Because they have a song

“The whales do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song.”

Gregory Colbert

The Girl and I have, for the past several days, been acting as hosts to old and dear friends from the UK; with one of whom I played in my first band way back in the 1970s. Over the years since we have also shared a variety of theatrical experiences, so there was much about which to anecdotalise.

This was our friends’ first visit to Canada and, in addition to spending a short but delightful sojourn with us here in Victoria, they took the bold step of hiring a Recreational Vehicle (RV), in which they intended to sally forth in the direction of the Rockies. This is a pretty ballsy move in my book – but it is also, of course, the stuff of which legends are made.

Good for them, say I!

Whilst in Victoria we introduced these brothers in arms to some of the obvious attractions – Butchart Gardens, Brentwood Bay (and The Pub!) Downtown/the Inner Harbour, Sidney… We also shared with them suitably splendid repasts direct from the barbecue, accompanied by delicious BC wines (and some Chablis).

Naturally our friends also wanted to do that which many of our visitors have done – to see whales! At this time of year one can hop on a whale-watching boat in the inner harbour with a practically cast-iron guarantee that the whales will be taking to the catwalk (whalewalk?) virtually the instant that the boat leaves the dock. As usual our guests were not disappointed.

The Girl and I usually skip this part of the visit. We do, after all, have plenty of opportunity to hang with the whales at pretty much any time. Just a couple of week’s back we were heading – yet again – to Nanaimo to organise the removal of the final items of furniture from the Girl’s Step-mom’s condo. As is our habit we arrived at the Brentwood Bay terminal at a little before 9:00am for the 9:50am Mill Bay ferry. This places us firmly at the front of the queue, but also enables us to take a little stroll around the village whilst we wait.

This time there was something of a flurry of interest at the shoreline – with much pointing and calling out. Sure enough, there in the bay, right in amongst the boats, there was a pod of orcas; the mother with one or two calves and at least one other whale.

I matters not how often one sees such things; they continue to be satisfactorily life-affirming regardless.

Such lucky souls are we!