Vancouver and area

This weekend we are going to Vancouver Island for a tour.  We will be meeting up with Joe and his family, our friends Sharon and Terry’s son.

October 22, 2011 (Saturday)

We arrived around 9:30 am at the Ferry terminal in Twesssan for our trip to Nanaimo, very expensive and we only took the truck - $77.00 one way, pay for vehicle as well as each person.  At the time I wondered if the locals got a break on the rate and found out they did not.  Was raining most of the way to the ferry, slowed down for a while and then started again.  We did get a view of the island as we were coming in to the dock.  This trip was 2 hours. 

We arrived at Duke Point port at Nanaimo and it was raining again.  We did drive around the area from port just north park of Nanaimo along the coast and drove to the downtown area.  At this time of year, did not really get out there to do much looking around. There were some shops but the water front we did not really stop at.  Ended up going to a small restaurant in town MGM for lunch and then started on our southern trip to Victoria. 

Drove south to Ladysmith, overlooking the Georgia Straight, restored buildings and really quite pretty.  Kept driving until we reached Cheaumanus Rd, Went down the scenic route and found a little park on the beach.  Went for walk to the beach area and found a few more sites along its shores, pictures to follow.

Further south to Duncan, whose claim to fame is totem poles as well as just plain small town sights and sounds.

Still travelling south, through mountains

We are staying in Victoria overnight, Joe made arrangements to stay at hotel in area and got us a good rate and we ended up with an updated room, the rate was $69.00 a night for the family rate so Uncle Ken and I got a good one  and I certainly did not find that rate anywhere on our own. (They did offer to have us stay with them, but I did not want to put them out

 By the time we got down to Victoria, we were tired and had dinner at hotel Sandman, in the Shark Club Pub. Sports bar, the food and wine was good, there were hockey and football games going on and the staff was friendly (and good looking – ask Ken).We made arrangements to meet the kids in the morning for breakfast.

October 23, 2011 (Sunday)

Went to Joe and Tanya’s to meet up with them and to finally meet Tanya and Sydney and Mason.  We had a nice visit then got the kids dressed and headed out for breakfast.  Started to go to Denny’s, but arrived there around 10:00 am and was packed, ended up going to the ABC Market and had instead.  

From there they took us down to the harbour and took us by the parliament buildings where the parking is free on Sundays and since we were walking any way it was a great place to park.  Knowing the locals help.  We did a harbour tour, walked around there as well as up to the Empress Hotel and the legislative buildings; gardens outside still have pansies in bloom.  Went for a walk through the Empress, was really gorgeous, and did not stop for tea at $75.00 a pop. From there Joe drove us towards Mile 0 and they left us.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with them; it was a little bit of home for us and probably them as well.  With big hugs and kisses all around, from us and their parents/grandparents, we bid them farewell.  Thanks for a great time guys!!

We then took the beach road up the rest of the way.  The views were amazing all the way through; we stopped at several sections to look out at the waterways.  Some of the homes along here were simply huge, landscaping amazing, everything was still in bloom.  Even sections where the trees are turning coulours, the grass is still so very green and many of the homes had palm trees as part of their landscaping, so could be a maple and a palm right beside it.  If we ever moved here, I would need to learn to garden and that is so not me. (others I can see would really love it – Mrs. W).

One sight that Joe had told us about is a mountain you could get to and see all around the island, this was in Mount Douglas Park in the Saanich area.  This park has huge trees, and as probably part of the ever present rain, there are ferns growing wild as well.  When we stopped, I was walking through trees that leaves had fallen from and there was a single maple leaf that had to be 10” around.  We did go to the summit and the view was amazing – full range of the island, water, farm, urban and forest – you could see it all.  We followed coast as long as we could and then went back inland.

While doing this, we noticed a few wineries and decided to do some stopping.  Found the first one, Church and State and did a sampling, then I had some lost time and could not find the other one, so we proceeded north to the ferry.  When you get to a terminal area, there is nowhere to go except the ferry. We arrived just as it was loading and we got right on at 4:00 pm.  This one went through the islands to get back to the mainland – I did not realize there were a bunch of small islands around Vancouver Island that people lived on.  Also, if you live on any of the islands, you still need to spend the same amount to get on and off as not locals do, so this does limit choices as it is so expensive, a family of 4 could cost around $100.00 each way.   No animals, mammals or fish seen on any of the trips across.

We arrived back home around 6:30, turned on the heater and went out for dinner.

Even though we found it expensive to get to and from the island, it is a trip we had to take, as you never know when you’re going to get a chance to do it again.  The bonus is we got to see “family” (see note above) as well.

October 24, 2011

Today is a work day, getting trailer cleaned up and stuff stowed away as we will be leaving on Thursday to head toward Seattle.  Need to find what we can and can’t take and probably give some food away.  I don’t want to through any out if possible; I had been good about where we were buying but a few nights did not feel like much for dinner so have extras.

I have added some pictures as well under separate blog - take note, Ken is still wearing shorts, I of coursed wimped out but I never did say I was going to wear them all the time!