Difficulty with the Concept of "Staying at Home"

The plan for 2025 was simple:

Sell my house in Creemore, sell Nickie's house in Innisfil, then buy a house.

Too easy!  Those that know me are a bit skeptical when I develop simple plans.  Perhaps I am known for incredibly complex plans that include a plethora of components that are not found in the real world.

This time, perhaps the real world intervened in our plans.  For those of you who had no reason to follow real estate, 2025 was considered a Buyers market.  This means there are a lot more houses on offer than are needed to satisfy the buyers.

We had decided that since we would be quite busy selling and buying houses, we would not travel as much during 2025.  Sure, a few local trips in Canada, but nothing major as we needed the time to move and possibly renovate the new house.

We listed the house in Creemore and the loudest sound was crickets.  We decided to list the house in Innisfil, as we only needed to sell one house in order to buy a new one.  Annoyingly loud crickets.  So, we did what we do best and began to travel.

My last post was for Mont Tremblant, so this post will almost bring you up to date.  "Almost", because it will not include our latest trip to New Zealand.  This post will describe our travels to Pelee Island, Gatineau, Vancouver and Newfoundland.  Yes, our concept of staying home did not work out so well.  I will endeavor to keep the description of each trip short.

Pelee Island

We had never been to the most southern part of Canada (if you ignore a few small islands that are further south), so it was time for a road trip!  We stayed in Leamington, hiked the Point Pelee National Park, then took the ferry to Pelee Island.  On the island, we rented bikes and pedaled out to an old light house.  On the way back to the ferry, it started to rain.  The rain was not a gentle sprinkle through which riding a bike would be fun.  It came down in buckets.  I was getting water in my mouth, our pockets filled up.  Quite the downpour!

While waiting for the ferry, we stopped at a winery, sampled their fare and attempted to dry out.  The ferry ride back was pleasant, as we did not incur hypothermia.  We then travelled to Grand Bend, hiked in the Pinery Provincial Park, walked the beach and saw a play.  To say that Grand Bend is small is an understatement.  To see a rather sophisticated play in such a small town was surreal.

Gatineau

Great hiking, a pleasant waterfront for strolling and we were able to take in one of Ottawa's museums.  The CEO touted the apartment as top shelf.  I didn't know that rental units had CEO's!  Here is an excerpt from the rental:

At A.P.R we have proven to offer some of Ottawa/Gatineau/ & Dominican Republic's most desirable, elegant and spacious rental homes. Providing a reliable and contemporary experience for guests worldwide.

The apartment was in a sketchy part of Gatineau (we watched a drug deal go down) and there were quite a few items that needed maintenance.  Leaking faucets, cupboard doors with broken hinges, the toilet overflowed.  For the toilet, I messaged the CEO and there was no reply for a few hours.  Eventually I received a reply and was told I should have gone to the front desk.  However, I was never informed there was a front desk!  The flood was cleared up and aside from the smell of sewage, all was well...

Pink Lake (a Meromictic lake)

Vancouver

In late August, we usually head to Vancouver to help Nickie's daughter, who needs to prep her classroom.  This is tricky to do with 2 young boys.  So we help by babysitting.  We also take the opportunity for a short vacation near Vancouver.  This trip, we hiked on Galiano Island.

Galiano island is laid back, even by British Columbian standards.  There are 4 restaurants on the island, wonderful hiking and we spent some time relaxing.  If you want to "get away", Galiano is a good choice.

 

Babysitting!

Sun Dog

Galiano Island Shoreline

Newfoundland

This deserves its own post, but I will endeavor to keep it from becoming overly longish.  We flew into St. John's, rented a car and stayed at an incredibly well appointed ground level apartment.  This place had everything!  The entire neighborhood was brand spanking new.  The sidewalks still had protective film on them!

Hiking in Newfoundland is annoyingly epic.  I had walked part of the 336K East Coast Trail with my son-in-law and had been astounded by the natural beauty and views.  Same on this trip.  Nickie would walk around a corner and exclaim "WOW".  I know you won't believe me, but her word was actually in caps.  Instead of describing the hikes, I'll post a few pictures.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, this will be a long post!

East Coast Trail in October

Nice Rock!

Rugged Coastline

We also spent a few days walking about town and visiting some of the area's attractions.  Signal Hill is worth a visit, with some of St. John's's history on display (I'm sure the double apostrophe is the grammatically correct method of indicating the double possessive :) It is called Signal Hill because aliens first made contact with Pizza Pizza on that location.  This might not be true.  Curiously, even though Marconi received the world's first overseas wireless transmission from this spot, it was called Signal Hill prior to that august event.  To be clear, the Marconi event took place in December...

Almost next door is the Johnson Geo Centre, a rather unique exhibition of rocks.  Rocks have always fascinated me.  In university, I was struggling to find an elective and decided to try an Earth Science course.  Possibly the most interesting course I took!  The Johnson Geo Centre is built directly into the bedrock, so some of the walls double as displays.  The Centre is informative and provides a great understanding of the sheer scale of time required for the formation of rocks.

I will endeavor to post on New Zealand before we depart for the Dominican Republic.  Until then, those experiencing unprecedent snow in December (Ontario), enjoy the shoveling!

Mont Tremblant

 We decided to head to Quebec for a short holiday to celebrate our anniversary.  I'm pretty sure our anniversary is some date in late May.  Since we are retired, booking from Sunday to Friday makes sense.  It is less crowded and sometimes cheaper during the mid-week.  All was set when I received news that my aunt had passed away and the celebration of life was scheduled for Saturday in Montreal, the day after our stay in Mont Tremblant.  Strange how events transpire!

Mont Tremblant is a 4 season destination, especially since they host an Ironman event.  There were a plethora of hikers, runners and bikers present, even during the mid-week.  And for good reason.  Tremblant boasts some incredible biking and hiking trails.  There is a big ski hill, for which it is predominantly known, reaching a height of 932 meters.

View from the top.  Yes, that is snow!

Upon arriving in Mont Tremblant, I phoned my uncle.  He is 92 years old and lives year-round in Mont Tremblant.  We drove over to his house for a chat and to plan a meal out on the town later in the week.  I punched his address into my car and found out he lived 2 houses from the condo we were renting.  Strange coincidence!

What to do on our first full day at Tremblant?  You guessed it!  We hiked to the top.  Not sure why we did not bring hiking poles, but without them I was not prepared to hike down the mountain.  Fortunately, there is a knee-saving gondola.  Funny item about the gondola...  They charge less to descend than to ascend, however there is still a charge for taking it to the bottom of the mountain.  In rather deplorable French, I asked the attendant where we can purchase tickets for the descent.  Perhaps I looked a little haggard.  Perhaps he noticed that we are no longer youngsters.  He asked (in English, my French did not fool him at all) if we had hiked to the top.  After saying "yes", he motioned for us to get on the gondola for free!

The Ski Village

The hike was tough but not "911" level.  The views along the trails are beautiful.  Since we hiked in late May we encountered a few blackflies, but nothing a shot of insect repellant can't handle.  As would be expected, prices in the restaurant at the top are expensive.  Nickie had a beer, but I was not inclined to pay $32 for a half liter of horrible red wine.  To be honest, wine in the area restaurants is expensive, but typically quite good.

Speaking of the area restaurants, we were surprised at how good the food was.  I think this was a backlash of having been in Cuba, but almost every meal we ate out was topnotch.  There was a fully stocked kitchen in the condo, so we also had a few meals "in".

Next on the itinerary was hiking on the Mont Tremblant park.  This is not one of those cozy little parks, but spans over 1500 square kilometers.  The trails are well marked, but I would advise staying on the trails.  Getting lost is not a good idea in the area!  We hiked "La Roche" trail, which boasts some beautiful views of Lac Monroe.

Lake Monroe

Another hiking area near Mont Tremblant is called Domaine Saint-Bernard.  We didn't see any large shaggy dogs.  Again, beautiful well marked trails abound in this private protected habitat.  Saint-Bernard has less elevation than in the Mont-Tremblant park - a good option for a recovery hike.

That's a BIG rock!

On Friday we drove to Montreal and attended my aunt's celebration of life the next day.  The drive back to Barrie was quiet, with only sporadic congestion along the 401 and the 404.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the 401 near Toronto, think of a multilane road designed for upwards of 400,000 cars.  Then put 8,000,000 cars and trucks on it and you have an idea of the congestion...

We have nothing planned for the summer, although we will likely make a few lighting-quick forays into the wild, when time permits.  My house in Creemore is up for sale, although the current real estate market is slow.  How slow?  Apparently the Toronto market is the slowest since 1990.  Once uncertainty surrounding the US tarifs is resolved, it is expected to rebound.  In the meantime, I'm getting tired of maintaining the property while there are no showings!

Cheers!

Escape to Cuba

Cuba!  How did this happen?  After we arrived home from Thailand in mid-February, the plan was to stay put for 6 months.  We would sell our houses and buy one a bit further from a major center, such as Barrie.  Our next trip would be to New Zealand in the fall.  Everything was going to plan until the ice storm hit.  I make maple syrup with a friend, who is on top of the NIagara Escarpment north of Shelburne.  After the ice storm, the area looked like a war zone.  It is the only time I have driven over a power line lying on the road, while the other power line was about 2 feet above my car.  All the roads were closed.  Once I made it to the sugar bush, it was apparent the season was over.  All the mainline and sap lines where under trees and branches broken due to the ice load.  It was a chilly March and April and there was nothing we could do.  Even hiking was problematic as the trails were choked with downed trees and branches.  Solution?  Book a short trip to somewhere warm.

The Beach!

You might note that Nickie and I rarely stay at resorts.  I find it taxing to reside in one area and do little other than drink resort beverages and hang by the beach.  We prefer hiking, exploring and visiting landmarks.  I have never been to Cuba and as a presage, don't intend to go back.

The Good

Cuba has amazing uncrowded beaches and pools.

The Not-so-good

Aside from walking along the beach, Cuba (at least where we stayed) does not have much in the way of hiking.  Another issue with the all-inclusive resort is a lack of points of interest.  I would love to see Havana, but a brief visit was not worth the 6 hour drive from the resort.

Not to sound too entitled, the food left much to be desired.  I should note that at the time of our visit, there where significant shortages of food, gas, power, etc.  I'm sure the resorts faced several challenges providing quality meals.

I have a theory that Cubans are good at building resorts, but not that great at preventative maintenance.  Actually, they are not great at maintenance of any type.  Maintenance costs money and it was quite evident that what little there was, was channeled towards the more critical repairs.

The Pool!

How to Survive in an All-Inclusive Resort

I don't have much in the way of advice for what to do in a resort.  Hopefully you enjoy relaxing near the pool or at the beach.  If you enjoy beer or tropical drinks, all the better.  If you drink wine, try not to have too lofty expectations...

Tipping helped considerably.  The average wage in Cuba is $230 per month.  That's right - not $230 per day, but $230 per month.  Tipping $1 is of great help to the Cubans.  We tipped the maids, chefs, serving staff and just about everyone else providing a service aside from the front desk.

We played tennis in the morning.  The courts were in decent shape and deserted.  There might be a correlation there.  Avoid playing in the afternoon heat.

Dinner!

Overall, not for us.  Fortunately, we were in Cuba for only 1 week.  After 3 days, I was ready to head home.  We will now revert back to the plan:  Move over the summer, then head to New Zealand in the fall.

Cheers!

Temples in Thailand

 If you have read any of my posts, you will know that long travel days are not my idea of fun.  I think most people feel the same way.  I would prefer to lay down and close my eyes, rather than travel for 30+ hours.  There is also a curious outcome to changing 12 time zones in a single long day.  Your brain becomes mush and making delicate, esoteric decisions can be problematic.  I am turning 67 soon (more than two thirds of a century) and wonder at times if my cerebral functions are diminishing.

We flew from Toronto (YYZ) to Tokyo (NRT), sat around for an hour, then flew to Bangkok (BKK).  If I leave everything in Ontario time (EST), our travel day looked like this:  Wake up at 05:30 Monday, Uber to Go train at 06:40, take the Go train at 07:10 to Union Station (Toronto), UP train from Union Station to Pearson Airport (hence the acronym UP), board a flight to Tokyo at 12:35, land in Tokyo at 02:30 Tuesday morning, board flight to Bangkok at 03:30, arrive Bangkok at 10:30, clear customs, take a train to the Phaya Tai train station, then a taxi to our street.  Notice I did not say "our hotel".  Khaosan Road was holding a massive party replete with the loudest electronic music I have ever heard!  This occured on both nights we stayed in Bangkok and I would guess it happens every night.  Our hotel was about a kilometer from where we were dropped off.  It was about 13:00 Tuesday afternoon EST before we found our hotel.  Although Thailand is an interesting country, this is most likely the last time we visit.

Bhudda at the Golden Mountain

During our 2 days in Bangkok, we visited the Golden Mountain.  Think stairs, and if you are jet lagged, even more stairs.  It was interesting, but since I cannot separate the dreams from reality, let's move on.  Next, we took a boat tour of the rivers and canals.  The boats are smallish, but boast wacked out 8 cylinder engines attached to a long pole (crankshaft?) with a propeller at the end.  I'm guessing the design was due to a mad scientist convention years ago in Bangkok.

Colourful Boats

Now the bad news...

I tried to determine if my advancing years was a factor in what happened next, but due to jetlag, I was too tired to figure it all out.  After 2 days in Bangkok, we took a bus to Hua Hin, a beach town about 3 hours south of Bangkok.  Our hotel was modern and clean, with one of the longest pools I have ever seen.  We quickly realized that aside from the beach, it was difficult to access any other attractions by walking or bus.  Our solution was to rent a scooter.  It was not overly expensive (500 Baht per day - about $20 CAD) and allowed us to get around without the wonderful experience of heat stroke, induced by walking in 30+ degree weather.  I withdrew some Baht from an ATM while Nickie was having a massage and we headed to a restaurant for lunch.  Note:  From now on, I will call what Nicki does "a massage" since I am hazy on the difference between massage, pedicure, manicure or a facial.  They are all functions that happen in little buildings that I am not allowed to enter.  At lunch, I realized I did not have my credit card.  I figure that I left it at the ATM.  Most likely, the machine digested my card.  Once back at the hotel, I put a lock on the card and will wait until I am back in Ontario to resolve this issue.

Honda Giorno Scooter

After touring Hua Him for a few days, I then realized I was also missing my Driver's license!  Fortunately,  a trip to the scooter rental shop resolved that issue.  Okay, I might as well get over the third and hopefully last incident.  We left Hua Hin and took a flight to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.  After boarding the plane, I realized I was missing my wallet!  Missing a credit card?  No big deal.  Missing a driver's license while driving in a foreign country on the left side of the road?  Not the best idea.  But missing all of my documentation, cards and cash?  Big one!

Hua Hin was hot, dusty and smoky.  I wondered why our feet were black after being at the pool.  We were informed that the farmers like to burn their fields at this time of year.  I assume that they harvest before doing so.  There was a perpetual haze while we were in Thailand.  You will note it in the distance photos.  Many Thai wear masks.

Since we are not overly fond of sitting on a beach (I can hear my family laughing.  I have some trouble keeping still for more than 3.225 minutes at a time), Hua Hin did not have much for us to do.  There was little hiking in the area, perhaps because the daily high ranges from 30 to 45 degrees.  We did get out for a hike around a small lake and saw a few Wats (Buddhist temples).  Thailand boasts about 3,000 temples, mostly involving Buddha.  After remarking on the temple plethora, I realized the Thai would have the same thought if they saw all the churches in North America.  Since we had ample spare time, we were able to hit the exercise room almost every morning.  One long scooter ride led us to the Monsoon Winery, where we enjoyed lunch and some wine tasting.  The Thai wine is actually quite good!  Also of strange note is that the Monsoon Winery is the sponsor for Alex Albon, one of only 20 F1 drivers!  I'm a big fan of Formula 1, so it came as quite the shock that I was at an F1 sponsor's business.

Monsoon Winery

As alluded to above, we flew from Hua Hin to Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand.  Upon landing, we contacted Air Asia and mentioned how I had lost my wallet, most likely at the gate in Hua Hin.  Fortunately, they found my wallet and were able to send it to Chiang Mai on the next flight.  Much relief!

Chiang Mai is an interesting city, with several attractions nearby.  The haze was omnipresent and the streets were dusty.  There are likely little in the way of rules or restriction on what is allowed on the streets and sidewalks.  On one street the parked cars were 4 deep, leaving barely enough room for a car to pass.  Sidewalks boasted everything from vendors to trees.  At most points, it was impossible to walk on the sidewalk. We had to resort to walking on the streets, which was typically the most dangerous thing we did each day.

The White Temple

Inside the Blue Temple

We visited enough temples to satisfy me for the next 20 years.  They are quite impressive and it is hard to describe the intricate detail in the structures.  One of our excursions was to visit the white, blue and black temples.  Another included the Queen and King temples, as well as a hike to the highest point in Thailand and a waterfall.  One fun event was a cooking class, where we learned how to make authentic Pad Thai and Thai curry.  More important, we got to eat the meal!

Another highlight was visiting the Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens.  We started with a canopy walk, with eye level views of the forest canopy.  Butterflies and birds abounded.  The gardens were incredible and varied.  We also toured the long neck village, where the women wore metal bands that made their necks stretch.  Actually, I read that it lowers their collarbones.  The practice has been discontinued as it caused problems assimilating the girls into schools.

Queen Sirikit Garden

In the rose garden

We visited a couple of elephant sanctuaries and fed the elephants.  They are majestic animals and incredible to experience up close.

Nickie and her new friend

After Chiang Mai, we flew to Bangkok to prepare for the trip home.  The flight from Bangkok to Tokyo was 6 hours, then a 5 hour layover, as the flight from Tokyo to Toronto was delayed 2 hours.  We found out after landing in Toronto that the delay was due to all flights out of Toronto being cancelled the day before.  The flight to Toronto was 12 hours.  After customs we waited almost 2 hours for our bags.  This is the second time we have waited long for a checked bag at Pearson Airport.  Nickie had purchased an e-sim to use her phone in Thailand and while waiting for our bags, something went wrong when she tried to change back to her physical sim card.  Problem!  Our plan had been to take the UP and GO trains to Barrie, but we would then have no method of contacting Uber or a taxi.  After 28 hours of travel, I did not want to walk 5K through snow to get home...  Once our luggage finally arrived, we took a taxi home.

As a synopsis of our trip to Thailand, it was not for us.  Many points were interesting, but not worth the extended travel.  Thailand should do something about the pollution created by farmers burning their fields.  As a personal note, I'm not keen on spending time in a hot, dirty and smelly city.

See the Haze in the background

We will now take a 6 months hiatus from travelling, as we plan to move this summer.  In the fall, we hope to travel to New Zealand.  Yes, another trip with long travel days, but New Zealand should provide more hiking and will be better suited to our travelling desires.