and I usually think that I really don't care for the City... the City being Victoria. Oh yes, it is beautiful, geographically, but there are social problems evident on the streets there, and being situated on an island makes travelling more difficult. My first thought is that we will be moving away if and when we decide to become landlubbers again. (Our marina town is about 20 km north of the City.)
However, we have spent a lot of time in various parts of the City over the past couple of years... and the more time I spend there, the more I am beginning to appreciate what it has to offer.
There are the obvious things such as mild winters, incredibly beautiful vistas, good accessible health care, and clean air and good water. Not necessarily in that order. But lately I have come to really love the harbour, the great variety of walks/trails that go on and on for miles all over the regional district, and the beauty here - the parks, flowers, water views, mountains, sea life, beaches, proximity to the U.S. border, and so on.... perhaps staying wouldn't be so bad?
Today after breakfast, I packed us a picnic lunch, and then we drove in to the City and parked at one of the local police station lots near easy access to one of our favorite trails. We walked about an hour at a very brisk clip along a paved pathway. It was busy today with bikers and walkers and runners at it is a civic holiday here. This trail snakes through urban/commercial areas, across old train tressel bridges and past newly developped townhouses in newly trendy and formerly industrial neighborhoods.... the blackberries are getting ripe and The Captain picked me a few. We stopped when we got to the Inner Harbour... (the trail goes on for about another 40 miles).
We found a nice bench to sit on while we ate our lunch and enjoyed all of the traffic that comes and goes in front of the world famous Empress Hotel... ferries, water taxis, sea planes, sail boats, power yachts (last week one of them was over 300 feet long), police cruisers, kayaks, canoes and fishing boats.
Water taxi
Float home village in front of Coast Hotel
Then we drove up to the top of a local lookout on Mount Douglas where we wandered around the summit and revelled in the 360 degree view of the area. Spectacular, and a great place to take your thermos of coffee and relax!
East over Haro Strait and San Juan Island to Mount Baker, WA
South over the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Olympic Mountains, in WA
Back on board, we thoroughly enjoyed hot showers off the transom of the boat and a nice rest before dinner.
Sorry, Victoria, time for me to start being your cheerleader. I have been remiss.
You do make it sound like a great place. I love all the pictures you post. I hope to visit there someday.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures Elle...I am glad that you posted more about where you live...I am always intrigued by the little adventures you take with the Captain :) Looks like it was a gorgeous day there!
ReplyDeleteThat does look like a very beautiful place. I love the pictures! Your life seems so peaceful. Relaxing on a sail boat, taking nice runs along the shore line and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the lovely city!! I looks like a wonderful place to call home!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! It gets me thinking that there are so many places that are much more interesting and beautiful than here in Ohio and the rest of the US. I want to visit them!
ReplyDeleteMy little secret? In college, my roomie and best buddy was from Canada - first exposure I had really had to anyone who was not from the US. She used to talk about how beautiful Canada was and how much she missed it. From your photos, I can see why! ;) Lovely!