Vancouver Island
A very pleasant September I've had. The first week of that month I was provided with great hospitality and very comfortable accommodations in Vancouver thanks to sister Markeda and spouse Phil. The second week I moved on to Victoria and was provided with more of the same. Thanks to a very special young lady my daughter Tania and her buddy Jason. On Friday September 15th I loaded up the moto and joined Tania and Jason for a weekend of camping on Salt Spring Island. While there we strolled through the local market and checked-out the Island's fall fair. A very nice weekend it was.
Over the next two weeks, I would ride throughout this Island exploring all but a very few of it's communities. As previously reported the scenery of this province continues to remain spectacular – Supernatural BC.
Although I continue to camp, the frequency of this activity has been greatly reduced while the use of hostel has steadily increased. For the same price as a camping site a hostel will provide a clean warm bed in a dorm, hot showers and facilities to prepare meals. Another advantage of the hostel is the opportunity they provide to meet some very interesting individuals or in some cases not so interesting. In any case these encounters simply make the experience all the more interesting.
The last time I ran with Fredericton's Capital City Road Runners in their Wednesday evening fun run I was given a $10.00 bill by my good friend Harry Drost. Harry requested that I was to inform him on how this money was spent. That $10.00 bill was safely stashed away until Sunday October 1st. It was then utilized as part of my registration fee to participate in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure 5 KM road race. It was a great morning for a run. The air was cool and sky overcast. And a very good run we had. I consider running a gift and having the opportunity to participate in such an activity with my daughter Tania enables me to become a man of very good fortune. So to my good friend Harry a special thanks for contributing towards the registration fees.
A few of my favoutite Island activities –
Riding Highway 4 from Port Alberni to Tofino. A highway built for the motorcycle with plenty of ups / downs and tight turns through huge stands of Duglas fir and hard woods along lakes nestled in the mountains.
Riding Highway 28 from Campbell River to Gold River and onto Muchalat Inlet. Another very scenic ride with very little vehicle traffic.
Exploring Picific Rim National Park – hiking some of it scenic paths and beach walks along surf swept sands.
Scenic hikes along Clayoquot and Barkley Sound.
Kayaking the waters of Courtenay and Comox.
An easy 3 days of drop ass at a great hostel in downtown Courtenay.
Hanging out in Victoria with Tania and Jason.
Running the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure 5 KM road race with Tania.
Victoria's downtown inner harbour c/w the BC Legislative Building. Note the small boat in the lower portion of the photo is a water taxi and harbour tour boat.
A section of Victoria's harbour is designated runway for these aircraft. This particular photo was taken from the boat while on a harbour tour. The aircraft is on it's landing approach. These are over 100 daily scheduled flights to and from this harbour.
Learn more about Floating Homes http://www.floatingstructures.com.
This effective tourist attraction know as "Goats on a Roof". There are a number of goats which spend their summer grazing on the roof of this old market in the community of Coombs.
Catheral Grove located in the Macmillan Provinical Park is one of the most accessable stand of giant Duglas Fir trees on Vancouver Island.
The western Island's village of Ucluelet is home to this fishing troller fleet.
The Pacific Rim National Park - Long Beach get it's name from the 12 mile stretch of surf swept sand. The park is open year round and offers outstanding beach hiking, surfing, storm watching and whale watching.
Sproat Lake on the Pacific Rim Highway.
Heavy morning fog covering this Port Hardy mooring.
Port Hardy is the home base of the “Cape Sutil” a Canadian Coast Guard 15 metre shore-based self-righting lifeboats capable of search and rescue operations of up to 100 nautical miles with a top speed of approximately 25 knots. I was provided with a very informative tour of this vessel from it's engineer.
Telegraph Cove is tucked away on the north eastern coast of the Island in one of the last virtually untouched areas of the Island.
An afternoon of kayaking the waters around Comox and Courtenay. I could not resist the opportunity to paddle into this marina and check-out these toys.
The bow of this steel ship lies against the harbour's break water while the remainder of it broken hull is spread about in it's shallow grave. An interesting tale I am sure it could tell.
<< Home