Spring is in
the air, finally – we had expected a warmer February & March, which is not
happening but the plants are definitely waking up!
We remain
under pretty strict Covid restrictions so visiting friends is basically not
allowed, so we continue to explore this part of the island. We are ticking off
local hikes on the All Trails app – Colliery Dam - forest, lake & river
views.
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| blooming heather |
Instead of
doing overnight trips we split the southwest part of the Island into 2 day
trips – first was to Sooke to its beaches. It was a lovely, sunny day when we
started out but when we got there the rain was going sideways & the wind
was howling! We still managed to visit 3 beach areas, albeit getting soaked in
the process – next trip will include rain pants/spare pants. Chinese food for
supper on the way home ended out our day.
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| Muir Creek beach |
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| Ella Beach |
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| timber from a 1864 hotel, gold rush era |
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| Sooke pier, site of hotel timbers |
We returned
to Morrell Nature Conservancy but hiked different trails.
We are
working our way through the Star Wars collection & have almost depleted the
PVR movies. We continue to do some crafting, we are hoping for 2 Farmers
Markets this summer, applications sent in. We needed to send in photos so I
played around with some collages to highlight our handicrafts.
We had quite
the shocker February 13, we had a dusting of snow just before that but it came
down with a vengeance that day – over 12” before it was over! Thick, wet snow,
lots of snowmen popped up, the park plowed the roadways continuously for 2
days! Of course we did not have a shovel, so Robin started out using a leaf
rake, then a piece of plywood, then he remembered that we had a spade – he kept
busy trying to clear snow from our site & the road. It took about 10 days
before the majority of it was gone – so no hikes on trails as too slippery – we
are old & might break if we fall! We are feeling achy in our joints here,
blaming the weather & the snow made it worse. We will really appreciate
warm, dry Alberta!!
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| palm trees in the snow |
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| hummingbirds don't scare easily |
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| our RV is back in there |
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| a leaf rake isn't the most effective! |
We headed
out on another day trip to Victoria & Sidney – we did the scenic drive tour
around Victoria admiring the pretty old buildings & the flowering trees, a
quick stop at Fisherman’s Wharf & on to the beach in Sidney. The tide was
quite low so more access to the seaglass on the beach, we are set for sea glass
forever!!
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| Sidney rocky seaglass beach |
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| main Sidney seaglass beach |
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| Fishermans Wharf |
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| Empress Hotel |
We found a
beach in nearby Cedar where the water color was reminiscent of the Caribbean.
We were lucky to see sea lions here & there but sadly they don’t pose for
photos.
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| cottonwood collected |
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| beautiful color |
We are
trying to “play by the Covid rules” but we did have an outdoor picnic &
walk on the beach with friends Kelsie & Bill – unfortunately the weather
was nasty with a cold wind! There are no days in the 14 day forecast over 10C
so we picked “the best of the worst”. Part of the joy of RVing is getting
together over a campfire with neighbors – difficult to do this year &
hasn’t happened very often.
One more day
trip - this time to Port Renfrew, on the southwest coast. The town itself is
very small but the beaches were spectacular & wild. The road to get there
& then back to Nanaimo is the Pacific Marine Circle Route, part of which
was quite busy with loaded logging trucks & one way bridges! Luckily we
took lunch as we did not see any open restaurants. We did some forest hiking to
get to the beaches, collected some unique driftwood, cottonwood bark &
shells, checked out the tide pools, watched surfers & just enjoyed the
waves & the serenity. And I got pooped on by a bald eagle!
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| Jorden River surfers |
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| China Beach |
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| an orange sea pen |
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| a hike down to the beach |
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| tide pools |
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| Botanical Beach |
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| Botanical Beach |
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| thousands of mussells |
We are now
eagerly waiting for the time to return home to Alberta, looking forward to
sunshine & more sunshine! Our ferry is booked, I have started seeds for my
garden, there is optimism regarding Covid vaccines & we are hopeful that we
will not need to return here in the fall (Arizona here we come)!
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| Nanaimo River & out to the ocean |
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| a" permanent "camper, big on gardening |
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| varied thrush |
