Victoria

September 20th: Spent the day exploring beautiful and very English Victoria with Lorna and Norman. We enjoyed the flowers, the imposing architecture of the Empress Hotel and Parliament Buildings, as well as the waterfront. The Canadian Snowbirds jet were practicing above us for an upcoming airshow.

Visit with Lorna & her furry friends in Victoria

September 19th: Spent a very nice evening and day with Donna's cousin, Lorna, and her furry companions. Mairi, her golden retriever, is a sweet, fun-loving character. We all took a refreshing walk through a local provincial park. Sky and Quinn, Lorna's cats are exact opposites - Sky is engagingly social, and Quinn is very slow to warm up, but very vocal about it.

Donna and I want another dog even more now.

Afternoon Tea Butchart Gardens

September 18th: We decided to go for afternoon tea at Butchart Gardens. Somehow, we rated a wonderful table next to a window overlooking the Italian Garden. The savory and sweet delicacies were superb, and the specially blended tea was perfect, as well.

Butchart Gardens

September 18th: We dinghied to spectacular Butchart Gardens where we spent the entire day. We literally took time to smell the flowers!! This is what retirement is about. Donna took many, many pictures, of which these are just a sample.

Tod Inlet by Butchart Gardens

September 17th: After sailing/motoring to Mill Bay, we found the anchorage too deep, and the area too exposed to southwesterly winds. We decided to go on to Tod Inlet, which is very close to Butchart's Gardens. Tod Inlet is very narrow, with high, forested walls. We were able to anchor in a very protected area at the end of the cove. Even though it is situated next to the most popular tourist attraction on Vancouver Island, it felt like wilderness. About 100 years ago, the inlet was a busy port for two cement plants that were located next to it. The only evidence now is some old pilings, some concrete foundations and a few rusting pieces of machinery, all well hidden by dense forest. The inlet was abloom with thousands of translucent jelly fish - you can see them in one of the photos.

Tod Inlet has a family of resident otters. We snuck up on them in our dinghy and managed to take the picture you see here. About 5:00 a.m. we were awakened by a ruckus in our boat's cockpit - the rudder was swinging and the swim ladder was rattling, all accompanied by splashing sounds. I immediately went above and found nothing except some sea water in the cockpit. We suspect the otters were trying to board our boat.

The maple trees in the inlet were just starting to display their fall colors. The combination of the golden maples and the evergreens was truly beautiful.

Cowichan Cultural Center, Duncan

September 16th: While moored at Maple Bay, we traveled to nearby Duncan where we spent the day and toured the Cowichan Cultural Center. We were given a private tour by a member of the tribe who told us stories, myths, and the meaning of the carvings on the totem poles. Fascinating! The Cowichan Tribe members knit unique sweaters

Maple Bay Marina

September 16th: We spent 2 nights at Maple Bay Marina - a very pleasant place with some gigantic floating boat enclosures and some great permanently moored house boats.