Some time ago, in a galaxy... (sorry wrong tale). Some time ago (presumably on a Hertz website) I signed up for every car I ever rent to be upgraded to a monster SUV. Perhaps its to discourage Nareesa from driving: "I'm not driving that bloody thing!". Perhaps its because I like being able to look down my nose at other road users. Perhaps I just can't read.
Whatever the reason we have yet again ended up with some grotesque 7 seater all wheel drive, capable of taking us to the Yukon (except we aren't driving there - we have a dog sled booked - more of that in a later blog) and back, on snow, ice and anything else a Canadian winter can throw at us. So rather a pity we are only toddling round Vancouver and the island with this vehicle, rather than on an Arctic expedition.
But I do keep getting these things, unasked for and mostly unwanted. Nice car though, just marginally smaller than the Volvo XC90 they gave me for the narrow roads of Italian Dolomites in the summer! At least the roads are bigger here! And lets face it, nobody walks anyway, so there is nobody to knock down!
Ah, well, not much of a subject for a rant, especially since we have just escaped the fall out from the election from hell. I'm sure that will get some coverage at some point but not now. Red wine managed to sustain me last night till 11pm Vancouver time (so just about getting up time back home) and then sent me into a deep probable snore fest thereafter. Incredibly slept till about 6am local and then headed out for a much loved walk through Lynn Canyon with my oldest travelling friend - amazingly Michelle has put up with me "dropping in" on her since we met in Thailand in 1982, when basically we were both hippies dossing about in south east Asia. But that's another story.
So here we are on the first leg of our frozen sojourn to the sub-Arctic. Lynn Valley remains a beautiful place from which to start any Canadian trip and this time is no exception. We soon head for the ferry to Vancouver Island - I assume this car is considered "standard" size - because that is what I have booked onto the ferry! We will soon see...