Ross Bay/Victoria

 

Back in lovely Victoria, we rented an apartment in a house across the street from Ross Bay, and next to the Ross Bay Cemetery (a historic spot in Victoria, and the site of past generations of branches of Carolyn's family). It is also the site of several deer, whom Tony often encountered on his morning jog through the cemetery and along the waterfront.

 

 

Ross Bay, across the street from our apartment.

 

 

A little further along the waterfront is the "Chinese Cemetery", another historic landmark in Victoria.

 

 

Around the corner is the duplex where Carolyn spent the first two years of her life (she can't remember which side it was--understandable, given her age when she lived there).

 

 

Also close by, Gonzales Bay, a beautiful sandy crescent of beach, viewed here from a hill (Gonzales Hill, not surprisingly) which was on the route of one of our favourite walks.

 

 

Gonzales beach again, with daffodils and some kind of purple-thingy flowers (what Tony refers to as "purple-bells") in the foreground.

 

 

One Sunday, we (Carolyn, Tony and Mark) drove about an hour up island from Victoria to the town of Duncan to have lunch with Carolyn's Aunt Joyce (Carolyn and Mark's Mom's sister), and cousin Sharon - there will be a quiz on the family tree later.....

Another weekend outing to the area of Shawnigan Lake (about 45 minutes up island from Victoria). Here is a view from a plot of land that Mark is hoping to buy when his lottery numbers come in.

 

 This is the Kinsol Trestle, a historic train bridge in the area (now part of a walking trail). See the people at the bottom? The structure is very impressive!

 

 

 One last view...This one is from the Coast Trail in Sooke, southwest of Victoria. As you can see, Vancouver Island does not lack for spectacular scenery!


Hope all is well with everyone - miss you! Love C & T

 

California

 

We were off to California for a two week excursion, partly work, partly play.  So, the first play picture is of real play--golf!  In Santa Monica (near Los Angeles), we attended the final round of the Northern Trust Open (a professional golf tournament), and the excitement was in the air for these two smiling Canadians because a fellow Canadian, Graham Delaet, shown here in his patriotic red and white on the practise grounds, was one of the leaders.   

 

In Santa Monica, Carolyn surveys the extensive beach.  It is a very big beach and is connected to Venice Beach, a great place for a stroll and to people-watch.

 

One of the more well-known landmarks in Santa Monica is its pier, also a nice place for a stroll and to people watch.

 

After Santa Monica, we made our way to Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, where we attended a conference.  Long Beach was not as picturesque as Santa Monica, but one afternoon we went sight-seeing including checking out the beach which was, yes, long. 

 

 

 

After Long Beach, we made our way north to a lovely town just outside of Santa Barbara called Carpinteria.  We had stayed here 4 years ago on our last sabbatical, and clearly we could not get enough of the place then because we made an enthusiastic return trip.  Here--and hold on to your hats-- Carolyn views a lovely rainbow to punctuate our arrival....   

 

One of the attractive features of Carpinteria is its beach, which is perfect for swimming and body boarding.  Every afternoon after work, we sported our wet suits and took to the waves.  A nice way to finish off the day.  A person could get used to this... 

Near our apartment was a salt marsh (an estuary where fresh and salt water meet), a great place to walk and see the local birds, along with a few rather eccentric bird watchers (is there any other kind?).  In the background is the Santa Ynez mountains. 

Beer! Enough said.

 

Very close to our apartment was a local railway stop, so it was very convenient for us to take the train from LA to Carpinteria and, once there, to visit Santa Barbara (15 minutes away), even without a car.  

 

The view of Santa Barbara beach from it main pier.

 

A picture of our apartment in Carpinteria, including Carolyn on our deck surveying the scene.

 

The beach started to get busy on Saturday, the day before we left.  The weekend is often a time when Carpinteria swells with visitors.  It was also a balmy 25 degrees on that day, which doesn't hurt as well.  

 

 

 

Most mornings we would have a brisk walk (Carolyn) or jog (Tony) to a local seal sanctuary about 3km away from our apartment.  Here is a picturesque lagoon in the morning sun en route to the sanctuary. 

 

Carpinteria was a lovely place to return to for brief visit.  We are now heading back to Victoria--also a lovely spot!

 

Love to all!

 

victoria re-visited

 After leaving Australia, we returned to Victoria.  We expected a chilly contrast to the sunny and warm weather we had experienced in Australia, but Victoria was having one of its warmest winters in recent years (e.g., 10-13 C nearly everyday).  So, to our surprise, we did not need to brace ourselves for a chilly return to Canada, even a mild one that Victoria is known for!  Most of our time when we returned was spent catching up on work (so, there are few pictures in this blog), including preparing for a conference in Los Angeles, California at the end of February.  But we did get outside a bit as well, including some nice walks.  Above is a picture of the harbour area from Dallas road, near our apartment.   

One weekend, we did a lovely hike in the Saanich peninsula, just outside of Victoria.  Here Carolyn surveys the scene, including what is called the Malahat region and the bay south of Victoria, along with, in the distance, the Olympic mountains in Washington state.  It was a beautiful day and afforded great views.     

 

One of the favourite past-times of Victoria residents in February is to take pictures of flowers and trees in bloom and send it to friends and relatives in Ontario to make them jealous.  So, given that we are temporary residents and need to fit in with the locals, we are posting, with some reluctance, one such picture.

 

 

 

We also bought a car!  On our last day before leaving for California, we drove with Mark to Nanaimo (about two hours north of Victoria) because no Victoria dealership had the 2015 Toyoto Prius V cars on their lot.  And then we bought a white Prius and drove it back to Victoria.  It was a long day but satisfying because not only did we buy the car, we organized all of the details (including getting BC insurance). Here is a picture of a white Prius V, a hybrid car that gets very good gas mileage.  (We forgot to take a picture of our own car before we left for California, so this is one from the Internet that looks identical to ours.)

 

Off to California!   Love to all....C & T