Swimming in the Quarries on Texada Island

On the Thursday of my trip to my lovely home town of Powell River, my family and I headed across the ocean to visit Texada Island. We were heading to swim in the Quarries. I was very excited to be visiting the Quarries and it was my first time. This little swimming paradise had been so close but I had never been before. It was not my first time to Texada thats for sure. The island is a half hour ferry ride from my home town.

With a van loaded up with pool noodles, coolers and inflatibles it was a quick trip. We were walking down the trail and soon were happily entering the beautiful water. The weather was amazing and I had a blast swimming around on my pool noodle. Swimming around the island that lays in the middle of the lake, I could not resist taking my camera into the water. Being very careful as it was not waterproof in the least, I swam about snapping photos.

Time sure flew and we spent almost the entire day there. We headed back to van, dragging up all our things and loading it back up. We drove across the island to Shelter Point where he stopped at the concession of the Shelter Point Campsite to enjoy a feast of hot dogs and burgers. Searching the beach for flower rocks as the sun was dipping in the sky, it was a lovely end to a wonderful day. We headed back across the island and raced to the ferry, time had slipped away from us and we had not being paying attention to the schedule. We managed to make it onto the ferry, my cousin's friend having been able to convince the workers to wait for us. We were very grateful as we would have had to wait for another hour for the next ferry. We were very lucky and we rode on the ferry happily headed for home.

Sunday Recap: September 20

Happy days, a week until I go to Paris. I am very excited. Been doing a bit of planning but not a whole lot so hopefully everything works out. It will be fun no matter what because we are going to Disneyland as three very big kids. I can't believe how quick this month is going. Before I know it will be March and I'll be saying goodbye to everyone again. Crazy to think that so I am going to put it out of my mind.

Eiffel Tower in March

Ah, the Eiffel Tower. The beautiful tower created by Gustaf Eiffel and erected in Paris in 1889 for the 1889 World's Fair. I'm heading to Paris on September 26 for a fun adventure with Jamie and Kevin. These photos are from my visit in March with my sister and mom. We had a great time. The last time I had been in Paris had been with my mom and now it was the first time my sister was enjoying the city. I have been up the tower three times and I am happily going to ascend it for a fourth time. 

I think the Eiffel Tower is something not to be missed when visiting Paris. I'm quite looking forward to visiting it. The first time I went I went up the tower in the dark, the second during the afternoon and the third time we visited mid-afternoon so caught the sun setting and were able to see the Eiffel Tower light up. 

You can purchase your tickets online if you book by a certain date so if you're planning on going up the tower and know when then I suggest you going to the Eiffel Tower's website a few weeks before your trip.

The last time I visited we got off the metro at Champ de Mars -  Tour Eiffel and walked along the river towards the tower. Leaving we walked up to Trocadéro which gives a beautiful view of the tower.

I never thought I would be as lucky as to go up it twice in one year. This has been quite a good year. Hope to share more photos of Paris soon.

A day in Dublin

On my journey home to Canada, I decided that I would travel through Dublin as the flights worked out cheaper than flying out of Manchester. It was a quick flight to Dublin from Liverpool and I was soon on the ground exploring. I had arrived mid-afternoon so skipped out on museums that I knew would be closing soon enough.

On the recommendation of the hostel employee, I headed over to O'Neill's on Suffolk Street. I was a bit hesitant, not really knowing what to expect when I reached the place but I pushed forward and went inside. I was not sure how it worked if I was to sit and be served but I quickly found out that you queue up and order food either from their soup and salad bar or from the carvery. I chose to go to the carvery after browsing the menu and finding my mouth watering.

Direct from the websites description, I got the Slowly Roasted Irish Turkey with Honey and Mustard Baked Crowe's Ham for €11.95. I had to add a Yorkshire pudding on top. It was like Christmas and Thanksgiving had come together to give me this amazing feast. To drink I ordered a Guinness and sipped it and ate my food in their upstairs beer garden. If you are ever in Dublin and looking for an easy bite thats delicious and relatively inexpensive, I highly recommend O'Neills. 

After leaving O'Neill's I wandered a bit aimlessly around the city centre. The last time I had been in Dublin had been with my family in March. I had a really great time but now I was on my own exploring the city. If I had been spending more time in Dublin I would have set myself a game plan on where to go and what to see but I was only left with a few hours before I would head back to the hostel and get ready for bed in hopes of sleeping before my big flight to Canada.

After my wanderings, I checked in for my flight to Canada and sorted out my route to the airport on a Sunday. The airport buses don't run as early as they do on Monday to Saturday so I was left with having to pay for a shuttle to the airport. To end the night I enjoyed a Murphy's ice cream getting caramelised brown bread and dingle sea salt.

After my delicious ice cream, I headed back to my hostel and into bed. Canada awaited me.