Sea To Sky Highway

The north/south highway along the westernmost banks of British Columbia mainland is known as the Sea To Sky Highway and it is a glorious ride.  Upon debarking the Queen of Cowichan ferry we took this route to Squamish where we'll spend a few days exploring this part of BC.

Horseshoe Bay, near Lions Bay.
Just can't beat this view, eh?

This is beautiful but wild territory as evidenced
 by the many "bear beware" signs along the highway.

At every stop we see brochures and posters advising visitors as to the proper behavior for bear encounters.

One of the tips is not to turn and run.  Right.
Another tip is not to make a loud noise at the bear.  Like a scream?



The slideshow below contains some pictures taken as we drove along the Sea-To-Sky Highway. The waterway is all part of Horseshoe Bay. Anvil Island is the large island in some of the pictures.

Facts about this area:

• Ice once covered this area and glaciers gouged out the dramatic scenery that surrounds and inspires us. As the glacial ice receded, people came and aboriginal society existed on the salmon, cedar and shellfish here.
• By 1858 European fortune seekers came here for the Cariboo gold rush -- taking the land for mining, timber extraction and agriculture.
• In 1914 construction of a railroad began and 42 years later, that railroad would connect Squamish to Vancouver.
• The most dramatic happening here was the completion of the Seaview Highway in 1958 affording visitors a relative easy visit to this once remote place.
• These days, the stunning mountains, blue water and outdoor adventure bring people to this area. It is a land where the ocean meets the mountains and is world renowned for rock climbing, mountain biking and windsurfing. 

We reached Eagle Vista Campground in Squamish by mid-afternoon and settled into our campsite. The sun is warm but the campground has some really big and tall pine trees that provide a nice shade.

There is a great granite monolith near here and we have a clear view of it. It's known as Stawamus Chief and it towers impressively over the city of Squamish.

Stawamus Chief still has snow. 

Another mountaintop, very near Stawamus Chief, became enveloped in huge clouds of smoke on two different days while we were here.  It was reported that a wild fire was being extinguished.

Taken from our coach door. That's Stawamus Chief on the right.
The wildfire appears to be on the far side of the peak of the mountain to the left.

The city of Squamish, British Columbia sits directly beneath another gargantuan rock mountain. I'm not certain, but I think this might be Mount Garibaldi.  The day we toured the city, I took a few pictures.

Downtown Squamish

That is Stawamus Chief in the background.
Notice the city banners to the right -- eagles and bears.

These are the wild blackberries that finally did me in.  There's a long row of bushes growing within 2 feet of the coach.  I've been seeing blackberries since we were in Oregon in mid June. Someone told me they are a "nuisance" plant here.
Unable to resist, I picked a quart and ate half of them while washing them.  Now if I could only bake.

So that's what we saw in and on the way to Squamish.  We'll take a day trip to Whistler tomorrow.

Queen of Cowichan - Ferry To The Mainland

The day came to leave Vancouver Island and this time we would not give in to the temptation to save a few dollars.  Car and coach combined, we measure a whopping 64 feet in length ringing up a $340 ferry expense trip from Nanaimo to Vancouver. It saved the cost of divorce however.

We arrived at Departure Bay about an hour before sailing time and enjoyed a nice lunch in the coach while we waited in line.

Once we loaded the ferry with Lexie and Ozzie safely secured in their window seats on board the coach, we went topside to enjoy the sunshine, cool air and scenery. I returned to the coach to check on them twice and they seemed comfortable and unafraid.  That was good as I feared the worst.

Since we took quite a few photos during the 90 minute crossing to Horseshoe Bay, I've added them as a slideshow in case you don't want to scroll through a bunch of water pictures.




Our plan today upon disembarking the ferry is to travel the "Sea To Sky" highway north to Squamish, British Columbia from where we'll take a day trip into Whistler, British Columbia.  We arrived right on time and departed the Queen of Cowichan without incident.

Glad you joined us for the ferry crossing.  Hope you enjoyed it.



Nanaimo and More of Vancouver Island

From Victoria and the Saanich Peninsula, we drove north on Vancouver Island to Nanaimo which is directly across the Strait of Georgia from Vancouver (the city on the mainland of British Columbia). 

Geographically, Nanaimo juts out with waterfront on three sides.  When we're finished with our tour of Vancouver (the island), we'll depart from Nanaimo's Departure Bay via BC Ferries, sailing east to Horseshoe Bay, just north of Vancouver (the city).

The campground here at Nanaimo is named Jinglepot. Every time I see or hear the name, I get an earworm of the Christmas song "Jinglebell Rock" and it's driven me mad!  Reviews of the campground mentioned the flowers as an attraction but we were quite surprised at the sheer volume of blooms.  The park itself is not fancy or elaborate, just a basic campground, owned by a Korean couple, who evidently have green thumbs. 









The weather has become quite warm. So warm and sunny, in fact, that we are forced to use air conditioning in the afternoons.  Mostly, though, that is because the afternoon sun beats in on the coach's windshield. In the shade, one can stay comfortable.

One of the days we're here, we explored Nanaimo, a town formed by Hudson's Bay Company in the mid 1800's.  Coal was mined here and exported to California and Pacific Rim markets.  Here are the highlights:

Nanaimo's protected harbor at Bastion Square

Construction of the Bastion began in 1853 by Hudson's Bay Company
 as a fortress to protect townspeople and workers from attack.

The anchor here is a real one, recovered from a sunken ship near Nanaimo. 
Somehow, I managed to delete the picture I had taken of the exact detail and information.

Another day we drove north of Nanaimo to Parksville and then Qualicum Beach, both nice areas that boast miles of safe sand beaches and some of the best swimming in the province.

Snow capped mountains are a common sight here.

One of the many beaches somewhere between Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

We missed a pancake breakfast and an ocean mile swim.  Gee... that's too bad.
I'm sure Wayne would have won that swim race.

From here I wanted to take Highway 4 across Vancouver Island to Alberni Valley to see the rugged Pacific Rim.  With the car's fuel tank getting low, we ended up driving over 12 miles to the nearest gas station and then we were too far from Highway 4 to go back.  We probably missed the best of the island.

Happy to have you along with us for the trips along Vancouver Island.

Saanich: Sidney and Butchart Gardens

With the tour of Victoria behind us, our next area of exploration would be the coastal town of Sidney and a visit to world famous Butchart Gardens.

This day, the sky was brilliant blue and the temperature was near perfect.  Sidney did not disappoint us.  It's a typical tourist town though .. complete with waterfront.  This is how it looked...

This diver is carved from red cedar.

I met a nice, older man here and after some intense conversation, I was nearly ready to throw Wayne over for him.  He and I picked flowers together. Unlike Wayne, this quiet gentleman let me rant on and on about anything and everything. Anyone who knows me knows I am a big talker.  My new man friend let me talk without interruption.  I think I was falling in love.

It took some doing, but Wayne did manage to pull me away from my new man friend. I let him keep the flowers we picked. He looks sad in the picture here. I'd just told him that I'd have to leave.

Next stop was for lunch and we were still looking for some good fish and chips. This time we'll avoid the tourist area and opt instead for a hole-in-the-wall local looking place called Fish on 5th. 

We ate outside on the patio.
The car was parked directly in front of us on the street so we could keep an eye on Lexie and Ozzie.

Mine is a tiny piece of halibut with a dollop of cole slaw

Wayne's is a bit larger piece of salmon.

Now this food was real, real good but once again... much too expensive.  Everything in Canada is expensive. I saw a beach side food stand that charged $8 for hamburger, $9 for cheeseburger. That's some expensive burger. 

After lunch we scooted on up to Swartz Bay, the northernmost point and then started south again on the opposite side of the small parcel of land. 

Before we knew it, we were at the world famous Butchart Gardens. 

Now I like plants, blooming and otherwise, and would have liked seeing Butchart Gardens.  At the gate, we were welcomed and asked to hand over $75 Canadian. In US dollars, with the credit card fees added that's going to be closer to $100.  I just can't see paying $100 to drag Wayne around a flower garden.  Just can't see it.  We left Butchart Gardens and I hope we won't regret not going in as it's doubtful we'll ever go back to the island.

Hope you're not too disappointed about the gardens thing.  Just couldn't pay that fee. I'm so cheap.

Hatley Castle

I got all excited when Lady GaGa (the gps) found a castle for us to visit in Victoria!  Even more excited when I found we could drive right onto the castle grounds with relative ease!

Hatley Castle is part of Hatley Park and Royal Roads University and isn't a real castle at all -- at least not as I think of a castle.  This one was completed in 1908, long after the days of real castles, knights in armor and damsels in distress. Still Hatley Castle is photo-worthy and deserves mentioned on our blog.

The front and main entry of the Hatley Castle

James Dunsmuir had Hatley Castle built, complete with beautiful gardens and surroundings, using local stone. His common statement to the builders (reportedly) was "Money doesn't matter, just build what I want."

This side of Hatley Castle side looks out onto Esquimalt Lagoon.

The building is just 200 feet long and 86 feet wide; the turret is a mere 82 feet high so it's relatively small as castles go.  A stone wall surrounds the estate. At one time several miles of road interlaced the estate grounds and hundreds of men were employed to work the gardens.

A newer Royal Roads University building shares the view of this garden.

From 1941 until 1943 Hatley Castle served as dormitory and mess hall for cadets and staff officers at Royal Roads Military College. Now however, Hatley Castle serves only as an administrative building for Royal Roads University. It houses the President, Vice-President, Manager of Finance and Facilities and other administrative staff.

Whatever was lacking in excitement at Hatley Castle was compensated in fun on the grounds by our two rascals.  Click Dog Play to see a short video of Lexie and Ozzie -- mostly Ozzie, rolling in the grass.

Glad you could share our visit to the grounds of Hatley Castle. 

Victoria: Capital of British Columbia

It didn't take us long to to recover from the ferry fiasco. Next morning we were up and ready to take in the sights, sounds and tastes of Victoria.

We began our "British Expedition" back at Victoria Harbour where we came in yesterday. It was  cool and a bit overcast -- my favorite conditions for touring and photography.

While Wayne watched the seaplanes, ferries and yachts on the harbor side, I went across the street to explore Bastion Square. I immediately noticed all the blooms.  Flowers everywhere!

Bastion Square
The odd "tulip" artwork is a rather new piece - 2008 -- called the Commerce Canoe. 

The Maritime Museum.  We didn't tour it but probably should have.  I think there was a lot of good stuff in there.

Two of the many popular and much photographed buildings in Victoria are the Empress Hotel and the Parliament Building.



The Parliament Building.  From afar to show some of the colorful blooms....

And closer to show more of the building and grounds. 

Empress Hotel

 "A perfect Eden" is how the founder of the city described Victoria.  It's the oldest city in Western Canada and was settled in 1843 as Fort Victoria. The city was named for the British monarch Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837 to 1901.

Victoria was originally an outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company and it's harbor was home to one of the world's largest whaling and sealing fleets. Victoria was a major port of entry to British North America and is the second largest metro area.

Moderate climate here keeps the flowers in bloom almost year round.

Our route took us  along the edge of the island. One of our stops is at Beacon Hill Park where dogs rule and great views could be enjoyed for miles around.



Nearly all the dogs in this park were off leash. Lexie and Ozzie were not, of course.
While Ozzie loved seeing all the dogs and tried to play with all of them, Lexie was not interested. 

The road we traveled followed the jagged edge of the island, winding and curving with beautiful views of open water, harbors and inlets.



Yes, that's Wayne sitting in the chair.

One of the marinas.  Not sure which...

There are several city touring companies who use the old double-deck British style buses to tour their customers. I snapped these pictures of them.

This is one of the most advertised bus tour companies.
Hop On, Hop Off!

Most of the homes around Victoria are small-ish and quaint -- neat and well landscaped with still more flowers. Some of the typical ones ....

Okay, so this house isn't really typical.  But plenty of flowers make it an eye-catcher.

At lunchtime we stopped at Fishermans Wharf for fish and chips at a frequently advertised place called Barbs. Two orders of fish and chips and a bowl of chowder with garlic bread totaled almost $30. The food was just mediocre -- tiny strips of halibut wrapped in an inch of greasy batter.

Other sights to see around the wharf area were interesting as an entire floating neighborhood is built along the dock. 

This dock house is for sale.



No, he's not drunk (or even drinking). That's my root beer in his hand.
Just the luck of the camera...

The colorful Fishermans Wharf floating neighborhood from a distance.
Notice all the residential buildings in the background.

Leaving Fishermans Wharf, I took Lexie and Ozzie for a stroll along the wooden boardwalk along the shoreline back toward the harbor.  Wayne went back for the car and picked us up a few blocks later. 

Have I mentioned that there are lots of wild blackberry bushes here?  Well there are and I'm developing a real "hankerin'" for a blackberry cobbler..

I snapped this picture while on the boardwalk.
Somebody said these are "salmon berries"???
They look like blackberries to me.

Hope you enjoyed our tour of Victoria.  We had a good time.