The Imperceptible Immigrant

Lakes and Mountains

August 2, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

On the second day of our hop on/hop off exploration of Banff National Park we visited the Lake Louise Gondola and Moraine Lake. The ride up the gondola is spectacular and brings home the sheer scale of the Rocky mountains. In the first image below you can just make out – in the centre of the photograph – Lake Louise and the Chateau.

Moraine Lake is quite possibly the most electric of the blue lakes – though it has to be said that it does have a fair bit of competition within the same national park.

There are, of course, many things to see aside from the many lakes and mountains.

‘Hop on Banff‘ was a great find on The Girl’s part and is widely praised in the various online guides. This photo is of one of their excellent teams – Lewis – the (English!) guide – and Bobbi the driver. Great fun – great value and most flexible in the way that one can essentially construct one’s own itinerary.

Kudos!

Tags: Holiday, nature, Photo, Rocky Mountains, Travel

Lake Louise

July 25, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Canada is a huge country which contains, arguably, more than its fair share of natural beauty. The Girl and I frequently find ourselves overwhelmed by its ravishing gorgeousness – and that is just here on Vancouver Island. Should one explore further afield within in the province – or, indeed, venture into the great expanse of the nation beyond – one finds one’s breath taken away on a regular basis.

There are some parts of the country, however, that go beyond any glories that I have thus far experienced. Lake Louise – in the Banff National Park – is one such area of staggeringly dramatic beauty! So epic is it that I should at once stop trying to capture its perfection in words – and just let the gentle reader goggle at the images.

Without further ado…

The colour of the waters of the lake seem almost unreal. All of the glacier-fed lakes in the area have similar distinctive hues – a result of the particles trapped in the ice which remains in suspension once the ice has melted.

Tags: Holiday, nature, Photo, Rocky Mountains, Travel

Hush!

May 23, 2025 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

“Time says hush: by the gong of time you live. Listen and you hear time saying you were silent long before you came to life and you will again be silent long after you leave it, why not be a little silent now? Hush yourself, noisy little man. Time hushes all: the gong of time rang for you to come out of the hush and you were born. The gong of time will ring for you to go back to the same hush you came from. Winners and losers, the weak and the strong, those who say little and try to say it well, and those who babble and prattle their lives away, time hushes all”.

Carl Sandburg

This is my very favourite time of the year. I love how verdant are the woods – how lush is the undergrowth and how still are the trees once the winter winds have abated. These images from Centennial Park in Saanichton here on the peninsula.

I love that someone took the time to turn this fallen tree into a little piece of art. I love that they did so again when the first version slowly decayed and returned to nature.

Tags: nature, Photo, rain-forest, Spring, Summer, Walk

Believing in tomorrow

April 26, 2025 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

Audrey Hepburn

Well – we didn’t plant this one, though we have been responsible for nurturing it for nearly a decade now.

As to the now…this does feel like an important moment to be believing in tomorrow – no matter how tough it may be so to be doing, given the shape of the world right now.

The Girl and I have been suffering brutal colds this two weeks passed. We have, however, been afflicted by very few such since moving to Canada so we can’t really complain – even though these particular ones have been vicious. We are – it seems – finally on the mend now though…

…just in time to vote carefully in the Canadian Federal election on Monday. We are, surely, all to be held responsible for keeping the bad guys out of office in this good country; this being a vital bulwark against other nations where the same has, sadly, not been the case.

The garden – meanwhile – continues to flourish ‘irregardless’!

Tags: garden, Health, Photo, Spring, Victoria

The crack in everything

March 31, 2025 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”

Leonard Cohen

One of the great pleasures of living on the coast – particularly somewhere with the sort of big skies that we have here on the peninsula above the Victoria – is that we get to enjoy the constantly evolving panorama outwith our residence that is created and illuminated by the ever-changing light. Regular readers of these musings will be familiar with such images, since I cannot resist grabbing the camera (or mobile phone, these days) and taking endless snaps of the continually unfolding vista.

Here are some more:

OK – I cheated. That last one was in Mexico, from our recent sojourn in Puerto Vallarta.

Tags: Photo, Victoria, Vista

Mexican miscellany – 2

March 8, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

A final batch of photos from our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta.

We admired this Gaudi-esque public space which puts one in mind of the Parc Guell in Barcelona – though, naturally, on a somewhat smaller scale.

Our all-inclusive resort was – unlike many others in PV – not directly on the sea front. It did, however, own a beach resort a mere five minutes away by car, the which included a very decent restaurant to which we repaired several times for our evening repast. As you might expect the sunset vied with the fare to provide the greater attraction.

When we returned to Victoria from Puerto Vallarte The Girl and I were accompanied by a new member of our entourage. Gentle reader – meet Coyote:

Coyote is an Alebrije from Oaxaca. The Mexican art site – Viva Mexico – has the following:

Alebrijes are creatures carved out of wood and painted with Zapotec patterns and fantastic designs from the artists own imagination. These colorful one-of-a-kind carvings are handmade using wood of the copal tree which is grown in the surrounding fields of the towns and is considered a sacred tree which only grows in the region of Oaxaca. This wood is sustainably sourced from the branches of the tree in order to preserve the life of the tree and ensure a continued source of wood for the future. Alebrijes are traditionally made in Oaxaca in the towns of San Martin Tilcajete as well as San Antonio Arrazola. These beautiful works of art have become very popular over the years among art collectors worldwide and are highly sought after. Add a splash of color to your home with one of our unique wood carvings by Oaxacas best artists!

He is – of course – a trickster, but he is also gorgeous… so he gets away with it!

Tags: Coyote, Holiday, Mexico, Photo, Puerto Vallarta, Travel

Mexican miscellany – 1

March 5, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Here on Vancouver Island it is raining. No surprise there of course, though it is also true that temperatures are beginning to creep into double figures and Mother Nature is clearly signaling her intention of getting cracking on spring without further delay.

Why do I mention this? Well – The Girl and I are still in that state of travel denial that causes us to check over-frequently the current temperatures in Puerto Vallarte (as much or more than we do those in Victoria). Sadly we are just missing the warm sun on our shoulders!

Anyway – here are some more random photos from our recent trip to the land of our fellow recipients of the tangerine one’s tariffs (bah!)…

These pictures were taken around our resort:

This chap was pretty impressive too – and, as far as one could ascertain – harmless!

None too shabby – I hope you will agree. Not our usual sort of establishment, in many ways. We (by which I mean The Girl, of course) normally prefer to find places to stay that enable us to cater for ourselves should we so prefer. This resort was all inclusive – which on this occasion suited us fine.

This was one of a number of plaster masks that were mounted above the bed-head in our room. Spooky – some might think – but actually rather lovely.

Tags: Holiday, Mexico, Photo, Puerto Vallarta, Travel

Some Mexican flora and fauna

February 18, 2025 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Guess where we are!

Yes! As trailed but a few short weeks ago in an earlier post we are taking a brief restorative break in Mexico; in Puerto Vallarta to be precise.

There will be more time for the writing of words shortly, but I thought you might care to peruse some images of what it is like to be here in the warmth of the Mexican spring.

Jolly lovely it is!