely fenced and would not open till 10:00am, and when it did Albaerta Parks staff checked all bags for alcohol or glass bottles. Over the next couple of hours this place filled up with thousands of people – it was going to the beach Calgary style. There were life guards on duty with the obligatory surfboard, and periodically the public address system would burst into life about some car illegally parked in the carpark, or that all children under the age of 12 had to be within arms distance at all times, whether in or out of the water. People applied sun tan lotion, lay on the sand on towels, used inflatable boats, threw Frisbees and generally acted like New Zealanders at the beach.
I decided to explore some of the many walks around here, so Naushad and I headed out of the fenced area and off up the hill. This part of Fish Creek Park is in the Bow River Valley that runs north south, while the remainder follows Fish Creek, a minor tributary of the Bow. Walking up the hill I spotted five American White Pelicans, soaring on the thermals. Also higher still were some gulls and a couple of hawks. After walking about two km I saw a hawk sitting on the top of a high power transmission pole, so moved closer to see if I could get a better picture. Suddenly the hawk started screeching, obviously aimed at me, and then it took off from its perch and came straight for my head. I ducked, and it flew around and came back towards me. After three passes, it realised I was not a threat and started soaring higher and higher. We headed back to the picnic area, and had to queue to get back into the fenced area.
One of the other guys in our group had brought into the picnic area a full size gas bar-b-que, so while the meat was cooking I headed out again to check on a pond area below the hill. Here I spotted a Great Blue Heron, and a family of Wood Duck, the first time I had seen this species. I also tried shooting some of the large dragonflies that were flying around. After about an hour I headed back into the lake area (had to have my camera bag searched, despite this my third entry into the secure area), to have lunch. While eating another photo opportunity eluded me as a hawk flew across the valley at low level with a gopher in its talons. It was headed to the wooded area closer to the Bow River.
A big build up of CB cloud to the north was threatening, but came to nothing. Some of our group played volleyball, while others watched and relaxed. About 4pm there was a change of wind direction (from warm southerly to cooler northerly) and the clouds started moving over us, so we packed up all the stuff and prepared to leave. This change of wind also meant that planes coming into Calgary (main north south runway) were now coming right over Sikome Lake, and first plane seen was a Air Canada B777, followed by a KLM A330 and a Air Canada A330. About 4:30pm we headed the 30km back to Falconridge.
One of the other guys in our group had brought into the picnic area a full size gas bar-b-que, so while the meat was cooking I headed out again to check on a pond area below the hill. Here I spotted a Great Blue Heron, and a family of Wood Duck, the first time I had seen this species. I also tried shooting some of the large dragonflies that were flying around. After about an hour I headed back into the lake area (had to have my camera bag searched, despite this my third entry into the secure area), to have lunch. While eating another photo opportunity eluded me as a hawk flew across the valley at low level with a gopher in its talons. It was headed to the wooded area closer to the Bow River.
A big build up of CB cloud to the north was threatening, but came to nothing. Some of our group played volleyball, while others watched and relaxed. About 4pm there was a change of wind direction (from warm southerly to cooler northerly) and the clouds started moving over us, so we packed up all the stuff and prepared to leave. This change of wind also meant that planes coming into Calgary (main north south runway) were now coming right over Sikome Lake, and first plane seen was a Air Canada B777, followed by a KLM A330 and a Air Canada A330. About 4:30pm we headed the 30km back to Falconridge.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Canada 2009 - 18th July
There appeared to be a lot of aircraft arrivals overhead going into runway 28, so I got up and had a look. The first plane I saw (coming in from the east) was a red and white special paint scheme Air Canada Airbus A320, rego C-FFWN. Unfortunately the camera was still in the bedroom, so the only pic I have at present is off the website http://www.jetphotos.net/. I turned on the scanner, and the reason for the traffic was obvious: the main runway (16/34) was closed for maintenance and all traffic was using 28/10. When I finally got the camera out there was just a constant parade of Westjet B737s and Air Canada B737, A320 and Embraer RJs, plus a few smaller Jazz Bombardiers. One Westjet Boeing, flight 398 had a missed approach and had to go around again, something that took a further 22 minutes, before he passed me again.
After breakfast I walked to the train station (30 minutes). While walking to the station a warbird, possibly a Beech C-45H flew in, arriving on 28, plus a United Express (Sky West Airlines) CRJ-701, another new paint scheme for me. It is the story of my trip: The interesting aircraft only come in or go out when my camera is away; I seem to see only the regular commuter jets when I have my camera out. Nearly all the animals at the zoo turned their back to me or walked away when I raised the camera, and we saw the tail end of more trains than the front end.
Anyway, I took a train to the city. The Camera Store was very busy with about 30 customers in the store. I wondered how many were going to be on one of Calgary’s three Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walks later in the day. I purchased another two Wimberley lens plates (both P20) for the 400mm and 70-200mm, and then wandered back to 8th Aveneue, taking a few photographs of buildings and construction as I went.
The exhibition at The Art Gallery of Calgary (117 8th Avenue SW) looked interesting so I paid my $5 and ventured in. The main exhibit was by Donald Woodman and titled The Rodeo and the West, a series of large inkjet prints (most were 52” x 44”) from scans of Polaroid 4 x 5 (4” x 5”) type 55 p/n film. Most were recorded over 20 years ago, but they looked like they had come out of the current Lensbaby craze. Donald used an old Brownie box camera (not the roll film type that I grew up with but the original glass plate model), that he adapted to take a Polaroid back. The largest prints in the exhibition were 12’ x 14’.
I then checked out the shop at the Glenbow Museum and purchased a $5 book titled The Line that tells the story of the CP line from Calgary to Vancouver. Has some interesting facts about the names of all the rail locations between these two cities. One interesting fact that I did not know (I wonder how many do) is that Lake Louise and the province of Alberta are named after the same person: Princess Louise Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of the then Governor General of Canada.
Leaving there, I wandered along Stephen Avenue (no vehicles allowed), and came to a square where there was a Latin festival underway, with music and heaps of food stalls.
I wandered back to 7th Avenue and collected a new ticket from the vending machine just as a McKnight-Westwinds train arrived heading east. Arriving back in the north east I headed into Tim Hortons and grabbed a coffee and a couple of Chicken Snacker Wraps (2 for $3.99), and after eating these wandered back to Falwood Way. Nearly there I saw Rozi and Shamina heading off to the supermarket.
Anyway, I took a train to the city. The Camera Store was very busy with about 30 customers in the store. I wondered how many were going to be on one of Calgary’s three Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walks later in the day. I purchased another two Wimberley lens plates (both P20) for the 400mm and 70-200mm, and then wandered back to 8th Aveneue, taking a few photographs of buildings and construction as I went.
The exhibition at The Art Gallery of Calgary (117 8th Avenue SW) looked interesting so I paid my $5 and ventured in. The main exhibit was by Donald Woodman and titled The Rodeo and the West, a series of large inkjet prints (most were 52” x 44”) from scans of Polaroid 4 x 5 (4” x 5”) type 55 p/n film. Most were recorded over 20 years ago, but they looked like they had come out of the current Lensbaby craze. Donald used an old Brownie box camera (not the roll film type that I grew up with but the original glass plate model), that he adapted to take a Polaroid back. The largest prints in the exhibition were 12’ x 14’.
I then checked out the shop at the Glenbow Museum and purchased a $5 book titled The Line that tells the story of the CP line from Calgary to Vancouver. Has some interesting facts about the names of all the rail locations between these two cities. One interesting fact that I did not know (I wonder how many do) is that Lake Louise and the province of Alberta are named after the same person: Princess Louise Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of the then Governor General of Canada.
Leaving there, I wandered along Stephen Avenue (no vehicles allowed), and came to a square where there was a Latin festival underway, with music and heaps of food stalls.
I wandered back to 7th Avenue and collected a new ticket from the vending machine just as a McKnight-Westwinds train arrived heading east. Arriving back in the north east I headed into Tim Hortons and grabbed a coffee and a couple of Chicken Snacker Wraps (2 for $3.99), and after eating these wandered back to Falwood Way. Nearly there I saw Rozi and Shamina heading off to the supermarket.
Later in the day we went around the corner to Naushad’s brothers house where we had a lovo (hangi). Meat was well cooked but some of the vegetables, especially the kumara could have done with a bit more. Naushad and I were walking home about 10:20pm when I looked up and saw a very bright satellite travelling overhead. It had to be the space station, so once home I checked the Nasa site on the computer, and it advised that the station plus attached shuttle would be seen over Calgary at 10:22pm for about three minutes, and that it would be seen again, but lower in the southern part of the sky at 11:58pm, so we stayed up and saw it again an hour and a half later.
Canada 2009 - 17th July
A fairly quiet relaxing day, although I did get to Trains & Such on 4th Street NW, to see what sort of model railway gear they had. A good shop with friendly staff, a good selection of books, rolling stock, and accessories. I didn’t see too many modern CP locos, but did get a CN (Canadian National) Dash9-C44, a Canadian grain car (they are cylindrical, where the American grain cars are straight or curved sided). I also purchased a couple of books, one on the Western Pacific in Colour, and the other on Burlington Northern rolling stock colour.
A note about Calgary streets. The city is divided into four quadrants; north west, north east, south east, and south west. There is a Centre Street running north-south through the city, basically in line with the Calgary Tower. This is the separation between east and west, while the Bow River is the north-south separator. Looking at the north section only the next street to the right of Centre Street (looking north) is 1st Street NE and the next 2nd Street NE. The first street to the west of Centre Street is 1st Street NW, and so on to the outskirts of the city. Same on the south side. The avenues run east-west, and again are numbered from the Bow River. Major roads are Boulevards, and more important roads (nearly motorways) are Trails. Trains & Such is at 2604 4th Street NW, so is between 25 and 26 Avenues, four streets west of Centre Street, and north of the river. There could well be similar addresses in the other three sectors, such as 2604 4th Street NE.
Shamina and Rozi went out shopping for a few hours, while I tried, with the assistance of Rizwan, to get the computer to talk to Alastair’s video camera, with no luck, although the computer temporarily recognises that something is attached via a USB connection.
A note about Calgary streets. The city is divided into four quadrants; north west, north east, south east, and south west. There is a Centre Street running north-south through the city, basically in line with the Calgary Tower. This is the separation between east and west, while the Bow River is the north-south separator. Looking at the north section only the next street to the right of Centre Street (looking north) is 1st Street NE and the next 2nd Street NE. The first street to the west of Centre Street is 1st Street NW, and so on to the outskirts of the city. Same on the south side. The avenues run east-west, and again are numbered from the Bow River. Major roads are Boulevards, and more important roads (nearly motorways) are Trails. Trains & Such is at 2604 4th Street NW, so is between 25 and 26 Avenues, four streets west of Centre Street, and north of the river. There could well be similar addresses in the other three sectors, such as 2604 4th Street NE.
Shamina and Rozi went out shopping for a few hours, while I tried, with the assistance of Rizwan, to get the computer to talk to Alastair’s video camera, with no luck, although the computer temporarily recognises that something is attached via a USB connection.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Canada 2009 - 16th July
Another nice morning, summer appears to have returned. Shamina and I went for a walk to the local shopping centre, 1km away. Overhead, high cloud was developing, coming only from the contrails of aircraft flying over Calgary in jut about every direction.
Not long after arriving back, Naushad said “let’s go” and we were off to the Calgary Zoo. We drove there and parked in the large car park, and walked down to the ticket booths, and then trough a large tunnel under the motorway and C-Train line. Part way through the tunnel is the C-Train station that serves the Zoo, with another smaller ticket booth for customers off the train. The zoo is divided into sections, including Canada, Africa, Eurasia and a dinosaur area (did not compare with the Dinosaur Museum), that tries to show how the land and environment has changed in Canada over many millions of years.
A section of the zoo is on an island in the Bow River and there are two bridges to and from the main part of the zoo. Animals included moose, deer, big horn sheep, lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippopotamus, bears (brown, cinnamon, black and a sloth bear), snakes, fish, and a lot of birds, including owls, eagles, swans, and in the Australian section, three masked lapwing (the new name for the now common New Zealand bird spur-winged plover).
Photography was difficult, especially if you did not want to show bars or netting, and in some cases (the big cats and bears), the animals were behind two layers of barriers, making it more difficult still.
Not long after arriving back, Naushad said “let’s go” and we were off to the Calgary Zoo. We drove there and parked in the large car park, and walked down to the ticket booths, and then trough a large tunnel under the motorway and C-Train line. Part way through the tunnel is the C-Train station that serves the Zoo, with another smaller ticket booth for customers off the train. The zoo is divided into sections, including Canada, Africa, Eurasia and a dinosaur area (did not compare with the Dinosaur Museum), that tries to show how the land and environment has changed in Canada over many millions of years.
A section of the zoo is on an island in the Bow River and there are two bridges to and from the main part of the zoo. Animals included moose, deer, big horn sheep, lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippopotamus, bears (brown, cinnamon, black and a sloth bear), snakes, fish, and a lot of birds, including owls, eagles, swans, and in the Australian section, three masked lapwing (the new name for the now common New Zealand bird spur-winged plover).
Photography was difficult, especially if you did not want to show bars or netting, and in some cases (the big cats and bears), the animals were behind two layers of barriers, making it more difficult still.
After nearly four hours, we had finally seen the lot and returned to the car. The temperature was hot, with the car thermometer reading an outside temperature of 28 C.
We returned to Falconridge and relaxed. A big build up of cumu;o nimbus (CB) cloud was out to the east and this caused some changes to flight plans of planes arriving and leaving Calgary International. At one point a KLM Boeing B777 or Airbus A300 took off from the short cross runway on it’s way back to Europe, and later a Fedex freighter also took off heading east or back to America. Occasional claps of distant thunder could be heard.
We returned to Falconridge and relaxed. A big build up of cumu;o nimbus (CB) cloud was out to the east and this caused some changes to flight plans of planes arriving and leaving Calgary International. At one point a KLM Boeing B777 or Airbus A300 took off from the short cross runway on it’s way back to Europe, and later a Fedex freighter also took off heading east or back to America. Occasional claps of distant thunder could be heard.
Naushad and the boys headed out to soccer practice, and Rozi said that Shamina and her were going to go for a walk to Prairie Winds Park (about 2km away). I went with them, and walked to the top of a hill (looks to be man made), and it is directly in line with the short runway at the airport. The sun was about to set, but no planes were departing off runway 28 (towards me), although a few were arriving to this runway from the west.
We returned home after 10:00pm for dinner, and I was in bed asleep before 11:30pm.
We returned home after 10:00pm for dinner, and I was in bed asleep before 11:30pm.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Canada 2009 - 15th July
Mid-morning we packed the car heading south, with the possibility of reaching Montana (USA), but definitely going to Lethbridge. On Deerfoot Trail, one of the main north-south routes through the city, we encountered slow traffic, and the radio reported a multi-vehicle pile up and 300 litres spilt diesel on the road ahead. We were diverted off the motorway, but Naushad decided to try and get back on too soon and we were heading back north into the city. I had to use my map reading skills to get us back on a route south and out of the city. In all it took us about 90 minutes to leave Calgary, what should normally have been a 20 minute exercise.
We crossed over the southbound CP line from Calgary to Lethbridge and it disappeared off to the left, and would stay out of site, often 45 km east of the road, till we got near Lethbridge. Highway 2 follows a different, but closed CP rail route, that has had all the track removed, although the ballasted area still looks good, but not good enough for a bike or walking trail.
The first stop we made was in Nanton, to photograph a couple of ex Canadian Air Force jets, outside the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum. Directly across the road from this is Canada’s largest garden railway, although I didn’t get time to see this. More importantly there were a couple of Prairie Skyscrapers (grain elevators) in the town, so I asked if we could drive down by these. These were beside the old CP right of way, and on a short piece of track sat on old CP Rail stock car. I photographed the elevators and stock car (see photo previous page) while the others finished off their ice creams and we were back heading south.
While the main highway goes via Fort Macleod, the shortest route is to turn east about 15 km short of Fort Macleod and travel about 30 km east before turning south for a few kilometres. About 15km out of Lethbridge is the CP Rail yard, and there was a train sitting there, and it looked like it had just arrived, or was about to depart west. This section of CP line, comes from the east, and goes over the Rockies at Crows Nest Pass before travelling north-west up a river valley to meet the mainline (from Calgary) at Golden, for the run down to Vancouver. My main objective in Lethbridge was to see the big bridge over the Oldman River Valley and hopefully photograph a train on it. The bridge is 1.6km long and is 307 feet high, at it’s highest.
Lethbridge is on the flat land, but the road in drops down into the river valley before climbing back out and at this point you get your first glimpse of this impressive bridge, the longest and highest steel railroad trestle in the world. We set the GPS to Tim Hortons and the route took us under one end of the bridge and next to a small carpark and tourist information centre. We bought coffees and headed back to the carpark and decided to walk down one of the many tracks (trails in Canada), that abound the area. Part way down into the river valley we stopped at a lookout, and surveyed the scene. There were contrails everywhere going overhead and at one point we counted nine aircraft flying overhead. A couple were heading to Vancouver (from eastern Canada), one four-engine jet appeared to be heading to San Francisco or Los Angeles, and there was a couple of planes heading north from USA to Calgary or Edmonton.
Rozi spotted a train coming onto the bridge from the west, and Naushad grabbed the video camera, while I photographed it with the SLR. It was a open hopper train of 122 cars (about 2 -2.5km in length), led by two locomotives, with a third pushing on the rear. We were about 150 feet below the bridge and it looked impressive as the train travelled slowly across the bridge, until the lead locomotives were in Lethbridge proper and then the speed increased.
We crossed over the southbound CP line from Calgary to Lethbridge and it disappeared off to the left, and would stay out of site, often 45 km east of the road, till we got near Lethbridge. Highway 2 follows a different, but closed CP rail route, that has had all the track removed, although the ballasted area still looks good, but not good enough for a bike or walking trail.
The first stop we made was in Nanton, to photograph a couple of ex Canadian Air Force jets, outside the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum. Directly across the road from this is Canada’s largest garden railway, although I didn’t get time to see this. More importantly there were a couple of Prairie Skyscrapers (grain elevators) in the town, so I asked if we could drive down by these. These were beside the old CP right of way, and on a short piece of track sat on old CP Rail stock car. I photographed the elevators and stock car (see photo previous page) while the others finished off their ice creams and we were back heading south.
While the main highway goes via Fort Macleod, the shortest route is to turn east about 15 km short of Fort Macleod and travel about 30 km east before turning south for a few kilometres. About 15km out of Lethbridge is the CP Rail yard, and there was a train sitting there, and it looked like it had just arrived, or was about to depart west. This section of CP line, comes from the east, and goes over the Rockies at Crows Nest Pass before travelling north-west up a river valley to meet the mainline (from Calgary) at Golden, for the run down to Vancouver. My main objective in Lethbridge was to see the big bridge over the Oldman River Valley and hopefully photograph a train on it. The bridge is 1.6km long and is 307 feet high, at it’s highest.
Lethbridge is on the flat land, but the road in drops down into the river valley before climbing back out and at this point you get your first glimpse of this impressive bridge, the longest and highest steel railroad trestle in the world. We set the GPS to Tim Hortons and the route took us under one end of the bridge and next to a small carpark and tourist information centre. We bought coffees and headed back to the carpark and decided to walk down one of the many tracks (trails in Canada), that abound the area. Part way down into the river valley we stopped at a lookout, and surveyed the scene. There were contrails everywhere going overhead and at one point we counted nine aircraft flying overhead. A couple were heading to Vancouver (from eastern Canada), one four-engine jet appeared to be heading to San Francisco or Los Angeles, and there was a couple of planes heading north from USA to Calgary or Edmonton.
Rozi spotted a train coming onto the bridge from the west, and Naushad grabbed the video camera, while I photographed it with the SLR. It was a open hopper train of 122 cars (about 2 -2.5km in length), led by two locomotives, with a third pushing on the rear. We were about 150 feet below the bridge and it looked impressive as the train travelled slowly across the bridge, until the lead locomotives were in Lethbridge proper and then the speed increased.
The area around Lethbridge is semi chaparral country and is obviously drier and warmer than Calgary. There were many wildflowers and cactus plants growing alongside the track and I photographed some of these, but could have spent hours here photographing plants, butterflies and grass hoppers , right beside the bridge.
Lethbridge is also known for its Japanese gardens, so we consulted the map and worked out a route there. Arriving at the Nikka Yuko gardens, set in a section of a large city park, we paid the $7 head entrance price and walked in through the gated reception area, to be given our instructions (keep to paths, shoes off when going into the building etc), and we wandered around the tracks. Nothing spectacular but it was quiet and relaxing, with small waterfalls, ponds and Japanese style trees.
Lethbridge is also known for its Japanese gardens, so we consulted the map and worked out a route there. Arriving at the Nikka Yuko gardens, set in a section of a large city park, we paid the $7 head entrance price and walked in through the gated reception area, to be given our instructions (keep to paths, shoes off when going into the building etc), and we wandered around the tracks. Nothing spectacular but it was quiet and relaxing, with small waterfalls, ponds and Japanese style trees.
Leaving the Japanese Gardens we visited the rose gardens, and saw the horseshoe club area (similar to quoits), before deciding that Montana was still too far away and we would head back to Calgary. Naushad topped up the tank on the outskirts of town and soon we were heading north. At Claresholm, another town on old railway line, I spotted a CP Rail caboose in the yellow “Pac-man” paint scheme. “Stop here please”, I said and within seconds we were parked beside the old Canadian Pacific stone station, now home to the Claresholm museum and information centre.
We continued on the road, and just a few kilometres further on I saw a coyote looking for food beside the road.
The crops here are mainly wheat, maize (corn) and canola, and farms are different to New Zealand. With farmed animals in the minority, there are few or no fences between fields, and there is no need for shelter belts, although most farm houses were surrounded by trees and bushes.
Arriving back in Calgary, just before 9pm, we purchased pizza and headed back to Falconridge. A game of cricket, complete with boundary marker cones was underway on the school grounds across the road, and continued for a while after sunset.
Canada 2009 - 14th July
Apart from Rizwan (he had to go to work), I was first up, made a coffee, read a magazine and listened to action from Calgary International Airport on the scanner. At one point a pilot reported seeing a coyote near one of the runways.
After the others surfaced, we had pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast, and then headed to Sunridge Mall. Rozi dropped me outside Chapter’s bookstore. I spent more than an hour wandering around this very large bookshop, before purchasing a bird guide (with DVD containing MP3 files and images ready for an I-pod or similar), and wandered over to the main mall. By this time it was raining. After another 30 minutes Shamina called out to me, and after a bit more shopping we departed, not to home, but to Marlborough Mall a few kilometres away. This time I wandered around to see the Coles bookshop, HMV, electronics store (like a Dick Smith), and sat outside Sears for over an hour. Both of these malls also had Michael Hill jewellery stores. Finally they came out and we headed home picking up fried chicken (halal) and potato wedges on the way. By now it was 3pm, so it was a late lunch.
Shamina and Rozi were heading to a Hindi movie, so Naushad suggesting visiting an elderly friend in the nearby suburb of Temple. We went there and drank some kava and talked. This bloke is still a practising architect, and has travelled all over the world, after leaving Fiji in the early 1970s.
We came home about 10pm, and had stew and kasava. It was so good for a change not to have curry!
After the others surfaced, we had pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast, and then headed to Sunridge Mall. Rozi dropped me outside Chapter’s bookstore. I spent more than an hour wandering around this very large bookshop, before purchasing a bird guide (with DVD containing MP3 files and images ready for an I-pod or similar), and wandered over to the main mall. By this time it was raining. After another 30 minutes Shamina called out to me, and after a bit more shopping we departed, not to home, but to Marlborough Mall a few kilometres away. This time I wandered around to see the Coles bookshop, HMV, electronics store (like a Dick Smith), and sat outside Sears for over an hour. Both of these malls also had Michael Hill jewellery stores. Finally they came out and we headed home picking up fried chicken (halal) and potato wedges on the way. By now it was 3pm, so it was a late lunch.
Shamina and Rozi were heading to a Hindi movie, so Naushad suggesting visiting an elderly friend in the nearby suburb of Temple. We went there and drank some kava and talked. This bloke is still a practising architect, and has travelled all over the world, after leaving Fiji in the early 1970s.
We came home about 10pm, and had stew and kasava. It was so good for a change not to have curry!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Canada 2009 - 13th July
Today I went to the city (alone), using a C-train from McKnight-Westwind to downtown (7th Avenue). The main objective was to go and see The Camera Store, on the corner of 7th Street and 11th Avenue SW. Leaving 7th Avenue, I headed south under the tracks of CP Rail and then right along 10th Avenue, hoping to see some rail action. But all I saw was some of Calgary’s “down and outers” queued up outside a recycling centre with their shopping trolleys of aluminium cans, and just across the road, others leaving a liquor store, obviously having already obtained some cash from their can collecting efforts. We have a couple of people in Christchurch who do this, but there was at least 50 here as I passed.
Just a few blocks away is The Camera Store, and I could have spent all day in there. About four times bigger than Photo & Video in Christchurch, this shop had everything for still and video photography, including a rental department. It was definitely not the “shopping mall photo store” but a serious store for advanced amateurs and professional people. I spent about 30 minutes wandering around, looking at the books section, the studio flash section etc, before checking out tripods and heads. They had the Wimberley Mark II head and various adaptor plates, so I bit the bullet and purchased one, along with a P-50 adaptor plate, for the 600mm f4 “bazooka” at home.
It had started to rain while I was in the shop so headed back towards 8th Avenue wearing my lightweight rain/wind jacket, but I soon had to find shelter in one of the shopping malls. I checked out HMV (again) Coles bookstore, before grabbing a coffee and a couple of chicken wraps at Tim Hortons, and then deciding that the rain was not going to abate, so headed back to one of the stations on 7th Avenue, and got a train back to McKnight-Westwind, and then a Falconridge bus (route #55), that took an age going through other areas (Castleridge and Coral Springs) before arriving in Falconridge. If it had not been raining I would have walked the 2+km – it would have been quicker!
The rain was heavier in the city than at Falconridge, but as I walked the short distance from the Falconridge Blvd bus stop, lightning flashes were seen and the thunder could be heard approaching so I was glad to be home at Rozi’s. Only Rizwan and Zaheer were home, Shamina and Rozi out shopping, as was Naushad.
I did another session on the treadmill clocking up a couple of miles. At 6:30pm we headed out to dinner at friends/relations of Zaida (Taki’s wife). There house is on the very eastern boundary of the city with farmland beyond, although some of this land has just been turned into the north east section of the yet to be opened Calgary ring route motorway.
While we were in Vancouver there was news (in amongst all the hype over Michael Jackson’s memorial service) that the local Indian tribe had voted against accepting the governments substantial financial offer for the land for the south east section of the ring road, so Calgary may end up with just a partial ring road. Highway 1 through Calgary is traffic light alley, and the ring route was planned to divert traffic around the city.
Just a few blocks away is The Camera Store, and I could have spent all day in there. About four times bigger than Photo & Video in Christchurch, this shop had everything for still and video photography, including a rental department. It was definitely not the “shopping mall photo store” but a serious store for advanced amateurs and professional people. I spent about 30 minutes wandering around, looking at the books section, the studio flash section etc, before checking out tripods and heads. They had the Wimberley Mark II head and various adaptor plates, so I bit the bullet and purchased one, along with a P-50 adaptor plate, for the 600mm f4 “bazooka” at home.
It had started to rain while I was in the shop so headed back towards 8th Avenue wearing my lightweight rain/wind jacket, but I soon had to find shelter in one of the shopping malls. I checked out HMV (again) Coles bookstore, before grabbing a coffee and a couple of chicken wraps at Tim Hortons, and then deciding that the rain was not going to abate, so headed back to one of the stations on 7th Avenue, and got a train back to McKnight-Westwind, and then a Falconridge bus (route #55), that took an age going through other areas (Castleridge and Coral Springs) before arriving in Falconridge. If it had not been raining I would have walked the 2+km – it would have been quicker!
The rain was heavier in the city than at Falconridge, but as I walked the short distance from the Falconridge Blvd bus stop, lightning flashes were seen and the thunder could be heard approaching so I was glad to be home at Rozi’s. Only Rizwan and Zaheer were home, Shamina and Rozi out shopping, as was Naushad.
I did another session on the treadmill clocking up a couple of miles. At 6:30pm we headed out to dinner at friends/relations of Zaida (Taki’s wife). There house is on the very eastern boundary of the city with farmland beyond, although some of this land has just been turned into the north east section of the yet to be opened Calgary ring route motorway.
While we were in Vancouver there was news (in amongst all the hype over Michael Jackson’s memorial service) that the local Indian tribe had voted against accepting the governments substantial financial offer for the land for the south east section of the ring road, so Calgary may end up with just a partial ring road. Highway 1 through Calgary is traffic light alley, and the ring route was planned to divert traffic around the city.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Canada 2009 - 12th July
Naushad wanted to be back in Calgary before 1:00pm (to play soccer), so after breakfast and a few photos with Jannifer, we headed away from north Edmonton, down through the city, including skirting China Town, and across the North Saskatchewan River (see photo), and onto Highway 2 south and out of town. We passed Edmonton International Airport, which is quite a way south of the city, near the town of Leduc, and continued on towards Red Deer. There are deer warning signs all along this stretch of highway and we spotted two that were victims of road vehicles before we got to Red Deer. There appears to be less road kill here than in New Zealand, apart from deer (have seen three in the 4,000 km we have driven) and the odd gopher.
Red Deer is the major refreshment stop between the two cities (Calgary and Edmonton), and employing the GPS again, we found the southbound Tim Horton’s and I joined the queue to order coffee. Took about 15 minutes! These are popular shops, often sharing the same building as Wendys.
We continued southbound finally arriving in north east Calgary about 12:30pm, too late for Naushad to get to the first game of soccer, but he would make the second game. Naushad, along with the three boys play for Rewa in the local Sunday Fiji league.
The afternoon was spent relaxing and the day was finished off with another kava session, initially sitting outside, but then moving to the garage when the temperature dropped.
Red Deer is the major refreshment stop between the two cities (Calgary and Edmonton), and employing the GPS again, we found the southbound Tim Horton’s and I joined the queue to order coffee. Took about 15 minutes! These are popular shops, often sharing the same building as Wendys.
We continued southbound finally arriving in north east Calgary about 12:30pm, too late for Naushad to get to the first game of soccer, but he would make the second game. Naushad, along with the three boys play for Rewa in the local Sunday Fiji league.
The afternoon was spent relaxing and the day was finished off with another kava session, initially sitting outside, but then moving to the garage when the temperature dropped.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Canada 2009 - 11th July
We departed Falconridge at 8:40am (without breakfast), heading north the 295km to Edmonton. Just short of Red Deer I spotted a train on the tracks (it had a rear end device), but the motive power was no where to be seen. Red Deer is about half way to Edmonton, and Naushad turned off the motorway and headed west 14km to Sylvan Lake, a large lake and popular picnic, camping and boating spot. After a bit of trouble finding the local Tim Horton’s (it was not listed in the GPS unit), and then finding it was too busy we headed back to Highway 2 and continued north towards Edmonton. Arriving in Edmonton we went straight to a Punjabi restaurant on 34th Avenue for a combined breakfast and lunch smorgasbord. We then headed north-west to the West Edmonton Mall.
It seemed like every vehicle on the road was heading to the mall, the largest in the world. The mall occupies about 24 blocks, and includes two hotels, a casino, amusement park, water park and countless shops.
We took an entrance to the car park from 90th Avenue, and then went through a nondescript entrance into the mall (there are many entrances and this was not one of the main ones). We came out just near the water Deep Sea Adventure, with a sailing ship, submarines (not working), bumper boats and a seal and sea lion pool, with a display starting at 2pm. We watched and videoed the seal display, then we all went our separate ways, Rozi and Shamina to the shops they wanted to see, and myself and Naushad to see the swimming pool/beach, ice skating arena and the amusement park with various roller coasters etc. Once we had checked all that out I headed for the six shops I had earmarked in my earlier internet research. Three were camera shops (Japan Camera, McBains and Blacks), and two were book shops (Chapters and Coles). I also had the music store HMV on my list. I picked up a mall guide and worked out where I wanted to go. I was lucky as all the shops I had earmarked were within the one section of the guide’s index (Photo, Music, Books and Stationery). I marked on the map the locations I wanted to go to and then started.
I started at the eastern end of the ground floor and checked out Japan Camera (average mall photo shop) and just a short walk away, McBain Camera. I then headed west for about ten minutes before coming to Black’s Is Photography, and had a look there. Near the western end of the mall is the Chapters bookstore as well as HMV on both levels. Chapters was an excellent store, and I could have spent hours in there, although there transport section was a bit thin on the railroad side. A plus was that the transport and photo sections were just 3 or 4 feet away from each other. The photo section was very good, although I already had many of the books. In the rest of the shop I found the specials table, and a book titled “Bollywood Today” for $10. I also picked up a copy of The Railroad Press, a magazine I subscribed too a few years ago. Into HMV I checked out the lower level, and then up the escalator to level two. Here I found a 5 DVD set on the final years of steam, including bonus films. This was only $26 so I purchased this. One shop that did catch my eye was Michael Hill – Jeweller. So I took a picture of this. I also checked out the mall’s one pet shop where you could buy the normal (puppies, kittens, fish, and small caged birds), as well as the more exotic (large parrots, snakes, chameleons etc).
Moving back east on the second level, I headed to Coles, the second bookshop, but it was average. I had spotted a couple of art galleries on this level, so headed to these. Both of these (Editions Gallery and Wall Street Gallery) had many paintings and prints of trains, including a large print of a CP steam hauled passenger at Morant’s Curve. Most of these paintings were very large and between $1200 and $2000.
Time was now after 4:40pm and I had covered a few kilometres in the mall so headed back to the pre-arranged meeting point. Naushad was waiting but the ladies were still shopping, and would not be ready till about 5:15pm.
Shamina, meanwhile had been into clothing and gift shops picking up a few bits and pieces, including a new pair of jeans.
We finally departed the mall, heading further north to Jannifer Dean’s house. Jannifer, was a neighbour of Rozi’s in Matu Street, Nepani, Fiji. We had snacks, then kava, and finally a late dinner, before heading to bed about 12:30am.
It seemed like every vehicle on the road was heading to the mall, the largest in the world. The mall occupies about 24 blocks, and includes two hotels, a casino, amusement park, water park and countless shops.
We took an entrance to the car park from 90th Avenue, and then went through a nondescript entrance into the mall (there are many entrances and this was not one of the main ones). We came out just near the water Deep Sea Adventure, with a sailing ship, submarines (not working), bumper boats and a seal and sea lion pool, with a display starting at 2pm. We watched and videoed the seal display, then we all went our separate ways, Rozi and Shamina to the shops they wanted to see, and myself and Naushad to see the swimming pool/beach, ice skating arena and the amusement park with various roller coasters etc. Once we had checked all that out I headed for the six shops I had earmarked in my earlier internet research. Three were camera shops (Japan Camera, McBains and Blacks), and two were book shops (Chapters and Coles). I also had the music store HMV on my list. I picked up a mall guide and worked out where I wanted to go. I was lucky as all the shops I had earmarked were within the one section of the guide’s index (Photo, Music, Books and Stationery). I marked on the map the locations I wanted to go to and then started.
I started at the eastern end of the ground floor and checked out Japan Camera (average mall photo shop) and just a short walk away, McBain Camera. I then headed west for about ten minutes before coming to Black’s Is Photography, and had a look there. Near the western end of the mall is the Chapters bookstore as well as HMV on both levels. Chapters was an excellent store, and I could have spent hours in there, although there transport section was a bit thin on the railroad side. A plus was that the transport and photo sections were just 3 or 4 feet away from each other. The photo section was very good, although I already had many of the books. In the rest of the shop I found the specials table, and a book titled “Bollywood Today” for $10. I also picked up a copy of The Railroad Press, a magazine I subscribed too a few years ago. Into HMV I checked out the lower level, and then up the escalator to level two. Here I found a 5 DVD set on the final years of steam, including bonus films. This was only $26 so I purchased this. One shop that did catch my eye was Michael Hill – Jeweller. So I took a picture of this. I also checked out the mall’s one pet shop where you could buy the normal (puppies, kittens, fish, and small caged birds), as well as the more exotic (large parrots, snakes, chameleons etc).
Moving back east on the second level, I headed to Coles, the second bookshop, but it was average. I had spotted a couple of art galleries on this level, so headed to these. Both of these (Editions Gallery and Wall Street Gallery) had many paintings and prints of trains, including a large print of a CP steam hauled passenger at Morant’s Curve. Most of these paintings were very large and between $1200 and $2000.
Time was now after 4:40pm and I had covered a few kilometres in the mall so headed back to the pre-arranged meeting point. Naushad was waiting but the ladies were still shopping, and would not be ready till about 5:15pm.
Shamina, meanwhile had been into clothing and gift shops picking up a few bits and pieces, including a new pair of jeans.
We finally departed the mall, heading further north to Jannifer Dean’s house. Jannifer, was a neighbour of Rozi’s in Matu Street, Nepani, Fiji. We had snacks, then kava, and finally a late dinner, before heading to bed about 12:30am.
Canada 2009 - 10th July
After a day (Thursday) doing nothing but relaxing and recuperating after the Vancouver trip, it was back into it on Friday.
We drove 2km to the McKnight – Westwind station (end of the north east line) on the Calgary C-Train Light Rail system and purchased tickets from the vending machine ($2.50 per person), and boarded the train waiting to depart for downtown. The trip took about 25 minutes with another seven station stops, before we arrived in 7th Avenue.
We headed directly to the Calgary Tower and joined the queue (not too long) to purchase our tickets ($12.95 + tax), and then went up in the high speed lift 525 feet to the viewing deck.
Here is what the website (http://www.calgarytower.com/) says about the tower:
We headed directly to the Calgary Tower and joined the queue (not too long) to purchase our tickets ($12.95 + tax), and then went up in the high speed lift 525 feet to the viewing deck.
Here is what the website (http://www.calgarytower.com/) says about the tower:
The Calgary Tower ensures all "Virtual Tourists" are treated as warmly and as openly as the half a million "Reality Based Tourists" who visit us each year!
Officially opened June 30th 1968, the 'Tower' has become the City of Calgary's most famous and identifiable physical landmark. One of the first Towers of its kind, the Calgary Tower offers the best view in Calgary and is a must-see on any tourist's itinerary.
Throughout the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, a flame burned at the top of the Tower, making the Calgary Tower the World's Largest Olympic Torch. The torch is still lit today for special occasions, like Canada Day and during the Calgary Flames race for the Stanley Cup, sparking fond memories as well as a certain civic pride in all Calgarians.
Dare to try something that will take your breath away?
Visitors to the Observation Deck are able to virtually "step out into" space on the glass floor experience. Imagine standing 525 feet above the ground in the heart of Calgary and being able to look straight down and directly out in front of you into the heart of the city. The experience is awe-inspiring and will challenge the emotions, but rest assured --- the thrill will be worth it.
The glass floor is 36 feet long and more than four feet wide, the glass panes that make up the floor can each hold the weight of a couple Hippos! With only a glass wall in front, you will be treated to the unusual experience of literally being suspended in mid-air. And don't forget to check out the optical illusion as the shaft on the Tower looks as though it bends away from you.
Officially opened June 30th 1968, the 'Tower' has become the City of Calgary's most famous and identifiable physical landmark. One of the first Towers of its kind, the Calgary Tower offers the best view in Calgary and is a must-see on any tourist's itinerary.
Throughout the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, a flame burned at the top of the Tower, making the Calgary Tower the World's Largest Olympic Torch. The torch is still lit today for special occasions, like Canada Day and during the Calgary Flames race for the Stanley Cup, sparking fond memories as well as a certain civic pride in all Calgarians.
Dare to try something that will take your breath away?
Visitors to the Observation Deck are able to virtually "step out into" space on the glass floor experience. Imagine standing 525 feet above the ground in the heart of Calgary and being able to look straight down and directly out in front of you into the heart of the city. The experience is awe-inspiring and will challenge the emotions, but rest assured --- the thrill will be worth it.
The glass floor is 36 feet long and more than four feet wide, the glass panes that make up the floor can each hold the weight of a couple Hippos! With only a glass wall in front, you will be treated to the unusual experience of literally being suspended in mid-air. And don't forget to check out the optical illusion as the shaft on the Tower looks as though it bends away from you.
When we got out of the lift a staff member advised us to “lookout for the horse”, and sure enough there was a large live horse on the viewing floor, obviously as part of the Calgary Stampede promotions.
The view from the tower is amazing, with only two other buildings at the same level.
Directly below the tower to the south is the CP Rail mainline. We wandered around the circular viewing deck and I stepped out onto the glass floor extension and looked straight down.
The view from the tower is amazing, with only two other buildings at the same level.
Directly below the tower to the south is the CP Rail mainline. We wandered around the circular viewing deck and I stepped out onto the glass floor extension and looked straight down.
Shot a few photos and some video with the small camera, and as we were just about to leave, Shamina told me a train was coming. It was a grain train heading west to Vancouver, so I took a couple of pics, and then I saw an eastbound stack (container) train. The headend power crossed each other just under a covered section, so the perfect “trains crossing below the tower” could not be achieved.
We finally left the tower and headed into a few shopping malls, grabbing Tim Horton’s coffee and chicken wraps for lunch. Most of the city malls are interconnected by walkways above road level, obviously so people can get about in the winter time without having to go outside too often. There is also a lot of construction going on both within malls, and new buildings being built.
Near the Hudson Bay Coy (large department store) I purchased a flag (Canadian) and Shamina purchased a few souvenirs, before we headed back to the C-Train and back to McKnight-Westwind station and home.
After a bit of exercise on the treadmill, we headed out to Naushad’s sisters place for dinner. She is married to an Algerian man. He has been in Canada for 14 years and was wanting to know about New Zealand and what were the main industries etc.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Canada 2009 - 8th July
We departed Surrey about 8:15am (9:15am Calgary time), and had a short detour over the just opened Golden Ear Bridge over the Fraser River. It is a toll bridge, but free for a few weeks. Saw a CN stack train heading west here The weather was overcast, cold and some rain. While it was about 30 C when we arrived it was now just 12 C.
The section through to Kamloops (about 330km) was pretty uneventful, as the road does not follow the railway from Hope to Kamloops). Petrol and coffee (Tim Horton’s) and on the road again. I was listening to the scanner (CP rail) and there was plenty of rail action from a road gang working on the north track at Campbell Creek, to an empty rail train a few kilometres further east. I decided to use the video camera today, and recorded a few trains. At Malakwa, just west of Craigellachie we saw a stationery eastbound Canpotex (potash empties) hopper train heading back to Saskatchewan. I went across the road to shoot this with video when the crew alighted, and I new a westbound would be here within minutes, and soon a coal train rolled by. When that had cleared the turnout, the crew of the hopper train resumed their journey east, the engineer giving a friendly wave as the headend went passed.
Between here and Revelstoke we saw another westbound freight, and stopped in Revelstoke for a late lunch at Subway (it was now 4:00pm Calgary time). There were three trains in the Revelstoke yard ready to depart, two west and one east, and I heard on the scanner the two westbounds being given their track warrants.
Saw another couple of trains between Revelstoke and Golden, and just leaving Golden we saw some mountain goats. They are big animals!
Approaching the Spiral Tunnels, I asked Naushad if he could stop for a couple of minutes, and as we arrived Shamina saw a train heading west above the road (approaching the top tunnel). It was another Canpotex train (loaded) and soon the headend power passed us below the road, now heading east, before turning north towards the lower spiral tunnel. As the two locos approached the second tunnel the mid train helper passed below us, and then it happened! The headend was leaving the lower tunnel mouth (now heading west again), as the mid train helper passed overhead, and the tail end pusher passed below us, so the one train we could see heading west, north and east on three different levels. Unfortunately the trees are too big to see this to the best, even though the National Parks people have a big carpark and good diagrams, signage etc, but being a National Park, no trees can be cut down.
We saw another westbound grain train at lake Louise and the last train of the day was the Rocky Mountaneer, tourist train from Vancouver, about 75km out of Calgary, but passed this point you only see the rail line once as it passes over Highway 1 at Bowness.
We finally arrived at 9:15pm so the trip had taken exactly 12 hours, and considering the weather (a lot of rain), and the three long and two short stops it was a good time. We went straight around to Naushad’s brothers place (about 150metres away) and had dinner before coming back to unpack the car.
The section through to Kamloops (about 330km) was pretty uneventful, as the road does not follow the railway from Hope to Kamloops). Petrol and coffee (Tim Horton’s) and on the road again. I was listening to the scanner (CP rail) and there was plenty of rail action from a road gang working on the north track at Campbell Creek, to an empty rail train a few kilometres further east. I decided to use the video camera today, and recorded a few trains. At Malakwa, just west of Craigellachie we saw a stationery eastbound Canpotex (potash empties) hopper train heading back to Saskatchewan. I went across the road to shoot this with video when the crew alighted, and I new a westbound would be here within minutes, and soon a coal train rolled by. When that had cleared the turnout, the crew of the hopper train resumed their journey east, the engineer giving a friendly wave as the headend went passed.
Between here and Revelstoke we saw another westbound freight, and stopped in Revelstoke for a late lunch at Subway (it was now 4:00pm Calgary time). There were three trains in the Revelstoke yard ready to depart, two west and one east, and I heard on the scanner the two westbounds being given their track warrants.
Saw another couple of trains between Revelstoke and Golden, and just leaving Golden we saw some mountain goats. They are big animals!
Approaching the Spiral Tunnels, I asked Naushad if he could stop for a couple of minutes, and as we arrived Shamina saw a train heading west above the road (approaching the top tunnel). It was another Canpotex train (loaded) and soon the headend power passed us below the road, now heading east, before turning north towards the lower spiral tunnel. As the two locos approached the second tunnel the mid train helper passed below us, and then it happened! The headend was leaving the lower tunnel mouth (now heading west again), as the mid train helper passed overhead, and the tail end pusher passed below us, so the one train we could see heading west, north and east on three different levels. Unfortunately the trees are too big to see this to the best, even though the National Parks people have a big carpark and good diagrams, signage etc, but being a National Park, no trees can be cut down.
We saw another westbound grain train at lake Louise and the last train of the day was the Rocky Mountaneer, tourist train from Vancouver, about 75km out of Calgary, but passed this point you only see the rail line once as it passes over Highway 1 at Bowness.
We finally arrived at 9:15pm so the trip had taken exactly 12 hours, and considering the weather (a lot of rain), and the three long and two short stops it was a good time. We went straight around to Naushad’s brothers place (about 150metres away) and had dinner before coming back to unpack the car.
Canada 2009 - 7th July
Today was “visiting friends day”, first stop being Anu, a friend of Shamina's from Fiji in the 1960s and early 70s. After lunch Anu and her son took us to White Rock, a seaside town, very close to the USA border. It is also has railroad tracks along the foreshore, these tracks belonging to BNSF, and mainly used for coal trains going to Robert’s Bank. It may also be used by container traffic to and from Deltaport. The old Great Northern Railway (later Burlington Northern) depot has been preserved and is now the White Rock Museum.
Anu dropped us off at Munir’s place about 5:30pm. Munir, also known to us as Portable was a Halal slaughterman at Islington in the 1984-85 season. One of his sisters and her husband also came and after dinner his parents came around and another sister. His father has been in Canada for over 40 years. Munir dropped us off at Tamiq Hussain’s (Naushad’s brother-in-law) about 11:00pm, and we packed up for the trip home.
Anu dropped us off at Munir’s place about 5:30pm. Munir, also known to us as Portable was a Halal slaughterman at Islington in the 1984-85 season. One of his sisters and her husband also came and after dinner his parents came around and another sister. His father has been in Canada for over 40 years. Munir dropped us off at Tamiq Hussain’s (Naushad’s brother-in-law) about 11:00pm, and we packed up for the trip home.
Photos show Shamina with Anu at White Rock, the old White Rock station and Munir with his parents.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Canada 2009 6th July
Monday 6th July
Up very early this morning as we were off to Vancouver Island, and were trying to get the 7:00am ferry. The drive from where we were staying was nearly an hour, and we paid our money ($128 for six adults and vehicle) and waited in the queue to board. Boarding these roll-on roll-off ferries is a lot quicker and simpler than in NZ, and the vehicles are not tied down, even to the trip from Tsammassen to Schwap Bay is over 1.5 hours. We ended up getting the 8:00am ferry (Spirit of New Westminster). Shamina mentioned in the car on the way that she had been told by Ashok’s wife that Jonny Lever was in Surrey at present. We met Johnny Lever on Saturday night in October 2003, when they were shooting Main Prem Ki Deewanee Hoon at New Brighton.
Once off the ferry we headed direct to Butchart Gardens, a famous historical garden on Vancouver Island. We were shocked to see the entry price of $28 an adult and $14 a youth, but paid and went into the car park area. The staff car park was huge – this was some garden. We started walking around viewing the sunken garden, rose garden, Japanese garden etc, finishing with the Italian garden.
Naushad, who had been walking around by himself, came to us and said he saw a man who looked like Jonny Lever. Sure enough it was, and once again we met him and took another photograph, He was wearing a NZ jacket, and we told him that we had met him once in Christchurch when shooting Main Prem Ki Deewanee Hoon.
Leaving the gardens we proceeded to Victoria, the main city on Vancouver Island. I walked around photographing the Parliament buildings and other attractions, also checking out a good bookshop and a large camera shop. After going for another short drive we headed back to Schwap Bay and managed to get the 3:00pm ferry (Spirit of Vancouver) back to the mainland. This was a larger ferry than the morning one, and reminded me of the Cook Strait ferries, although these ferrys have bow doors and are true roll-thru ferrys.
We returned to Surrey, and then after about an hour headed out to the Green Lettuce, a Chinese restaurant that specialises in Indian style Chinese cuisine. The owner grew up in the Muslim section of Bombay, and most of the staff spoke Hindi and or Punjabi. Nearly all the customers were Indian. All the meat was Halal.
Up very early this morning as we were off to Vancouver Island, and were trying to get the 7:00am ferry. The drive from where we were staying was nearly an hour, and we paid our money ($128 for six adults and vehicle) and waited in the queue to board. Boarding these roll-on roll-off ferries is a lot quicker and simpler than in NZ, and the vehicles are not tied down, even to the trip from Tsammassen to Schwap Bay is over 1.5 hours. We ended up getting the 8:00am ferry (Spirit of New Westminster). Shamina mentioned in the car on the way that she had been told by Ashok’s wife that Jonny Lever was in Surrey at present. We met Johnny Lever on Saturday night in October 2003, when they were shooting Main Prem Ki Deewanee Hoon at New Brighton.
Once off the ferry we headed direct to Butchart Gardens, a famous historical garden on Vancouver Island. We were shocked to see the entry price of $28 an adult and $14 a youth, but paid and went into the car park area. The staff car park was huge – this was some garden. We started walking around viewing the sunken garden, rose garden, Japanese garden etc, finishing with the Italian garden.
Naushad, who had been walking around by himself, came to us and said he saw a man who looked like Jonny Lever. Sure enough it was, and once again we met him and took another photograph, He was wearing a NZ jacket, and we told him that we had met him once in Christchurch when shooting Main Prem Ki Deewanee Hoon.
Leaving the gardens we proceeded to Victoria, the main city on Vancouver Island. I walked around photographing the Parliament buildings and other attractions, also checking out a good bookshop and a large camera shop. After going for another short drive we headed back to Schwap Bay and managed to get the 3:00pm ferry (Spirit of Vancouver) back to the mainland. This was a larger ferry than the morning one, and reminded me of the Cook Strait ferries, although these ferrys have bow doors and are true roll-thru ferrys.
We returned to Surrey, and then after about an hour headed out to the Green Lettuce, a Chinese restaurant that specialises in Indian style Chinese cuisine. The owner grew up in the Muslim section of Bombay, and most of the staff spoke Hindi and or Punjabi. Nearly all the customers were Indian. All the meat was Halal.
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