Naked Man ...

So I know I have been real slack and haven't posted in a while so I thought I will share a story that me and Kim have discovered and unravelled. Its a story of a Naked man and a Naked Lady. We went wandering to Walmart one day in Victoria its about a 20min walk from where we where staying. On the way there we kept passing items of clothing a jersey, underwear, scarf. But never the same item more then once and they were all male clothing. This continued for the next few days so we came to the conclusions that somewhere in Victoria is a naked man. Then we headed to Vancouver for a few days and we started seeing items of female clothing and we were like no way Vancouver has a naked lady? When we headed back to Victoria the last time we noticed that the female items of clothing had followed us to the island. We were happy as naked man deserved some happiness and naked lady might just be the one to give him that. Not to jump to conclusions but when we left the island for the last time we did spot a baby sock ... !!

US of eh

So we got Freddie back after signing the rights away for my first born child and my first born child's first born child. Besides that we where ready to hit the road and departure was set for Wednesday. Kim wanted to take some photos of the Parliament Buildings inside as she didn't have her camera with her last time we where there so we decided to do that in the morning before heading north to Swartz Bay for the ferry. After a quick stop at parliament we headed north and arrived with the 1pm Ferry still being loaded. It turns out that the cut of line was about 10 cars in front of us so we had to wait for the 3pm sailing. The sailing this time was a bit rougher then last time but still nothing on a Cook Strait crossing. We arrived on the mainland around 4:30pm'ish and decided to take a quick detour thru Point Roberts.  (continues below map)

Now Point Roberts is the bit of the Tsawwassen Peninsula that hangs below the grey line, yup that little bit of land belongs to the US of A. We drove up to the border, yup they have a border patrol there. 30 minutes, 12 US Dollars and one bag of Tomatoes surrendered later we were in the USA. We drove around for about 30 minutes exploring what the US had to offer when we came across a road and monument that was right on the border. 
Now the yellow cement barrier is a very rough line of where the border is. Yup we are standing in the USA and those house are in Canada I did illegally entered my hand and arm into Canada but shhhhh don't tell anyone. After playing with the border we headed to where a Camping ground was meant to be. It looked very suspect so we decided to go stay in Canada. I was also told that there is no Gas Station in Point Roberts well was I proven wrong there was like 7 Gas Stations on the same road servicing a population of 1314.

After about 30min in the USA we were back in Canada so in the end we spent more time in Craigdorrach Castle then in the USA and they cost about the same. We will be back in the USA for longer soon though, fingers crossed.

Real Estate hunting ....

Craigdarroch Castle

So while Freddie was at the doctor getting tinkered with me and Kim decided to go visit Craigdarroch Castle as last time we went there they had just closed. This time we ended up spending about 3 hours wandering around the home and talking to the staff. Its an absolutely amazing building and its funny how the whole house was designed to show of their wealth to visitors.

While at Craigdarroch Castle we where told about Government House which was just down the road. We thought while we are here we might as well pop down and go for a wander around the grounds. At first I wasnt sure if we where allowed to just drive in but in the end we just did. We parked up and noticed a car parked under the carport.
It had no license plates which must have meant that Mr Lieutenant Governor man must have been home. We continued our wandering around the grounds which is a reconstructed (for lack of a better word) native bush and yes we saw deer again just wandering around the garden in the middle of a suburb, God I love this place.

We then headed of to Hatley Castle which was build by the owners of Craigdorrach Castles son. We couldn't go inside the building as it now forms part of Royal Road University. However we got to wonder around it a bit. The mansion was purchased at one point by the Canadian Government to house the British Royal Family. There was pressure for them to leave London during WW2 with threads of Germany invading and Canada was seen as a safe spot. However that never happened as the King insisted on staying in London with his people and as a result the building was later sold. It has also featured in the movie franchise of X-men as Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It also doubled as Luthor Mansion in the TV Series Smallville and a number of other TV and Films have used it including MacGyver. So we kind of did a British ABC Tour (Another bloody Castle/Cathedral) just Canadian style.

Up Island we go ...

So the locals or as they refer to themselves the islanders here on Vancouver Island calls the north of the island North Island and the south of the island South Island. So for those at home would understand why I find this funny. So as you might have read in my previous post we got a new friend that goes by the name of Fredrick or Freddie for short and with his help I though while we are on the island we might as well go explore it. So we planned a trip up island to the North Island or more precisely Port Hardy. This would also be a great test on seeing how Freddie does as a camper van and what needs to be corrected. Well long story short we only made it to Courtney. Which give or take is pretty much half way up the island on the east coast before we turned around and headed back to Victoria again.

So we left on Wednesday morning with high hopes that this would be an awesome trip. One thing you have to realise about Vancouver Island however is that it pretty much rains here all year round. On top of all that we didn't have a working heater in the van so while driving the inside was pretty much colder then the outside. Kim not dealing well with cold felt it the worse and for most of the trip this is what I sat next too -------->

But we soldiered on anyways. 

Freddie being a left hand drive and a manual brought its own problems. As here I was changing gears with my right hand, I got the hang of it after awhile. However this and the constant rain meant I drove slower and we reached Nanaimo as the sun was starting to set (which is about 5pm). The camping ground in Nanaimo was pretty awesome, it was pretty much in the middle of a forest setting and your camping spot was amongst the trees. Its a pretty awesome spot and I could imagine that it would would be a primo spot to camp during the summer, so it has now been add to my places to return too.

After a somewhat chilly night in Nanaimo we headed further north with a few stops on the way one being Fanny Bay. Now NZ's meaning of Fanny is slightly different to the North American version of it, which means bum. So when me and Kim saw this sign on the side of the road we had to do a U-turn and take a photo, it pretty much made our day.

We continued on to Courtney and our campsite was next to a actual forest this time. The campsite wasn't as cool as the last one but the forest made up for it. We went for a walk in it for close to an hour before it started to get to dark. That night however when I was standing in the shower in a freezing cold room with only three pathetic streams of warm water hitting my body I decided fuck this lets head back to Victoria. Kim agreed and the next morning we where off, we arrived back in Victoria around 6pm. I left Kim to find the room while I unloaded the van. Kim built herself a fort in her bed with all the blankets and that is where she pretty much spend the next 3 days. While she was building forts Freddie was send away to address his heating issues ...

New Member to the family ...

So we made it back to the island after our adventures in Vancouver to come pick up a very special little someone. Now most of you would realize or know by now that I was spawned in the Republic. What you might not know is that glorious day happened in Uitenhage. Now I grew up next to Uitenhage in a a small town called Despatch ...... right done laughing. Well Despatch is shoved in between Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth. Now I'm telling you all this because well its my blog and I will write what I want. However another thing to note is that there is a massive Volkswagen factory in Uitenhage. So for the first 13 years of my life I was pretty much surrounded by the peoples car.  So I have always had a love for them especially the littlest and most awesome of the family the Beetle.

Now forward a few year and we are now in New Zealand and just outside Nelson is a small hick town I bought the following beauty which I found on the Internet.

It turns out that she was actually build in South Africa in 1962. When I got her the first name that popped into my head was Doris it later evolved into Doris van der Kamp. Naming cars is something I have always done and I sometimes find it sad when people don't name their cars. Doris also happens to be my friends dogs name, one of the most beautiful basset hounds you will ever see. There use to be Doris and Fred but Fred sadly went to the big dog park in the sky. But luckily Dame Doris got a new friend who goes by the name of Bruce, he is a cranky fella reminds me of another Bruce I know.

Now forward a few more years and we are now in 2012 Victoria BC, Canada and its with my great pleasure to be able to introduce to you the newest member of my car family a Kombi Westfalia. This little man is going to take me and Kimberly around the America's.

Whats the name you might ask ... come on humour me ..... thanks jeez. Well I thought long and hard about the name for this little man it didn't just pop out at me at all. My thought process was I already have a Doris and this Kombi is definitely a boy and in that I had my answer. So in honour of a beloved Basset Hound that's no longer with us I would like to introduce you to Fredrick Basset

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Vancouver Aquarium ...

So I am a fan of Zoo's Aquariums and anything in between. If there is something over prized to go to and look at animals through a glass I'm there. A while back when I was in Canada the first time I looked up all the Aquariums in the area to see if any of them had my beloved Orca. Ok I don't agree with them keeping such a big animal in such a small area, however if they had one I wanted to see it up close. Sadly they didn't have one but they did have this retarded looking whale called a Beluga. Long story short I never got to go see them as I ran out of time.

However yesterday we went to the Vancouver Aquarium and I got to go see the Beluga Whale. We probably got to the Aquarium around 11:30 and didn't leave until 2:30 so spend an amazing 3 hours there. We watched a show/education session on the Beluga Whales and a show/education session on the Pacific white-sided dolphins. There was hundreds of displays on all the different ecosystems that can be found up and down the BC coast. They even had an Amazon rain-forest display with Crocodiles, spiders, some weird ass fish and parrots and one of my favourites they had a Sloth living in the display just hanging there minding his own business.

It was pretty amazing I have to say oh and I got a really cool Beluga Whale doll in a Hoodie.

Beluga Whale in Hoodie going to fuck you up

Entrance of Vancouver Aquarium - Orca Statue

Yay Axolotl 

Butter Chicken Frog

Pacific White-Side Dolphin

Beluga Whale

Nutritional Facts of a Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale squirts you with water

Beluga Whale makes you wet

Yay Jellyfish

Yay Jellyfish

That blob is a Sloth

To the mainland ...

Yesterday we set of to Vancouver, this time instead of taking one of those ridiculous flying boat planes we decided to take the much cheaper option that is the ferry. However taking the ferry isn't just about showing up its a whole process. First we had to catch a taxi to the bus depot then take a 1hr bus trip to Swartz Bay where the bus drove onto the ferry. It was then a 1hr40min boat ride and then back onto the bus for another 1hr bus ride into Downtown Vancouver and then a 5min taxi ride to the Hostel. 

The BC Ferry service I must say is top notch and I'm sad to admit this but I think its even better then New Zealands Cook Strait Services. The boat was really clean and in a very good condition. We might however have been on a newly restored vessel however having taken a long and hard look at the neighbouring vessels its seems it might not be a one of thing.

It was kind of eerie going pass all of the islands as it gave you a very familiar feeling of being in Queen Charlotte Sounds. Its not as mountainous as the Sounds but defiantly has a very similar vibe going on. Another thing that tickle my fancy was the fact that when we docked on the mainland you could see the USA. Growing up in the south of the Republic and New Zealand you don't get to see another country while your still in yours. The bit of the USA you can see is Point Roberts its the bit of land on the peninsula below the grey line. Yup that's part of America and the story behind it also tickles my funny history bone. Anyways we arrived at our Hostel in a very wet Vancouver and quickly went about to spreading our belongings around the room before heading of to the Apple Store for Kim to join the Douchebag Club. Since she got it she has done nothing but play with it and going ahhh man every so often when she stuffs something up.

Anyways stand by for another post later about our trip to the Aquarium today.