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Passing through the Gulf Islands on the way back to Vancouver

It's quite a maneuvering exercise getting a big ferry boat through here - especially when they meet another coming in the opposite direction

Eventually we reach the expanse of the Georgia Strait as we pass Galliano Island on the left

Driving back to Vancouver from Tsawwassen

Kayaking at Bowen Island

Daughter Kevin's mate Mike and Wee Jim share a kayak - Kevin and me are in t'other one taking the photos 
..........Well - I'm taking the photos while she paddles!

Snug Cove

Killarney Lake Bowen Island

Road Trip 2
Lillooet & Fraser Canyon

After a few days back in Vancouver Wee Jim and me were ready to take off again.  We had planned this trip for a day or so earlier but there had been a massive rock fall on the Sea to Sky Highway - Route 99 - which we had planned to use to get back to Vancouver from Lillooet.  By the time we went it had been cleared and the road was re-opened again.  The run out of Vancouver on highway 1 was pretty unremarkable but we did have a good view of Mount Baker over the border in America to look at while the miles clicked down, and pretty soon we found ourselves in the little town of Hope.

Wee Jim photographs Mount Baker - and herself!

The little town of Hope - things are getting a distinctly "Wild West" feel!

The Fraser River

As we drive on towards Lillooet the terrain becomes wilder, the loose rocky slopes of the canyon make it dangerous to stop in some places because the chances of rock falls is too much of a risk, in places the road is strewn with bits of fallen rock so we carry on and do our photographing from the car - great country this, if the bears and cougars don't get you then the damned rocks will.

Being incredibly stupid, we do actually stop at one point to take some shots a of a particularly stunning bit of the canyon, I'm just about to start clicking when Wee Jim calls over to me, "Erm Old Git dearest - have you seen where you've parked the car Honeybun?"  I glance over and nearly faint - it's directly under a massive outcrop of loose rock, this thing is as big as a decent sized  bungalow and it looks like it's just about to let go and come tumbling down on us. The reality of what a possibility this is was brought home a few days earlier when there was a massive rockfall on the Sea to Sky Highway, the main road between Whistler and Vancouver. In fact, as already mentioned we'd put this trip back a day or so because we had to come back to Vancouver along the Sea to Sky and it was closed while the authorities cleared it. We head back to the car and close the doors - very quietly and get the hell out of there........fast.  We never did get any photos there by the way!     

Lillooet

The photos just don't capture  how wide this street is, but it's a fair old walk from one side to the other. The reason for it being so wide is that
Lillooet was once a gold rush town, and teams of oxen that were used to pull the supply wagons had to be able to turn
 around in one go - no 3 point turns here!

A bit about Lillooet and the gold rush era, 
(taken from the website British Columbia.Com - Lillooet)

"Founded as Mile Zero on the wagon road leading to the Cariboo and Barkerville gold fields, Lillooet was a child of the Gold Rush. Many towns along the Cariboo Highway are helpfully referred to by the distance north along the Gold Rush Trail from Mile zero at Lillooet. The distance north to 100 Mile House is therefore not too challenging to determine. Originally known as Cayoosh Flat because of the good grazing that cayuses (Indian Ponies) found there, the town was renamed in the mid 1860s in honour of the Leelwat First Nations people who live in the region.

The Mile zero cairn on Lillooet's main street

The Fraser River as it passes through Lillooet

The old suspension bridge over the Frazer river at Lillooet this is now only a foot bridge.
 There's a newer bridge at the opposite end of town called "The Bridge of 23 Camels" - see below.

"Bridge of 23 Camels: Innovative Lillooet resident John Callbreath experimented with camels as pack animals, hoping to make an improvement over the oft-stubborn mule. In 1862 he bought 23 camels in San Fransisco for $300, and shipped them to Lillooet to work in the Gold Rush. While efficient they were, their tender feet, bad tempers and foul odour led to the scheme's demise. While the camels were a dismal failure, they nonetheless left a strong impression on townsfolk, as evidenced by their memorial, Lillooet's Bridge of 23 Camels"

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