Trip to Victoria, Part 3 (Peacocks for Barn)

We were driving through Beacon Hill Park and saw some peacocks. I immediately thought of Barnacle and his dream of owning a peacock so we stopped to get him some pictures.

I call this one, peacock on a fence.

Hey, you looking at me?

Strutting his stuff...

We were hoping he might open up his plumage for a real show, but no.....

Got a nice shot of the head. Sorry Barn, I couldn't get one to come home with us.

Trip to Victoria, Part 2 (Sushi)

So here we are at the sushi restaurant, asking all the usual questions, what kind of vinegar do you use in your sticky rice, what kind of wasabi, etc and the waitress says to us, "would you like to see the gluten-free menu?" What could be more perfect? One of our favourite foods, made right.

These hot spicy rolls were excellent, really excellent.

The nicest serving container for saki we had ever seen.

A work of art. The food was first rate, we went back twice and then met some friends our last night at Yokohama's for all you can eat sushi. We will be good to go for awhile now.

Trip to Victoria, Part 1 (Getting There)

Well, while the reason that we went to Canada was not the best, we did find time to do a few things and take some pictures.

Our trip actually started on July 19th. In the morning we moved into our new digs in Placencia Village.

Here is the view looking south towards the Village.

We were on the one o'clock bus out of the village to Dangriga. Our plan was to go from Dangriga to Belmopan, stay overnight and go into Immigration first thing in the morning before heading to Belize City for the flight to Canada. It all went like clockwork. On Monday morning we dropped off our paper at Immigration and headed to the bus depot. There, we were approached by a taxi driver offering to take us to the airport for $125.00. I thought that was kind of steep so he said for us, a special deal, only $120.00. The bus was in and we decided to take the bus, we had plenty of time before the plane. Well the bus cost us $8.00 from Belmopan to Belize City, $3.00 from Belize City to the airport turnoff, and $5.00 from the turnoff to the airport for a total of $16.00 compared to $120.00. My advice is to take the bus.

Park walkway in Belmopan.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, we checked our bag, went and had lunch and then sat to wait for our 2:55 pm flight. There were storms happening in Miami so the flight was late getting in and of course late leaving. We were a little concerned because our turn around window was fast disappearing. Where it originally was three hours, it had now dwindled to one hour. Not to worry, our flight out of Miami to Los Angeles was delayed more than three hours. It wasn't too bad, it meant that the eight hours spent in LAX would now only be five hours. Five hours of walking the terminals, trying to sleep, and watching other people sleeping. How do they do that, sleeping on benches with armrests under their backs, or curled around them?

Our flight to Vancouver left on time and we were in our rented vehicle and on the 1:00 pm ferry sailing and had a late lunch buffet. Much needed as the last real meal we had was at the airport in Belize City the day before. Once off the ferry, we went straight to see Bob's brother and then my sister, where we planned to stay. After a visit with my sister and niece, we got cleaned up and headed out to dinner. We walked downtown and happened upon a sushi place and went inside to check it out. Imagine our surprise, they had a 'gluten-free' menu!!!!

That was getting to Victoria.

You Gotta Belize It!!!!

Well it finally happened, the day arrived and we were there to meet the ship, so to speak, as it came in. Yesterday was a whirlwind day for sure.

Up at dawn and on the bus to Belmopan as this was the day we were finally getting our residency. We got our residency in record time, only took us 175 days and only a couple of extra trips to Belmopan. I am told that the gestation period for monkeys runs from 160 to 240 days depending on the type of monkey. I wonder what kind we are?

We paid our money, getting the 25% Commonwealth discount (not bad at all eh!!!) and went for brunch at the Caladium while waiting for the final stamps and signatures in our passports. It was an open door policy at Immigration yesterday, the gate was open as were all the doors, even the back one. Someone walked outside the back door and started up a car alarm. Sheryl very calmly got up and used her clicker to turn it off. We got a smile out of that. Those that have dealt with Sheryl will understand.


We ran before the downpour to get to the Social Security office, one of the nicest and most efficient offices we have found anywhere. We were even able to arrange for our cards to be sent to the Placencia office for pick up. They said that they would be ready for pick up on Monday... that is very fast service.

The next stop was Dangriga where we went to register for our Voter ID cards which will be ready in early October. We had time for a quick drink at BiBi's and then it was home on the 4:30 bus... arriving at 6:30. We got a lot done in those 12 hours.

You gotta Belize it!!!!

Home At Last.... Finally

Well, it has been awhile, but we are home at last and we have internet.

Quick rundown of the last little while for us.

On July 15th, Bob's mum passed away peacefully at the age of 95. We were planning to move at the end of the month into Placencia Village, so we packed up our stuff and stored it in the new place and headed to Canada. It was a whirlwind trip for sure. We tried to make the most of it and saw Bob's kids and grandkids, plus most of my family.

We are still in the process of unpacking and getting organized in the new place. We finally got our internet yesterday, which will lead to another posting.

We will be heading back to Belmopan next week with regards to residency, which will lead to yet another posting.

The weather has been a little blustery, but not really that much of the wet stuff considering it is the rainy season.

A special thanks to Deb and Jenny for helping out with our 'accident'.

We Are Back

We were away, and now we are back. I will do updates as soon as we get internet. I hear having it makes it so much better to post.