Away a longtime

I know I've been away a long time. The excuses are many. Among the most significant was that Photoshop course in May which took up so much of my time and seemed to send me off course a little, followed quickly by a very busy summer with many trips away of both short and long duration. Most of all though, I felt the need of a blogging rest. I'd blogged pretty much continuously for the last five years and had reached a point when I felt I had nothing new or worthwhile to say. Worst of all, writing a post had become a chore and an obligation (not sure to whom) rather than the pleasure I had felt in the past. 

On our return from our most recent trip away, I suddenly realised how much I was missing the contact with blogging friends and the sharing of thoughts and art work so I'm testing the waters and making a return, for the moment at least.

Since May, we've spent time in Scotland, had 3 weeks in France much of it with our daughter and her family, and then taken a recent trip to western Canada (first picture above) where I lived for two years in the early 1970s.

This last visit was something of a pilgrimage. It was a long planned return to old haunts on Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia and Alberta and a reunion with two sets of old friends, but also a chance to visit places I'd missed for some reason all those years ago. In total, we were away for 4 1/2 weeks and covered more than 2,500 miles in a hire car.

For the first three weeks or so when we were on the west coast, the weather was wonderful. Hardly a drop of rain fell and, day after day, the sky was cloudless and it was hot. Photography was easy ... but now I'm home, choosing from the myriad of photos (over 4,000!) is hard. I'm including here only a tiny taster of everything we saw.

There were jetties, and docks aplenty ...

The jetty at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, BC

... harbours, boats, and reflections  ...

The harbour in Powell River BC

... numerous ferries ...

Ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay, North Vancouver BC

... peaceful coastal hikes with wonderful sea views ...

Hiking at Rebecca Spit, Quadra Island BC

... panoramic ocean views ...

Looking west out to the Pacific Ocean from Amphitrite Point on the Lighthouse Loop trail, Ucluelet BC

... dramatic waterfalls on rivers of extraordinary length (why do waterfalls always look so insignificant in photographs?) ...

Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray Provincial park, Central BC - with Canada's 4th highest single vertical drop

... mountains everywhere, some higher than others but always dramatic and often snow-capped ...

Driving south on the Icefields parkway in the Canadian Rockies towards Lake Louise, Alberta

... glaciers, barren moraines and ... cold ...

The Athabasca Glacier, Alberta

... extraordinary colours ...

Grassi Lakes, Canmore, Alberta

... and glass-like reflections ...

The rather unattractively named but very beautiful Backswamp, Banff, Alberta

... and last of all, the ultimate place to enjoy a drink or a meal with good friends - the point of it all surely ...

View from our (definitely) unconventional accommodation at Heriot Bay, Quadra Island BC

I suspect there is much more to come following this last trip, now I've got going! While writing this, I've realised how much the blogging process helps me to reflect on things I see and do. 

Now I need to pick up my sketch book work and begin stitching ...