Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Fishing trip to Big Sandy

  Had a really nice time fishing with my cousin Ian and my aunt and uncle Judy and Dan on the weekend.  We went to a lake called Big Sandy, Ian's favourite fishing hole, and auntie Judy's late father Jess' favourite spot as well.

The weather was quite wet at the start of the trip, and the ground remained quite wet for the duration of our 2 day stay. It made for some very high humidity especially in the camper!

Most of the fishing in Big Sandy is for Northern Pike (AKA Jackfish) but there are other species as well such as Walleye (AKA Pickerel). We were after the Pike because of the fun fight they typical put out after biting your hook. And...they didn't disappoint and we were able to land about 8 pike with about the same being released because of their smaller size.

All-in-all a very enjoyable fishing trip albeit a tiny bit too short especially for cousin Ian who LOVES fishing! Looking forward to another outing in the future.

Cousin Ian getting ready to fish

Ian giving our catch a little touch up with the hammer before filleting

Ian with the mornings catch

Uncle Dannie doing one of the things he does best, fixing small engines!

Auntie Judy tending to the fire duties

Fixing and story telling; fun!

Enjoying the beautiful day

Auntie hadn't had a bite yet!

Cousin Ian in his element. Can you tell by the smile?!!

Ian checking the fish in 'live well'

Just relaxing!

Our smudge fire was a welcome contribution to fighting the mosquitos

Big Sandy Resort

One of the resort cabins

Glen (resort manager) giving fish filleting lessons

Part of todays catch ready to be filleted


Bumble bee at work pollinating

Saskatoon berries

A native master at work


Well.....the fish tasted good, the company was delightful, and Cornelious ....well we don't really know what became of Cornelious....?


Saturday, July 9, 2011

William and Kate back in Calgary

Well.....we all got to see the Duke and Dutchess again after their night in the mountains at Skoki lodge, a remote cabin about 11km in behind the Lake louise Ski area. There was a lot of excitement in the air as the 4 Griffins flew by in formation to deliver William and Kate to the awaiting crowd.


Anticipating crowd

4 Griffin 412's flying in formation. The Royals are on the second one from the front







Kate and William meeting Calgary's Mayor and being presented with cowboy hats

This little girl is from the 'Make a Wish Foundation' at the Childrens Hospital (she has cancer)
and her wish was to meet a Princess. Today her wish came true!




Prince William was also touched by her story




The Royal couple got into these vehicles and were driven to another event. The follow day, Friday, they opened the Stampede at the Stampede Parade. They then returned to Calgary to board their plane and were off to California for the British Film Festival of which Prince William is quite involved.
Note: (all info was graciously provided by the ladies at work who are MUCH more ga, ga over the Royals than I!!) It was very neat and exciting to see though, I must admit. :)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge

Got a great opportunity at work today to see William and Kate when they arrived at the airport to catch their flight to Lake Louise for the night on a Canadian Military Griffin (412).  Great experience, my photos made Calgary Global news for a couple hundred bucks!! These are the photos that ensued...


Prime Minister Harper's entourage flew in on this jet

Jet carrying William and Kate

















Enroute to Lake Louise for the night


Sunday, June 26, 2011

   I recently got an invitation to attend my friend Scott Wesolowski's wedding with his new partner Dominika in Mui Ne, Vietnam, a small oceanside town near the city of Phan Thiet. The date is set for March 08th, 2012.  I am REALLY excited about this opportunity to travel a little more to a new (and very historical) part of the world and it will be great to reunite with a few of my friends from the past that I haven't stayed in close contact with.  I am going to start a documentary about this trip, starting with some info. on Vietnam, and some of the things we'll be doing while we're there. Exciting, exciting, exciting!! Stay tuned for blog updates as the wedding planning unfolds....


Overview of the geographical location with Mui Ne Town in red

                                         Note the location of Ho Chi Minh City which is about 180km west and slightly
                                      south of Mui Ne Town. This will be the city we fly into.


Fishing vessels moored for the night


Bringing in the nets

Colours

Drying anchovys

A fishermans wife


Beauty and the sand dunes

Off to market over the sand dunes

Young boy in a woven bamboo basket boat