Harry wanted to pass through Dodd Narrows, one of the more dramatic passes in the area. It is just south of Nanaimo. The current through Dodd Narrows can be quite strong, except at slack water, so we timed our speed to arrive at slack. Still, it was a fairly narrow pass, and a bit of a thrill as we went through:
Our destination for the day was Chemainus on Vancouver Island. Chemainus is a delightful town with much civic pride, and the citizens have taken special steps to attract visitors from all over. Of course, one can drive here from Vancouver, and, since you can ferry your car from the mainland, many folks do. We'll try to highlight some of the attractions in pictures.
First, Chemainus is famous for its murals. There seem to be hundreds of them adorning the buildings -- all colorful and each depicting some aspect of the history of the area. Here is one example. Note the wood boards of the mural are painted on a concrete wall. The mural extends past the picture edge on the left for 30-40 feet:
We chuckled at the local laundry. Where else might one see a lavender laundry? Even the visitor chair was lavender:
It is quite a fun-loving town. Ruth made a new friend in front of one of the shops:
We noticed a bit more humor depicted in this sea captain atop the local hotel:
And it was a very colorful hotel. The thing that struck us most, in addition to all the flowers, was the palm tree. Palm tree...in Canada? Yup!
The town was full of beautiful flowers. We strolled through "Waterwheel Park" and came upon this pretty display. That's a real waterwheel, not a mural:
One could also enjoy a carriage ride around the heart of the town:
Outside the local bakery (Ruth HAD to stop in) was a display of "First Nation" folks. These were statues, not paintings, with a mural on the building behind them:
Here is a picture to give you a feel for the size of the murals. This was on the side of the grocery store and went on for 40 yards either side of the picture:
Here is one of the more famous scenes. It was in "Heritage Park." We recall seeing this in magazines or travel brochures or somewhere. It was impressive:
Even the local franchised sandwich shop was in the action:
The fun thing about this picture is that's a real bicycle:
The waterfront of Chemainus is bustling with activity. The ferry takes folks back and forth to the islands every hour:
And Chemainus is home to a tugboat company or two:
The railroad runs through the edge of town. Here is the station. No kidding:
This is the little park across the track from the train station:
Chemainus is famous for its Theater. In season, they offer many excellent productions of well-known plays and musicals. They even have a dinner theater. Folks say the productions are equal to Broadway, and people come from as far away as New York to see them. Today, the theater was advertising "Woman in Black" and "Annie:"
It had been a fun day, with lots of walking and many, many pictures (we have spared you from most of them). We had supper and turned in, only to be gently rocked every hour by the ferry wakes. Tomorrow was to be a short run to a nice anchorage, so we could sleep in a bit.
