A Welcome Holiday On Vancouver Island

                              

Whilst I was in Vietnam (back in January - though it feels like years ago to me) I happened upon a cafe called "The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf" in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Sitting in the window in bright sunshine with my tea pot on an upturned tea chest in front of me, I was joined by a man and his wife who enquired if they could take away the spare seat across from me. As I had the best seat in the place I answered that they could not, but they were welcome to pull up an extra chair to my makeshift table and join me! They did and we started to chat. We exchanged tales of travel and adventure and found we had many places in common. I was particularly impressed with their game attitude to life. You see, they were old enough to be my parents and yet they had the youth, vigour and sparkle of teenagers. We got along extremely well.

90 minutes flew by and, looking at his watch, John said it was time for them to go as they were due for a meal out with members of their tour group who were traveling with them through Vietnam and beyond. They regretted being unable to invite me along, but I reassured them that I was fine, would wander back to my accommodation and find somewhere to eat on the way. We exchanged email addresses and I promised that when I reached Vancouver, I would look them up so we could perhaps meet again for a drink or a meal? I recall shaking hands with John and hugging Sherry (though knowing me, I may have hugged them both.)

We emailed each other once or twice and I gave them the address of my blog so they could follow my adventures if they wished, but it was only when Vancouver began to loom on my horizon that I decided to get in touch and see if they were still up for a visit.

Sherry responded immediately and told me that I was more than welcome to come and visit them both and stay with them for a while. Now I am the type of person who needs a couple of invitations and an assurance that I am not putting someone out or being a burden before I accept an invitation, so I was most relieved when, after a quick flurry of email correspondence, Sherry invited me again, adding "but you do know we live on Vancouver Island though, don't you Paul?" 

                             

     

Well, I sorted out a train from Seattle to Vancouver, organised overnight accommodation in the city itself and then I caught the skytrain and a bus to Horseshoe Bay so I could take a ferry over to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Sherry said she would meet me off the ferry and told me that we would be spending a long weekend up at their log cabin with some close friends before returning to their home on the farm. 

     

    Michelle, Dale and I about to joy ride on our Honda Trails110                Derringer and I

                               

                               

                               

                                                    Such a hard life on Lake Horne!

                               

                                    Encouraging John to buy a new, second-hand tractor

None of us knew what to expect. We had only known each other for an hour and a half. Their friends and family were quite concerned about the fact that they were going to host a relative stranger in their home and I had no idea where they lived, where their cabin was or how we would get along. 

I needn't have worried. I had the most amazingly good time. Admittedly, when I arrived at Nanaimo harbour I could not recognise Sherry (though she was wearing running leggings, trainers, a sports top, large sunglasses and a sun visor cap), but she called out my name as I eyed the crowd of people waiting to meet friends and family and I hugged her with relief. We started to chat in the car and we didn't stop for a week. John was at home sorting out five huge salmon he had caught that morning and I soon joined him for a lesson in filleting whilst eating the raw fish straight from the knife. He and I started talking and we didn't stop for a week either!

          

       I even got to steer their yacht for a while one evening, as we went to a local floating restaurant!

To tell you all about the week would take pages and pages, but for seven days I was an adopted member of their family. I mucked in with jobs when I could, I ate, drank, played games and did a range of activities that were right up my street, from stand-up paddle boarding on Lake Horne to riding a small Honda motorbike cross country through the mountains and forest trails above their cabin, from  sailing their yacht 'Molasses' from Nanaimo Harbour to quad biking around their farm land. I met some of their closest friends, ate like a king, slept like a princess and relaxed. For the whole week, my only concern was how to beat them all at cribbage!

      

Is it not remarkable, that a chance encounter months earlier, with a throw away statement 'that we must meet up again' should convert into such a wonderful experience and strong friendship? I have met so many lovely people on my journey so far, but the generosity of John and Sherry is particularly unique. I did try to pay for a meal out and some groceries, but John was adamant I would not get out my wallet whist I was with them. They opened up their home, shared their food and friends and gave me a taste of family life which I have sorely missed. I know we shall meet up again one day.

Thank you for a wonderful holiday.

Paul x

        

      Sherry and I returned to Vancouver together on the ferry when the day came for me to depart, 

                        as she was meeting up with one of her daughters on the mainland.