The Modern, Mackenzie St, Revelstoke

The drawing above was half completed in pen on August 11, the day I left Revelstoke, and I added colour to it today, Sunday August 14, after arriving back in Adelaide yesterday morning. We set off for Kelowna on the afternoon of August 11, stopping a couple of times to give Leo a break. The second time we parked by the lake at Sycamous (pronounced ‘Sycamoose’), and it happened to be rather a picturesque spot. I just had time to scribble a pencil sketch and then added colour to it today:

The lake was huge, yet the power boats on it were creating vigorous wavelets that washed noisily onto the beach.  There’s something 18th century about this view: the tree seemed to be posing for the scene.

The following pictures illustrate the journey that began the following morning, and finished over 30 hours later at Adelaide airport.

The waitresses in Canada are always asking us if everything is ok. This particular lady had a very friendly smile but she also looked very capable of ensuring we didn’t create trouble if the meal wasn’t to our satisfaction. Fortunately it was amazing – a typical Canadian breakfast, enough fat and protein to keep us going for the whole journey.

Mother and daughters, waiting to board

After boarding the plane at Kelowna we had to go to Calvary rather than straight to Vancouver. There we had to wait for three hours…

Chili’s Texas Grill, Calgary.

Finally we got on the plane to Vancouver!

Then we had to wait another four hours in Vancouver airport.  It gave me a chance to have a good look at the wonderful indigenous sculptures they have there, including the one in the background of this sketch, a huge bronze statue by Bill Reid, called ‘the spirit of Haida Gwaii’. The architecture of the airport made me think of trees, but I don’t know if it was deliberate.

Then we finally boarded the plane to Sydney… This time I didn’t bother trying to sketch people inside the plane: instead I managed to sleep part of the way and spent the rest of the time watching the Revenant and four episodes of Fargo, just to remind me of how cold it gets in North America.

..and 15 hours later, we gathered our luggage, transferred it to the Adelaide flight, and caught a bus to the domestic departures terminal… this small boy was one of at least a dozen young children who were on the Sydney flight, including several very noisy babies. We weren’t bothered in the slightest. I also noticed that it was hard to find people to draw who didn’t have their heads down, intensely studying mobile phones.

So that’s it – the end of our holiday. Now it’s back to work, so we can afford to take another trip! Any feedback about these sketches would be very welcome. I’m thinking of making this blog into a book, if I can include some of the final outcomes to these sketches. I also have a children’s book or two in mind…