A note from myself.

 

I realized quite soon after starting this blog that I am terrible at it! If I head out nearly every day, and I come home tired, I just don't have the time to do the blog.

So the last entries are all rather brief catch-up entries. I date them as published on the actual dates of the outing but the last few entries were actually all done the same day. At the very least thankfully I did keep photos sorted into their own folders! Well, most of them, a few days out are all in one folder and undated...oops. In the future I really would like to spend more time writing about the places I visit but we will see how that goes...ha!

Probably learning to be more discerning about the photos I take and which places I decide to record here will go a long way. Not every day out needs a post, nor every interesting thing need to be photographed!

#slacker #toobusyadventuring #maketimetowrite

Island View Beach

 Island View is an absolutely stunning place. Nearly every time I go I see otters, and usually seals, this time I saw a mink, very shy little guy! It's interesting with all the ruins all over the beach to think about the power the ocean has that it can move massive items like that. I forget exactly why their are these ruins all over the beach - perhaps something to do with the old Sidney(Island )Brick & Tile Company? It operated in 1906 to 1915 and the beaches along Sidney have bits of brick and ruins as well.

Warning: there are images of a dead fish and a dead seagull.

                                                                RIP little fish guy.

                             There is a flicker and a kingfisher in this image, I swear! 

                Eagle's nest, I saw the eagle couple as well but didn't get any  good photo of them.

There were feathers strew EVERYWHERE! It was really brutal and I wonder, with the eagles nearby, did this seagull perhaps piss off the wrong eagle? 

                                                                          Otter tracks.

#vancouverisland #islandviewbeach #nature #natureisbrutal #bones #shells #ocean #oceanlife #westcoastcanada #canada #ruins #ottertracks

Glencoe Cove - Kwatsech Park

 Turns out less than 10 mins away from me is a really beautiful ocean park. I'm sure in good weather it is incredibly busy with people being it is in a suburban area. Quite stunning rock formations and vistas.

                                                       In someone's yard facing the park.

#vancouverisland #shells #rocks #glencoepark #kwatsechpark #nature #stunningvistas #rockformations #singingblackbirds 

Cowichan Bay with Charlie

 This was an interesting weather day; as we left we drove through rain and hail to emerge in sunshine, and then more rain...it just went on like that throughout the day. We were determined to have an adventure though, and so we did. This was mainly a photography day for Charlie, he is learning my old Canon Rebel; so we brought a variety of lenses and my job was basically carrying them around for Charlie. At times with the rain I was running around after him keeping an umbrella above him and the camera! These first ones are from Hecate Park. I have a blog post here that talks about the origins of the name of this park. https://walkingwiththegods.blogspot.com/2020/06/how-hecate-came-to-vancouver-island.html

These were taken at St. Anne's Church and cemetery. Here's some info on the church from https://heritagebc.ca/francophone-location/st-anns-church-duncan/

This historic place is valued for its strong associations with the Francophone Sisters of St. Ann, as well as with founder Father Pierre Rondeault and the nearby Stone Church, which was the predecessor to this current location. The first St Ann’s Church was destroyed by fire in 1902 and the current structure was built in 1903. It continues to serve the Cowichans and more recent settlers in the Duncan area. The Way of the Cross, a pilgrimage from St Ann’s to the White Cross visible on the top of Mt. Tzouhalem remains a Good Friday tradition.Father Rondeault died in 1900 after 41 years with the Cowichan people. He is buried beneath the small chapel at the back of St Ann’s Church. The Sisters of St. Ann arrived in Victoria from Quebec in 1858, to establish education and health service for new settlers and Indigenous people. While many of their contributions are celebrated, in 2014 the Sisters acknowledged that their involvement in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools contributed to a form of cultural oppression that has had a lasting effect not only on those who attended the schools but also on subsequent generations.

This is a bit of info on the Old Stone Butter Church, it's no longer allowed to visit there so we did not, but fortunately we have gone in the past.  http://www.joejack.com/theoldstonechurch.html

This is a bit of info on the Old Stone Butter Church, it's no longer allowed to visit there so we did not, but fortunately we have gone in the past.  http://www.joejack.com/theoldstonechurch.html

                   And these are just a few from Bright Angel Park before we headed back home!

#cowichanbay #duncanbc #vancouverisland #angelbrightpark #hecatepark 

Matheson Lake with Charlie

 It had been ages since we had been to Matheson Lake, so long that Charlie didn't even remember the place at all! My grandparents brought me here many times as a child. They brought me to all sorts of places around the island actually, I'm so grateful for that. They made childhood bearable! 

I have this quite vivid memory of my grandma staying back on the little beach with my brother while my grandfather and I went to swim. Actually I think she was tucked up by a tree (she avoided the sun because it ages the skin she always said) and she was yelling after my grandfather as he and I hit the water and started swimming something about the the distance to the little island being too far for me. Well, my grandfather often listened to my grandmother, but in this case he just called back for her not to worry. I have no idea how old I was, but maybe 9 or 10? Anyway my grandfather always told me that when we were swimming and I got tired, just to rest my hand on his shoulder and that would allow me a little rest til I could start swimming again. He was a powerful swimmer, very strong and could go incredibly long distances. We not only made it to the island no problem but we swam around the entire thing first before stopping to rest on the island itself. The island no longer seems as far as away at it once did!

Charlie and I had a nice walk here, the entire lake can be walked around but we just walked a portion and sat and relaxed.

This photo is my grandparents at a beach when they were very young. Handsome couple huh?

Thanks for reading!  

Lotus

 

 

#mathesonlake #vancouverisland