More Turks and Caicos

Sailing to West Caicos Island

"They" caught a fish....poor thing....I was not pleased....but I did eat some at supper....it was good, so thank you little fish for giving up your life to feed us....Namaste

 Morning yoga at sunrise on the boat. I was up with the sun here!

 The reef we stopped at to snorkel near West Caicos

 Sailing to a beach on West Caicos.

 I decided to swim to the beach form the boat....pictured in background. Quite a swim! Beautiful though! Mark and Micheal took the dinghy and had a towel waitng for me on my arrival!

 Exploring West Caicos... very harsh terrain. Dry and deset like but with vibrant green vegetation.

 Grey Haven viewed from the beach.

 Yoga on the beach in West Caicos....pure bliss!!

 The next day we sailed north of Providenciales looking for whales and making our way around the island and then south to Little Water Cay, an island that is an Iguana Sactuary. Home to the endangered Rock Iguana found only here.

 Here's a Rock Iguana! We spotted quite a few on the island.

 The beach at Little Water Cay. It looks rocky here, but there were great sandy spots to beach the dinghy and go swimming and exploring.

Sunset on Grey Haven anchored near Little Water Cay.

 We docked at a marina in Turle Cove for the last evening. Weather was calling for very windy conditions and it was good to be in a protected harbour.

Last evening dinner and final rum punch.... sad to be leaving Grey Haven, the sun and the warm salty air, and returning to the land of ice and snow!

Sailing in Turks and Caicos!

We have just returned from a week in the Turks and Caicos sailing with our friend Michael who has sailed his boat, Grey Haven, from Lake Ontario to the beautiful blue waters of the Turks.

This was our first view of the island of Providenciales from the plane when landing last week.

                                           Grey Haven waiting for us in in Sapodilla Bay:

    
Mark and Michael load up the dinghy with supplies at sunset. Heading out to Grey Haven, pictured in the distance:

Sunrise in Sapodilla Bay Feb 3

We had a rental car to explore the island for a couple of days. Here we are at a great little restaurant by the sea with our friend Michael. Mmmm Rum Punch for lunch!

Beautiful Grace Bay Beach area

                                                         Love the colour of the water!

                                                                We went swimming here!

The islands have the usual pet over population problems. There were some interesting billboards trying to educate people about spay and neuter. They have a great rescue community and a local organization adopts out dogs to people from overseas. They always need volunteers to transport dogs when flying home. I was on the list for a dog, but there were no adoptions to the Toronto area this week... I DID meet a great lady at the airport who was transporting a pregnant female dog to Kansas City. I hope all worked out well for her and she is happy in her home where she will be able to have her puppies and be well taken care of. It's so great to see people helping out and making a difference!

Day 5...Vancouver!

Sunrise along the Fraser River was beautiful with mist on the water and surrounding pastoral landscape. Whenever I am in BC I feel like I am coming home....

We arrived in Vancouver at about 930 am.  I'm actually sad to leave my train behind! I am definitely a fan of train travel.It was relaxing, the scenery was beautiful and we met people from all over the world on the train.What a great experience.

Day Four... Through the Rockies!

We arrived at Edmonton about 730am and had a few minutes to stretch our legs as a new viewing car was added prior to our journey thru the Rockies. Let me add now that in order to quickly upload several pictures for the Blog, I have changed their size and the quality is not up to my usual standard... so there you have it...quantity today is trumping quality!

The "special viewing car" was special all right: the polarized glass combined with the polarizing filter on my lens created this funky rainbow effect and I had WAY too much fun shooting all kinds of stuff! I especially liked the industrial equipment, electrical towers, and factories!

                                                     Here I am in the magical rainbow car!                                                                          

     

This poor bear is hanging out by the track looking for grain dropped off the grain cars. MANY animals are killed on the tracks this way. According to one of the Via Rail staff there have been 40 fatalities in the past 2 months. She urged us to write to Via Rail and CN to ask that they make a greater effort to keep the grain off the tracks. They HAVE vacuum cars that remove the grain but they need to do it more often. I plan on sending an email to them. Please consider doing the same. SO MANY bears and other animals are dying!

                                                                                 

        We are nearing Jasper now. Mountains getting bigger!                                                                            

I'm turning into a train freak! Loving watching the other trains we cross paths with, noting how many engines are pulling them, how many cars they have and so on....

Rocky Mountain High!

They served champagne to everyone  in the dome car to toast as we were crossing the Great Divide.

Mount Robson looming 

Another pretty view

Pyramid Falls. Not bad shots for whipping by on a train.

Another Mount Robson shot.

Crossing high above a rushing river. 

The view from the back of the train. Leaving the highest peaks behind.

One of my Favourite shots of the day.

Train Trip Day 3

We left Toronto Tuesday evening at 1030pm and traveled through Northern Ontario the second day and night. At 730am Thursday we arrived in Winnipeg and had a few hours to stretch our legs off the train.

 Yes this is me at 730am(!) Ready to explore the city. Note the strong cup of coffee in my hand sustaining me.

 The new Museum of Human Rights is an architectural wonder. It was not open yet. Set to open this week I think.

I liked this moody scene along the Red River. Guess I should get out with my camera early in the mornings more if the reward is such interesting skies!

 Back on the train again, we are moving through the Assiniboine River valley. Misty and definitely showing signs of Autumn.

Big skies of Saskatchewan came into view mid afternoon. Can't get enough of them. I find the Prairies endlessly interesting... no boredom here!

 Prairie sunsets seem to last forever. It was beautiful to watch an extended sunset for about an hour!

Our train heading west...following the sun...I enjoy moving in a westerly direction best...In the words of Led Zeppelin:  "there's a feeling I get when I look to the west and my spirit is crying for leaving...."