The following photo essay was experienced and contributed by John Biehler exclusively for Miss604.com
After arriving at the picturesque Horne Lake, which is just a little north of Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, we were greeted by our exuberant guide, Jamie.
We signed our waivers and were outfitted with helmets and lights then headed to the cave entrances where Jamie began to brief us on what to expect and how to move about the caves. She covered the types of rocks we’d encounter, how best to keep our footing on the rocks inside and an overview of how the caves came into existence. Horne Lake is the only cave system in Canada with guided tours.
Once inside, it became apparent just how tight some of the spaces would be. As I’m not the smallest of guys (as were a few others in the group), we were a little concerned that some of the cracks and crevices we’d be climbing through would actually be wide enough for us.
Fortunately, Jamie knew we’d have no trouble and she was completely right. It was a little like playing tetris with your body and having to get into just the right position to get past a few points. But if I could make it, anyone can.
Once inside a fairly large room, Jamie had us all turn out our headlamps. There are some crystals in the rock formations that glow when subjected to light…apparently scientists aren’t quite sure why this phenomenon occurs given the kinds of sediment and rock in the cave but it’s a cool effect nonetheless.
Of course, as you’d expect, there are some bugs inside the caves. In this case, there were spiders and cave crickets but they all tended to shy away from the light and were pretty high up.
Throughout the tour, Jamie would point out one of the many fossils embedded in the rocks. I couldn’t help but think of the cave sequences in The Goonies and kept waiting to turn a corner and see a huge cavern with a pirate ship inside.
We toured two different cave systems and by the time we were finished with the first one, we were all referring to the ‘cave yoga’ exercises we were doing while moving through the caves. In particular, there was one spot where it wasn’t apparent to any of us (other than Jamie) as to how anyone would get through a section. There was a small hole above a little stream running through the cave that was on an incline. So we basically had to climb up the stream while doing a downward dog style yoga move to duck under the overhanging rock and avoid getting wet in the stream. Once again, Jamie knew how to coach us as to where to put our feet and hands and it was surprisingly easy. Getting back down however was trickier since we had to basically come back the same way except it was headfirst on a down slope. I did it simply by trusting Jamie that she knew what she was doing and had guided us expertly so far.
You can get more information about the caving programs at Horne Lake from their website. I’m hoping to come back in the summer and try out the Extreme Rappel Cave Tour especially now that I know what to expect. I’ll likely leave my DSLR at home so I can jump in without worrying about my gear and enjoy the adventure.
It truly is a unique experience and great for the whole family…I can only imagine how much fun kids would have in this place.
Upcoming posts to follow from the rest of the tour of Vancouver Island include surfing in Ucluelet and a zodiac tour of the Broken Islands.
John is an avid photographer, gadget geek and traveller. You can find him on Twitter and at johnbiehler.com where he discusses photography and all sorts of technology. All photos in this post were taken by John.
Disclosure: Activities, services and dining experiences during the trip were compliments of Tourism Vancouver Island or the operators and businesses mentioned.
The following photo essay was experienced and contributed by John Biehler exclusively for Miss604.com
Recently, I had the chance to once again fill in for Rebecca who couldn’t be in two places at once and once again I think I got the better part of the deal as she was getting her shots and dealing with travel visas for her trip to Africa.
With a brief stop to check in (more on the Old House in a future post), our group then took a short drive and headed up to the Raven Lodge on Mt. Washington. Here we got geared up and met our guide, Elmore (in the red hat) who was going to take us on a guided snowshoe tour of the trails on the mountain.
Dusk was just starting to fall when we made our way back to the lodge after an easy, two hour walk through the trees and trails. We were welcomed to a huge family style fondue dinner once we got our snowshoes off.
We began with a bread and swiss cheese fondue, which was followed by a flavourful broth for the large meat & seafood tray and finished things off with a fresh fruit and chocolate fondue for dessert. Add in a little wine and we were all ready for bed after the snowshoe hike.
If you’re considering the fondue dinner (which only happens on Friday and Saturday nights), it’s best to pre-book as it was sold out when we were there on a Saturday night.
Upcoming posts to follow from the rest of my Snow to Surf tour of Vancouver Island include caving in the Horne Lake Caves, surfing in Ucluelet and a zodiac tour of the Broken Islands.
John is an avid photographer, gadget geek and traveller. You can find him on Twitter and at johnbiehler.com where he discusses photography and all sorts of technology. All photos in this post were taken by John.
Disclosure: Activities, services and dining experiences during the trip were compliments of Tourism Vancouver Island or the operators and businesses mentioned.
I am currently in Ghana to experience Cadbury’s Bicycle Factory delivery. This is their second delivery in two years thanks to the help of Canadians who participated in the online project.
Yesterday I flew to Kumasi City, just North and West of Ghana’s capital of Accra. It was the last leg of my 24-hour journey but I will be based in Kumasi for the rest of the week. The city itself is bustling. Petrol stations, women carrying everything from baked goods and plastic bottles of water on their heads, men selling bandanas and chocolate bars in the streets, and entire buildings painted red for either Vodafone or Coca-Cola advertisements. Cars drive on whichever side of the road will get them to their destination the quickest as burnt orange sand kicks up dust clouds in their wake.
Upon my arrival we traveled to Bipoa, about 90-minutes outside of Kumasi City. Cadbury’s Bicycle Factory was delivering 100 bikes (although they have 600 more for this community). We enjoyed a ceremony with local elders, the (acting) Chief of the tribal community, and very proud members of the Kuapa Kokoo fairtrade cocoa union.
You say “Kuapa!”, they say “Papa Paa!” a slogan which the women to shout with hands raised.
I will share the full details of the bike ceremony in a few weeks, but I can’t help but post a few photos right away.
After a speech during the ceremony there would be a musical interlude where the women would get up and dance to worship songs.
We also presented the Chief with school supplies for the children who are too young to receive bicycles.
After the bicycle presentation we then met with school children, had snacks in a local church, walked out to a cocoa farm, learned how the cocoa is processed, and talked to the Chief’s adviser privately.
There were some children at the bike ceremony, in their maroon and gold or blue and white uniforms, however most appeared around the community after school hours. They played soccer among the dried leaves of the cocoa farm or on a grassy patch near the road in front of the church.
It was clearly stated by the President of the Kuapa Kokoo union (who is voted in by the cocoa farmers) that every woman sitting there today was to make sure their child received an education. Even so, there are reminders everywhere about the evils of child labour.
Kuapa Kokoo as a Fairtrade certified organisation takes this issue of child development and protection from exploitation by adults seriously and as such has invested heavily in programs that promote the wellbeing of children.
For example the cooperative has used a substantial part of its Fairtrade premiums to build schools in some communities it operates in to promote the development of children. Also the cooperative has together with other like-minded organisations sought funding to organize kids camps, webcasts, video conferences etc. to ensure that children in rural Ghana are abreast with the happenings in the world.
The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, Kuapa Kokoo, and other organizations ensure that the children of these Ghanaian communities will be doing nothing more than playing among the cocoa leaves.
Warming up to our presence, their inquisitive faces turned to big bright smiles as soon as you waved your hand or offered them a high-five. Darius and his iPhone 4 were an instant hit.
It’s funny to think that someone in Vancouver who bought a fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk bar at 7-Eleven and went home and typed in the UPC code online could actually influence one of these children’s lives – but they most certainly did.
We’re heading to a community today that received bikes in 2009 so we’ll get to follow up on their cycling lives. They are in a more rural location so it will interesting to see the different impact.
Please note: Photos were taken with the permission of the community.
Disclosure: I have not been paid by Cadbury to participate in this trip. However, they have covered my accommodation and airfare to come along and document what I experience.
Over the last ten years or so, Beaver Lake in Stanley Park has been slowly disappearing. While it is home to plenty of wildlife, from ducks to an actual beaver who has been chipping down trees over the years, it’s becoming boggy and overgrown. Skunk cabbage and lily pads cover mud patches which, during the summer months, dry up and soak up what little water still flows through from the creek.
I heard on Vancouver is Awesome‘s 100.5 The Peak segment this weekend that a campaign is underway to save Beaver Lake that would see an investment of $100,000 for dredging and restoration by the Vancouver Park Board. Without these efforts, the Stanley Park Ecology Society says the lake could dry up within the next decade or two.
Beaver Lake was a popular recreational spot 100 years ago and was dredged in 1929 to remove mud. The introduction of water lilies in 1937 and the construction of the Stanley Park Causeway, which cut off a water supply, began Beaver Lake’s slow decline. The onetime 6.7-hectare lake is now smaller than four hectares and no more than 1.2 metres deep at any point. The $100,000 is to pay a consultant to develop a strategy for Beaver Lake’s survival, which will likely involve more dredging. [Vancouver Sun]
The Vancouver Park Board will now look at proposals from consultants about how to go about doing the work on Beaver Lake.
Lost Lagoon (named by E. Pauline Johnson) will also soon be in trouble. It never used to be land-locked and is slowly filling up with sediment and overgrowing with invasive species. Find out more about the Stanley Park Ecology Society at the Nature House at Lost Lagoon including their “Ivy Busters” volunteer programs in the summer.
I am currently somewhere in the middle of my 18-hour journey to Ghana, West Africa (and have scheduled this post for publication). I have been alluding to this trip on Twitter and Facebook as three weeks ago I was invited by Cadbury to be a part of the final leg of its Bicycle Factory campaign. I am the only person from the West Coast who was invited along on this trip and I will be joined by Darius Bashar, a blogger and social technology evangelist from Toronto.
Since 2009 Cadbury has been running the Bicycle Factory program that has encouraged Canadians to enter UPC codes online from their Fair Trade Dairy Milk bars, Caramilk, or other Cadbury products in exchange for digital “bike parts”. For every “digital bike part” a real bike was assembled. These bicycles were delivered to villages in Ghana later that year and I’m coming along for the next delivery of over 4,000 bicycles this week.
Here in Vancouver we may take bicycles for granted — either renting tandems for a cruise around the sea wall, or cursing a road closure to allow for the construction of a bike lane. However in the Ghanaian villages I will visit, it means so much more. Children, youth, and families can now travel further, faster, without walking or missing out on school or services that are not available within the vicinity of their homes.
Cadbury has a large presence in Ghana as cocoa is a one of the country’s largest industries. In 2008 they established the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, local governments, farmers, and communities and in 2009 they committed to establishing Fairtrade status. Cadbury, who since achieved status in 2010, currently partners with Kuapa Kokoo, the Fairtrade Certified Cocoa Farmers Co-operative that ensures those working in the cocoa industry to are able to achieve a sustainable livelihood. Please note: I researched this background information myself when I was considering the trip and was not supplied this information by Cadbury. I have also not been paid to participate in this campaign.
I have no idea what to expect in terms of the bicycle delivery this week, the visits to the villages, and meeting these families, but I am very much looking forward to everything that I will learn.
With my grandmother (my beloved “Oma”) still in the hospital, I left with much anxiety, a heavy heart, and tears bubbling up from so many emotions. This is most definitely an adventure of a lifetime and I know she wants me to go. I look forward to sending her video messages from Ghana and kissing her cheek upon my return.
All posts from this trip will use the tag: Africa. Disclosure: My airfare and accommodations have been covered.
