Canadian convoy

Saturday 28 July

An early get up this morning as we were due to leave the museum by 8.00am. A few people at the museum to see us off and taking photos of the vehicles going on the convoy and a group photo. Chris and Lisa from Washington State who are part of the MVPA convoy spent the night at the museum also and drove with us as far as Ashcroft. They are on their way to Dawson Creek.

A beautiful drive through the Fraser Canyon - a rushing river running through the valley with mountains on either side. It was hard going for George and the weather was quite warm but everything went OK. It was good just to be able to follow the vehicle in front and not worry about where we had to go. Hopefully some of the movie shots we took will turn out.

The scenery changed considerably on the way to Ashcroft and at one stage it was almost desert like with the mountains being quite barren but with a river running through the valley. It was like something out of a cowboy movie. The farmers were using irrigation on their crops so there were patches of green amongst the barren mountains.

We visited the Legions premises at Ashcroft for lunch and then at Clinton late in the afternoon where we had dinner. The vehicles were put on display and attracted a lot of interest and everyone was very hospitable.

Just before Clinton the scenery changed once again and on the way to Green Lake it was much greener. One of the Canadian members owns a property right on the shore of the lake so all the vehicles are pulled up on his lawn with views over the lake. A beautiful spot to spend the night. Apparently this lake freezes over in the winter and they use it for recreational purposes. Looking at it now it is hard to believe but I have been shown pictures so it does actually happen.

It is Jim's birthday today and Dave, one of the Canadian members had his birthday a couple of days ago so there was cake for supper.  We were also presented with a Canadian convoy t-shirt and hat  which we will proudly wear tomorrow.  At the moment Chuck is playing his guitar and singing around a campfire so life is sweet. It surely must be time to sit around the fire as it is getting cool.

Chilliwack

We were on the road by 9.00am and with the help of the GPS reached Chilliwack Army Museum without any problems. An interesting drive through the Fraser Valley which is surrounded by mountains and appears to be the fruit bowl of the area. Vegies, berries, sweet corn and plants all seem to be grown in this area.

The museum is housed in part of the old quarter masters store. Chilliwack was a large military base as it was far enough from the coast not to be subjected to shell fire from ships but close enough to the coast to be able to defend Vancouver. There is not much left of the base now and a lot of the grounds have been turned into public open space and a trades training centre. Most of the land has been redeveloped for private housing and some of the old buildings retain their facade but behind are new buildings. The museum is right beside the river which has an enormous amount of water flowing down it at the moment as there were large snowfalls last winter followed by heavy rains.

On the fridge in the kitchen is a sticker "Merredin Military Museum Western Australia" so it is a reminder of how small this world is.

Jim was presented with a Canadian flag which he was very happy to receive.

Our thanks to the museum volunteers for their Canadian hospitality and allowing us to use their facilities.  They have a great museum.

Ammo box on a bus

Wednesday 25 July

Have woken up to lovely sunshine.

Today we decided to catch the bus from Aldergrove to Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley as Jim had been told that there was a military surplus store nearby. The shopping centre was huge but we are not into wandering around shops so had a fresh orange juice and then headed over to the surplus store. .Jim was on the lookout for a particular ammunition box but they did not have any in stock. He did manage to buy another type which he hasn't got for $25. The store was well laid out but the prices were probably a bit high. The guy behind the counter said he was expecting some different types of ammo boxes in a couple of weeks if we wanted to come back. We may need to drive the van there next time as they are not the easiest thing to carry in a backpack. It was such a tight squeeze in the backpack that we had to tie the handles of the box to the backpack because it kept falling back and opening the zips. Didn't want to be seen on a bus with an ammo box.

Coming home the bus was quite full and it went via a different route. It left the Fraser Highway and meandered along some other roads through an area where there were lovely houses on big blocks surrounded by trees. We also saw quite a few horses, berry farms and vegies being grown under cover. We were hoping that we hadn't taken the wrong bus as it was not going where we thought it was supposed to go but it was such a nice drive and we knew that we were going to end up in Aldergrove somewhere, Fortunately it came back on to the Fraser Highway and familiar territory.

It will be early to bed tonight. We leave Aldergrove on Friday and head towards Chilliwack so tomorrow will be spent washing, shopping and repacking George.

Newspaper article

A story about us Aussies appeared in the local paper "Langley Advance" which covered the 100th Aldergrove Fair.

It is on the following website and there are 3 photos
Not Jim's best effort at sign writing!!!

www.langleyadvance.com

Fort Langley

Monday 23 July 2012

Had rain overnight and we have felt a "bit" cold today temp today 13-17 degrees.  It is going to start warming up from tomorrow so looking forward to some sunshine.  Walked to McDonalds today - perhaps that accounts for the fish and chips we had the other day!!

Sunday 22 July 2012

This morning was spent at McDonalds sending emails and updating the blog. There is a shopping centre very close to where we are staying so it has been very convenient to buy groceries and connect to the internet at McDonalds.

In the afternoon we drove to Fort Langley National Historic Site.

The park occupies the Fraser River site of the 19th century Hudson's Bay Company trading post, an important supply link in the company's network of fur trading forts west of the Rockies. British Columbia was proclaimed a colony from the site in 1858. The site preserves an original 1840 storehouse and reconstructed Red River-style wooden buildings, including a cooperage and blacksmith's shop and a log palisade (extract from Western Canada & Alaska Tour Book).

The town of Fort Langley is a picturesque country town and is obviously an attraction for the tourists judging by the amount of people around.

Had a nice peaceful day enjoying the scenery - mountains in the background and lush green grass and fur trees. It was our first time on Highway One (dedicated to fallen soldiers) so we are gradually getting exposed to busier traffic.  The Tom Tom has now come out of hiding so will get plenty of use from now on.

Aldergrove 100th Anniversary Fair

Attended the "Show n Shine" which is a display of vintage and other vehicles on Friday night. This was a lead up to the Aldergrove 100th Anniversary Fair being held on Saturday and Sunday. There were some very interesting vintage vehicles eg Chevs, Fords, Dodges, and some makes that we have not seen before. Unfortunately it was not good weather for photography and we thought that we may have the opportunity to capture these on Saturday but it was a missed opportunity as these vehicles were not at the fair.

Saturday morning we lined up with Ian's collection of vehicles which included ex-military, an old English double decker bus and taxi and a police car with lights flashing for a parade down the main street. The Fraser Highway is quite a busy highway so they blocked off the lanes travelling west to accommodate the parade.Lots of people sitting on the side of the street waving and the firemen handing out lollies to the kids. A real country atmosphere with the locals out supporting their township.

The vehicles were then displayed at the fair and attracted a lot of interest. Some of the kids were in and out of the police car and jumping over the seats of the double decker bus much to the horror of the owners!! Several people came up and chatted to us and were very interested in the journey that we had already made and the one to come up to Alaska. One couple came up to us very excited and said that they had been told to come and check out the Australian van as there was a kangaroo in it. She was a bit disappointed when she got to the van and discovered that it was just the kangaroo over the boomerang unit sign. Gosh we had enough trouble getting the van through Customs without having a live kangaroo aboard!!

The fair catered for all age groups with many food stalls, craft stalls, rides for the kids, bands, tractor display, tractor pulls, animals, dog trials and the highlight for us was the pistol fast draw competition. Like something out of a cowboy movie! We will try and attach some photos, but we will be doing this at McDonalds so not sure how we will go.

Jim against the against the big truck, the Iltis vehicle and trailer, George in the static display and the pistol fast draw competition.

Some food stores are open 7 days a week from 7.00am until 11.00pm.

Weather

Friday - it is now raining.  The first bit of rain we have seen since landing in Canada.  I guess we will have more of this during our travels but we are equipped for "all" weather.

Now have limited internet access so will update the blog where and when we can. Now sitting at McDonalds eating a muffin and drinking a coffee.

George's collection

Wednesday 18 July we left the hotel around 9.00am and caught the seabus, train and bus to Aldergrove to collect “George”.  After stopping in Langley en route to get a bite to eat we reached Aldergrove around 1.00pm.  It is interesting to sit back and let someone else do the driving and take in what is around you.  From now on these opportunities will be few and far between.

George has been quite comfortable the last couple of weeks parked outside the guest cottage where we were invited to stay while we sorted out our gear.  He is in the company of many (and I am understating here) old vehicles, ex-military vehicles and military paraphenalia.  Jim is amazed at the collection of vehicles and would love to be the owner of some of them, but (fortunately) they are not for sale.

 We have been asked to participate in a street parade and static display on Friday and Saturday so we will get the camera out and post some pictures on the blog.

 

 

Thursday was our first drive in Canada.  We headed to a shopping centre not far from where we are staying and stocked up on some necessary food items and filled up the van with fuel.  Prices are comparable to Australia with regards to food but there appears to be a greater variety to choose from.  Fuel was129.9c per lt where we filled up at the Chevron garage and down the road at the Shell garage it was 123.9c, which was in another tax area . Prices are lower at the beginning of the week then rise towards the end.

 Jim had no problem driving on the right side of the road.  There are overhead traffic lights but also a set on one corner at ground level which makes it much safer for us. During our trip to Europe when we stopped at the red traffic lights the overhead lights were out of our vision because of the cab design so we had to wait until someone tooted behind us to let us know that the light had turned green. Encourages a bit of road rage!!

Once again curiosity and interest gets the better of some of the guys when they see the van.  While filling up at the garage a couple of guys came and asked questions about the vehicle and when Jim was off getting money out of the ATM and we were parked in a back carpark, another couple of guys pulled up.  They recognised that the vehicle was a radio van but didn’t realise it had been shipped in from Australia or that I was an Aussie.  It seemed quite incredible that I could be mistaken for a Canadian after all the trouble I had being understood when I was calling the US and Canada to make caravan park bookings.  Perhaps because they had Indian/Pakistani accents they didn’t recognise the Aussie accent.  The guys turned out to be the proud owners of a Willy’s.

The rest of the day was spent reorganising the van, washing, chatting (Jim) and resting up as we didn’t sleep very well on our new air mattresses.  If we had brought our foam mattresses into Canada we would have had to have them fumigated beforehand at a cost of about $130.  We are yet to see if it has been a wise move to get air mattresses!

Beautiful weather almost on the hot side because of the humidity.

Blog sites covering the AC'12 Convoy

There are various blog sites that convoy participants have set up to cover the trek. 

You may be interested in viewing the following;

http://paperdolldodge.blogspot.ca/

http://joyandlouis.blogspot.ca/

http://m38mike.blogspot.ca/

Facebook  - you can "Like" on MVPA 2012 Alaska Highway Convoy  to keep updated on what is happening.  Members are also posting information and their blog sites here.

Vehicle Insurance

Finalised the vehicle insurance this morning.  Fortunately most of it had been done previously by emails so just had to produce the necessary documentation and pay the bill.  We have organised to pick up George tomorrow afternoon then we will head to a camping ground to repack and do some shopping.  We may notice the "difference" in the accommodation after spending the last week in hotels but it will be good to be out in the country and enjoying the scenery.  Have to get used to driving on the other side of the road again so that will keep us on our toes. 

We have spent a couple of days at the Lonsdale Quay Hotel which is in North Vancouver on the river's edge where the ferry pulls in.  A great spot to rest up for a couple of days.  Hopefully our body clocks will adjust to the different time zone quickly and we won't be waking up at 2.00am again. The weather has been perfect but rain is forecast in the next couple of days. 

Have to practice using the new video camera so that we can get some good shots during the trip -  busy times ahead for the navigator and camera person.  Doesn't look as though there will be time to "nod" off in the passenger seat!!

Vancouver at last!!!

After another long flight we have finally made it to Vancouver.  We caught the Skytrain from the airport then the ferry to our hotel which is right on the river where the ferry pulls in.  We are lucky as we have river views from our room. Underneath the hotel and level with the water there are lots of interesting market stalls of food, clothing, jewellery etc.  It will be good to have a wander around once we have finalised the vehicle insurance tomorrow.

The weather is being kind to us and it is a  beautiful sunny day.

We will soon be reunited with George and then the fun will begin.  Some of the convoys have already started their journey from various parts of the US to be in Dawson Creek for the start of the AC'12 trek.

Now for some much needed rest.

Canton China stopover

We had an interesting time during our night stopover in Canton China.  The airport was about an hours drive from our hotel so it was a bit of a sightseeing experience on the way.  We were quite surprised how nice and green everything was.   All along the highway there were trees, shrubs and well kept gardens which helped to camouflage the concrete structures to a certain degree.

We had a list of things that we hoped to buy at "bargain" prices so most of our time was spent in the "electronics" district.  What an eye opener that was!  Shopping centres and malls full of the latest and greatest gadgets and the buyers are the young generation with lots of money to spend.  We did have a 'few' problems being understood but eventually managed to get what we wanted.  Jim even took to drawing pictures which caused a bit of a giggle.  They say if you want to be understood ask a "teenager" as English is being taught in the schools, but it is still hard going. 

As our hotel was located in the business district and upmarket residential area we were some distance away from the shopping areas.  We caught taxis everywhere and they were really cheap ranging between $2-3.

AC'12 Trucks in the Convoy

This is a sample of some of the vehicles in the convoy

Final Route Map and Schedule

This is the final route map and schedule which will make it easier for you to follow us on the trek

George's welcome to Vancouver

George has now arrived in Vancouver and is finally on Canadian soil patiently awaiting our arrival.  We had arranged for him to be shipped early in case there were any delays with shipping but all went smoothly and he arrived on the due date. There were a few hassles getting Customs clearance because Jim was not able to be there in person but with the assistance of Joy and Louis Anthony in Vancouver he was cleared through Customs.  This also saved us from paying expensive demurrage and storage costs which would have dented the budget.  George was then transported to Maj Ian Newby's property where Ian and his staff unloaded him from the container, removed the shipping wheels and fitted the road wheels.  George is now ready to roll.  We are very grateful to Joy, Louis, Ian and staff for all their help and look forward to thanking them in person.

We fly out on Friday and have a 3 night stopover in Canton China on the way to Vancouver.  We are now getting very excited, and apprehensive, and look forward to meeting our fellow trekkers and their "treasures".  Some of the trekkers are travelling many kilometres just to get to the starting point at Dawson Creek Canada BC.  There is also a GMC truck and trailer being shipped from Belgium and that is due to arrive today.

The attached photo of George is showing his welcome to Vancouver by Joy and Louis