05 March 2005
Vancouver Island and the little town of Duncan
Saturday morning was a beautiful day and,we were told, quite unusual for this time of the year. So we took advantage of the lovely sun to go and climb a mountain. A little mountain, yes, but a mountain none-the-less. Diane assured us that the view from the top of Mount Prevost (pronounced pre-voe) was beautiful and that we would drive up to a little carpark near the summit and then it was only a short climb to the summit and the breathtaking views of the Cowichan Valley. Uhuh.
We set out from home and drove through Duncan, a small town in the Cowichan Valley towards Mount Prevost. After a couple of dead ends we found the right path only to discover a steep looking hill that was covered in ice, snow and some dodgy looking tyre tracks (dodgy looking in the sense that the car that made them was more sliding around than progressing forwards). So we decided to leave the car and set out for the summit on foot.
The climb to the top proved to be a little more difficult than we initally anticipated. There were LOTS of steep climbs, mud, ice, snow and tracks that resembled those of a cougar (we are almost positive it was a largish dog, but it sounds so much better when we say COUGAR)! All in all, it was a pretty tough climb for two very unfit people (Diane did quite well I think), but the view from the top certainly was worth it.
Upon reaching the summit, we found a group of paragliding who were taking off from the top of Mt Prevost and using the thermals and breezes to take them down to a large field at the bottom. It was pretty cool seeing them launch from the top of the mountain and float out over the trees.
The trip back was much more relaxed, but still took us 45 mins to get back to the car. We slept quite well that night :)
The next couple of days we spent relaxing with the family and pretty much just taking it easy. There was a little bit of sleeping-in happening which was very much enjoyed.
However, on Monday we all went to lunch at the Pioneer House (a huge log cabin with several animal heads mounted on the walls and a mexican theme. The menu included buffalo burgers). The reason for the lunch was to celebrate Oma's (Elke's grandmother) 85th birthday.
On Tuesday, we were very brave and borrowed the car (Jochen and Diane were even braver to lend it to us) and took a trip into downtown Victoria. Luckily for us, this didn't entail to much in the way of navigation as the main highway out of Duncan took as straight into Victoria and right to our car park. We wandered through the streets of Victoria, down into Chinatown as well as past the harbour. It is really quite a pretty city and we are hoping to explore it a bit further when we come back after our week skiing. We have about 5 hours to kill there while we wait for our ferry ride down to Seattle.
During the week, we also planned our skiing trip to Silver Star. We were trying to work out how to plan a ferry ride back to mainland BC and time it right so we could then get a bus ticket to take us to Kelowna and then a shuttle ride to the resort. Just out of interest, we checked the cost of flying and found that we could get a one way ticket for just $69! Another big bonus was that our travel time would be seriously cut down.
Elke's Uncle Jochen used to be a rescue helicopter pilot, and likes to keep his skills sharp by flying around the world using MS Flight Simulator 2004. We also had a go at flying and while taking off is not too bad, landing is all together another story. Between us we must have destroyed many thousands of dollars worth of flying machine, Chris even managed to "land" a helicopter completly upside down (the passengers weren't very happy). We decided to fly by Perth to see what had changed since we departed and it now appears that the city has completely disappeared. There are no tall buildings there at all :( That is OK though, cause there are now serveral dozen bridges crossing the Swan. Good ol' Microsoft ;)
All in all, it was a great week and we really enjoyed spending quality time with the Dous Family in Canada. We also really enjoyed eating some home cooked meals for a change. While it was sad to leave, it was also quite exciting to be going to spend some time on a ski resort.
Photos will be added to our photo page in the next couple of days. You are also now able to comment on each post without having to register with the site.
We set out from home and drove through Duncan, a small town in the Cowichan Valley towards Mount Prevost. After a couple of dead ends we found the right path only to discover a steep looking hill that was covered in ice, snow and some dodgy looking tyre tracks (dodgy looking in the sense that the car that made them was more sliding around than progressing forwards). So we decided to leave the car and set out for the summit on foot.
The climb to the top proved to be a little more difficult than we initally anticipated. There were LOTS of steep climbs, mud, ice, snow and tracks that resembled those of a cougar (we are almost positive it was a largish dog, but it sounds so much better when we say COUGAR)! All in all, it was a pretty tough climb for two very unfit people (Diane did quite well I think), but the view from the top certainly was worth it.
Upon reaching the summit, we found a group of paragliding who were taking off from the top of Mt Prevost and using the thermals and breezes to take them down to a large field at the bottom. It was pretty cool seeing them launch from the top of the mountain and float out over the trees.
The trip back was much more relaxed, but still took us 45 mins to get back to the car. We slept quite well that night :)
The next couple of days we spent relaxing with the family and pretty much just taking it easy. There was a little bit of sleeping-in happening which was very much enjoyed.
However, on Monday we all went to lunch at the Pioneer House (a huge log cabin with several animal heads mounted on the walls and a mexican theme. The menu included buffalo burgers). The reason for the lunch was to celebrate Oma's (Elke's grandmother) 85th birthday.
On Tuesday, we were very brave and borrowed the car (Jochen and Diane were even braver to lend it to us) and took a trip into downtown Victoria. Luckily for us, this didn't entail to much in the way of navigation as the main highway out of Duncan took as straight into Victoria and right to our car park. We wandered through the streets of Victoria, down into Chinatown as well as past the harbour. It is really quite a pretty city and we are hoping to explore it a bit further when we come back after our week skiing. We have about 5 hours to kill there while we wait for our ferry ride down to Seattle.
During the week, we also planned our skiing trip to Silver Star. We were trying to work out how to plan a ferry ride back to mainland BC and time it right so we could then get a bus ticket to take us to Kelowna and then a shuttle ride to the resort. Just out of interest, we checked the cost of flying and found that we could get a one way ticket for just $69! Another big bonus was that our travel time would be seriously cut down.
Elke's Uncle Jochen used to be a rescue helicopter pilot, and likes to keep his skills sharp by flying around the world using MS Flight Simulator 2004. We also had a go at flying and while taking off is not too bad, landing is all together another story. Between us we must have destroyed many thousands of dollars worth of flying machine, Chris even managed to "land" a helicopter completly upside down (the passengers weren't very happy). We decided to fly by Perth to see what had changed since we departed and it now appears that the city has completely disappeared. There are no tall buildings there at all :( That is OK though, cause there are now serveral dozen bridges crossing the Swan. Good ol' Microsoft ;)
All in all, it was a great week and we really enjoyed spending quality time with the Dous Family in Canada. We also really enjoyed eating some home cooked meals for a change. While it was sad to leave, it was also quite exciting to be going to spend some time on a ski resort.
Photos will be added to our photo page in the next couple of days. You are also now able to comment on each post without having to register with the site.
# posted by Elke & Chris @ 7:44 pm 
