Oct 7, 2009 -- Montague Harbor to Brentwood Bay, Victoria Is.

We got up and underway at dawn today.  Although we only needed to go about 30 miles, at the end of the run was the world-renowned Butchart Gardens, which we wanted to visit for as long as we could.  the Gardens have a small cove, Butchart Cove, with about four mooring buoys for visiting boats.  We arrived just after noon and each took a mooring bouy and ran a stern line to the shore, similar to what we did a few days back, only we weren't rafted.  Actually, Brian took each boat's bow line and passed it through the mooring bouy, then took the stern line ashore and put it through a ring mounted in the rocks.  Here's Brian doing all the work, with the pups waiting to go ashore:

Here are the three boats settled in  the quiet little cove.  The dock in the foreground belongs to the Gardens:

Before we go any further, we should remind you that Ruth's number one love is flowers (yes, even more than pastry).  So she took hundreds of pictures in the Gardens.  We have spared you all but 19 of them.  Here is a sampling, with a few comments:

While it wasn't the peak time for roses, the Garden still had some perfect examples:

The smile on Ruth's face is real, and so are the unusual flowers:

The Gardens had their whimsical side as well.  This is one of several "musicians:"

 

 And there was a huge overhead of latticework that sported scores of hanging flowers:

The Gardens had done a masterful job of combining shapes, colors and textures.  This garden, in an old quarry, offered several views of that feature:

 

Since this was October, the summer blooms weren't there, but the masterful design of the Gardens provided magnificent color contrasts by using the trees and shrubs:

At the very bottom of the quarry was this dancing fountain.  It was fascinating, and, again, the colors were breathtaking:

These little flowers were officially Cuphea, nicknamed "Tiny Mice."  Look closely at the center flower and you can fancy the "face:"

The sculpture in the Gardens was interesting.  Here is "The Fountain of the Three Sturgeons:"

 And a popular good luck statue is the "Butchart Boar."  He was brought from Venice, Italy by the founders of the Gardens.  His shiny nose is rubbed by visitors for good luck:

The base of the Butchart Boar sculpture is festooned with tiny creatures -- snakes, frogs, snails, crustaceans, turtles, etc.:

They have a "Tropical" garden, full of plants and trees you would expect to see in tropical climates -- palms, banana trees and all sorts of succulents:

Even the Gardens' parking lot was ablaze with color:

There was a room you could visit to identify flowers or plants or ask a botanist questions.  On display were unusual flowers from the garden including this rare "double" orchid:

 There was a "Japanese Garden," with a Japanese motif.  One of the visiting Japanese snapped our picture at the entryway:

It was approaching dusk when we finally left the Gardens and dinghied back to the boat.  We hoisted the dinghy, poured a "sundowner," and relaxed.  It had been a long, but beautiful day.  The sunset sort put a cap on it:

Tomorrow...back to the USA.

Oct 6, 2009 -- Chemainus to Montague Harbor, Galiano Is.

We awoke with a ferry wake rocking us and decided to get up.  Ruth had to have some more pastries from the local bakery (they were good, she said), so she walked into town and got more pictures and pastries.

Around 9:00 a.m. we all got underway.  Harry and Josie on Victoria wanted to do some exploring of the nearby area, and we were only going about 17 miles away to the next anchorage, so they went their own way and would meet us at the anchorage we planned for tonight.

Soon after we were underway, we rounded the southern tip of Thetis Is., one of the Gulf Islands, and got a picture of these two eagles on the rocky islet:

We had seen many eagles, but they always seem too far away to get a good picture.  Like the seals.  They were everywhere, but hard to get a good shot.

It was a short trip over to Montague Harbor on the west shore of Galiano Island.  Deception anchored and we anchored Grand Adventure a short distance away -- it was a huge anchorage area, with a marina on shore.  Victoria soon arrived and anchored.

We all launched our dinghies and went over to explore the nearby Montague Harbor Marine Park.  Here are Brian, Carol, Mikey and Meisha's leg.  Josie and Harry's dinghy in back:

It was a very pretty day, the water was gin clear and calm, and the scenery was striking.  Notice all the boats anchored in the harbor on the right:

We walked a circular path, going over to the beach, visiting tide pools and looking for shells.  We finally took a picture of the bark of a Pacific Madrone tree.  These trees are very common in the area, and their peeling bark is rather pretty in a way:

After we wore ourselves out hiking around the island, and the dogs were getting tired, we all went back to our respective boats.  The plan was for Brian and Carol to come pick us all up in their dinghy (they're the workhorses, remember?) and take us to the marina's dinghy dock.  There we would meet the "Pub Bus" from the Hummingbird Inn.  The bus would take us to the Inn for supper, then bring us back.  Here is the bus:

The driver of the bus is a well known character in the area.  He tells jokes and plays old music on the stereo (Fats Domino, Frank Sinatra, etc.).  After enough of that, he drops you off at the Hummingbird Inn:

We had a delightful time enjoying real pub food and swapping stories.  By the way, this is where we took the pictures we posted on Sept. 26th of all the flotilla crews.  Go look at those pictures and notice they were taken when we were all cutting up.

After eating, we were treated to a return trip on the bus.  The driver continued his jokes and music and everyone had fun.

It was a fun day, and we looked forward to a night of sleeping without ferry wakes rocking us.

Oct 5, 2009 -- Bargain Bay to Chemainus

We were up early and underway quickly this morning.  Brian had long been up and took the pups ashore.  We pulled quietly out of Bargain Bay and headed across the Strait of Georgia toward Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.  Nanaimo is a bustling town across the Strain of Georgia from Vancouver, BC.  We didn't plan to stop there, but got a picture as we cruised by:

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.