I Should Be A Tour Guide

So my long-time friend B. came through with her new Aussie partner. I think they count as only the 7th and 8th guests on the Island, in two years of living here. I don't need a guest book - I need a guest page. And if I had one, both B. and Sarah would appear twice. No wonder I want to get out of this prison.

But there are some great sights to see here on Vancouver Island, and I was happy that I could show a few to B.'s partner David. I picked them up at the ferry, and learned immediately of David's list of things to see in Canada (on his first visit). Plenty of animals were listed, including a bear. I took up the challenge to oblige, strangely convinced I could provide David with a bear experience.

The closest place to Victoria that is frequented by bears is the coast out towards Port Renfrew. So we took a tour out there one morning, stopping in at Sombrio Beach to start. Walking down the trail to the beach, we could go left or right, and I chose right. We crossed a stream via a fallen tree, and continued West. I noticed a camper peering over a snag of trees about 100m down the beach.

We approached, and he indicated he was watching a bear on the beach! We got to the snag, and sure enough, there was a bear, turning over rocks to find edibles in the low tide. David was impressed, and so was I, having delivered one of the must-see items on his list not 48 hours after he was off the plane.

I should note that I was definitely disappointed when, in two weekends of hiking the Juan de Fuca Trail last year and coming across piles of bear 'evidence' (some even steaming), I did not see a bear. Before last year I had a bit of bear phobia (osophobia?) as well, so it was great to observe the bear from a safe distance as s/he chowed down on ocean goodies for about fifteen minutes.

Which Side Are We On?

Recent speeches at the UN show the slow-growing divide between the West and the rest. And by West, I mean the United States. Sure, Britain may be tagging along, but really it's all about coat-tailing on US policy.

And as it turns out, we are going with them. Our PM stands up and says, 'Canada is back', and I get the sense he meant to say, 'Canada is back onside'. The less composed speech from Hugo Chavez (gotta love his courage to stand up and call Bush a devil, not 'The Devil' as reported) and the tempered words of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (who scored quite a coup) were both great distractions for Harper, as he began to model our foreign policy on our neighbour's.

Fellow travellers, expect to un-stitch the Maple Leaf from your bag, because I bet we won't be quite as welcome in the far-flung places of the world.