
Before flying back to Canada, I had a few days in Beijing staying in a lovely small courtyard hotel in the Drum and Bell district again. Because of a strong rain the night before, the air was actually quite pleasant and the sky was blue that morning!

The hutongs (the traditional alleys of Beijing) have their own busy-ness but it is not like the regular traffic jams of the larger streets. Everything is at a smaller scale – even the vehicles.

…and after a flight of 12 hours and one night’s sleep, the seemingly surreal beauty of Vancouver, British Columbia as we cruised slowly out of the harbour. (It is great to have a friend with a boat!)

Although the winds were too light at this point to actually sail, the day was beautiful and enjoying the scenery from the shade cast by the sail cover was just about perfect… the word “awesome” got slightly but justifiably overused during these few days 🙂

Sunset the first evening after managing to prepare a pretty delicious meal in the galley – or maybe sailing makes you hungry 😉

Pirates Cove Marine Provincial Park had some nice hiking around and through the point of an island.

Yay! Wildlife!!

Fantastical rock forms…

Fascinating tidal pools… the very first one I saw had the most diverse inhabitants.

There she is, still afloat!

A beautiful day in Nanaimo…

Strong winds made for a quick trip back to Vancouver and sadly the end of an amazing trip.
photos (cc) 2013 Hilary Farmer
except #4 (c) 2013 TJ Radcliffe