Nice lie in this morning.  It is a beautiful day, the best yet in Victoria… the sun is very hot and the view from the decking is just stunning.  After a good strong coffee I sit and continue reading the book I started a few days ago, not a holiday read but deeply moving, real life story about of friend of Cindy’s who developed ALS in her early 40s and fought for the right to take her own life with assistance legally.  She eventually lost this battle and took her own life anyway.

Lovejoy and Mogely kept me company today.  Lovejoy looks so much like Ziggy but much bigger, more like a panther.  Beau, the Golden Retriever went out with Cindy this morning but here are pics of each of them.  Beau has had a summer haircut!

I decided to try a bit of painting… I only have watercolours with me which I haven’t used in ages so some quick sketches.  My tiny travel paintbox is a bit limited in colours.  It is so nice just to chill and not having to cram everything into a day just because I’m here.  The scene before me over the Arbutus tree, across the sandflat (which appears when the tide is out) and then across the ocean to the island across the bay, is so calm and peaceful.

Cindy had been minding some children today and returned during the afternoon. Together we went into Victoria to listen to a Jazz concert in the square for a bit before walking around Chinatown.  It was a lovely warm evening and we returned to a veggie lasagna on the decking.  At last the illusive range of mountains behind the island appeared out of the low cloud.

You can just about make it out here.  It was quite stunning to see them covered in snow.

Great breakfast on the decking… tasty Ham omelette – huge of course.  As we sat there a deer followed by twin fawns stepped through a clearing in the wooded garden down below.

This morning after dropping off Austin and collecting Riley, Cindy took me to Sidney, a quiet little coastal town not far from Victoria. Here I spent a leisurely few hours exploring the town. I loved the artwork in the Peninsular Gallery here and was greatly inspired.

There was some sort of concert put on by the native Indians down by the sea which involved much howling and banging of drums.
I sat in a pub called Beacon Landing outside area enjoying seafood chowder and Vancouver Island beer.  Chowder has become a favourite of mine, the views of the sea and mountains never far away.

I met Cindy at Starbucks as arranged where we had a Cappuccino then returned to the house briefly before heading into Victoria to meet Cindy’s friend Marcie at a very nice restaurant.  Marcie was already there with a huge plate of Nachos in front of her.

 We refrained from sharing too many of these before our meals came.  This time I had Calamari and dip…. it was a huge plateful, totally different from the half dozen or so on a plate at home, but rather too much for me because although delicious, I was absolutely full.  It was lovely to meet Marcie who was good fun to be with.

As it was such a beautiful evening Cindy and I then went to Fisherman’s Wharf where we walked through the ‘village’ of floating houses.  It was quite delightful.  We then drove a little further along to where the huge cruisers docked – there were three – and we walked along the breakwater with the new safety fence installed only a couple of weeks earlier.  This had caused some controversy among the locals but I had to say I would have found it quite scary to walk along if the fence had not been there!

Tonight is the summer solstice and it is such a beautiful clear evening I toast midsummers night to the almost full moon.

Today Cindy dropped me off down town around 11.  I called in at the Ocean Island Hostel to find out the times of the Orca trips but had just missed one and the next would be at 2 so decided to head off to the Victoria Art Gallery.  It didn’t look too far on the map and had begun to rain but was probably a good half hour’s walk out of town and I was pretty damp when I finally arrived.

However it was definitely worth the effort as there was a excellent exhibition of work by David Blackwood, one of Canada’s leading printmakers and most popular artists. He has been telling stories about Newfoundland in the form of epic visual narratives for over 30 years.  As it turned out, this was an appropriate exhibition subjectwise before my search for Orcas!

Also the work of Canadian artist Emily Carr was exhibited showing the development of her style throughout her life.

It was raining more than ever when I came out of the gallery so I planned to take a bus back to town but I seem to be unlucky with buses!   I walked down Yates Street towards town which was the bus route according to the reception in the gallery, and a bus came before I had time to cross the road.  I kept walking towards town but didn’t see another bus stop and several buses went by so I just battened down the hatches and walked quickly back to the Orca Centre at the Wharf where I would get my boarding pass.  Although I loved the adrenalin rush of the open speedboat, I chose to go on the covered boat this time because of the weather and I just couldn’t be bothered with all the survival kit we would need to put on.  In the event this proved a good choice because the sea was very rough.  In fact the trip was delayed half an hour because of bad weather.  We eventually got away around 3pm and travelled for about an hour and a half before arriving at the place where the Orcas had last been seen between some islands right up to the north of Vancouver Island towards the passage to Alaska!  Boat engine turned off, we waited quietly for once (they were such a noisy lot of chatterboxes on the boat), cameras at the ready and sure enough we saw a black fin surface in the distance, followed by several more.  The engine was started up and we moved closer (apparently these creatures are not bothered about boats being near them.)   Eventually we got near enough to see a couple breach.  It was so exciting to see these massive black and white killers splash out of the water.  They seemed to divide into 2 pods, one on either side of the boat… all females we were told, as the fin was small and curved – around 7 or 8 in number.  In the male the fin would be straight and very large – up to 6 feet tall!  Mother and baby pictured here.  We got several good sightings all around us.

Our time with the whales was all too short and we had to set off for our rough hour and a half ride back to Victoria…and it WAS rough!  There were cute little floating houses in the harbour, pictured here.

Cindy was waiting for me in the Milestone Restaurant on the wharf where we’d planned to have dinner.  It was a delicious dinner and I chose local salmon and a Pinot Grigio!  Then back to Cindy’s for a hot tub (with bubbles) 🙂

I think I  have died and gone to heaven when I open my eyes after a full 8 hours sleep in this comfy king size bed.  The first thing I see is a wall to wall view of the ocean and the mountains beyond.

Cindy and Gary moved here some 25 years ago.  Cindy and I were friends in the same village when Luke and Jack, Emily and Kerrie were babies.  They have a beautiful house here in Victoria with decking the full length of the house with decking built around the top of a mature Arbutus tree.  There are floor to ceiling windows also the full length of the house (some 100 feet or more) which frame the most stunning scene – pine trees, sea, mountains.

Cindy and I sat on the deck (at treetop level) enjoying a strawberry, banana and yoghurt breakfast followed by toasted scones, jam and coffee looking out to sea and chatting about everything.

Beau, Cindy’s retriever is asking for his walk, so along with Riley, a 3 year old little girl Cindy looks after sometime, we set off for Island View Beach.   This place is so peaceful.  There were 3 or 4 cranes fishing in the shallows and the day was becoming quite hot.

Cindy dropped me off at Butchart Gardens at mid day, and wow what a treat for the eyes!  I spent about an hour wandering through stunning gardens…. Italian, Japanese, carpets of geraniums, stocks…. roses, delphiniums, even my beloved blue Tibetan Poppies… all manner of shape and size of botanical in extraordinary layouts and design.   Salmon chowder for lunch in a little restaurant and catch up with wif-fi over a cappuccino before Cindy arrives to collect me.  Meanwhile Cindy had kindly put my jeans and zipped jacket and a few other well traveled items through the Laundromat, which we collected on the way home.

Next chill out with a cuppa…. before a nice light supper …. we are going out to the theatre to see the Calendar Girls this evening.  An excellent production… so funny, and brilliantly well acted in a theatre not dissimilar from the one in Chipping Norton.  Thank you Cindy – a great evening!

We leave the Moose house at 8am briefly stopping to buy a coffee to go as we’d had no breakfast. It was a bright sunny morning after a night of heavy rain.

Our morning walk would be Long Beach. This was a huge expanse of sand with waves in the distance gentle breaking as the tide was out. I took the opportunity of rolling up my jeans and walking out to the cool Pacific Ocean glistening in the morning sunlight.  The Moose bus dropped us off at one end and picked us up at the other, which was a good half hour walk… probably a bit longer as we took our time, it was so beautiful here.

We had a snack break at Port Alberni, followed by another walk, this time in a forest with a huge cedar tree that was already 300 years old when Christopher Columbus sailed in in 1492! There was a heavy rain shower while we were here making it a rain forest in every sense of the word.  Here is a robin… as big as a pigeon!
Jon had returned to the shop where we had bought our snacks earlier to get Jeanne’s iPhone which she had left there… panic over, someone had kindly handed it in.

We Stopped at Coombs for lunch. Quaint little touristy place with a holiday feel to it. I decided on some scrummy clam chowder in the café part of a big market store.

There were goats grazing on the roof!
We passed through Ladysmith’s town where Canada’s greatest actress, Pamela Anderson, comes from.
We stopped at Chemainus where we looked at the world famous murals depicting local industry. Much warmer on this side of the island. At last I found an ATM.

We then visited Averill Creek vineyard where we tasted some very nice wines. The view from there was tremendous. I bought a bottle of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir to take to Cindy later.

We finally arrive at Victoria – wow what a beautiful city and so English with it’s golf courses, tennis and sailing clubs. Some of the suburbs we pass through look affluent with large well designed houses set apart in the trees and all different. John offered to drop me off at Cindy’s but I was unsure of her address and we’d already arranged to meet at the Ocean Island hostel later.

 In the meantime John had more surprises for us during his tiki tour round Victoria. He took us right to the very highest point where the panoramic view of the whole city and its surrounds with the sea and the mountains beyond was just phenomenal!
We then descended to the marina where we delighted in the antics of not only two seals but two river otters in the harbour beside the boats. They were clearly used to people and would leap out of the water for pieces of fish which could be bought for them at the Marina.
At last we arrived at the hostel and I said my goodbyes to my traveling companions as Cindy arrived to pick me up. I hadn’t seen her in about 15 years but recognized her straight away… big hugs.

Emily and I headed out in search of the elusive breakfast! A latte and a cereal bar would be fine! We settled on a coffee bar patio and delighted at the humming birds flitting about in the tree below.

Our adventure trip began at 12 with a short video introduction before we donned the full survival suit! What the heck were we getting into???   Sadly it was cloudy with a few spots of rain, but on Vancouver island this can all change very quickly!
It would be a 90k boat trip up the coast seeking out the wildlife. The twin-engined dinghy powered away leaping onto each wave with a thump… so thrilling!  After about 10 minutes it came to a sudden halt because there ahead were two grey whales blowing. We waited quietly, well fairly quietly as we had a noisy bunch of Chinese on board. Why oh why can’t they just stop talking! The whales surfaced several times and could be identified by the markings on their backs. These guys are about 50 feet long and feed on snails and small creatures like shrimps at the bottom of the ocean.

The boat leapt into action again and then came to stop by some rocks literally covered in sea-lions with one huge male in the middle. Nearby we spotted some tufted Puffins, I was thrilled to get a half decent shot as the boat bobbed about with the engine turned off.   We pressed on and saw some more Grey Whales, this time more closely, before heading on to the hot water springs. We had to get out of our survival kit in this remote place before hiking 2k through beautiful rain forests to the hot springs. By this time the sun had come out again.
The hot springs were made up of a very hot water fall that fed into a pool like a hot bath then flowed on down to an area where you could sit in lovely hot water but feel the sensation of the cold sea around you every time the tide came in. It was quite treacherous getting down to it over jagged rocks but worth it! Picture shows Harry and Terry in the springs.  After my picnic meal I thought I would return through the rainforest before all the noisy Chinese got out of the pool. I love the sound of the rainforest and it was so good to have it to myself.
After getting togged up in our spacesuits again we set off back down the coast by a different route between the islands. James was a great driver and guide… and extremely knowledgeable.
We came to an abrupt halt beside a sea otter which was floating on its back with something in its paws… so cute!
Next James negotiated a narrow cave entrance to show us starfish and explained how they would prize open mussel shells and suck out the contents. We shot off again speeding round small islands til eventually we stopped to see a wolf sauntering off into the trees. It had been feeding on a carcass on the beach. Way above on a tall tree were perched a pair of Bald Eagles.  The eagle pictured here looks a bit strange, I don’t think those red things tucked in front of him are actually his feet… flowers or something on the rock!

This area reminded me of a book I’d read prior to coming to Canada by Grant Lawrence called ‘Adventures in Solitude’ based in Desolation Sound.
James negotiated another very tight area called Shark Creek before returning to the quay at Tofino. We were treated to one last wildlife sighting – a pair of porpoises. As we returned I looked back at the wake in the water behind us to sea the most beautiful sunset.

In the meantime Gary and Jeanne had bought provisions for a barbecue which we all prepared. The guys did the cooking of course and we cracked open a bottle of wine… well three actually! A perfect end to a great day!

Although I paid a little more, 40 bucks a night, this hostel is sheer luxury… it even has a lift to all floors. A very quiet night sharing a 4-bed dorm with just one other. The breakfast which is included here is excellent with all manner of bagels, waffles, rolls, fruit loaf, or just toast. Coffee, tea, fruit juice, porridge…. even cream as I forgot to bring down my Coffeemate. We even have newspapers. This proved to be a good choice, a great breakfast included and just a short walk from Sunset Bay – what more could you want!?

I had decided to stroll along the beach in the morning but had a small issue to deal with first. I had left my cut-offs on the bus the day before when I’d changed to go in the cold tunnels. I had to ring the Moose office and said I would call in by which time I’d hoped Mary, the driver would have found them. All was well and cut-offs duly retrieved, I spent a leisurely morning strolling along the beach and enjoyed a very nice burger salad in Sunset Cafe. There were many joggers, people playing beach volleyball, dog walkers, cyclists and skateboarders… a generally happy atmosphere in the warm sunshine. Out on the water were sailors, wind surfers, board paddlers and Canada Geese.

I headed back up to Davies Street after lunch as I’d planned to meet Carole at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Museum of Anthropology. It was about half an hour’s bus ride but well worth it… a very interesting afternoon looking at the cultures and artifacts of many different countries. I was most impressed with the design of the building – spacious and modern.
In the evening Carole, Natalie and I had a last meal together at The Galley and Patio restaurant at the Sailing Club in Jericho, a rather exclusive part of Vancouver.  We had hoped a few other Moose friends might join us but they all had other plans. However, it was nice to bump into Hannah and Jeff as we left.  I shall certainly miss Natalie who I have been encouraging with her English.  We will keep in touch I hope.

I have now arrived back in Vancouver and am in my favourite Internet haunt where the computers are fast and you can upload pics.  (How sad am I.)  If you go back to 10 June, you will find the blog is all fairly up to date, except that for some reason WordPress has put some of them in the wrong order… just check the date at the top. I would have liked to have included many more fantastic images of the beautiful Canadian Rockies but just no time as I’m hungry and also need to get in touch with some of the others….

More soon………… 🙂

We woke up to a grey day and were leaving for Vancouver at 9am.  As ever Safeway was our first stop to buy our picnic lunch.  We stopped at Merritt for coffee and Tim Hortons (he seems to be everywhere here along with Starbucks!)  Natalie treated me to a Latte as it was the last time we would be traveling together although we hope to meet up over the weekend in the city.  During the next part of our long journey it began to rain as if to herald the end of our wonderful trip to the Rockies.

We stopped at Kettle Tunnels, an amazing old railway through rock and over a very dangerous canyon – turquoise rapids far below.   As always I was for ever seeking out unusual wild flowers and here are some flowers of some kind of berry, like wild loganberries.   We had lunch here luckily during a dry period before continuing with two more hours back to the city.  Natalie had news on her Ipad of a pod of Orcas in Burrard Inlet in Vancouver.  I do hope they wait for me!!  We all go our separate ways in Vancouver but hope to meet up for dinner on Saturday in Vancouver.