Hello everyone! Lackaday: I am falling so far behind with these compositions of consciousness that each fleeting thought of writing a new entry triggers a minor anxiety attack. If I succeed in formulating a swift, succinct impression of Nelson, a place that captured my heart and captivated me, then by the end of this piece I shall finally have left British Columbia; at long last, I shall be ready to embark upon a new province and reminiscing upon matters beyon...

Hello everyone! My time in Vancouver ended, but a new dawn broke nonetheless and with it a new adventure as I commenced upon my journey from west to east. The first stop upon my way I chose to be Kelowna, a large, lake-side community in the midst of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, home to the largest wine-producing region in all of Canada and the fruit-basket of the west, home to an abundance of vineyards and orchards, laden with bushes bearing cherries, o...

Hello everyone! I returned to Vancouver, to an empty house; as a small favour and some way to begin to repay the wonderful generosity shown to me over the course of the past eight months in the city, I had agreed to house- (and kitten-) sit for Mike and Jenna whilst they took a trip to the east coast for the week. So it was that I entered the house late the night that I arrived back from the Island, trepidation weighing against my happiness: "I hate cats,...

Hello everyone! On our way back east from Tofino towards Nanaimo, Lanfar and I called at Cathedral Grove, an old-growth forest accessed directly from the main road (the only road) between civilizations. We parked the car and continued on foot: no sooner had we left the road and plunged forth onto the shaded pathways criss-crossing the undergrowth, than the sounds and smells of the busy road faded away, slipping into meaninglessness. The trees soared overhead, ...

Hello everyone! Summer came cautiously, ponderously to the west coast, retracting on occasion under the stern oppression of unseasonably leaden skies. The sun stole over the mountain peaks, the alighted upon the tips of the trees, the city high-rise, scrapping the skies, then finally the greens, the sticky pavements and the restful waters of the inlet, embracing the city and embraced in turn by the warming rays. June began to wane and with it my time in Vancou...