TRAVEL ESSENTIALS #1 - DUCT TAPE

K

Now why on earth would I always travel with a roll of duct tape? 

Well I didn't always take duct tape with me. But then there were a couple of times that I needed a strong tape and couldn't find the product in any store. Big surprise! Just because you can buy duct tape just about anywhere in Canada doesn't mean you can get it on your travels. Thus this tape accompanies me in my baggage everywhere I travel. The benefits? No scissors are needed because duct tape tears very easily both off the roll and, if you need a narrow piece, you can tear it lengthwise. Duct tape is extraordinarily strong, and sticks to almost anything. OK so now you know it is a good product, but why take it on holiday? I have used duct tape to make labels for parcels I mail home, to seal those parcels, to hold up hems that have become unstitched, to place inside a sleeve to make an invisible repair for a tear in the sleeve, to secure magazines tightly around bottles of wine that I bring home in my suitcase, and to repair eyeglasses or sunglasses, I have never had a souvenier bottle of wine break on me. When used on clothes the tape can be removed for laundering, and then replaced. Sometimes I buy fragile items or art. These I wrap, usually in my clothes, sometimes in travel literature, and then secure with duct tape. Again, never any damage or breakages. And of course we all know about those missing locks and the tears or damaged zippers that 'appear' on our bags after being unloaded from the plane. I have successfully used duct tape to wrap a suitcase to keep the contents secure while continuing to travel. Again, it can be replaced as necessary. Have you ever had your luggage labels go missing? I have. Just take a length of duct tape, fold one end over the other to create a tag, while leaving some length free to wrap around the bag handle. Voila! Instant luggage tag. How do you mark the 'duct tape tag'? Well that brings me to another travel essential which is a variety of pens, including a black Sharpie marker. I'll talk about the pens in Travel Essentials #2. 

Vancouver, Canada, is beautiful city to visit or to live. The city nestles into its location surrounded by spectacular mountains, the Strait of Georgia, fiord-like inlets, the three arms if the mighty Fraser River, and lush, green farmland. There is no shortage of scenic places to visit in this Pacific coastal jewel. In this part of the world September is a month in which summer eases towards being just a fond memory and autumn begins to sneak into one's awareness. This poignant change of season led me to ponder just how I would spend my time on September 1st - a Sunday on a holiday weekend. We ended up relaxing at Locarno Beach where we had free parking, a beach beside which we ate our dinner, and a view worth millions - all for the price of some take-out fish and chips. We took in this vista along with other beach goers. There were folks sitting and relaxing, children were playing in the sand, joggers and cyclists passed us by, and families enjoyed their picnics. As we ate our 'end of summer beach meal' in the setting sun, we could see lights beginning to twinkle on the north shore mountains and in the downtown core across the water. Ships were in the harbour awaiting their turn to unload and a lighthouse blinked in the distance. It was very easy to forget that we were in the middle of an urban environment as we enjoyed the solace of this lovely evening in this livable, loveable city.

WHAT ARE YOUR TRAVEL ESSENTIALS?

Do you have items that you always take on your travels? Are they little luxuries, or things that make the travelling easier, or are they items that you might need in a travel emergency? I'd really love to know what others consider their "don't travel without it" items. I too have a list of critical things to pack. Some of them are duct tape, sewing repair kit, zip ties, travel plate and cutlery, luggage scale, ziplock bags, small flashlight, small lidded insulated mug, and a few other items. Each of these has been put to use on at least one of my trips and some of them have multiple uses. Over the next weeks I will be randomly posting about my "critical things to pack", and explaining why each of them is so important that I am willing to add each to my baggage.

A SUMMER EVENING STROLL ...

Sometimes all we need to do to feel like a tourist is to take a new look at an old place. In Richmond, BC, there is a trail called the West Dyke Trail.Thisurban trail gives one the feeling of strolling along a rural shoreline. The views are both restful and beautiful. At first the trail follows the mighty Fraser River, and then it gently turns to meander alongside marshland over which one can see the natural beauty for great distances. There are views over the Gulf of Georgia, north to the Coastal Mountains and Howe Sound, and southwest towards the Gulf Islands. One does not even need binoculars to enjoy the plentiful bird life along the estuary and marshes. Watch and listen carefully. I am not an expert regarding birds but even I can recognize many of the species. I have seen Redwing Blackbirds, Canada Geese, majestic Bald Eagles, hawks, herons,and of course the ubiquitous seagulls. There are also many other varieties of water fowl that I cannot identify but still love to watch. This popular trail abounds with walkers, runners and cyclists of all ages. Yet there are many moments when one is quite alone and can absorb the serenity of this natural place. It is so very easy to forget that you are very close to a major international airport and several large, busy cities. I took a walk with a friend one gentle summer evening. The sun was low in the sky and the colours were beginning to change. However the various insects were still making their cacophony of sounds as they strove to finish their work for the day. A gentle breeze carried bird songs to us as it refreshed us on this otherwise quite warm evening. If you travel up here to Canada and visit us in Vancouver, be sure to take some time to enjoy some of the lovely walks. Consider strolling the West Dyke trail in Richmond where, after about 10km you will find yourself in the charming village of Steveston. This is a perfect way to end your walk with the beverage of your choice and some fish and chips. You will never have fish fresher than in Steveston. Try the take-out at Pajos on the wharf. After that exercise you deserve to enjoy their famed fish & chips in the sunny outdoors. http://www.richmond.ca/parks/trails/trails-map/westdyke.htm

TWEETING BITS AND PIECES

Looking for more travel hints and comments? Go to @ozchictravels. Here you will see tweets from some of my favorite travel places and companies. And, as they come to mind, there will be my own travel tweets about hints, tips, and favourites.

MY LEAST FAVOURITE TRAVEL BREAKFAST PLACES THIS YEAR

In May I stayed at the Hotel Montparnasse in Paris. It is actually quite a pleasant place to stay and easily accessible to transportation. The breakfasts were included in the room costs and were plentiful. They also didn't mind if you took some fruit or a bun for later. So far so good. Well I happen to love scrambled eggs. On my second day I went to the buffet for my eggs and served them onto my plate. Yummy, at least until I was half way through the meal. And there, embedded deeply in my eggs was a long, brown hair. I am fair and my hair is short. UGH! As I pushed the eggs aside my neighbour at the next table made an unpleasant sound as she pulled a long stray brown hair from the bottom of her supposedly clean plate.
I never ate the eggs there again and was very careful about what I did eat. Yes, I told the dining room manager. He made some semi-concerned noises but also made excuses. As much as I could see in the public area no changes were made as to dining room staff avoiding having hanging hair to their shoulders. Goodness knows what happens in the kitchen.
That's my Hotel Montparnasse breakfast experience this past May.

My most recent icky breakfast was at the Listel Hotel in Whistler, BC. Now the Listel Hotel is an older hotel and the rates are less expensive than many of the Whistler hotels. Saying that, it is close to the village and yet quiet for sleeping. Most staff are friendly and the rooms are comfortable. However I do think management does miss the message when they repeatedly defend issues in the dining room with "well it is a complimentary breakfast". That may be so, but I'm sure the cost is calculated into the overall room costs; it is not free.
My son and I are diabetic so we try to be careful about our breakfast choices. The front desk receptionist assured me that instant oatmeal was one of the breakfast options. Other choices were toast, bagels, several cold cereals (all of the sugared variety), sweet muffins and rolls. There was also yoghurt and cold hard boiled eggs. It is a sparse breakfast that does not meet the standards of today's usual Continental Breakfast.

Our first morning at breakfast we discovered there was no oatmeal. We were told "sorry, we are out". That led us to the local grocery store to buy our own oatmeal and sugar free yoghurt. We mentioned the omission to the reception desk. Well, three mornings later there was still no oatmeal. The only protein was the hard boiled eggs. They are a little difficult to be enthusiastic about first thing on any morning but they are at least a protein source, at least until one observes the server drop several (already without their shell) on the carpeted floor, then bend to pick them up and hold onto them, while putting the ones still in the bowl onto the serving dish, and never going near the garbage can. Well, I still wonder if those eggs were later rinsed and then re-served.
And then there is the toast. The server did have a protective glove on one hand, but interestingly she was placing the toast onto the tray with the unprotected hand, Hmm. Very interesting because I never did see gloves on the hands of the servers when they were cleaning up.
Dishes? Definitely we never ran out. They must have been washed very quickly because the cutlery was usually still wet when it was placed in the help-yourself trays. Oh how bacteria love these warm, moist environments. And there was usually a small pile of discarded plates and bowls on the side where other diners had decided that they preferred to have their food on a plate that did not still have remnants remaining from the previous diner.

The dining room was uncomfortably hot and stuffy even with door and windows open. Are they saving on the cost of ventilation? On our second day we decided to eat our meal (most of it bought ourselves at the local Nesters Grocery store - i do love that store) outside on the patio. At least we did get to eat out there after I (momma) went back and soaked napkins in hot water so I could scrub the layers of black dirt from our table and then dry it. And then we almost lost our table to a man who saw it as the only clean table and was a little upset that he would have to clean his own table. In fact, many people wanted to eat outside and they all either tried to sit away from the dirt or cleaned their own tables. It was hot, it is summer, the dining room was stuffy and overcrowded - is it too much to want to have a clean place to eat on the patio? Is it too much to ask that we be able to be confident that the food is handled in a hygienic manner?
Yes, I will possibly stay at the Listel in the future if I am looking for a more economical hotel and it is the only one that fits my budget. Breakfast? I will shop at Nesters and either eat in my room or take myself out for a picnic.

  

JUST A NOTE SO YOU KNOW I"M HONEST

Please be aware that my comments in these blogs are solely my own. Also, I receive no renumeration from any of the places, companies, or individuals referred to. That way I can write an honest travel blog that is not answerable to commercial sponsorship. If you see ads in a sidebar, they are from Blogger and do not influence my comments.

COME HELL OR HIGH RIVER

Well no, I didn't make up that title. It's the slogan on the fundraiser t-shirt I bought today in High River, Alberta. I'm here, staying in Calgary but working by day in High River, with a great volunteer team from BC Disaster Psychosocial Services to assist with emotional support of flood survivors and field workers.

High River was not the only Alberta town devastated by the huge floods nearly a month ago, but it is definitely one of the hardest hit, if not the hardest hit, of the affected towns. It is a privilege for our team to be asked to come here to assist and it is the first time that DPS has deployed outside of BC. There are no words to adequately describe what is happening here. And of course this is not a usual travel blog. But I will try to give you a quick picture.

Picture a small rural town situated along a picturesque river. Friendly people, lovely scenery, blue skies and field after field of golden canola crops.

Now picture entering that same town and seeing lovely homes with people just living their lives. At least some homes and some people . And nearby there are homes almost lying on their sides, mud up the walls, windows broken, basements full of mud and sewage. Big industrial machines are everywhere washing streets, pushing away mud, clearing mud piles where there was once a family garden, and driving Bobcats into car ports to clear out the sludge. And then there are the big trucks loaded with flood-destroyed home appliances, motorcycles, cars, and other debris.
And there are people everywhere digging , clearing, throwing out, sweating, helping each other, often resilient and cracking bad jokes, often angry, sad, frustrated and devastated. And all is decorated by pungent smelling dried dust from the mud and raw sewage, And hidden in the air are the invisible hazards of mould, bacteria and other spores. Town services are stretched to their Limit. People live in motels, trailers, and any accommodation they can find.

Now picture the helpers. Neighbours, Salvation Army, Mormons, Hutterites, Mennonites, Red Cross, our own DPS, firefighters, RCMP, McDonalds coffee van, health inspectors, environmental services, Mission Possible (Google these amazing people), and ordinary people of all ages from all over.

That is the picture in High River. And I am so privileged to be given the chance to be here and to help support the emotional needs of this community. And I am blessed. I get to go home to my intact house with all my treasured photos and family memorabilia. My pets are alive and well. My car has not disappeared into a river of mud.

I am grateful. If you are grateful also for all that you have please go online or call the Canadian Red Cross and donate to the Alberta Flood Appeal.

And just a footnote - my photos do not include any people. After what has happened here I cannot invade anyone's privacy just for the sake of this blog.

GETTING READY FOR MY 2014 ADVENTURE

I am so very excited to be journeying to Antarctica next year for two weeks.

I will be travelling with Quark Expeditions and getting to tick off another destination from my "bucket list". We will see so much amazing sea life, explore ashore almost every day, and take in spectacular scenery. And not only that, but we will actually know what we are experiencing thanks to Quark's 'experts in residence' who will educate us and guide us. This is all so exciting that I just couldn't wait until next year to share it. The photos above are from Quark's website.

Experts-in-Residence traveling with Quark the 2014 season are:

·         Jonathan Shackleton  

·         Falcon Scott

Both of the above are descendents of the famed Antarctic explorers Shackleton and Scott.

·         Patricia Schultz, author of "1000 Places to See Before You Die"

·         Dr. Tom Hart, Penguinologist

·         Sue Flood, Photographer

WILDLIFE IN THE CITY - A SHORT JOURNEY TO MY OWN NATURE PARK

I don't like zoos. I never visit them. I love to see wildlife and I do this by travelling to where they are and seeing them in their own environment. Living in the centre of the city I am in an environment where wildlife is rather scarce. However, I have no lawn at my home. I have planted my yard with dense shrubs and trees in order to make it a hospitable ecosystem for birds and anything else that cares to visit. I have no bird feeders but I always have birds. And then there are squirrels, racoons, skunks and the rare coyote that travels down from the park. I love having all this nature around me and all I have to do is to travel outside my door. Of course occasionally my friendly environment backfires on me and I have to live with the consequences.
I have a guest. A very cute, furry guest about the size of a 3-month old kitten. In fact it is a kitten - a racoon kitten. He/She is living under my deck and I didn't even know he was there until today. I came home to a raucus noise that only a demanding baby could make. At first I felt sorry for him but now I'm feeling sorry for momma. They usually have multiple births but momma has just this one kitten. I'm sure the others had a sad end - possibly that visiting coyote. And the baby, like all little ones, just can't do what he is told. I watched as poor momma rounded baby up from the next door neighbour's back yard. Baby would not follow so poor momma had to chomp him at the neck and carry him up and over a tall fence and back to under my deck. Then a few minutes later momma was trying to coax the little one out of the shrubs in my front yard. She finally succeeded and last I saw they were both settled back under the deck. Now normally I would call pest control and have them relocated. But this is only one baby and as soon as he moves out of his birth home I will be totally emptying everything from under the deck and it will not be a secluded, comfy place next year for momma to use as a birthing room and nursery. The last time this happened there were five babies and they were very tiny. Disturbance from the pest control guy caused mom to relocate them in the neighbourhood and I watched their furry little butts trundle through my side yard daily with mom until they were totally grown. That's wildlife in the city. Now I wonder where my resident skunk is this year?

A SUMMER EVENING

Sometimes we don't need to go very far to feel like we are on holiday. Just relaxing in a local park on a warm evening is enough to make our world bright. It's even better if you can relax with a friend like Kiko sitting beside you. I will never underestimate the power of the company of a furry friend and a summer evening.

The Art That is the Louvre

Have you ever been to the Louvre in Paris? It is an amazing place filled with art treasures of the world. But what of the building? Do you ever admire the wonderful buildings that house the art that we go to see? These photos are not of the art that is in the Louvre. They are of the Louvre that is itself an amazing work of art. I hope you enjoy them.

Inside the Circle - A visit to Stonehenge

For so many years I have wondered if I would ever get the chance to visit Stonehenge. And then I had left it so long that the next thing I heard was that no one could enter the circle but could only walk around, a distance away, on the other side of a fence. At that point I put off the idea of ever seeing Stonehenge.
Well today all that changed. After some research I discovered that there are companies that have permission to take tour groups inside the Stonehenge circle. There are a couple of hitches of course, the cost is several times more than a regular tour to the site and you go outside the regular open hours. That means a very early morning or a late evening. But to have the privilege of entering Stonehenge? I decided it was worth it - and it was.
What a gift it was to enter this World Heritage Site and 3,000 year old stone circle. It is a gift of wonderment at the mysteries of the site and its construction. This little blog cannot begin to describe what is known and surmised about the history of Stonehenge. As research continues some questions seem to be answered, and new questions arise with new discoveries.
What I do know is the awe I felt at being in such a place. Looking up at the huge lichen covered stones with enormous lintels (top stones) balanced between them makes one feel like just a small, temporary dot in time; which of course one is but we seldom actually have that realization. And then there are the smaller 'blue' stones that form a circle within the larger circle. What are the mysteries attached to them? There are even lichens, that are found nowhere else but Stonehenge, growing on some of the stones. These add to the beauty but must not be touched because of their fragility. And there is so much more at this site that is mysterious and fascinating. The visit was money and time well worth spending.

An interesting public holiday

What does a tourist do on a sunny public holiday in London when you know that the streets and parks will be filled with fun and sun seekers in this already bustling large city? After today I think the answer is to be flexible and willing to change plans. My plans started by wanting to take the 'tube' and explore different points around the city, including a walk along the Thames and take in the sights of Westminster. Well, first I was confronted at Victoria Station by a wall of fans headed to the soccer game. OK, I headed out of there and took the bus to Westminster. A short time later helicopters were hovering in the skies and there was a never-ending cacophony of sirens as multitudes of police cars swarmed past. A quick check of the trusty iPhone showed that the city centre was invaded by a large, not entirely peaceful, crowd of racial protesters, and another group, protesting the protesters, heading towards them.
Not particularly wanting to be in the middle of noisy soccer fans or a potential riot, I decided to escape to the only place I could think of - the River Thames. And not too soon. A few minutes after we has left the dock,we could see the crowds of protesters marching along right where we had been . I joined the cruise and spent a lovely afternoon seeing the sights of London from the water. The highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to get off at Greenwich and walk up to the observatory. It is a lovely walk through quaint streets and then a lovely hillside park. The reward for your effort is to explore the place from where Greenwich MeanTime is measured. GMT is the global.time standard; the zero point for world time. And how cool it is to be able to stand right on the zero degrees meridian; and even cooler to stand with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one in the Western Hemisphere.

Break time anyone?

Sometimes all you need is a cup of tea or coffee to put a little extra pleasure in your day. And when you are in London what better way to add to that pleasure than taking a break at Harrods or Selfridge's? You might not want to pay the prices for the goods in these luxury stores but you can have the luxury experience right in the tea shop. I have now had morning tea at Harrods with lovely china and waitresses all dressed in black with long aprons. The wonderful treat that you see was actually a small luxury - about a half inch wide and 1 1/2 inches long. And I had afternoon coffee in Selfridge's beside the window, just whiling the time away, enjoying a very nice cappuccino. And then of course there's lunch. What would be a lunch on a London Sunday if it wasn't in Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Union Jack's, at Covent Garden. Now with the food bases covered I had better get out and see some other sights in London. By the way, just to clarify, I did NOT enjoy these treats all on the same day.

PARIS IN SPRING

I cannot believe how the time has flown by. At some point I will get an opportunity to write about my trip to Paris and Giverny. But for now I will just add a few photos so you can see how beautiful it is.

A CURNOW'S CORNWALL

My ancestors were from Cornwall
They rest in churchyards near.
I came to seek their stories
And a heritage held dear.
I walk beside their footsteps, along the rugged cliffs,
Above the crashing of the waves,
Among the golden gorse,
In awe of so much beauty,
As wind whistles 'round my ears.
The clouds make trails across the sky
In shades of grey and white.
The trees of green, the Scilla blue,
Make such a blessed sight.
Among the hedgerows of the fields,
Awash with green and gold,
Stone walls draw patterns o'er the hills
And across my Cornish heart.
Picture perfect villages with
Pubs of warmth and cheer,
Welcome all who come to sit
And savour Cornish beer.
Quaint cafes by the sea
Provide a welcome rest,
For those who come for tea and scones,
With jam and clotted cream.
I'm so glad to be in Cornwall
Where my ancestors lie so near.
The friendly Cornish people
And their beloved dogs and cats
Remain forever in my heart
In this place forever dear.

In The Footsteps of my Ancestors

Mawgen is a small, delightful country village on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. Today I am here to explore the footsteps of my Cornish ancestors. I am sitting here on a bench, listening to the birds, feeling the sun's warmth and enjoying peaceful lunch of Cornish pasty and coffee My view across the narrow road is of a row of delightful stone cottages. One is called Primrose Cottage - that pretty well describes the quaintness of the village. Being in the village of my maternal ancestors, going back at least to the 1600's, makes this a very special day for me. I spent a very long time wandering around the church and graveyard where they were christened, married and buried. I even found two of their graves from the mid 1800's. The church itself dates back to the 1200's. It was very moving for me to sit in the same church and walk the same lanes as my ancestors of over 300 years ago. I am truly blessed