April 16, 2010 by Rae

The Royal BC Museum

The Royal BC Museum is the quintessential museum every big city has with exhibits about the geological and human history of the province. It is seriously over rated and over priced. At $15, its price is only second to the Royal Ontario Museum (well worth its $22 ticket fee) and a joke when compared to the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s $12. I know what I sound like, the jaded, ‘been there, done that’ traveler, but I do feel that I my observations are valid. Someone visiting the RBC museum who has never been to this type of museum would definitely get a lot out of it and find the entry fee worthwhile. A seasoned traveler might read this and decide to save their money for something else.

So, the RBC has two levels of exhibits with an Imax theatre (not included in the basic $15 ticket fee). The first exhibit floor is about the geological history of BC and the second level is about the history of the native people and settlers of the province. The exhibits were extremely well done and up to date; I was really impressed with a lot of the dioramas and the occasional touch screen information panels. Money is definitely well spent at the RBC museum.

The highlight of the museum for me was the theatre in ‘old town’ that played a scene from the Charlie Chaplin movie The Gold Rush, which I had never seen! Everyone was in stitches watching him and a friend try to get out of a house teetering on the edge of a cliff.

Flash photography isn’t allowed in museums and the RBC is kept very dark, so I only got a few shots worth sharing, but they will provide a good taste of this museum:

this magnificent mammoth is the first exhibit you’ll see

this plaque is about the 2003 Kelowna forest fire and was included to show just how up to date the exhibits are

this guy is a gigantic pine beetle, the scourge of the lumber industry

a plaque about the pine beetle

this is an interactive touch screen; pressing the yellow button brings up new information

I thought this was a good explanation of the difference between climate and weather

this exhibit was about climate extremes in BC

Ashcroft BC is the driest place in Canada other than the Arctic

this is exhibit is about the hardy Sitka spruce, the only deciduous tree capable of withstanding the harsh coastal Pacific climate

I liked this walrus

an exhibit that made me realise just how hardy are creatures who live on exposed beaches

an exhibit about the return of sea otters to BC

the differences between sea and river otters (sea otters are the cute ones who float on their backs and use their chests as tables)

I thought this cliff with seagulls was well done

an exhibit about the Fraser River, which drains one quarter of BC

This marsh exhibit with lots of birds was impressive. I learned that the reddish brown plumage is rust caused by iron-rich soil.

Alaska king crab. Yum!!! (weird since spiders give me the willies!)

this exhibit was well done; it is a wall covered with sea creatures that you view through a ‘port hole’

orca tooth

view of the Netherlands carillon from the 2nd floor

view of the Legislative Building from the 2nd floor

view of the Empress Hotel from the 2nd floor

this man greets you at the entrace to the First Nations exhibit

this exhibit is about the smooth black shale-like stone used for carving

there was lots…

and LOTS to see! Impressive works of art!

more about the stone

interior of a real lodge house that was relocated to the museum

hall of totems

ceremonial dress

this exhibit was about how small pox decimated the First Nations population because of their lack of immunity

this exhibit was about the prohibition of potlachs–extravagant gift giving exchanges that marked changes in power

this man accused of celebrating a potlach insisted that it was actually a Christmas celebration, but the authorities still jailed him

This plaque talks about marriages between important families being more about treaties and wealth than about love. Sounds rather ‘European’ to me…

ceremonial dress

The following plaques are about the Nisga’a Treaty, a major milestone in Canadian-First Nations history. It is the first step in redressing the many wrongs of the Indian Act.

as part of the treaty, the RBC has sent back many exhibits to the Nisga’a people

this was a rock carving that spawned the legend of the man who fell from the sky… and lived to tell the tale (another visitor an I had a mad laugh about this man!)

plaque about the pit house

pit house, showing the ‘staircase’ used to climb out of the smoke hole

pit house interior

pit house exterior showing poles covered with mud

a shawl (?)

plaque about the Slim Jim painting

The Slim Jim painting that once hung in the BC Legislature (it is worth Googling more about it)

entrance to old town

a 1920’s ice cream churn

love the image 🙂

June 1945

This exhibit about the 1990’s features a poster of Vancouver’s Bryan Adams, my favourite singer of that decade

a 1990’s cell phone

real floppy discs!

a VHS camera!

Leonardo! My Little Pony! NINTENDO! (And I can’t believe I remembered that the Ninja Turtle with the blue is Leonardo!)

a walkman!

a Discman!

a Victorian toilet

Charlie Chaplin in a house teetering on the edge of a cliff

a house teetering on the edge of a cliff

there is indeed

Old Town

this is what a kitchen should look like 🙂

a plaque about washday pre-washing machines

I was surprised to learn from this plaque that people actually imported food instead of growing it locally

horse at pasture on a farm

paddlewheel

farm outbuilding

salmon cannery

the Chinese were so efficient at butchering fish that when a machine was invented that could almost match their speed it was called the Iron Chink!

tins of salmon

Diorama of the Stikine Valley (gold rush era)

the HMS Discovery

Plaque about George Vancouver. He was a good captain who cared for his men. He lost only 5 of 180 in all his journeys.

outside a ‘pub’

I think the 1990’s exhibit, small as it was, was my favourite. I can’t believe that things out of my childhood are now antiques! 😀

The museum can be done in 1.5 to 3 hours depending on how much you decide to read. I did it in 2, mostly because there are a lot specialized interpreters and I stopped to listen to what they had to say.

April 16, 2010 by Rae

A Final Day in Victoria

Being less than 300km from ‘home’ and not having to start work until 2pm tomorrow meant that I could enjoy a third day in Victoria. I dropped Mrs. H off at her friend’s house and then drove downtown to do a few museums. This post will gloss over some of the details of today as some destinations merit their own posts.

I decided to park in Chinatown since the daily rates are cheaper than downtown and planned my day as a loop. My first stop was just a block away and was a store! It was recommended to me by a reader and is called Chintz and Co.

Chintz & Co.

This store comprises 20,000 square feet (!) and is just about a one stop home decorating stop. It was the first time I have walked into a store selling new furniture and found myself liking almost everything. Had I had $2,000 I would have walked out with a handsome wingback chair covered in dark orange leather (*swoons*). The furniture style was mostly luxe shabby chic, with lots of rich colours abounding. I could have spent hours there, but focused mostly on the remnants section, which was much larger than I would have expected. I found some fabrics I thought would coordinate with ones I have already picked up, but I wasn’t sure enough to buy.

I ambled down Store street and turned into Bastion Square:

alley off of Bastion Square

Bastion Square’s giant tulips

My next stop was The Soda Shoppe, which I had discovered on my first night in Victoria. It is located on Government Street right in front of the Empress Hotel, kitty corner to the visitor’s centre.

The Soda Shoppe

I would normally balk at paying $4.19 for a small ice cream cone (even if it is of the waffle variety), but they have bear claw, a dark chocolately fudgy caramelly cashewy concoction I haven’t seen in about ten years since an Ottawa shop carrying it closed down. It was as good as I remembered!

From there, I walked the length of the Empress Hotel, crossed the street, and landed at the Royal British Columbia Museum:

Royal BC Museum

After a couple of hours, I headed across the street

street separating the RBC museum from the Legislature

and strolled along the length of the BC Legislature:

war memorial

close up showing the addition of the Korean ‘police action’; a nice touch since many forget that Canada was involved in this war

the BC Legislative Building is quite a handsome structure! It’s almost as impressive as Ottawa’s Parliament buildings!

this is all of the Sequoia I was able to get into one shot 🙂

then crossed the street in front of it to go visit the Undersea Gardens:

The Undersea Gardens

After that, I slowly began to stroll back towards the car with a stop for lunch:

Victoria Harbour

there was a whole row of dedication plaques

a magnific mosaic orca

a map of Vancouver Island

I was just going to get a slice of pizza for lunch, but was lured by the siren’s call of Cafe Mexico. I had an excellent meal there of a chicken burrito with ‘fries’ (more like chewy potato chips with a hint of crunch). The highlight of the mean was the ‘mojitea’:

mojitea

My drink of choice is the mojito, but I didn’t want to drink alcohol before a long drive home so I decided to try their virgin version even though virgin mojitos seem to be missing a little ‘something.’ Well, Cafe Mexico found what that little something is: sweet tea. The tea doesn’t have the same flavour as the rum, of course, but it’s the perfect non-alcoholic addition to turn the club soda and muddled mint into more than just minty soda. Yum! The burrito was fresh and light and the fries were served with a sauce that had me go ‘WHAT?!’ at first taste, but which grew on me with every bite. I asked the server what it was and she said it was a ‘chipolte aioli’ which I think means a smokey garlickly mayonnaise. It was the perfect complement to the fries. This wasn’t the best Mexican food I’ve had in my life, but definitely fits at the top of the list. It was reasonably priced to boot!

I grabbed an ice coffee for the road and returned to the car to plot a route to the Nanaimo Best Buy. My GPS is getting to be ridiculously outdated, so it didn’t have that store in its data base. It felt incredibly luxurious to boot up the laptop, sign on to my Telus connection, and get the necessary info. My life has definitely changed!

My destination mapped out, I headed out of Victoria at 3PM. I’ll write a separate post about the drive back to Campbell River.

Victoria left me with mixed feelings, some negative, most positive.

The negative feelings are towards the cost of museums and attractions: ridiculously high. There was nothing under $10 and most things were $15 and up. I would have loved to do the Maritime Museum, but with the RBC being $15 and the Undersea Gardens being $11, the additional $12 for the MM would have busted my budget. Having been to so many museums in both the Canada and the US I can say with a measure of authority that everything I saw in Victoria was way over priced. Whether or not I enjoyed myself is not relevant.

That said, Victoria is a beautiful and accessible city. If I have to stay in Canada next winter I will do so in the environs of Victoria, even if it means spending another $400 on ferry costs. I have nowhere had my fill of this city and feel that I barely got a taste of it. I’d like to spend more time exploring Beacon Hill Park and exploring the many hiking trails in the area.

Victoria is one of those Canadian cities that feels exquisitely ‘old world’ in its waterfront area, so much so that the cloppety clop of horse hooves is the most natural sound you could hear in the setting. The traditional architecture is Victorian with its emphasis on grand neo-gothic structures like the Empress Hotel. I didn’t get quite as much of a feel for the outlaying parts of town, but Mrs. H had me drive through many a neighbourhood that had streets lined with Victorian cottages, some simple, some dripping with gingerbread.

I had a lovely weekend and feel it is the perfect cap to my Vancouver Island winter.

April 13, 2010 by Rae

First Impressions of Victoria

Victoria has thus far presented herself as the graceful fair lady I expected her to be.

Of all the major Canadian cities, only Victoria ever stood out as a possible forever home city for me, if only for its climate. I have wanted to walk her streets for a long, long time. I have now visited the capital city of all the provinces and territories I have visited and only have Yellowknife, St. John’s, and Iqaluit left.

Mrs. H and I pulled into town mid-afternoon and she directed me to her favourite hotel, a Traveler’s Inn located in a convenient location. I quickly left her to take a nap while I set off on foot to scope out downtown, about fifteen minutes away.

I was surprised by how many people were out and about and I found the crushing crowds a bit shocking. I haven’t been surrounded by so many people since the last time I was in downtown Vancouver, almost a year ago! It was exhilarating, with all these different types of people from all social classes hurrying about and the most amazing smells spilling out of the restaurants. I was a tad overwhelmed, but it was pleasant because Victoria isn’t that big. I wouldn’t have done so well in a truly populous metropolis!

I bought an ice cream cone and enjoyed it as I scoped out the major landmarks I hope to visit in the next few days. I will be doing a lot of exploring on my own, but Mrs. H will also be showing me ‘her’ Victoria.

Some parts of downtown felt very old, like what I imagine streets in the 17th and 18th century might have been like. Other parts felt very modern. The city has a nice skyline where the diverse architectural styles complement each other. I look forward to exploring!

a palm tree outside our hotel 🙂

This brewery has tours; so this picture is a note to myself to try to book one. 🙂

entrance to Chinatown

I love the expression on this lion’s face

a street in Chinatown

dragon statue in Chinatown

a street near downtown Victoria

downtown Victoria

Empress Hotel

downtown Victoria

visitors’ centre

downtown Victoria

Empress Hotel

plaque about the James Cook statue

statue of James Cook

Netherlands carillon

the carillon ringer has to climb this staircase and then climb a ladder to ring the bells

Royal BC Museum

dinosaur footprints (moved from the Peace River Valley)

Thunderbird Park

all the electrical boxes in town are covered in pictures to prevent grafitti

Thunderbird Park

behind the Empress Hotel

cool bike rack

this condo complex is called The Waterfall

another electrical box

cherry tree

May 31, 2009 by Rae

Teslin

Teslin means ‘Long Narrow Water’ in the Tlingit language. It is a tiny village that contrasts sharply with Watson Lake, hinting at prosperity and pride. Homes are generally neat, constructed of natural logs or of clapboard painted brown. The natural setting defies description, with snowy rocky mountains, pine covered hills, and ice-covered lakes everywhere you look. Teslin boasts a couple of museums, a heritage centre, a post office, a community rec centre, an RCMP detachment, a clinic, and a general store that sells all manner of groceries at very reasonable prices.

The only museum open today was the wildlife gallery here at the Yukon Motel. Entrance is free, with donations being welcome. I was impressed by the quality of the exhibits, showing mounted animals indigenous to the Yukon. All animals died of natural circumstances, of course, including one beaver who drowned when it fell through some thin ice while trying to cross Lake Laberge one spring.

grizzly bear

moose and wolves

in front of the moose and wolf display; what a poetic way to express the natural balance of the universe

I then set off on my bike to explore Teslin’s streets. I found several placards explaining the history of this place. In Dawson Creek, you get the American version of the Alaska Highway building story. In Watson Lake, you get the Canadian side. And in Teslin, you get the final piece of the puzzle, the First Nations’ story.

Until the building of the Alaska Highway, the Tlingit, and other First Nations in the Yukon, still lived with the rhythm of the land. Teslin was a meeting place for trade, but not a permanent settlement. When the Alcan roared through, the nearby community of Johnston Town eventually emptied as residents sought the amenities that came with the great by-way–schools, jobs, health services. The soldiers who blazed the trail of ’42 also brought with them diseases against which the Tlingit had no immunity. A way of life was slowly wiped out as the local economy moved passed fur trading, trapping, and hunting. It would be naïve to say that the building of the Alaska Highway was entirely a good thing. Some First Nations paid for this thoroughfare with their very heritage.

It is also important to note that unlike the impression given in the American and Canadian stories, the soldiers who built the first tote road through the wilderness did not do so on their own. Rather, they employed native guides for whom this wild land was home.

all street signs are wooden and painted

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September 24, 2008 by Rae

Wild Rose Country

I’m posting from Edmonton, Alberta.

Edmonton

Driving northwest out of Saskatoon on the Yellowhead (16), the landscape begins to ripple and the vast golden expanses of wheat give way to green pastures interrupted by dense poplar copses. By the time you truly enter Alberta, after you’ve passed Lloydminster, you’d think you were back in northern Ontario. But the trees betray your true location, as Alberta along this route has more poplar than it does spruce.

My first night in Alberta was spent in a zoo of a shopping complex in Lloydminster. I was very technically set up in front of a Wal-mart, but, truly, home was squeezed in between a Kelsey’s restaurant and a bank. It was very noisy, crowded, and busy, but provided a good lesson in how far I’ve come in the past few weeks. My first times in such locations, I couldn’t relax and absolutely had to leave the coach. This night, I just got a few groceries to make dinner at home, and then I plopped down with a book for several hours.

I made it to Edmonton around 12:30 on Monday. It had been a miserable morning; rainy, damp, cold, muddy, and windy. Keeping Miranda in her lane had required all my energy. I wanted to go somewhere warm for the afternoon, somewhere I wouldn’t have to think too much, somewhere I could have some exercise.

So, within a half hour of arriving in Edmonton, I was on my way to the West Edmonton Mall.

Now, I have no love for these insane orgies of consumerism. When I went through Minnesota in 2005 I purposely skipped the Mall of America even though I went right by it. But the West Edmonton Mall promised an indoor water park with a wave pool which sounded like just the thing I wanted….

I found the water park and was dismayed by the admission cost of 32$, plus 7$ for a locker rental. I just wanted to swim! I took a chance and asked the lady at admissions if there was perhaps a special fee just for the pool. Not during the week… because access to the whole facility is 17$ since not all the activities are open!

And that’s why I am really beginning to love this life, folks. I woke up Monday in a miserable parking lot, went to bed in a quiet setting surrounded by firs, and in the middle of all that, I spent three glorious hours swimming, body surfing waves, and taking too many exhilarating rides to count down waterslides. Monday was a Good Day.

Yesterday was okay. Everything I really wanted to see in Edmonton is either closed for renovations, closed for the season, or has a drastically reduced program. I did the Royal Alberta Museum in the morning and had mixed feelings about it. The 10$ admission fee felt bloated when I compared the museum to the RSM (2$) and I found the exhibits disjointed and badly organized. But I was able to fall in love with an absolutely adorable little guy (Australian stick bug) and learn about the shipwreck of the Empress of Ireland, which happened on the St. Lawrence River, and which I’d never heard about even though it was comparable in tragedy to the sinking of the Titanic.

I finished up my day early by going to Rutherford House, home of Alberta’s first premiere.

Rutherford House, Edmonton

Admission was 4$ and got me a private guide who was fantastic. I enjoyed touring this Edwardian home, comparing it to Victorian homes I’d toured before. The Edwardian style is a lot more simple, but the paint colours are shockingly bright.

Today, I’m not sure if I’m doing anything touristy. I had wanted to go to Fort Edmonton Park, but it’s shut down for the season and the only thing going on during the week are wagon rides. Later today I’ll go check out if those are worth doing since the park is just minutes from here. I also need to visit an Elections Canada office to get a special ballot to vote by mail as we have an election coming up on October 14!

I’m very tired and the cold I woke up with last Thursday has hardly abated. So, I’m reconsidering my plans for the rest of the week. I was supposed to go to Calgary tomorrow and stay through to Sunday. I think I’m going to blow off the city and come back in the spring.

So, my new tentative itinerary is to make it as far as the Wal-mart in Red Deer tomorrow, the Wal-mart in Calgary on Friday, and then stop in Canmore for a full seven nights as I found a park there that offers a free seventh night for six paid up (making the average cost per night almost reasonable). From there, I could take a day trip into Calgary (1 hour) and day trips into Banff, similar to what I did in Regina. And then from Canmore, I’ll drive, up and down and through the mountains until I reach the Okanagan valley. It’s getting colder up here (there’s frost on the grass outside!) and the Okanagan Valley is starting to sound like the promised land. 🙂

I must also confess that I’m getting too settled into this semi-retired-type routine of mine and that it won’t hurt for me to start making some income again to remind me that there is still a big old world out there. 🙂

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Natural History Museums

The Royal BC Museum

A Final Day in Victoria

First Impressions of Victoria

Teslin

Wild Rose Country