Victoria's Inner Harbour

Victoria's Inner Harbour is a winding, sheltered waterway with a long history, beginning with the First Peoples, Spanish and English explorers, Hudson Bay fur traders, gold rush participants and more recently, cruise ship passengers.

Recreational boaters find moorage within walking distance of the Empress Hotel (seen above), the BC Legislative buildings and a host of tourist attractions. On the walls of the Empress you can see the tracery of ivy vines, leafless now, but soon to be covered in green leaves. 
 

The harbour is not just a pretty place, but a working harbour, too. Float planes and ferries take turns coming and going. SALTS stands for Sail and Life Training Society. The society owns two beautiful tall ships, the Pacific Grace and the Pacific Swift, seen in the foreground of the first photo. The society exists to teach sailing and life skills to young people (1700 per year) from all walks of life.

The Pacific Grace is 115 feet long and has 38 berths. Compare that to the Bounty (of the famed Mutiny on the Bounty) with a length of almost 91 feet and a crew of 46. Tight quarters for a voyage that lasted a couple of years. Lots of opportunities for learning to get along with people. On the Bounty that didn't work out so well.
 

Not everyone wants to sail a tall ship, and these little water taxis are a great option. They have a route along the waterway with stops where passengers can get on and off to see the sights.
 

One of the most beautiful buildings is now the Bateman Centre. It features the art of wildlife artist Robert Bateman. There's also a restaurant in the building. It was originally built as a steamship terminal to service passengers arriving or departing on ships traveling between Victoria and Hong Kong. Such lovely architectural details.
 

When we walked along the water, hyacinths were just coming into bloom. Mass plantings filled the air with fragrance.

These blooms have a great view of the water.  Tourist season is beginning and it's fun to hear all kinds of languages as we walk along the Inner Harbour.

I'm always surprised by how many people mention that they have visited this small city on Vancouver Island. Have you? 

Linking to Sunlit Sunday, hosted by Karen. 

To the Back of Beyond

Last Saturday Tim and I drove north to Campbell River, hoisted our backpacks (and carried a couple of extra bags), and jumped on this water taxi to Owen Bay on Sonora Island, one of the Discovery Group of Islands.

We passed through Seymour Narrows, site of the infamous Ripple Rock planned explosion of 1958 to make navigation safer. The link takes you to a video of the actual explosion which took the tops off of two underwater mountains in the center of the passage. This explosion still stands as the largest non-nuclear explosion in the world.

And it rained. And rained. But even in the rain this is beautiful country. The mist hangs on the mountains, cloaking trees in ethereal white and blurring lines between ocean, land, and sky. 

After an hour on the water taxi we arrived at Owen Bay where Julia, Tim's nephew's wife met us with a bicycle cart. We followed her up the muddy road to their home.

When Julia and Casey first arrived here about a year ago, forest surrounded their tiny home. Since then they have cut down trees (which become wood to heat their home) and planted an amazing garden among the mossy logs and tree stumps. 

We pitched our yellow tent next to a gigantic stump. The screen tent on the other side held some of our extra gear and serves as an outdoor cooking/eating area, which we didn't use. 

Here's another photo of the garden. It's been cool and rainy all spring and summer, so the plants are not quite as far along as normal. 

In the evening, the rain stopped and we walked out to view Hole in the Wall, another one of BC's narrow water passages. Tidal currents are tremendously strong here and navigating the passages is a tricky business for sailboats.

But oh, the beauty and peace of this place. I'll share more tomorrow.

Day Tripping

The morning sparkled with potential. Light danced across the water like thousands of diamonds. We headed out past Sidney Spit into Haro Strait.
Fighting currents for the last hour, we arrived in Roche Harbor. Only the captain is allowed to disembark until customs is cleared - here at this cute building on the marina.

Then off to explore. Readers of Victoria magazine will recognize this building featured in the May/June issue. Former President Theodore Roosevelt stayed here on two occasions.

All that fresh air made us hungry. We ate lunch here at the Madrona Grill. While there a film crew from the Food Network was filming. I heard someone ask for which show and something about Rachael's travels. We sat down just as the filming finished, so we won't be included. Great food - I had fish and chips - delicately battered cod with crispy shoestring potato fries and a wonderful coleslaw that included red peppers and cilantro.

This amazing dresser is painted and then decorated with buttons. How unique! The effect was beautiful. What a stunning piece this would make for the right room.


This is the store where we saw the dresser - full of lovely home accent pieces and a friendly proprietor. I love the large containers with the wispy green fronds and the colourful flowers below.

We strolled past the chapel, "Our Lady of Good Voyage."

A view from the hill above the harbor. The mountains in the distance are on Saltspring Island, part of Canada's Gulf Islands.

Decorative carving on a wooden bench. These benches were situated throughout the harbor and provided a great place for us to enjoy an afternoon ice cream cone.

Sailing home again, into the setting sun. Actually, there was no wind so we didn't sail - we motored. Not as romantic but more reliable.

Roche Harbor has an interesting history as a company town. You can read more about it here.

Out on the Water

Today is a holiday Monday in Canada. Our province is celebrating its 150th birthday. Rather than face the crowds downtown at the free concert, Mr. Handyman and I are going sailing with some friends.
We'll be heading over to Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands so I guess I'd better dig out my passport. I'll be sure to take some photos to share with you.

Back Home again

She's back after her European Adventure! Here she is at dinner on the deck last night, showing off her amazing Estonian cap that's a hat and scarf all in one. A little warm for the weather, but cute. She had a wonderful time and I'm loving hearing about all her experiences.

We were away for a few days on our sailboat Journey. We explored a few of the Gulf Islands (just north of the San Juan Islands). They are the same group of islands, but some belong to Canada, others to the USA. They are all incredibly beautiful.
This photo shows an underwater sandy beach off Wallace Island. I just love the textures of rocks, trees, water, grass. We hiked, ate well, read, sat and enjoyed the sunshine and thoroughly relaxed. I spent a lot of time drinking in the beauty around me in huge, quenching gulps.

Perhaps there is a Big Foot! Doesn't this rock imprint look like a footprint? It's huge compared to ours.

Happy Independence Day!

I hope all my American friends have a wonderful day celebrating all that is good about their country. Enjoy family, friends and freedom!

Father's Day Sail

 

Here's the skipper, aka Mr. Handyman Husband, with our eldest daughter and her husband. Mr. HH loves being out on the water, and the rest of us are happy to come along. A bit of wind gusted through and we put up the sails and moved along the water without engine noise. That is the very best part of boating.

 

We anchored near Sidney Spit and took the dinghy to shore. This is our son and his wife walking on the beach. Lovely sand, sun-sparkled ocean, and family...a near-perfect day. It would have been perfectly perfect had Ashley been with us, but she's having a wonderful time in Estonia.

Gatherings

When I hike I like to stop and pick up bits and pieces, turning them over in my hand, wondering about their shapes and textures. I collected these treasures on Sunday afternoon, on Portland Island. A piece of slate, a seashell, mossy branches, seaglass and a bit of driftwood.
Sometimes I place them in a bowl or on a plate to admire, but this time, I stitched them to a piece of fabric and sewed on a stick for a hanger. Whenever I see it I remember the day and the warmth of sunshine washes over me.