Just saw a Lonely Planet program about a hotel in Qualicum beach in Vancouver Island BC. The hotelier has designed two Spheres called Eve and Erin, suspended in the trees accessible by ladders. They look cosy and intriguing. Of course my first thought was, are there toilets? apparently so although they did not spend alot of time explaining the plumbing system.
The name Qualicum Beach took me right back to my honeymoon in 1985. We took a left round about there, heading for Tofino on the west coast and our eventual camping ground by the water. If the spheres had been around I think we would have tried them once but we had dear old Bluebell the VW camper and a canoe so we were self sufficient except for lack ot toilet facilities. We went in tthe bushes. There was no one but us, bliss!
Canoeing caused a little tension however. I was keen even in those days to spot whales but we didn't see any. Not sure if we tried to fish. I know we didn't catch any and the current was very strong, giving us more than a few moments of panic one evening when we tried to return to the camp site. Very different from my previous canoeing expeience in the Zambezi river, and Zambezi Lake with husband number one in 1967. But that's another story.
About Me
- Pauline Reynolds
- Not as young as I was but young enough to be curious about the world and go places to write about it.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Talking of hedgehogs...
Just about all you wish to know about hedgehogs can be found at this site:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/hedgehog
It turns out that there are several hedghog care facilities in the UK, and the Lincolnshire one is still going strong, although I don't see the bikies listed as benefactors any more. Too bad! It is a very cute place, the kids will love it, even the grandmas!!!
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/hedgehog
It turns out that there are several hedghog care facilities in the UK, and the Lincolnshire one is still going strong, although I don't see the bikies listed as benefactors any more. Too bad! It is a very cute place, the kids will love it, even the grandmas!!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
don't forget adapters
Much running around in the head.
Coming up: a trip to the tropics followed 4 days later with a trip to Northern climes namely USA/UK. Am dreaming about a sunset camel ride in Broome, Australia and re-visiting a hedgehog hospital in Lincolnshire, where I missed a golden photo opportunity a few years ago when the narrow country lanes filled with roaring bikies. They were on a mission, a charitable one, supporting the hedgehog hospital and I missed a chance to photograph the incongruity. Not this time. I'm going to call ahead, see if or when the bikies are going to be there, prime the camcorder and digital still camera and get the pictures.
BUT I must remember to pack the adapters. My daughter picked up the still camera in Hong Kong where the electiicty outlets are the same as UK. Quite convenient but because it is always in use (for the DVD I picked up in Hong Kong) I might forget it. A list is going to be very inportant, two lists actually, one for the Darwin-Broome trip and one for the UK/USA trip.
Coming up: a trip to the tropics followed 4 days later with a trip to Northern climes namely USA/UK. Am dreaming about a sunset camel ride in Broome, Australia and re-visiting a hedgehog hospital in Lincolnshire, where I missed a golden photo opportunity a few years ago when the narrow country lanes filled with roaring bikies. They were on a mission, a charitable one, supporting the hedgehog hospital and I missed a chance to photograph the incongruity. Not this time. I'm going to call ahead, see if or when the bikies are going to be there, prime the camcorder and digital still camera and get the pictures.
BUT I must remember to pack the adapters. My daughter picked up the still camera in Hong Kong where the electiicty outlets are the same as UK. Quite convenient but because it is always in use (for the DVD I picked up in Hong Kong) I might forget it. A list is going to be very inportant, two lists actually, one for the Darwin-Broome trip and one for the UK/USA trip.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Travel Itch.
From being a child, 'foreign' people and places fascinated me. What is that I wonder. Did it come with mother's milk? Was it imprinted in my DNA? Even before mum died suddenly leaving 3 little girls behind, I was always running ahead wanting to see what was next, what was 'over there'. That's why I never appeared on family photos walking along the sea front of Mablethorpe. But it's also true that with the new family arrangements came discontent and unhappiness. The outside world looked infinitely better than the one I was experiencing at the time.
Whatever it was, the opportunity to travel was a major motivator in my becoming a nurse. British nurses were welcome anywhere in those days. I had dreams of being a ship's nurse but by the end of training, I came to realise that being cooped up on a liner with 'dried arrangements' (as my friend David loved to call his elderly customers) holding heads over buckets and bandaging the odd sprain was not exciting enough.
In fact by the end of training I was sick of anything to do with hospitals and, with my friend Val cashed in all 44.00 pounds of superannuation and went hitchiking round Europe. (An account of this journey appears in the yet to be published memoir 'Continental Shift.') To get the money to return home we worked as housemaids for Army personnel in the Westfalia district of Germany. It took five months to accumulate enough to fly home, my first commercial flight. I had put on 20 lbs due to the crashing boredom of vacuuming clean floors and dusting pristine sufaces every day, comforting myself with great slabs of Cadbury's chocolate and far too many delicious German cherry tarts 'mit sahne.'
Upon returning to my chosen career, I lost the extra weight in 2 weeks, thankful to be back among the bedpans and sutures. But the itch to travel never disappeared. Within 6 months I'd moved to another city in the UK to do midwifery training. That is a tale for another day.
Whatever it was, the opportunity to travel was a major motivator in my becoming a nurse. British nurses were welcome anywhere in those days. I had dreams of being a ship's nurse but by the end of training, I came to realise that being cooped up on a liner with 'dried arrangements' (as my friend David loved to call his elderly customers) holding heads over buckets and bandaging the odd sprain was not exciting enough.
In fact by the end of training I was sick of anything to do with hospitals and, with my friend Val cashed in all 44.00 pounds of superannuation and went hitchiking round Europe. (An account of this journey appears in the yet to be published memoir 'Continental Shift.') To get the money to return home we worked as housemaids for Army personnel in the Westfalia district of Germany. It took five months to accumulate enough to fly home, my first commercial flight. I had put on 20 lbs due to the crashing boredom of vacuuming clean floors and dusting pristine sufaces every day, comforting myself with great slabs of Cadbury's chocolate and far too many delicious German cherry tarts 'mit sahne.'
Upon returning to my chosen career, I lost the extra weight in 2 weeks, thankful to be back among the bedpans and sutures. But the itch to travel never disappeared. Within 6 months I'd moved to another city in the UK to do midwifery training. That is a tale for another day.
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