Victoria and Seattle

On a sunny Saturday, we went on a hike at a provincial park on the Saanich peninsula (just north of Victoria) where Mark showed us a great spot for a view of the Saanich farmland, with the sea beyond (he knows all the best spots!).  Some day laddy, all of this will be yours....

On the sunny Sunday, Tony and Carolyn went for a long bike ride along the 33 km Lochside Trail to the end of the Saanich Peninsula (from Victoria to Swartz Bay). It wasn't until we were sitting down for lunch at a pub at Swartz Bay that it dawned on us that we had to ride all the way back again.  Oh well, a lovely but tiring ride there and back.

On the Victoria Day weekend, we took a foot passenger-only ferry to Seattle.  3 hours from downtown Victoria right to downtown Seattle -- sweet!  Above is a very long line up at the original Starbucks, which is in downtown Seattle.  Interestingly, the Seattle Mariners were playing the Boston Red Sox while we were in town, and the series was called "coffee vs tea".

Pike Place market is a famous site in Seattle, with stalls and stalls and stalls (did I say "stalls"?) of every kind of produce and other foods, flowers, etc.

 

And another famous site in Seattle, the space needle!

  
We also took in the Seattle Art Museum -- here is a rather interesting installation in the lobby.   Something about the existential angst of the human condition or whatever...

A very recently opened highlight when visiting Seattle is the Chihuly Garden and Glass sculpture gallery--all the pieces are made of blown glass; above is one of the pieces that was indoors.

 

and a sculpture in an atrium....

  
and some sculpture incorporated into outdoor gardens.

Here is one of the most disgusting sites--(no, not Tony)--the gum wall, down an alleyway (near Pike Place market) where hundreds, probably thousands, of people have stuck their wads of gum. yuch!

While waiting for our boat home, we took a walk along the waterfront, part of which goes through another outdoor sculpture museum.

 
Back in Victoria, we watched a bit of the Victoria day parade; the Highland games were on at the same time, hence the kilts!


 
Then it was back to work, with evening strolls in Beacon Hill park, which is across the street from our apartment. One feature is a putting green. Here Tony puts for birdie, literally (and, yes that is a peahen in the distance).

Hope you had a great Victoria Day weekend, wherever you are! Love, C & T

Victoria and the wild west coast

 As we begin the month of May, outdoor activities, including patio/deck sitting and outdoor happy hours, are the order of the day.  But the truth be told, we have had such terrific weather in Victoria, we haven't noticed much of a change since February. It is an odd thing not to notice a dramatic change in weather come Spring.  Here we sit on Mark's deck after an afternoon hike.

 One Saturday morning, we went on a tour of downtown Victoria.  But we had an unusual set of tour guides: local poets.  Stopping at local sites and sculptures or other artwork, the poet would describe the site and then read a poem, usually their own work or a work by a local artist.       

Still on the tour, Tony surveys a wall mural in one of the downtown streets.

 On route to the west coast of Vancouver Island (sometimes called the 'wild west coast'), you have to cross a nearby ridge called the Malahat. Here Carolyn takes in the view.  Way off in the distance you can see the Olympic Mountains in Washington state.

 The scenery on the way to the west coast is great.  Here we stopped to view Lake Kennedy.  

 Here Carolyn and Mark relax by the campfire, watching low tide from our campsite overlooking Barkley Sound. A lovely scene.  In fact, the entire west coast region that includes the towns of Tofino and Ucluelet are beautiful.  

One of the reasons people flock to the Tofino region is because of the lovely sandy beaches that are great for surfing. It is indeed a world-class surfing destination, although full body wet-suits are a must.  Here Carolyn and Tony and a group of newbies listen to instruction on how to surf.  

 Then we took to the waves...  What a riot! Although it was very difficult to actually stand up, we eventually accomplished this feat near the end of our session in the water.  Here Tony, aka Kelly Slater, finally stands up to ride a wave into shore. Totally bitchen Dude! 

Years of yoga finally pays off as Carolyn masters a wave. 

 In this sequence of four pictures, Tony wipes out but takes Carolyn with him as they head into shore...

                                                                       Going...

                                                                      Going...

Gone....!

 Tofino is known as a laid-back destination.  It advertises itself as a place that is "half the speed, but twice the fun..." Here a tourist kicks back underneath the town sign--appropriate we think.

We checked out some of the local sites in the town itself.  Here Carolyn is in front of the harbour.

Back in Victoria after our wild west coast tour, we check out Beacon Hill park, just across the street from our apartment. In the evenings, we often take a stroll through the park. Here is one of the pretty ponds and a walking bridge.  Victoria is truly a lovely town! 

Love to all!    

The Pacific Marine Loop

This blog starts with our Thursday night happy hour in the Cook St. Village (a few minutes from where we are living in Victoria) -- in keeping with the theme, here are three happy Victorians.

 

On the Saturday after the happy Thursday, we ventured to the West Coast of Vancouver Island to start our tour of what is called the Pacific Marine Loop, which goes from Victoria, part way up the west coast to Port Renfrew, across the centre of the Island (through Cowichan Lake) to the East Coast, and down again to Victoria. Our first stop.... Jordan River, where we had a lovely picnic lunch at a spot where we could watch the surfers ride the (cold) waves.

Second stop was French Beach Provincial Park, where we camped on Saturday night.    Here is Carolyn on the beach itself.

 

The next day, we drove further north and hiked a few kilometres to Mystic Beach, which is on the route of a 4-day backpacking trail.  There was a great waterfall crashing onto the beach (a perfect natural shower!)

and a rope swing for the young and young at heart (we believe the swing is over water at high tide!)

 

a little further north of there is Botanical Beach, which, at low tide, is awash in strange tide pools.  See the person reflected in the tide pool below (very artsy shot!).

 

and some tide pools of different shapes that reminded us of a lunar landscape -- quite surreal

 

After much beaching, we took a break in the local pub in the nearby town of Port Renfrew

 
Then we set up camp again for the night at Fairy Lake, a little further east on the Pacific Marine Loop.  There were no other campers, no rangers, no staff, no anybody except us in this rustic campground, so we chose the spot right next to the lake.
 
The next day, we headed further east and inland to Cowichan Lake -- here is Tony at a park in the village of Youbou on Lake Cowichan.
 
For lunch, we stopped in Cowichan Bay, on the ocean back on the east coast of Vancouver Island.

 

In Cowichan Bay, there was a sign outside a restaurant that we thought Joan would appreciate....

We headed home to Victoria Monday afternoon -- below is Carolyn at her bbq on our patio.  A nice long weekend, but now back to our usual routine; work and enjoying Victoria.

Oregon

This blog is a bit out of order, being about a trip I (Carolyn) did with my brother Mark at the end of March.  We went to Oregon to see family, while Tony was visiting his family in London.  It has taken me this long to figure out how to get the photos off of my (relatively new) phone. 

And a warning -- this post contains family photos not necessarily of interest to those without a Hafer family tree hanging in their living room.

The trip began with a 1.5 hr. ferry ride from downtown Victoria to Port Angeles, Washington -- here is a shot as we head out of Victoria's inner harbour.

  

At the end of a lovely drive down the Hood Canal area of Washington, we set up camp at a state park; it was very peaceful being early in the season (I think we were the only tenters there)

 

 Ah, nothing like a camp shave in the truck window.....

 After leaving the campground, we hit civilization with a microbrewery lunch in Portland, Oregon, along with shopping at REI (like MEC, for those outdoors fans) and a super fabulous gigantic bookstore called Powell's (no shopping pictures; shopping pictures are boring; food pictures are interesting)

 The reason for our trip was to visit Aunt Jerene (my Dad's sister) and her husband Jim, who live in a farming community (Scion) outside of Salem Orgeon.  Below is a historical bridge in the town of Stayton, near Salem and Scion (not sure why all the places around there start with an "S").

 

There is a very pretty walk there along a river (reminded us of a Huckleberry Fin story).  Here is Mark and Jerene along the river path.

 

Jerene and Jim's house in Scion.  Jerene is an avid gardener, just like her mother!

 On the Saturday afternoon, we had lunch with Holly (my cousin, Jerene's daughter), who lives in Salem.  Here are Jim, Andy (Holly's husband), Holly, Jerene, and Mark.  I told them to look natural and this is what they gave me.

 

I call this picture "Little Mark, Bit Water."  This is part of the amazing Silver Falls State Park waterfalls trail.  In the picture is one of two falls that you can hike behind (see Mark contemplating life from behind the falls)

 

The countryside in the area (on our drive back from Silver Falls State Park)

 

Happy hour in Jerene and Jim's backyard.

 

Just to prove I was there...

 

Some of Jim's antique tractor collection.  Yes there is a collection of these on their property, along with their 2 horses, Jerene's vegetable and flower gardens, Jim's woodworking shop, an outdoor pizza oven, and a vineyard, not to mention Jim's canaries (in an aviary at the back of the house), Jerene's weaving looms, and so on.  I really don't think they have enough hobbies.

 

On the Sunday, after a large farm breakfast, Mark and I drove all the way back to Victoria (of course a ferry was involved as well).  And that is all for the Hafer family trip.  Will post some pictures of the little neighbourhood where Tony and I are currently living soon. Till then,

love, Carolyn

(p.s. did we mention that there is an extra bedroom here??)