A Day Trip to Vancouver

 Hullo!!! Guess what... I am going on an adventure... or actually... correction... I already went on an adventure!! Like... back in May! But who can keep on top of your sekrebearies these days??? Sigh.

Anyhow... we aren't taking the usual BC Ferries route... nor are we taking a bathtub race boat...

It's a glorious sunny morning though.

We are down near one of the docks...

Can you guess what method we are using?

Oh... Helijet? Yeah... I wish!!!

That would be a super cool way to get over to Vancouver. And super expensive. Plus Mama says she's flown in helicopters lots and doesn't need to fly in this one. Sigh.

Maybe I should add it to my Little Bear Bucket List... my LBBL...

Yeah... no. Not today.

Oooh... cool old anchor.

Almost there...

We are taking Hullo! Some people pronounce it Hooloh... but it is Hull-o... hmph.

Anyhow... it is much faster than BC Ferries... and more comfortable and we are only going for the day, so we need a speedy way to get across.

There is a dock over there with some big ships... the ones with the cranes is loading logs from the water I think.

Probably shipping them off to China or something. Sigh.

This other one is weird... the one with the white top. It is ginormous!!!

We looked up the ship's name online and it is a car carrier!!! Probably coming from China...

The "o" in Hullo makes a nice photo frame...

Especially if there is a cute bear...

We joined the line-up... we are sitting up in the Premium cabin... not the Comfort cabin... the comfort cabin is also called the Crammed-like-Sardines cabin...

Ahhhh... this is better... almost like an airplane.

With nice windows that don't get salt spray all over them.

And a designated Bear-Window-Seat!

The Hullo goes FAST... and we are just coming up to the Lions Gate Bridge...

I like to try and get a picture directly under the bridge... readdyyyyy....

And snap!!! Hmmm... not quite... but good enough.

Now the ferry really slows down and it takes forever to get to the dock...

We have to do a big detour around the seaplane landing/take-off area... Ooohhh... looks like there is a cruise ship in port. I should add that to my LBBL...

And there we go... all docked and off on an adventure!

Last Hurrah before the Fire Ban Kicked In

Hullo... today is a sad day... they announced yesterday (Tuesday) that the campfire ban was going to kick in on Thursday. Sigh.

We are having our last campfire of the summer I think...

So of course we are going to cook some sausages!

We have some local Bratwurst from Port Alberni... our new favourite!

And a treat for me!!!!

Cause while humans might like bratwurst... this little bear isn't the hugest fan...

Much better to have some cold-smoked salmon!!!

We do make a good campfire!

And then the sausages later once it's burned down.

Don't they look yummy??

Now the burning (hah!) question... smores anyone???

Canada Day!

Hullo!! I know, I know... it's a bit late for Canada Day but we are behind in our postings...

We went down to the waterfront because... there is something special to see down there. And it's not little tugboats...

Do you see it!!! It's one of the ships from Canada's Navy.

And... they are giving tours!!!

And it's not just any ship you know... wait for it...

Just over there... we have to wait for people to move over...

It's the HMCS Nanaimo!!!!! In Nanaimo! Isn't that cool!!??

I think it's cool. And the ship is being moved to the East Coast after this... so isn't not an opportunity to miss. Not many towns/cities get to have their ship in port for Canada Day!

Pretty flags...

FYI... we have never seen as many Canadian flags flying off of houses and fences and flag poles as we have this year...

This is the third ship bearing the name HMCS Nanaimo... one of them fought in WW2...

We had a poke around the upper deck (the part they let us wander around on)... there's a radiation hazard here... interesting...

And a big container of lifejackets... just in case...

This is the morse code flasher thingie!

And there's a panel of controls here... we didn't touch anything...

And a telescope thingie...

Yep... it makes things look really big!! We can see people walking waaaaayyyyy over there!

This thing behind me...

It's one of two machine guns (we think)...

It's cool up here! And yes... you may be wondering... where the heck is Navy Beanie??? Good question... hopefully not stowing away!

Ooooh... this is the compass thingie... the binnacle?

It's beary pretty today... 

Alright, time to disembark and go find some Canada Day celebrations!

Ah, here we go!!! There was a long line for the selfie station!

I'm never quit sure why they don't invite the RCMP (Bears Division) to serve at these events...

There were tonnes of stalls and food trucks and music and beer gardens and stuff!

And Canadian flags being given away!!!

This little bear is pooped!!