Pick up hire car at Vancouver airport and drive to either Tsawassen or Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. Ferry from Tsawassen can take you to either Victoria or Nanaimo; Horseshoe Bay ferry just goes to Nanaimo iirc.
You will need the car while on the Island unless you’re staying in Victoria. Grab a bite to eat on the ferry, you’re on it for an hour or so.
Butchart Gardens is worth a visit if you’re in Victoria but tbh I wouldn’t bother if you’ve been to Harlow Carr.

Whale watching trips typically from Tofino (west coast) or Campbell River (east coast)

Can’t help re Whistler to Jasper but I’d recommend going via Kelowna Valley if you can, pick up some local wines direct from the winery (plenty of wineries on the Island too, especially around Duncan; Blue Grouse winery is worth a visit)
If you go via Kamloops you’ll drive through Canada’s only desert. Yes, desert. No, I wasn’t expecting that either.

Lake Louise is very touristy, Moraine Lake less so, but both spectacular. Lake Louise Village Inn has an economy section which looks like Stalag Luft III. Not recommended, really not. The hotel on the lake itself looks nice though.

Banff is nice but again, touristy. Watch out for trains though, they take forever to pass through the town. Very very long and they travel about 3mph so you could be stuck at a level crossing for quite some time.
Canmore is nice, less touristy than Banff and close enough to Calgary to use for a base; Calgary itself isn’t especially nice – or horrible either – typical North American city. Traffic east-west on highway one can be a PITA

Liver.

Dry as a bone in Bratfud. And Whitley Bay. And everywhere in between (ok a bit of a dusting between Sunderland & Middlesbrough)

Flights to Canada start at about £400 return, with Air Transat or via Canadian Affair, which is about half what it was when I first went in 2009.
Drive from Vancouver to Calgary can be done in about 11 hours via Lake Louise & Banff if you don’t stop to look at the scenery. To be honest, it’s on top of you so you don’t need to stop ;-) But it is highly recommended. Or You could go via Whistler and Jasper to extend the journey with overnight stays to break it up. Camping, RV or hotels a plenty, not to mention the mountains…

Vancouver Island is worth about a week and I can put you in touch with my sister who has a holiday home for let just outside Parksville on the east coast, about half an hour drive from the ferry terminal at Nanaimo. Tofino is on the opposite coast and according to my BIL is about 3-4 hour drive; we did our whales & wildlife trip from Campbell River, about two hours drive up the east coast from Parksville

Calgary is ok but the traffic will remind you of Leeds. Canmore is very nice, an hour drive west of Calgary, you could make that your base for a few days and visit Calgary without having to stay in the city. Vancouver City is nice around Stanley Park

It’s back up now

Yes, Britmodeller is down :-( there’ll be a right flap n first thing tomorrow in their server farm

I think 1:24 is the standard scale for cars, although Airfix seem to do them in 1:32.
Spray / airbrush for that all over perfect showroom condition. Hairy stick for a jalopy

Here’s one I did earlier… Revell 1:24 VW T3 Campervan

lotus 72 you say?

Current work in progress: Tamiya M113 ACAV in 1:35 with Eduard photoetch

Bottle of Jack Daniels. Better than the Chivas Regal last year – too smokey for me

Are they physically attached to the M25? Never seem to play uk dates outside London. Or Whitby

I’ve just got back from a weekend in Berlin.
Same cheesy Xmas sh*te as here. RoyWood/Wizzard, Elvis, Wham, Slade Mariah Carey etc
It’s a small world, our noise travels further than you might think

Sorry, i’m In Berlin at the moment. Most East Berliners couldn’t afford anything better

Snowing here. Berlin

Popadoms. But I do live in Bratfud

Nanaimo Bar

Or tiramisu

I use Cubase LE Elements – cut down version of the Pro DAW but a reasonable price £80 or thereabouts.
You might also want some mastering plugins e.g T-RackS by IK Multimedia – but not essential to start with

That snow game was just crazy.

Thanks to Cleveland being awful at least the Giants aren’t the worst team in the NFL this season

Still SFA north of Bradford

No idea. It’s ages away yet, right?
<looks at calendar>
Oh 8O

Desenzano del Garda seemed nice enough on a day trip out from Venice, on the south side of the lake. On the railway line from Venice to Milan

Even though it’s in Pudsey. Yes it’s in Leeds City Council area. Yes it’s got a Leeds postcode. But it’s nearer Bradford than Leeds

I built a balsawood r/c electric powered Islander a few years back, 48in span iirc. I used the alternative colour scheme from that very Airfix kit – white fuselage & wings, dark blue belly, red wing tips

Still haven’t flown it

Scrambled eggs and tinned mackerel is my current favourite

I bet you’re popular at work 8O

Mine’s fine. So is Mrs_D’s. And both of our iPads

V’ger?

I saw one running across City Park in the centre of Bratfud once, about10:30pm
It was doing the running, not me

Dunno, all the mirrors in my house are broken

That’s a blessing, I think

Is there a mechanism for the contra-rotating propellers?

I did both a Gannet and a Westland Wyvern by Trumpeter some time ago, both had such a mechanism that had to be built…. oh the fun I had with those

123-reg here too. It just works

I’ll build a wall across Saddleworth Moor and make them pay for it

very handy if you’re planning on travelling to North America

You mean you actually make a list of the things you want for Xmas?
How organised 8O especially as it’s still NOVEMBER :evil:

Frejus/St Raphael area is nice. Fly into Nice or get TGV. Fairly near St Tropez but tbh the journey isn’t worth it

Check out AuroraWatch UK. App for tablet & smartphone also available

Glenlivet £22 in Booths, full size bottle

I’m on there too. Same username. See you over there

I use one of these: https://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/tools/airbrushes/minotaur-airbrush-compressor

Works fine for me

Keep the van for personal/biking duties.

Take the company car for convenience & “WGAS if it goes wrong” freedom from worry . Hybrid if poss. Some company car policies stipulate manual gearbox and a minimum 4 doors/4 seats so watch out for that

And got their growlers out on The Tube

I think it was The Word

Marmozets. From the same rehearsal rooms as one of my bands