Residents and Transients

Ah, a miracle: Blue Sky!

Fisherman's Wharf in Cowichan Bay bathed in afternoon sun.

Even the little creatures are drying out...

These little fellows live here year round. They need to be rather circumspect, and stick close to the underbrush, as Baldheaded Eagles like to snack on them, rain or shine.

Hundreds of these visiting ducks graze on the near-by golf course. They enjoy hanging around the water traps, wander the fairways and fan onto the greens. Some golfers feed the endearing little waddlers, others get rather tee-ed off..

Boater's friends - year round. They are all trained at gull fledgling school to squirt onto clean decks from the lofty heights of any mast, any mast - gull proofed or not.

Transients, taking a rest between 'going out for dinner' bouts, and giving the neighbourhood a short silent respite from their lively barking conversations. Lots to eat for them right now, as spawning salmon are not only plentyful, but also on the verge of gilling their last breath at the end of their mating season.

Our large flocks of swans are back in the Cowichan River Estuary. They probably supplement their diet with left-overs from corn crops, which cover a large part of the estuary during summer and fall.

Our resourceful sparrow population is taking advantage of an outdoor offering of 'Eco-Feed' at the local grocery store, smartly avoiding the 'pay-before-consumption' rule.

Potential tenant for an 'inviting' boat tied up to a favourite sea lion hang out.

The freshly cleared skies allow a rare glimpse of snow covered Mount Baker.

Noah, where is thy Ark??

In every life a little rain must fall.

The sun came out this morning for a while. A visit to my boat, Millennium Dragon, seemed to be in order. Would she still be afloat after having left her for almost a months unattended at her dock?

This should have been the first clue...our friendly Mounties blocking the road to the marina.
Yes, beyond the car it did look a little wet, to say the least. After torrential rains lasting for days, the rivers rose to record levels. That, combined with high tide, made for the 'perfect storm' of flood conditions.

Pretty benign so far, but further out several drivers had entered flooded stretches and were unable to get their engines started again, after they had drowned them entering the DEEP.

One of the small creeks feeding the Cowichan River had risen to within a few inches of the lower limits of the bridge.

Yep, Road Closed.

Backyard in a local Reservation - no sandbags here.

A First Nations girl had stopped at the blockade. She could not get home, as all but one of the access roads to the reservation were flooded. And she had run out of gas, so could not drive the last road that remained open. It was about a 30 km detour. She finally locked her car and headed towards another house along the road - maybe to wait things out or phone for help.

Downtown Duncan was no better. Here is someone who just pushed his luck a little too far. He temporarily abandoned his car and was nowhere to be seen, but at least he got stuck at a stop sign.

Nearby Somenos Marsh, a local Wetlands Wildlife Reserve (think ducks, swans, geese and a whole raft of water fowl), looked a few times larger than normal. Trees and bushes just showed a fraction of their height above water level.

The walking trails through the marsh had turned into swimming lanes.

Great weather for Canada Geese, who plugged up every bit of watery expanse in Somenos Marsh. Those, and a few thousand ducks, made for a truly rewarding bird watching experience.

A car stranded in a magical mirror lake.

Little Venice of Duncan, streets turned into canals, and trucks into gondolas.
And another clue....a truckload of Televisions, rescued from flooded houses.

300 houses had to be evacuated. At least one school is closed, and a whole network of roads is impassable.

Suburban Duncan street. The flooded streets were dotted with floating firewood, set free from woodpiles in the neighbourhood and finding their way to new homes and fireplaces.

The local school sports field....gull children at play.

The school yard.

Ladling water out of the driveway using a Colonel Sam's Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket.

She left the house before dawn. She heard what sounded like a waterfall, got up and just had enough time to grab her dog. The waterfall happened to be in her house and was starting to transform itself into a rapidly rising lake.

Her other dog got out, too. They left at 5 a.m. - now it is 3 p.m. and the doggies are getting hungry and cold.

One neighbour used his boat to ferry people back to their houses to get badly needed supplies to carry them through the night. The water receded by about 2 - 3 feet before this photo was taken. Unfortunately...the tide is rising again, and more rain is in the offing, so no one can get back home until who knows when.

Everybody in the neighbourhood (which is prone to flooding, but never this severe - however, severe enough for insurance companies to refuse flood insurance to residents) owns Wellington Boots. A veritable flood fashionista show.

These models are the Walmart Specials, as the wearers told me.

The neighbours getting their alternative transport out. This one was not sure whether he was dumping the water out, or scooping a little ballast in.

Ready for another shuttle. The Paparazzi were helped out of this fishing dory and had to slosh their last 100 yards to dry ground inside their own rubber boots.

No carburetors on bicycles, so this guy got around just fine.

The little Picket Fence - doubly beautiful.

Sandbagging a Home - almost too late for this onslaught of water, and maybe just in time for the next one. Have a look, how high the 'watermark' is on the middle guy. Down the street water levels were mid thigh high.

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Carrying sandbags around the foundation.

This is the owner of above house. He was on night shift, when his wife called him at work at 4 a.m. telling him, that water was closing in on the house. At 4:30 a.m. she called him again - the water was 6 inches high inside the house and rising rapidly. He came home immediately (his truck is parked axle-deep in water in his driveway), the water kept rising for quite a while, and he has been sandbagging ever since - about 10 hours. He said he is so sore, He doesn't know if he could lift another one.

Landscaping with water features. It may be picturesque, but damage so far has been estimated at about 3 Million dollars. Duncan and Cowichan River district have declared a State of Emergency.

More rain, thunderstorms gathering over the waters.

Driving home - looking over the inlets from my unflooded hill. The only danger here would be a land slide.

Threatening Skies , harbinger of things to come.

18. November 2009, Vancouver - Get a Visa

One of the preparations for my world journey consists of getting visas for various countries. Sometimes one does that by mail, sometimes one does it in person. The latter is supposed to be the speedy way.
The nearest Consulate of the country in question is in Vancouver. One takes the ferry. This time I lucked out and got the newest one in the fleet, a 'Made in Germany' modern ship, with almost all the comforts of home. The crossing took a little longer than scheduled, as 30-40 knot winds and pretty high seas made casting off and docking somewhat difficult even for a vessel designed to nosey into some tight spots in almost all adverse conditions.

Being Vancouver, of course it rained buckets.
Gastown, in walking distance of the Consulate, had a universal sheen of water on everything. The famous Steam Clock steamed valiantly. Here you can see her, emitting clouds. Now, I am not sure whether that is due to 'time pressure' or having the clockworks propelled by a tiny steam engine inside the base.

Gastown, a somewhat eclectic part of Downtown Vancouver, is jam-packed with art galleries, restaurants, bistros, tourist shops, and avant-garde furniture stores.
How about a little streamlined chair made of base materials and some leather maybe, and of course, designed by the most haute of the haute coutures of European Designer Houses for a tiny sum of 8,000 dollars. Worth every penny, the exquisitely dressed and made up sales lady assured me.
I agreed with her and mentioned in passing that my house is also filled with designer dreams, mostly acquired from the famous designer house of 'Segundo Mano'.
She handed me a catalogue where not only the furniture but even the colour coordinated gorgeous models looked way out of this world, which made me feel like a frump in my rain parka and jeans.
They can order anything for delivery within five weeks, the sales lady promised...oh, I am so sorry I'll be afloat by then, so regretfully have to pass on the opportunity.

Inuit Art, and First Nations Art from the most remote corners of Canada bring an hint of harsh arctic life to the City.

And there are phantasmagorical creations, depicting mythological characters of First Nations legends and folklore.

Of course, phantasmagorical is not an exclusive realm to art galleries. The side alleys of Gastown offer their own versions of flights of fancy.

One of the historic buildings in 'Old Vancouver', now a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada, shows an example of a beautifully designed ceiling and unique chandeliers. A bank that looks almost like a Cathedral built in the antique Romanic architectural style of Europe.

The visa...the best one can say. I submitted my application, passport, photo, return envelope and all. But only after a wait of about three hours, whilst being entertained with a tourist movie of the country's highlights. It played and replayed every fifteen minutes on an overhead TV screen - no sound.

Now, after a few re-runs, I feel as if I am an expert on all the wonders that await me in the far eastern realms, or at least that part of it. I chatted with some of the other people, also waiting patiently for their turn at the one and only till. Most of them originated from the country in question, and were applying for visas for little kids and grand kids, so they can visit aunties and grandparents back in the old country.

Being obviously a tourist in waiting, one expat enthusiastically explained to me, that in his country they worship EVERYTHING. Well, once there I may emulate one of the richly endowed Goddesses (and according to the tourist movie, the Gods aren't lacking either) and someone may worship good old MOI.

The three hours of waiting, shared patiently with me by a Vancouver lady friend, turned out to be reasonably pleasant: the security guard was like a friendly old turbaned grandfather, the waiting clients were easy to talk with and provided pertinent comments on the video as well as impertinent ones on the wait times, and one could get a coffee at a nearby shop.

My prepaid Express Post envelope was deemed not acceptable by the stressed out attendant, it had to be substituted by one exactly the same but sold by the Consulate. Turn around time for processing is a week. Good Bye Passport, hope to see you again.

Ah, bureaucracy, if it would follow common sense, we would probably wonder what's gone wrong.