Our final destination was to head east, staying just outside Carmel. For the final few nights we would essentially be neighbours with Brad Pitt and Clint Eastwood (I mean they live a few miles from our hotel but who’s counting). 

We were excited to see the sea again but had done very little by way of planning these last few days, we’d even changed the hotel mid holiday. As we travel we always remind ourselves what we like / dislike and so it works to keep things open. 

The way back to the coast was lovely. We managed to avoid crazy highways and cut across a couple of mountain ranges. We watched the vegetation shift from scorched to lush and there was a definite shift in wealth as the manicured private estates popped up alongside vineyards. 

The agriculture in this area is vast. I was born in Lincolnshire and so am no stranger to a field of onions 😂. Turns out this central valley area in California accounts for half of all fruit and vegetables grown in the US. It also generates 20% of the milk consumed, although having seen the cows tolerating the heat with no fresh grass I’m wondering quite a bit about animal welfare. 

But here’s the thing – the area is bone dry. Left without irrigation the crops would definitely fail. In recent years the main reservoir (Shasta) shrunk to less than 25% of its capacity and farmland went unfarmed as a result. 

I’m sure you didn’t tune into the blog for an agriculture update (though my Dad will be delighted with this content), but as we travel we constantly get reminded that the world is changing and we like to share that reality. 

Back to Carmel. Some quick research told us that Monterey nearby was a hot spot for Whale watching. We thought we were out of season right down this coast but it turns out humpback whales love the area and the deep trenches and so we spent one of last mornings out at sea. If you’ve read a few of our blogs you’ll know we whale watch a lot!  I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. There was an embarrassment of sea life including loads of sea lions hunting together in the deep and a large number of humpbacks across several different sights. I think we probably saw 20 humpback whales including some who chose to get unbelievably close. 

California has also got one thing particularly right, bottom trawling is not legal across the state waters except in a very small area where strict rules are placed on how it is done. There are also a number of no fish zones which has allowed sea life of all kinds to recover. This includes sea otters being abundant, although this is not from personal experience as these guys remained firmly out of site for all of our California holiday!

Being back by the sea was amazing and John was totally in his element with miles of visible kelp that he was desperate to inspect at close quarters. Sadly timing was not right for a scuba dive and John stayed on land as he wasn’t entirely sure a beach dip would be safe from rocks, strong currents…and white sharks, who also enjoy the seas around this area!!

As our time in California comes to an end we played the usual game of ‘could we live here’. The answer for sure was yes we could, but it was the coastal areas that we loved the most. Admittedly it might be quite rainy in the winter, but the bright sunshine and foggy interludes are awesome and the sea line is amazing. Americans in this part of the world seemed pretty cool too. Friendly, and sometimes spontaneously apolitically telling us ‘I didn’t vote for that a$$hole’. I can’t think what they might be referring to 😆*.

* Note this will only be published upon exiting US customs 😳

It was time to head to the big draw national park, Yosemite. But first we had to negotiate route 49 with its 100+ hairpin bends and sheer drop offs. Our online research found an ex-US forces guy say he was less scared when driving through a minefield than he was driving route 49. Having survived the insane Italian drivers on the lake Como mountain roads I was adamant that it would be fine. Admittedly we did need to stop the car once because James felt sick, but I think the ex-forces guy was being a bit dramatic.

Yosemite had captured my imagination since I was a kid. Listening to my dad and his friend energetically discuss the merits of famous black and white Ansel Adams photos. Then later in life reading about John Muir’s conservation work, and climbers’ death-defying attempts to scale El Capitan, the 2300m granite monolith which towers over the valley. So I was excited to finally get to experience the majesty of the place for myself.

However, we’d heard it was very busy and recently scarred by the hordes of Tahoe, we feared the worst. Learning from our Tahoe experience, each morning we set our alarm for 6am to get into the park ahead of the crowds. Yosemite delivered. The breathtaking vistas from Glacier Point and Tunnel View. A hike up Sentinel Dome and the vertigo inducing Taft Point, where we even saw a bear! And an epic 14km hike up (and back down) part of the Mist Trail to Vernal falls which nearly broke James… followed by a 20 minute wait for an iced coffee in the visitors center cafe which nearly broke Lucy.

However, the most memorable experience was my birthday dinner – cheese and wine by the river in the grounds of our lodge, complete with improvised cake and candle. Why has it taken me to be 52 years old to discover the delights of having cheese and wine whilst paddling in a river to keep cool in the searing heat? Love to Lucy and James for arranging and making it so special ❤️

Next on the agenda was Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, 200 km further south. This time there were no winding mountain passes, just 3.5 hours of driving through the agricultural central valley. Literally km after km of orchards and maize fields and the occasional backwater town.

Our holiday home was an annex of a cute cottage in Three Rivers whose garden backs onto the stunning Kaweah River. Complete with a 50-60m long crystal clear swimming hole full of fish, we had it pretty much to ourselves apart from a few locals. Just the tonic after the busy Yosemite.

An hours drive up yet more very winding mountain roads was Sequoia national park. Home to the largest tree in the planet, the General Sherman, and many other behemoths. The costal redwoods earlier in the trip were big, but the giant sequoias are something else.

We spent a few hours wandering the trails marvelling at their colossal size but most of our time was spent playing in the rapids and jumping off rocks into our back garden river. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to skip Kings Canyon and chill by the river for our remaining days inland before heading back to the coast.

Route 299 is famous, look it up. A beautiful drive, which can be extremely tricky in winter. But also one where we had heard travel sickness was likely. Someone we met in Trinidad said that their kid was sick 5 times on the 299. I’m not sure if we’ve covered it much but James gets travel sick and in Canada this worried us a lot, albeit unnecessarily. On a couple of our California drives so far we had found ourselves on some pretty windy roads and James had complained (and honestly I didn’t feel brilliant either).

So, in the face of potential adversity, let the planning commence. Extra travel sickness meds (in case drugs in California are better) including some for me, I mean why not. Sweets as a reward for the drive as we progressed (for James and me), a paper grocery bag lined with plastic bag, kindly donated by a shop assistant who also thought we faced adversity. We were all set.

Thankfully this concern was a total anti climax. I can promise you the 299 is a pussy cat and we arrived on schedule (and vomit free) for white water rafting with Six Rivers Rafting. If you read the Canada blog you’ll know rafting didn’t go well – glacial water, James up front, first rapids = furious, freezing 7 year old. I’m delighted to say that the combination of the warmer water and better prepped parents (wetsuit even though it wasn’t essential) meant that we all had an amazing afternoon on the rapids. Shout out to our river guide Raven who was fun, informative and amazing at her job. We were able to do some cliff jumps and swim through rapids which James was totally game for. He even took the front seat for the final set of class 3 rapids – maybe next year he will also paddle 😆. 

We continued the long day of driving (happily uneventfully) on to our next location. We were going camping at Mill Creek Resort. Well, glamping really given we had a safari tent already erected, proper beds, a camping cooking kit and most excitingly a special key…which let you into the camping equivalent of premium economy toilets. Hurrah!

Camping was fab, if you can ignore the fact that you end up filthy, smell of smoke and your bathroom is a 200m walk away. James certainly ignored all of the above and showed his best caveman skills being a diligent fire starter morning, noon and night.

We also managed to acquire a couple of pets whilst camping. A little frog made its home in our tent and a mouse woke us up each night and it took us until the final night to catch the little blighter eating its way through our Ritz biscuits…good job it didn’t try to nab the trail mix – there would have been hell to pay!

We’d travelled all this way east to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park. Spectacular with more types of volcanoes than I knew existed, cool geothermal areas, beautiful lakes and great hiking trails. It was popular but not too busy and was a really beautiful day. We also managed ‘one of those walks’ to Bumpass Hell, to view the biggest geothermal area in the park. Named after Kendal Vanhook Bumpass who came to the area believing he could make his fortune and unfortunately fell into a boiling mud pool, resulting in a leg amputation!!!

After the confidence boosting route 299 we decided last minute to travel cross country to our next stop – Lake Tahoe. It was a 4.5 hour ride which turned out to be a great decision. We found a swimming hole / waterfall just off the road and we had it entirely to ourselves…which is good because my bikini was up the hill in the car 😳. In the U.K. a place like this would be mobbed with people and here we were, completely alone.

We knew Lake Tahoe would be busier than our campsite but we were also looking forward to the civilisation. Map research suggested there would be great restaurants and breweries within walking distance and we would busy ourselves swimming in crystal clear bays around the lake.

However, we failed to consider two things – (1) the sheer number of people, (2) the highway ring-road around the Lake, 6 lanes wide outside our hotel. As a result it’s close to impossible to park at any of the bays and beaches.

The blog on section on Tahoe is therefore short. It goes something like this – don’t bother in August. It reminded us of a mix between Kandy (popular Sri Lankan city with a big lake and noisy road which we left as quickly as possible) and Las Vegas (same noisy feel to a much lesser degree and less gambling…at least on the Californian side of the Stateline).

We eventually found our feet and made the best of it including a 6am alarm call to be able to park and make it to Chimney Beach.

After much effort we also managed to go rafting on the Truckee river, but the hordes meant it was more people-soup than a tranquil float down the river.

We were happy to leave…next stop Yosemite and a birthday celebration 🥳.

Having almost recovered from jet lag we headed out of the city. First stop, Sonoma, in the heart of wine tasting country. Keen to sample the local produce but not wanting to drink-drive we were responsible parents and hired bikes, then cycled to the wineries instead🤪 

Thankfully there were no injuries and the wine was delicious. In payback for making James endure winery visits he was placated with plenty of time playing in the hotel pool.

Being a nature nerd I was really excited about the next couple of destinations, Mendocino and Trinidad. Located on the rugged and often mist shrouded northern Pacific coast, they are surrounded by vast forests and the last remaining stands of old-growth costal redwoods. 

This was bad news for James though, as it meant plenty of opportunities for ‘one of those walks’ which have become a point of strong contention on our travels. 

On our first night in Mendocino we were greeted by a Tsunami warning. A large earthquake had hit eastern Russia and the resulting wave was due to reach us around midnight. Thankfully our accommodation was on a hill 50m above the beach so we could sleep easy and by the time it did hit the wave was barely noticeable.

It didn’t deter us from the following day’s adventure. We rented an outrigger canoe and paddled up Big River estuary. Within minutes it felt like we were miles away from civilisation with trees towering above us on either side. After an hour or so of paddling we decided to stop for a swim. The water was even warm enough for Lucy to get in, albeit very briefly. Then, just as we were getting back on the canoe a family of otters joined us. They splashed around, ate a fish and played for a few spellbinding minutes, then swam off to do more otter things elsewhere.

Much to James’ annoyance there were indeed plenty of opportunities for walks along wild headlands and amongst the redwoods. The highlights being the Avenue of the Giants and Redwood National Park. Walking through temperate rainforests with colossal trees over 100m tall, some of which have been alive for over 2000 years, is both humbling and awe inspiring. Well, it was for me but for Lucy and James I suspect they were just a bunch of big trees. 

One of the forests’ residents did capture the imagination of all of us though – banana slugs! They even come in all the banana colours; unripe green, ripe yellow and over ripe mottled yellow-brown. And apparently their skin contains a chemical that acts like Novocaine and when licked makes your tongue numb. What fool would try doing that? 😳

On our last day in Trinidad the coastal mist cleared to reveal crystal clear blue skies reminiscent of our travels in New Zealand. So we spent the day exploring a local cove. It was a glorious day exploring rock pools, basking in the sun and playing beach olympics. It was so warm we even braved a swim in the bracing Pacific… when I say we, Lucy opted out 🥶

For the next stage of our journey we turn inland and head to Lassen Volcanic national park – via white water rafting in the Trinity river.

Here we go, 4 weeks in California. Aiming to match (or beat?!) our best family holiday yet in Canada two summers ago. We’ve got cities, vineyards, seascapes, volcanoes and mountains coming our way.

First stop San Francisco. As usual, bedding down in the nearest city for a few days whilst the jet lag subsides. We stayed in a little AirBnB in Russian Hill (next Nob Hill no less 🤣).

Regular readers will know that we don’t love cities…and yes we know we live in London. But we were excited, San Fran looked promising – nice climate, stuff to do, easy to get around, Crossfit boxes 😉…

We’d heard about San Francisco fog and that was totally correct. Despite beautiful bright afternoons that reminded us of New Zealand, the mornings were drizzly and chilly.

We weren’t put off, and the following morning after putting on all our warm weather clothes, we headed straight to Alcatraz. A short ferry hop from the mainland with the real highlight being the self guided audio tour. Total result that we didn’t have to list to an overly excitable American talk for an ever lasting time (unbearable even without jet lag). Instead we heard from actual prison officers and inmates as we toured the main part of the prison. The prison conditions were ghastly, near full time cell confinement (5ft by 9ft) and a taste of what the pitch black isolation cells would have felt like – totally horrific. It was also weird to hear about the inmates – Al Capone, the Birdman but also others that aren’t famous but had committed awful crimes. You can’t help but wonder what must have happened to a person to lead them to a life like that. It all sounds very morbid but it did captivate James…albeit not as much as the ~5k cormorants nesting on the island. He adored them despite the stink!

We staggered through the rest of the first full day, choosing an open top bus tour as the best way to see the city whilst also taking it easy as jet lag hit full force in the afternoon. Despite being touristy we love a ‘hop on and off’ bus tour…with the last one being in Cartagena in Colombia 🇨🇴.

We got a great view of stunning parts of the city including Golden Gate park and a big reason for bus ride – a trip over Golden Gate Bridge – on the top deck!

More and more I am finding myself having moments where ‘younger Lucy’ would have had a whole load more fun than this current older version. This was one of those moments…sitting on the top deck, wind blasting across the bay, staring carefully at the middle of the bus, pretending not to have a gentle form of vertigo. Needless to say James thought this was hilarious with my nerves only added to his joy!

We rewarded our survival with burgers and a tasty beer in Cow Hollow. Apparently an area where trendy, affluent young professionals live…we fitted right in 🤣.

The next day was spent at the Exploratorium. San Francisco’s Science Museum for Kids. Happy James = happy parents = guilt free trip to the local wine bar afterwards. Perfect!

We’ve already started to notice how friendly the locals and fellow tourists are. It’s easy to strike up a conversation and people seem super kind, interested and full of recommendations. It also seems to be very kid friendly…as long as you do not let them sit at a bar!!

A final highlight of San Francisco was the autonomous taxis run by Waymo. In the downtown district they are everywhere and even the Uber drivers are complimentary about the their driving skills!

Overall San Fran is a cool city. Clean, safe, nice neighbourhoods and much quieter than London. I would suggest in general staying clear of the very central areas, around the Civic Centre. Like Vancouver (though not to the same extent) it is super sad to see the effect Fentanyl is having on people.

City time complete, it’s time to collect the car and head north…

Arriving tired well after midnight the first thing we noticed about Maderia was how populated it is. Maybe it’s because we had come from the sparsely populated Azores but even in the dark we could see the houses stacked up the hillsides. The second thing we noticed were the road tunnels bored through the mountains… and how fast people drive through them. Every road seemed to go through at least one at some point.

To be honest Madeira was a shock to the system. Gone were the days of leisurely pootling around islands visiting swimming spots and going on hikes as and when we stumbled across them. Unless you got there very early everywhere is mobbed and car parks overflowing.

Adding to this there were wildfires raging in the central mountain range so a number of roads and areas were closed. In places there was an apocalyptic feel, with clouds of smoke turning the sun and air orange, along with thin coatings of ash everywhere. One fire was burning in the mountains 1.5km or so above our holiday home so we kept a watchful eye on local news and social media sites for information. On our last 3 summer holidays, Crete, Canada and now Madeira, there have been wildfires. A sad and concerning reminder of the changes we are making to our climate and environments.

Not dwelling on negatives here, Madeira did have its merits which we made the most of…

Many hikes on the island follow Levadas, irrigation channels used to carry water from the mountains to agricultural areas, which make going on ‘one of those walks’ more bearable for James. Often home to trout and edging around cliffs and underwater falls, helped make our hikes more fun by racing leaves down the watercourses and feeding the fish. Mountainsides were no barrier either, one hike had a claustrophobia inducing 1km long tunnel complete with water dripping from the low ceiling and path only wide enough for single file.

Spectacular high coastal cliffs were also a feature of the island. Too steep to cut out a road, cable cars to black sand beaches and swimming jetties with crystal clear waters seemed to be the norm. So, many hours were spent playing in the crashing waves and making sand and seaweed pies. Often followed by an ice-cream and beer (for mum and dad) stop on the way home.

After James’ fondness for feeding the deer in the Azores we were keen to meet some of Madeira’s fauna. On Sao Miguel a resident lizard in our holiday home kitchen kept chewing holes in any bananas we left out overnight, which we thought was novel. To top that, at one beachside restaurant in Madeira we discovered that lizards also like omelette and chips, much to James’s delight.

Most travel guides we’d read recommended a toboggan ride from Monte, a high suburb of Funchal, down to the city centre. We’d also read that it was a bit of a tourist trap with 2-hour queues, so we headed there ahead of its 9am opening time to secure our ride. The toboggans are basically wicker baskets with wooden rails steered down the steep streets by 2 chaps, ‘carreiros’, in straw hats. It was hilarious, Lucy squealed lots and James wanted to do it again. We rewarded our bravery with a coffee and cake at a farmers market, before yet another cable car ride over the city back to the top. There we visited the Monte Palace botanical gardens which we’d seen in photos of grandmas travels to the island a few years ago. So wandering through its lush greenery brought us back happy memories of grandmas love for all things gardening.

One of the games we played to keep James entertained on our many ‘one of those walks’ was creating our perfect Atlantic holiday island. Sao Miguel’s hot springs and coasteering/canyoning (and of course deer feeding), Pico’s natural sea swimming pools, Sao Jorge’s natural beauty and lack of tourism, Madeira’s cable cars and toboggan ride all featured. Whilst the islands didn’t have the wow factor of last years trip to Canada we had an amazing time exploring somewhere different. But most of all we feel lucky and super grateful for being able to spend the school summer holidays travelling together as a family.

From Sao Miguel we took a short flight to Sao Jorge, picked up our next hire car, then headed onto Pico by ferry. Although I can’t say it’s much fun reversing a car you’ve never driven before on to the hold of a small ferry with 50 or so people looking on.

Pico island is dominated by the towering 2351m Pico volcano (obvs) whose solidified lava flows cover huge swathes of the land. Most of the houses are built from the black lava rock and even its vineyards, which of course we visited, are nestled in the nooks and crannies of the lava flows.

Our holiday home was a beautiful traditional lava block cottage with the brooding volcano overlooking the back yard and a natural sea swimming pool out front. Taking an early morning swim then warming up with a hot cup of tea overlooking the crashing waves was definitely a highlight for me.

Since there are no beaches on Pico, protected natural sea swimming pools formed from gaps in the lava flows seem to be dotted every few km around the coast. So, many happy hours were spent with James diving in and chasing fish. Although thanks to the slightly chilly Atlantic water, Lucy was less keen.

We also spent time driving through pretty villages, walking along an old lava flow and going on an underwhelming wine tasting session. The wine wasn’t actually that bad, and thankfully the local supermarket sold the same stuff so sipping it in our back yard looking out towards the volcano was much more pleasing.

When asked, James says his favourite thing on Pico was feeding the deer with leaves at a local park. So much so that he pleaded to go back the next day 🤷🏼‍♂️

After a couple of days exploring it was time to head back to Sao Jorge which meant more anxiety inducing reversing on to the ferry.

Sao Jorge is a lush, green and sparsely populated island with very steep winding roads. Thankfully our hire car, whilst being a bit of a tank and having its fair share of bruises, had more grunt than our last one so came into its own. We stayed in a youth hostel using it as a base to explore the island. If that is what hostels are like these days they are a far cry from those I used to stay in as a backpacker. Spotless, private bathrooms, a kitchen without cockroaches and no drunken Aussies, Kiwi’s and Brits.

Sao Jorge also had its fair share of natural sea swimming pools. It was a bit of a schlep to get to but Piscina Natural Simão Dias was just stunning, and even Lucy was tempted in.

James was quite right to be suspicious when we suggested going on what was billed as a short ‘one of those walks’. The Fajã de Além trail, short yes, but with a 400m zigzagging decent down a forested cliff face, a brief picnic lunch stop at the bottom, before an even steeper 400m path back up. The views were stunning and we are hopeful that James will forgive us at some point in the next few years.

The rest of our time was spent visiting other natural sea swimming pools and James particularly enjoyed being roughed up by the waves on a small black sand beach we stumbled across one afternoon.

Sao Jorge was our favourite so far. Beautiful scenery, excellent swimming spots and only a few fellow tourists. Its only real downside was the lack of well stocked ‘supermarkets’, or any shops for that matter, to buy provisions. If crisps, packets of biscuits, veg that’s well past its sell-by date and stale looking white sliced bread is your thing then Sao Jorge it’s the place to be. But they did sell exceedingly cheap vinho verde to go with the crisps, and the local cheese was delicious so we made do. Especially on my birthday when Lucy somehow managed to rustle up a tasty feast.

Relieved that there was no more reversing cars on to ferries to be done, our next hop was a 2 hour flight to Madeira. We were sad to leave the Azores but we’d heard lots of good things about Madeira, which hopefully also has well stocked supermarkets.

Since we live in a big busy city we like to holiday in the ‘wilds’ to get away from it all. 1400km off the coast of Portugal the Azores, a volcanic archipelago, promised just that. First stop was Sao Miguel, the biggest and most popular of the 3 islands we planned to visit. Even then visitor numbers aren’t that high. We’d read up on what there is to do there and were excited to get stuck in.

As usual we’d skimped on the hire car and opted for the smallest, underpowered car available. Which complete with knackered exhaust, struggled on the steep winding roads and first gear was used lots.

Our first day was spent whale watching, with a good chance of seeing the resident sperm whales. We all squealed in delight when a pod of spotted Atlantic dolphins playfully swam and jumped around the boat. Then later a huge pod of bottle-nosed dolphins joined us. Unfortunately the only whale we got to see was a brief glance of a beaked whale before it dived down looking for its lunch. Apparently they can stay down for over an hour so no point hanging around for it to resurface.

There were also plenty of opportunities for going on ‘one of those walks’ that James vocally dislikes so much. The island is littered with densely forested gorges which have an unusual mix of tropical tree palms, huge flowers, colourful butterflies and bright green moisture laden mosses, mixed in with temperate climate pines and redwoods, with blackbirds and sparrows flitting through the undergrowth. James’s grandma, Jean, who passed away earlier this year visited here a few years ago. She was an avid gardener and absolutely loved exotic plants, so we could imagine her delight rounding each corner to find a row of brilliant blue hydrangeas or patch of bright yellow ginger-lilies.

The best hike had to be Sete Citades, a 13km walk along the rim of an extinct volcano with stunning views over the its iridescent crater lake below. Followed by a 400m decent into the crater then a steep ascent (via picnic lunch stop) back up again. We suspect if it wasn’t for being fed a jellybean every 5 mins James would have given up way before the top. Despite all his complaints we think he secretly enjoys the hikes but he would never admit it. Grandma would have been proud and he certainly earned an ice cream that evening.

Unfortunately the islands famed thermal springs were closed but they’d kindly put on some wood stove heated hot tubs to soak our weary legs. We also paid an early morning visit to an area where the volcanic springs channel into the chilly Atlantic. The only time on the trip where Lucy didn’t mind getting in the sea.

On previous travels James had been too young to take part in many of the ‘adventure’ type activities on offer. So this year was his first chance to try coasteering and canyoning. As expected Jungle Jim took to them with gusto wanting to be the first on every jump and abseil. Even a 6m cliff jump into sea didn’t daunt him, nor the second time, or 3rd, 4th… Mum and dad quite enjoyed it too.

The rest of our time on Sao Miguel was spent playing on volcanic sand beaches with bracing water and wild waves. Taking refreshing dips in waterfalls, being wowed by views of the vast Atlantic Ocean from steep cliffs, watching bubbling thermal vents, and even a visit to a pineapple plantation.

Next stop Pico.

School’s out and it’s time for us to hit the road again. After our big trip to the west side of Canada last year we were looking for somewhere closer to home. We decided upon 4 weeks island hopping around the Azores and Madeira. Apparently they are known as Europe’s Hawaii, which instantly sold it for me. And when Lucy read there are no mosquitos and there’s pastel de nata, she was sold too.

Surrounded by the Atlantic means they have a relatively cooler climate than mainland Europe in summer. They also tick all of our usual boxes… mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, forests, wild beaches and vineyards, so we can’t wait to get stuck in. But first a few days stop over in Lisbon….

It was easy to get around on the metro, buses and trains, so we spent our time exploring the city and nearby beaches of Cascais and Sintra. We rode trams, ate at roof top restaurants, wandered around tiled alleyways, went on a food tour, visited the science museum, and of course, ate pastel de nata.

However our unanimous highlight was catching up with one of James’s school friends, Pippa-Mae, and her mum, who were in Lisbon visiting family. We spent the day together exploring Sintra and hanging out on the nearby beach. The Atlantic was icy cold but that didn’t stop the kids playing in the crashing waves then warming themselves up digging an elaborate network of canals and dams in the sand. The day was topped off with craft beer (for the grown ups) and pizza at a nearby surf camp and playground. Followed by a train ride home with two absolutely exhausted 8 year olds. The things school holidays should be made of.

Next stop, Sao Miguel in the Azores…

Vancouver city was the final destination in our trip. It is often called upon as one of the top cities in the world to live in and we were excited.

Despite living in and loving London we do recognise that it can be smelly, polluted, noisy and expensive – funnily enough these are the same things that we dislike in cities we visit. But in the end London is our home and full of interesting diverse people and I think living in a city is different to holidaying in one.

We had arranged 4 nights in downtown Vancouver, it looked promising – city beaches and the huge Stanley park meant there would be much to do.

First up we had a full day on bikes. We were initially daunted – how the hell would we manage a 7 year old in downtown traffic, riding on the wrong side of the road? Amazingly even in the downtown area there were isolated bike lanes, so worse case scenario James could only really run into another cyclist 🙈. From there we stuck to a coastal path that took us up and around Stanley park, a 400 hectare green wonderland with rainforest, beaches, attractions, and breweries. It was such a fun day and importantly it took our minds off Ucluelet. Of course it was still a city and the beaches looked out over stationary tankers in the far distance, but it was a fab day full of great tourist actions.

Despite all the travelling we have done over the years none of us have ever seen orcas. And this was one of the fews places in the world where it might just happen. We couldn’t resist this and despite already whale watching in Tofino we booked in again. We had a fabulous day and saw some humpback whales up close but no orcas. As it happened the firm had to cut the tour slightly short and so generously called the trip in as a ‘no sighting’ tour and issued anyone who wanted it with a lifetime additional tour. Obviously we booked in for the following day 😁.

Team Orca had an early start to hit the 8:30am tour to find out at 8:20 that high wind had cancelled the trip – meh! Obviously we rebooked for the afternoon when the winds were due to calm 😁.

No complaints from James about all of this but honestly he was tired. Canada has been full on – amazingly so – and we are well aware that there’s only so much you can ask of a little one. So until the tour departed we went to a local playground, John took a morning nap and James hung around living his best life.

As we set off we were warned, the wind remained high and the first hour would be bumpy. No one was allowed on the front of the boat and sick bags were handed out. Did we mention the almost boat sickness from the last trip 😱? The second compromise to enable the whale tour was James having headphones and a podcast on the afternoon trip. It was 5 hours at sea and so he was happily chilling listening to his favourite science podcast whilst being constantly reminded by me to look at the horizon!

Patience really is a virtue and one that provided us with a beautiful reward. On our third attempt we saw a pod of 5 orcas for about an hour. They were pretty active, and given the many seagulls had been successfully hunting. Twice an orca did a ‘spy hop’- similar to us treading water where the orca positioned itself vertically to visually inspect their surroundings above the water line. Such a glorious two days at sea – as a family we love a boat trip and despite the bumpy sea at first we enjoyed a gorgeous few hours in the sunshine seeing some amazing creatures. We really hope James remembers this kind of adventure for life – we know we will.

Vancouver as a city was feeling pretty cool. We’d got used to being back amongst it and had been blown away by the outdoor living that was possible. One of the highlights for us was the outdoor swimming pools. There were several dotted around the city, Kitsilano being the biggest. So one afternoon we hopped over to try out the 137m heated seawater pool. Firstly, I’d say that ‘heated’ is a generous description…it’s no jacuzzi. Secondly, 137m is a long fricking way – 8 lengths for more than one km, 12 lengths for more than a mile. James took on the $10 challenge of swimming the 137m – what a superstar! I know London does well for outdoor swimming but this was something else and because it’s Canada it was not overpopulated, such an amazing afternoon.

Like me you may think of Canada as clean, careful and considerate. In many ways this is true but there is another side which we had been seeing on our travels. In Vancouver in particular there was a very obvious drug and homeless problem. Walking through downtown there were people off their faces, meth pipes in hands and in some places needles on the street.

Immediately we worried about James, though actually he didn’t ask or say much when faced with this. We’ve talked about homeless people in London and I think he just accepted it as the same thing. If he had asked us we would have found a way to be honest in an age appropriate way – but he didn’t so we left it alone. It wasn’t the same as London, that was so obvious I did some research to better understand the problem. Whilst it’s hard to summarise something so complex, it appears to be the same fentanyl crisis that hit the US and Google tells me it is in the U.K. now too. Vancouver is controversial in its actions trying to stem the increase in overdoses (for this part of the world) by decriminalising small quantities, with overdose prevention centres and even trials offering fentanyl to drug users in an effort to reduce criminal activities and help stabilise their lives. There’s no evidence that I could find yet that this is leading to reduced drug use but I hope it is successful – it is so sad and upsetting seeing people in this position.

But enough already. Our 4 week adventure can’t end like this. We spent our last morning at the most amazing Science World for James and then a massive meal at Jam Cafe before heading to the airport. Over lunch James unprompted put it well…’I don’t want to leave Canada mummy’. Nor do we sweetie was our response.

Thanks Canada – you have been awesome! 🇨🇦