I found that I had too many photographs of the Fall leaves in Centennial Park in Saanichton to fit into a single post…
…so here are the rest of them.
That is one serious bunch of leaves!
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Tags: Autumn, British Columbia, Fall, nature, Photo
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
Oscar Wilde
Should there be any doubts as to why Autumn is known as Fall here in North America, these images may well satisfy them.
They also provide an interesting illustration of the fact that – even when one is apparently walking through a forest predominantly comprising mixed conifers – there are always more maples present than appears to be the case at first (or even second) sight.
It feels to me as though it has been quite a long time now since even the blowsy days of August – when everything in the garden wore the appearance of having enjoyed rather too good a night out and was, in the aftermath thereof, trying just that bit too hard to convince that all was still coming up roses (see what I did there?)… Never mind looking back even further to the true highlights of the season (as far as our garden is concerned, anyway) in May, June and early July…
And as I say – even August is now but a memory…
Yet here we are – with the race to the shortest day well underway and nature – if not quite yet in full retreat – certainly considering carefully turning tail and joining the rout.
Kudos, then, to that flora still determined to see things through to the bitter end. Your loyalty is much appreciated and we thank you for yet bringing a little colour and light into our lives.
Some images, by way of illustration:
Tags: Autumn, British Columbia, garden, Photo
‘Tis the time of the year in Victoria that one repeatedly casts anxious glances outside – regardless of the time of day – to see what the weather is doing (or is about to do).
Today – for example – it is (to use the vernacular) tossing it down!
Yesterday was sunny – so we went for a walk and I got out in the garden.
This is the key of course. We venture outside whenever we can – to observe and enjoy the sights – be they what they may…
…like moonbeams – such as those emanating from this big golden full moon over the sea:
…or mushrooms! It is that time of year when the ‘fun guys’ poke their heads out for a few days before going subterranean for another cycle. These are the first of the crop:
…and mountains. This one you probably know already:
…and other magic! ‘Nuff said:
Tags: British Columbia, Fall, nature, Photo, Victoria
The new academic year stumbles somewhat uncertainly into life, with the Fall term kicking off and hoping – in this semi-post-COVID world – not to fall flat on its face. More of that in a near-future post!
For now though – one last day out before we knuckle down and try to surf our way through the unforgiving swell…
We live (as I am sure I have mentioned previously) near the seaside town of Sidney on the Saanich peninsula to the north of the city of Victoria – which itself nestles into the south eastern corner of Vancouver Island with the sea on three sides (See map for details). We face roughly east – looking out over the Haro Strait.
The other side of the peninsula is a deep natural fjord – the Saanich Inlet. I have previously published photos of the good ship Dignity exploring this impressive waterway.
On the far side of the inlet – and close up against it – is the Malahat mountain. To reach Victoria from further north on the island it is necessary to navigate one’s way down between the mountain and the deep inlet. For many years it was thought impossible to drive a road through this hostile land and it was not until the late nineteenth century that the fore-runner of what is now the Malahat Drive was constructed through the pass.
For those used to the grandeurs of other parts of Canada the Malahat may at first glance appear to be small fry. Looks can be deceiving. Weather conditions in winter can be bad on the Malahat and the road is often closed for periods. At the very least it requires snow tyres or chains during the winter months. The narrow and twisty nature of the highway also renders it vulnerable to accidents – which can easily cut Victoria off from the rest of the island for hours at a time.
The Malahat and the Saanich Inlet are – however – also strikingly beautiful and are now home to a new attraction – the Malahat Skywalk. Rather than me describing the attraction to you the link provided will furnish all that you need.
This outing was our first visit to the Skywalk and we were suitably impressed. I will add some images of it at the bottom of this post.
We also paid a first visit to Unsworth Vineyards at nearby Mill Bay, where their attractive restaurant serves a most acceptable lunch (and – of course – also where wines can be tasted).
All in all – a splendid day out. Thanks to The Girl – whose idea it was.
The views!
I added a small arrow to this next photo to indicate the rough position of our home!
Tags: Malahat, Outings, Photo, Saanich Inlet, Victoria
Regular readers of this cybernated chronicle will be aware that I like – on occasion – to share experiences of the interface between (wo)man and nature that inevitably occur as a result of living in this verdant wilderness.
In other words – I post stuff about the wildlife that we see in our garden!
Having a decent sized plot and being surrounded by trees we are routinely visited by all manner of birds. I posted earlier in the year on the subject of some of the more annoying of these, but we are also graced with visits from larger and more impressive avians. I recorded, for example, the visit of this eagle back in 2017 – a vulture last year and this blue heron earlier this summer.
Our most recent visitor was this beautiful owl – who decided to rest for a considerable period in one of our trees before heading off again to get on doing whatever it is owls fill their days with. Now – owls have virtually no natural predators and thus are afraid of practically nothing – particularly aging gentlemen armed with nothing more offensive than a camera, so this one just sat and watched me whilst I meandered ever closer – taking snaps of him/her.
And now – as is my wont – here are some examples for the gentle reader’s edification. Click on the images for the bigger picture.
Enjoy:
Some odds and ends from the garden…
We have recently been getting help from a couple of chaps (who were recommended to us by a good friend) with one or two of the larger tasks of which our garden was in need. Such jobs included removing five years worth of un-composted garden detritus – trimming back some over-enthusiastic trees – and (the one pictured here) trimming back a large growth of ivy that covers a dead but strategically placed tree, the which forms a most useful screen that shields our garden shed from the outside world.
As the photograph here shows – cutting back the ivy has left the whole thing looking somewhat ravaged but it will, of course, be no time at all until it has filled in again.
Our garden help – whom I shall call Gordon (for that is his name!) – advised me that we had a nest – complete with young ones – right at the top of the ivy growth, but hidden well inside it. He had left them well alone…
…as shall I – for this was no bird’s nest – but a raccoon’s! Bet you didn’t see that one coming. I did not know that raccoons made nests and certainly not so far off the ground.
Well – that certainly explains the close attention that they have been paying to our kitchen waste bin.
Anyway – here are a couple of other pretty images from the garden:
What do you think this little chap is waiting for?
Perhaps he has heard that the Snowbirds (the Canadian equivalent of the Red Arrow – for UK readers) are about to fly-over…
Woah! A bit too bloomin’ fast for me to get a decent shot. By the time you have heard them – they’re gone!
Oh well!…
Tags: Gardens, Hummingbirds, Photo, wildlife
The last two days of our brief but highly pleasurable visit to the mainland were dedicated to visiting some of The Girl’s family – for the first time since the pandemic began. On the Sunday we had a most enjoyable dinner in Port Moody with cousins and then on the Monday retraced our footsteps to North Vancouver to pay a call on The Girl’s ninety five year old aunt. It was wonderful to sense just a glimmer of normality after such a long time with little but our own company – vastly pleasurable as that always is.
We had made only the most tenuous of plans for the last day so had not booked a place on a ferry crossing to the island, guessing that the Monday would be fairly quiet and that we could just pitch up and jump aboard.
Wrong!
As The Girl negotiated the maze of routes out of Vancouver towards Tsawwassen I looked up the status of the sailings on the InterWebNet. At this time of year ferries depart hourly – on the hour – but we could see that the 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock sailings were already full. As The Girl put the ‘pedal to the metal’ (she likes that!) we watched the rolling updates from BC ferries indicate that the 3 o’clock was filling rapidly and that the 4 o’clock was not far behind. When we finally reached the terminal at Tsawwassen we we told we might be on the 4 pm or it might be the 5 pm!
Having not yet had lunch and mindful of the long wait to come we headed for the terminal building to source ourselves some victuals – only to discover that a power failure had resulted in all of the concessions being closed – barring the confectionery stand and they were only able to take cash as all of the machines were ‘hors de combat’.
Bah!
That was not the most healthy repast that we have ever consumed.
No matter – we were determined not to let such small things spoil a most enjoyable trip and we were soon home again.
A final flurry of images from the journey home.
The third day of our sojourn in and around Vancouver was dedicated to seeing again the dear friend who lived with us for a period at the start of 2020 and is now based in North Vancouver. The limitations imposed by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic – and in particular the need to restrict oneself to strict social ‘bubbles’ – have meant that, though some of our dear friend’s furniture yet lives with us, we have not been able to see her since she moved out last summer.
Now that the restrictions have been eased we very much wanted to get together again – and we duly set off across the Lion’s Gate bridge in the directions of ‘North Van’.
The form for the day was a drive up the southern half of the ‘Sea to Sky Highway’ to Squamish for a spot of lunch. I have not previously traveled this route (which starts off along the east coast of the Howe Sound and which leads ultimately to Whistler) and looked forward to enjoying its beauties. The nature of the day and the sheer weight of traffic meant that stopping to take photos along the road was not realistic, but should you be interested this website gives a good and detailed introduction to the route.
I did snatch a couple of shots in Squamish but lunch and catching up were a far higher priority.
After lunch we visited Shannon Falls, which are but a stone’s throw from Squamish (should you be an Olympian and possessed of a very light stone). Shannon Falls is one of the highest in British Columbia – with a drop in excess of 800ft – and is classified as a horsetail fall, with multiple elements fanning out (like a horse’s tail) and with the water making frequent contact with the underlying rocks.
I have read subsequently that Shannon Falls – along with other similar types of waterfall – can be difficult to photograph convincingly – which explains (I hope!) why none of my shots really does it justice or truly captures the scale of it.
The standard of the photography aside – a jolly good day was had by all…
Two things occupied our time on the first full day of our recent visit to Vancouver.
The first was a visit to the Vancouver Convention Centre to view the ‘Imagine Van Gogh‘ exhibition, the which is described by the promoters – appropriately in our view – as an ‘immersive’ exhibition. This event has popped up in various places in North America and in all probability in other parts of the world also. We enjoyed it – particularly as one is able to see detail of the genius’s work in extreme close-up. I took these photos, which should give some idea of the scale of the thing. Do click on the images to see them on the largest possible scale…
In the evening The Girl and I dined at a rather lovely bar/bistro called ‘Tableau’. Though a week in advance of the actual date we had decided to treat this as our anniversary dinner and duly indulged ourselves in a thoroughly decent bottle of Chablis. The evening was considerably enhanced by the excellent service (and the complimentary fizz) provided in particular by the restaurant manager/sommelier who hails – as it turns out – from Chalfont St. Peter – a village within about five miles of where we used to live in South Buckinghamshire in the UK.
We thoroughly recommend Tableau should you find yourself in Vancouver.
Tags: Art, Dining, food and drink, Holiday, Photo, Travel, Vancouver
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