May 27, 2016

May 27  Vancouver

   

   This morning the sky had lots of white and light gray clouds, but some patches of blue sky, too. It was a cool 9 C.  There were still puddles on the streets from the overnight rain.  The forecast was for showers this afternoon.

   After breakfast at the hotel we drove taking almost an hour to get to the University of B. C. to view the Botanical Gardens.  This was graduation week.  We were able to get a parking spot in the Rose Garden Parkade and then walk about 30 minutes to the University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens, where we purchased a ticket for the gardens and the Greenheart Canopy Walkway.  We had walked about 3 km. There were areas of sunlight where the surrounding shaded sections were cooler and a mist of evaporating moisture rose from the ground.  We walked through the rainforest on asphalt paths and wood chip paths along the Upper Asian path, to the entrance to the Greenheart Canopy Walkway of suspended steel walkways supported by steel cables.  There were stops for platforms around trees and about eight suspended walkways in the midst of the trees about 25 metres in the air.  There were about 400 metres of suspended walkways before returning to the ground.  When we returned to the ground we followed the lower Asian Trail to the tunnel under the road to reach the Food Garden of herbs and vegetables and the Alpine Garden of alpine plant species from six continents. Then we returned beneath the roadway to the lower Asian Trail and to the Botanical Gardens exit.  We had logged 5.94 km. The walk back to the car park was another 2.3 km.

   Next we set the GPS to Stamps Landing at False Creek to meet Tante Loretta and Alain as well as cousin, Murray, for lunch at Branas, where we had a cousins and aunt reunion over a bottle of Pinot Noir wine. We ordered Kale and Spinach Salad or Mediterranean Hash.  We said good-bye to Murray as he had to return to work and we reminisced more before the parking meter time was nearly expired.  Then we set the GPS to take us to cousin, Janine and her husband, Anton’s home.  We met the children and over appetizers and dinner enjoyed another reunion. We had taken the China trip pictures in their albums to share with the relatives.  We enjoyed a photo presentation of Janine’s son’s recent pictures, and some games and dance performances from Janine’s daughter.  After a wonderful family evening we left at the same time as Tante Loretta and Alain and returned to our hotel.

  Total distance walked 11.10 km

May 26, 2016

May 26  evening flight to Vancouver

   

   It was a cloudy morning at 11 C and no wind. We had breakfast with Bob since Margot had gone to the mainland early in the morning.  We got caught up on posting the blog.

   Then, Bob took us on a long walk past Uplands Golf Club north to the University of Victoria.  We walked on some paths through wooded areas and along sidewalks. At the University of Victoria, we walked through the campus and the Finnerty Gardens.   As we walked through the campus we encountered two fifteen metre high totem poles not far from the Finnerty Gardens. The rhododendrons and azaleas at the Finnerty Gardens were still in bloom in several different colours. There are trails to follow to direct you to many mini gardens and some ponds. We spotted a deer nibbling on a bush on the outside of the fence that surrounds the garden.  When we returned to Bob and Margot’s house about noon, we had walked over eight kilometers.  The wind was stronger at 25 to 30 kilometers from the south and the sun had tried to pierce the clouds a few times but never successfully.  The temperature was a few degrees higher at 15 C.

   Later in the afternoon Bob drove us to the airport and there were some sunny patches. The temperature had reached 28 C.

   We took the 7 p.m. short flight to Vancouver, the plane had to circle once due to air traffic and we landed about 7:30. The plane was Bombardier Q 400. We collected our luggage and found the route to the rental car counters.  The gray clouds looked like it could rain soon. We set the GPS to drive to our hotel.  As soon as we left the car park we encountered a steady rain.  After a false start, we found the hotel and were checked in by 9 pm.  We found a Greek restaurant within a five minute walk from the hotel in a light rain.  The Greek Salad was delicious and it was made authentically, with no lettuce.

    Total distance walked 10.46 km

May 25, 2016

May 25  Victoria golf

   

   It was a part sunny day about 13 C with a bit of wind.  Bob made waffles and bacon for breakfast before he, Margot and Larry golfed at Uplands Golf Club. I walked down to Willows Beach and then to Oak Bay Village and back, stopping at Serious Coffee for a cappuccino.  When I returned from the walk I had walked over 8 kilometers.  Some gray clouds moved in, but, by noon the clouds had disappeared. By noon the temperature had warmed to 18 C.

    After lunch Bob dropped Larry and I at a liquor store so we could buy some wine, then we walked the two kilometers back to Bob and Margot’s house.  It was time to leave to go to Laurie and Doris’s house for a late afternoon visit. We sat out on their patio to enjoy drinks and delicious appetizers.  We caught up on Laurie’s children and grandchildren.  It had been about 10 years since we had seen Laurie and Doris.  We went to Pizzeria Prima Strada and shared a pizza before returning to Bob and Margot’s house for the rest of the evening.

Total distance walked 11.53 km

May 24, 2016

May 24 Tofino return to Victoria  

   

   It is a sunny day about 14 C with a bit of wind, we can see the herb garden of the Botanical Garden from our window.  Stepping out onto the wraparound porch after listening to the rooster crow from the chicken coup, I could hear a whirring sound and saw that three metres from the railing was a hummingbird hovering by a cedar tree.  In the background, several different songbirds were singing.

   Breakfast was served in the communal dining room.  The choice was oatmeal with topping choices of brown sugar, craisins, almonds, raisins, cinnamon powder and flaked coconut; fresh bakery multigrain bread which you could toast and add butter, peanut butter or jam; apples or oranges; fresh from the oven apple or cherry muffins; orange juice, some dry cereal, tea or organic coffee roasted on Vancouver Island.  After you finished your meal you cleared your spot and washed your dishes.  It reminded us of the summer at Family camp at Camp Wasaga in Riding Mountain National Park.

   After breakfast, we took the short cut path into the Botanical Gardens, any time multiple admissions were included in our accommodation fee.   We took the path that leads to the mud flats between the mainland and Racoon Island to see the mud flats at low tide.  Yesterday afternoon the tide was high and we did not realize that the water was only one metre deep. We found some secondary wood chip covered paths to explore our way back to the lodge.

    We split the return drive back along the same rolling, twisting and turning Highway 4 to Port Alberni.  At the highest point, there was a bit of mist, but the wipers only activated twice for less than 10 seconds.  The maximum speed was 80 km per hour, however, some sharp turns had maximum speed posted of 30 km per hour.   Just before Port Alberni, we detoured to the McLean Mill National Historic Site.  It was a steam-operated sawmill and lumber business established in 1925 and operated until 1965.  It still has most of the equipment and is operational in the summer months.  The workers lived on the 13 hectares site close to the sawmill.  There are three main stages to the production of lumber. First slabbing where the logs are winched from the pond and sliced, then pushed to the making boards mid section of the mill to create the dimension lumber and finally cutting to cut the boards to length for sale.  They are further planed and sanded if necessary to make a smooth board.  They were then shipped by train to the port.

   We then drove into Port Alberni, to the Swale Café again, for lunch, where we ate either battered cod, french fries and Caesar salad or Swale Spinach Salad. The temperature had warmed to 17 C and the sky was mostly cloudy.  We continued on Highway 4 toward Nanaimo and stopped at MacMillan Provincial Park’s Cathedral Grove. We hiked the Cathedral Trail on the south side named the Living Forest Trail first, and saw one of the over 800 year old Douglas Fir trees, although, the area mostly has trees about 350 years old due to a forest fire. We saw a number of “nursing trees” which were dead and fallen trees that new plants, such as trees and ferns, were rooted in and getting nutrients from the decaying wood. The largest tree was over 76 metres tall. Douglas Fir trees can live to 1,000 years old. We saw the Big Leaf Maple trees, which can grow to 36 metres high and Western Red Cedar that can grow to 60 metres.  Also on the forest floor were Devil’s Club bushes, with spikes on the stems and leaves, and ferns.  We crossed the highway and walked the Old Growth Trail on the north side.  Each trail was less than one kilometre in length.

    We were back in the car again stopping next in Coombs, at the Goat on the Roof market.  There were four goats on the grass meadow roof.  We noticed changes to the market from when we last visited in 2001.  After a short look around, we continued on past Parksville and stopped in to Gail and Gord’s Nanoose Bay home for a visit then resumed our drive and stopped in Chemainus.   Here we walked around the older section of the town and saw a good many of the over 40 outdoor wall murals on the buildings, following the yellow painted footprints on the sidewalks to lead us on the self guided tour.  As we looked for a restaurant for dinner we had accumulated 9.36 km of walking for the day.  We chose Bonnie Martin’s restaurant for dinner selecting either cod fish, french fries and salad or a vegetable stir-fry of at least eight vegetables and rice.  Then we were drove the final stretch to Bob and Margot’s house in Victoria.  The whole drive took a little over ten hours including all our stops.

   

   Total distance walked 10.66 km