WEEK ONE

Its hard to beleive we have already been here for one week, although I also feel we have done loads so far. The picture above is what we see in the morning on a clear day (Burrard Inlet, Vancouver city and Mt Baker in the distance). We have had some lovely autumn weather but also some lousy rainy days, like today and yesterday.. they make for good interlude time between the exploration.

We went up to Cyprus mountain as I mentioned before (and promised photos, you may have noticed my profile pic. has changed, thats me on Cyprus mountain with Specials lab fleece getting its first outing!)Then on to Capilano suspension bridge and a walk around the forest trail there, a noisy school party slightly spoilt the atmosphere there but we enjoyed it non the less. That was Friday.

Saturday we took a ride down to Abbotsford to Fraserway and had a first look at RV's for sale, there was not really that much to see. We had a wander around the area over there and bought some fruit and corn on the cob from a garden centre/market. It was strange to feel warm in the sunshine and look up at the snowy mountain tops not too far away. (Picture is of Mt Leman)

Sunday we stayed local and had a great walk with many other locals along the 'promenade' towards the Lions Gate Bridge, it was a glorious afternoon, little wind and very sunny. Monday was so different, we woke to a grey dreary morning which developed into a dark wet day, we decided to pop to the local Supermarket for provisions and stay home catching up on bits and pieces and just generally chilling out.

Fortunately Tuesday was a brighter morning, we had by now got our internet problems sorted and researched some RV locations in Langley about 1 hr drive across the city, so decided to take a look.

The route 1 road is very busy, a lot of the vehicles are large here but some of the trucks are monsters, my favorite so far was a truck with trailer which had 8 wheels on the back axle of the trailer, it had dissapeared before I could count the rest as I couldn't get my sock off quick enough!!!

We really enjoyed our time looking around three different locations for RV's and found a couple of possibilities. At Traveland we were 'educated' by their salesman Jim who gave us a wealth of information and food for thought whilst showing us some great RV"s.

Wednesday morning, bright again, today we drove to Lighthouse Park, just a mile or so away from the house, parked up and enjoyed a downhill walk to the point and the lighthouse, stopping off at East Beach and returning via Pinetree walk, parts were quite rough, especially where I was 'encouraged' to take the easy route (root) and slipped on a tree root landing not too gracefully and much to Roberts amusement. Back at the car park, which thankfully we managed to reach without the uphill climb we thought we may have, we found a really informative board beautifully laid out describing the local fungi, unfortunately it didn't advise the edible ones! Robert still needs to gen. up on that.

Thursday morning we were back to rain, having mulled over the RV's we had seen in Langley, we decided to take a second look...the end result is that we are at this moment waiting for funds to clear so we can purchase a 36' ish 2008 Fleetwood Bounder.

Today is Saturday and looks like being OK ish, we spent yesterday sorting out finances and looking into insurance, the system over here is that you pay road tax as part of your fuel cost (petrol at present is approx 65 - 70p litre, and they are complaining!) We pay to register the vehicle, ICBC compulsary insurance ensures everyone has the basic cover, then you take on additional cover for your individual requirements, we need out of state cover to be able to roam, which seems quite costly, it also looks at the value of the vehicle, that will obviously push the cost up too. It is interesting getting used to the different system, which to us seems very simple really, and everyone has been very patient and helpful.

I am going to try and update at least every other day from now on as it is loads to type up and for you to read leaving a week between. It's only when you come to write it down you realise how much you have acheived, and I never could write in few words! I will look forward to your comments dont forget you can e-mail us seperately too, we have msn as well if anyone fancies a 'conversation' we would love to hear from you.