Poppies, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
We strolled along the harbor walk and there were some beautiful poppies. I had to take a photo.
Leaving and Arriving, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Later Tuesday morning we ventured out with Mary and Martin to grab some breakfast at a local bagel place and then walk around a bit more in the city. We found ourselves walking across the Johnson Bridge and then around the harbor. Sea planes are very common here. Every time we were down by the harbor we saw several come and go.
Fan Tan Alley, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Tuesday morning, June 24, Karen and I took Weston for a little walk around downtown Victoria and ended up finding Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest commercial street in North America. It’s in the Chinatown area and as we walked down we met one of the shop owners out in the alley who told us that when he’s working he feels like he’s not even in the city, like he’s almost in another world. It was very quiet in there. It reminded us of some of the narrow streets in Barcelona without the laundry hanging up over our heads out of the apartments above.
The Bear, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
There’d been signs saying there were black bears in the area along the Juan de Fuca trail and that you should use caution… and, if you happened to encounter one, what you should do. We read them, and hoped we didn’t have to use them. On our hike up from Botanical Beach we noticed a couple of things… one, a very fresh bear paw print, and two, a fairly sizable and newish looking pile of bear poo. These had us slightly concerned and we quickened our pace toward the parking area. Mary, after seeing the paw print, said she preferred not to see a bear along the trail, but wouldn’t mind seeing one while we were driving in the car.
Cut to the drive out of the park and back up along the small two lane highway toward Victoria… Karen in the passenger seat, Weston on her lap, Mary and Martin in the back seat. Suddenly Karen says… Holy crap, there’s a bear. We all looked to the left and then pandemonium broke out in the car. Everyone was yelling… “open the window, take a picture, hurry, get the camera, there he goes, open the window, I can’t open the window I have the dog, take the dog, I can’t get the camera out of the case with the dog on my lap, open the window, take the dog, damn my camera battery is low and the camera is too slow, I just got the reflection in the window, he’s right there on the side of the car now, what’s in his mouth, I think it’s a fish, open the window, there he goes, did you get him, I think my pictures are blurry, my camera battery is going dead, open the window, he’s gone, I can’t believe we just saw a bear, no one is going to believe us because we didn’t get a picture, you should have opened the window, I couldn’t because I had the dog, how did yours turn out, I think that blur is the bear, you should have opened the window, I couldn’t open the window I had the dog, I should have given you the camera, I can’t believe we just saw a bear, that is so cool, I’ve never seen a bear… wow”.
Mary got the best picture, and this is it. The black blur in the center is the bear. Really. We all saw him.
Rock Climber, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Weston was quite the rock climber during this trek. Poor guy, he had to be on his leash on the Juan de Fuca trail, but he was a trooper and did amazingly well.
Pools, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
We had to be careful walking around on the rocks… one miss step and you’d end up in a four foot pool. Kind of looked like the moon… with water.
Sunken Pool, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
This is one of the pools at Botanical Beach. It doesn’t really do justice to it. For one, you can’t really tell that this thing was about three or four feet deep.
Botanical Beach, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
As we wandered along the trail of Juan de Fuca we eventually made it to the Botanical Beach. This place was amazing. There were huge pools sunken in the rock. Some several feet deep and loads of wild life living in these pools. Pretty spectacular and like nothing I’d ever seen.
At Botany Bay, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
A large part of our day was spent hiking the Juan de Fuca Trail and enjoying places like Botany Bay along the trail. This was a splendid spot. Great opportunity for taking photos.
The Unnamed Beach, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Beach on Vancouver Island, B.C.
Driftwood, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Monday, during our drive up and around parts of Vancouver Island North of Victoria, we stopped briefly at a beach who’s name I can’t remember. It was pretty cool actually. Hardly anyone on it. Loads of stakes out attached to what we imaged to be some sort of lobster pots, or shrimp pots, or crab pots… who knows for sure. We never saw the pots, only the stakes and the line. There was also some awesome driftwood lying around and a great selection of rocks on the beach. We took pictures of the driftwood and brought some of the rocks home.
Lake Cowichan, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island, B.C.
Looking at Lake Cowichan, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
Mary, Martin, and Weston down on the banks of Lake Cowichan.
Walking The Path, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.
We stopped at Cowichan Lake and then walked the forest walk and floating walkway trail. Very cool and an absolutely gorgeous spot.
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