He's the one on the right, I think.
the crowds of visitors to the festival. Below a small Fan listens to the band.
quiet fishing village, a nice place to enjoy the ocean.
Malcolm Chalmers - Vancouver Island Event Photographer |
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If you love fresh seafood right off the boat the Cowichan Bay Spot Prawn Festival was the place for you on Mothers Day Weekend. Now here is a happy looking Spot Prawn, the music, people dancing and having a great time, the smell of the garlic in the Cesar Salad I don't think he knows about the pot of boiling water he's just headed for seconds from now. Here he is minutes later with the fixings for a tasty lunch. Cesar salad Garlic bread and Chutney. He's the one on the right, I think. Two Lbs, yes pounds, or .09 of a kelo for $10 fresh off the boat. For an extra dollar a pound a big burly fisherman will twist their heads off for you. Here's "Captain Jack" Cowichan Bay's seafaring event mascot dancing to one of the many bands entertaining the crowds of visitors to the festival. Below a small Fan listens to the band. Beer and Cheese from Hilliary's Cheese shop. Visit Cowichan Bay some time this summer, Kayaking, Whale watching, Boat Docks, Art and Pottery shops are a-plenty plus some of the best Clam Chowder on the coast. If you visit on a non festival time it is normally a quiet fishing village, a nice place to enjoy the ocean. Although he's not a clam, I'm sure he's as happy as one. All the heat is off this crab and his friends today with everyone feasting on Spot Prawns and not him.
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One Trip You Have To Make When You Visit Vancouver Island is this one . . It is a one day trip that can easily be extended to one week. The Pacific Marine Circle Tour Starting in Victoria (1), Capital City of British Columbia and home of our BC Parliament Buildings we head west to Sooke (2) where we first meet the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean. It’s only an hour’s drive from downtown Victoria, but Sooke offers visitors their first taste of the Wild West Coast experience that Vancouver Island is famous for. From there we travel the West Coast Road where we can watch the ocean's waves crashing against rocky beaches and sandstone caves, there is a wealth of marine creatures and plants for beachcombers to explore. This west coast drive ends at the fishing Village of Port Renfrew (3). about an hour and thirty minute drive from Sooke (2). Leaving Port Renfrew (3) we head inland on recently paved logging roads through the log rich Vancouver Island forests, with campsites and picnic areas situated next to small lakes and rivers ending in the Logging community of Lake Cowichan (4),slow going takes us another hour and a half. From Lake Cowichan we head east past the farmlands of the Cowichan Valley (6) to the village of Cowichan Bay then over the Malahat and back to Victoria (1). Another hour and a half. A realistic time is between 6 - 8 hours driving time, that's with a few short stops. Just past Sooke (2), off of Highway #14, French Beach provincial Park offers easy beach access for beachcombing, picnicking, swimming, wildlife and whale watching. The waters here are a favorite feeding ground for migrating gray whales. Look carefully and you will see seals popping their heads out of the water to watch you. I don't know if the Parks Department still charges to park in their lots but it's good to have some change on hand in case. It is a very short 5-10 min walk through a rainforest to the beach. It's not always windy but a lot of the time it is. . Leaving French beach we continue on Highway #14 to the small community of Jordan River. It is located halfway between Sooke (2) and Port Renfrew (3), and is home to a community of loggers and West Coast surfer's. Just past Jordon River is Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, this is where you'll find China Beach, a day use Park and a Campground that offers vehicle accessible campsites in a forested area close to the ocean. The popular Juan de Fuca Marine Trail begins at China Beach and follows the shoreline through the forest for 47kms to Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew. This is also a popular sea kayaking area. In the summer you can kayak from French Beach or China Beach along the coast to Port Renfrew. Its a long trip but beach camping is permitted along the way. Leaving Jordan River the highway climbs the San Juan ridge, from here you can view the pacific ocean from on high. and then enjoy the 45 minute drive on some tight winding roads take you to Port Renfrew (3). Port Renfrew (3) is known as "the Jewel of the West Coast" it is is a old First Nations fishing village and is a popular weekend destination for family camping and outdoor activities. Port Renfrew is also the trailhead for both the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail and the historic West Coast Trail, a world-famous hiking trail built in 1907 to save sailors shipwrecked on the rugged coastline. Just outside Port Renfrew is Botanical Beach in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. There are two times to come and visit this beach, High tide and Low tide. It is a vastly different beach at either time you visit. Botanical Beach offers one of the best opportunities to view intertidal marine creatures and plants on Vancouver Island. The area is a protected zone, so please take nothing but photographs and memories from Botanical Beach. At low tide you can walk a long way out across flat sandstone and granite outcroppings to view tide pools home to brightly coloured marine animals. Purple, red and orange Starfish and Sea Urchins, blue Mussels, white Gooseneck Barnacles, green Sea Anemones and Sea Cucumbers When the tide is coming in you can watch the waves crash on to the sandstone shoreline, but do beware as the sign says large waves can cut off a safe return to shore or wash you off the rocks. From Port Renfrew (3) we head inland for the hour and a half trip to Lake Cowichan (4) through a working forest. Forest campsites close to small lakes and rivers are available for picnics, swimming or camping. A small sign on the side of the road tells us the location of the giant San Juan Sitka Spruce growing at the San Juan Bridge Recreation Site. It is Canada’s largest Sitka Spruce tree, based on mass, with a circumference of 11.6 metres (38 feet) and a height of 62.5 metres (205 feet). Lizard Lake offers a small recreation campsite, located 18 km northeast of Port Renfrew on the Harris Creek Main logging road. The popular park is open for camping from May to September. Lizard Lake is filled with newts or salamanders that can be seen swimming in the water. They are not man eaters. Logging activity can be seen on weekdays so watch out for loaded logging trucks as they take up a larger portion of the road than other vehicles. The Logging rd portion ends at Mesachie Lake BC on the South side of Cowichan Lake. The Cowichan Lake District includes the communities of Lake Cowichan (F), Honeymoon Bay (B), Youbou (E), Mesachie Lake (A) and Caycuse (D). This mountainous area is rich with wildlife, is an ideal destination for outdoor adventures. The Lake itself is Vancouver Island’s second largest lake and is a popular destination for outdoor recreation and camping. Cowichan Lake extra side trip. A scenic 75km (47mi) drive on secondary gravel/paved roads around Cowichan Lake takes about an hour and a half. There are several parks, campsites like Gordon Bay (C), and lookouts with excellent photo opportunities for vistas and wildlife. These are also working Logging roads so care has to be taken with trips during the weekdays. Leaving the Cowichan Lake area we head East from Lake Cowichan (F) on Hwy #18 to Duncan. Drive five minutes on Hwy #18 then turn on to Cowichan Lake Rd, the "Old Highway" and then on Stoltz Rd to Cowichan River Provincial Park (G), check out the Skutz Falls Fish Ladders. There is also the fishermans trails along each bank of the Cowichan River. Great for hiking and photographing this wonderful Heritage River. Duncan is 30 minutes away from Skutz Falls. In the downtown area there is a walking tour of the Totems that give Duncan the title of "City of Totems". Fifteen minutes from downtown Duncan (A) on the east coast of the Island is our next stop Cowichan Bay (B), a scenic Oceanside community with wonderful little shops and B&B's. Leaving Cowichan Bay (B) Back to the Island Highway, through Mill Bay, up over the Malahat Drive, through Goldstream Park into Victoria (C). Now this would be a extremely long day if you were to stop and spend some time at each place. This is also not everything you can stop and see just some of the highlights. Use this as a template for a week long trip around one of the most varied trips on Vancouver Island. Happy Trails!
Wow, how lucky are we? Tyler is in Fredericton New Brunswick at the National School Wrestling Competition. Thankfully he flew Nanaimo/Vancouver/Montreal to Fredericton NB on the 11th and not the 13th just missing the commotion over the "Sick out" by the Air Canada Pilots. Leave it up to them to choose Friday the 13th to be sick. I do feel bad for Air Canada employees but it seems that everyone is hurting now-a-days. They should realize disrupting or ruining peoples vacation plans is not the way to gain sympathy for your cause. Fortunately Tyler and the team are already in New Brunswick and don't need to be flying again until Monday. Hopefully things will have settled out by the time they need to leave. This picture has nothing to do with the story but it does prove that Air Canada is not the only airline.
It is not a big park, unless you go at low tide. Blue Heron Park is located in North Oyster/Diamond near Yellow Point on Vancouver Island is a great example of a sandstone ocean side habitat. Blue Heron Park is a great place to spend the day picnicking, swimming, and just playing at the beach it would also be a good launching site for Kayaking or Canoeing. At low tide you could dig up a feast of Clams or collect shells off the sandstone rock that makes up much of the beach. The dogs had endless fun playing with the birds or simply sniffing and chewing the logs that wash up on the shore. The sandstone and some of the logs along the beach show the formation of holes an occurrence in witch burrowing clams and tidal action create small holes and Tidal pools. Something I have seen for the first time are these rocks with the strange cuts in the top There are lots of logs washed up on the beach, this location after all is surrounded by old Mills and Ports for ships being loaded with logs bound for China. Often logs escape from their "booms" in storms then wash ashore. But I digress. . . The white on the beach is broken shells, in many places along the coast Middens ( old shell heaps) can be found, places that historically have been used to pick clams by the Indigenous Natives. But I digress again. . . . Across the water sits the North end of Ruxton Island, Valdies Island, beyond that the Strait of Georgia and the Coastal Mountian Range on the mainland. What a beautiful Easter day.
My son Tyler has always been an active boy, he's been in Track and Field events since he was little, a couple of years ago he joined his schools Wrestling Club. This is Tyler, he's the one on top, hasn't quite managed to dominate the opponent at this time. In his first year wrestling Tyler managed to win his first medal, a Bronze at the Island Finals held in Chemainus. Coach Tuck believes he is going to be a very good wrestler, he is trying, learning how to be a gracious winner and a good looser (I don't like that word, runner up, second placer maybe?) and learning some good moves. He is also developing some good friends through wrestling, you know not "the wrong crowd" type and is able to do a little traveling with the team. Last year he went to the BC School Championships in Abotsford on the mainland, this year it was in Kamloops in the interior. He did well but failed to place in his weight class. The Provincial Championships haven't produce any medals, but as a learning experience they were invaluable. This season Tyler has been doing better placing in almost every tournament. We have been very fortunate to have only very minor injuries, sore muscles, hurt pride, nothing more thankfully. With the extra wrestling camps he has attended in the last couple of months Coach Tuck feels he has a good opportunity to do well in the Nationals. This Easter Tyler will be flying cross country to the Nationals in Fredericton, New Brunswick. That will be
quite the trip. Teddi and I will be cheering for him and his teammates from here on the "left" coast. *Assuming Air Canada will still be flying at that time. The May, Victoria Day Long Weekend is the best chance for Islanders to catch part of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association's Rodeo competitions when Pro Rodeo comes to the Luxton fairgrounds in the City of Langford BC. _ As part of it's festival weekend at the Luxton Fair Grounds there are Midway Rides, Car Shows, Blacksmith Demos, Live Music and Vendors to add to the excitement of the Victoria Day long weekend. Since 1975 The Pro Rodeo has been a part of the May event that attracts upwards of 15,000 visitors to the 3 day Festival. _ Each afternoon a good number of those visitors at the festival come to watch the Cowboys perform at the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association's competition and show called The Luxton Pro Rodeo. Rodeo is part of a unique lifestyle from the late 1800's where the events are evolved from everyday life on a Cattle Ranch. Competitions inevitably developed when one ranch would pit its cowboys and livestock against a neighboring ranch. Eventually this evolved into Professional Rodeo. _The events are divided into two basic categories, the rough stock events like Saddle or Bareback riding and the timed events like Calf Roping or Barrel racing. Cowboys pay and entry fee to win prize money and pro rodeo points. _ The Events Tie-down roping, Team Roping, Steer wrestling, Saddle Bronc riding, Bareback Bronc riding, Bull riding and Barrel racing are run for the three days with the highest points earner the winner in that event. Bareback, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding require the rider to stay on a bucking animal, spurring with your feet and hanging on with only one hand for 8 seconds. Points are awarded to the animal and the rider for their performances so it takes the combination to make a winning score. Rodeo stock are provided by contractors whose responsibility is to provide the bulls, cattle and bucking horses.These animals are specially bred to be mean and difficult to ride. Cowboys get to know which animals are the best to ride in competition. _Barrel Racing and Cutting horses belong to the individual rider and are trained by each. This is truly a team effort with rider and animal working as one against the clock. Rodeo has always been a family friendly event. For the kids there is Mutton Bustin and the Mutton Scramble they both provide some laughs for the crowd. For the really young, their introduction to riding animals is the Mutton Bustin, kids as young a 4 years old try to spend 8 seconds on a big fluffy sheep, not as easy as it looks. Then for the pre teens theres the Mutton Scramble, pull a ribbon off a terrified sheep being chased by a couple dozen kids. In the past few years Rodeo has come under fire as being cruel to animals for the use of Flank straps and electric shocks given to bulls or roping and tieing down cattle. As I grew up around animals I personally don't see this treatment being cruel, these animals are big and tough and handle treatment like this. These animals are raised to do this and are too costly to risk injury to, so no intentional cruelty is inflicted. They are only ridden for 8 seconds to reduce the possibility of tiring and causing accidents but there are still accidents. Bull riding produces half of all injury's that occur at the rodeo and they are mostly to the rider.
With the wind in your sails and the water under your board there's not much more exciting than Wind Surfing. If you are on Vancouver Island you are only a road trip away from the best wind in the west. Nitinat Lake on Vancouver Island is on the west coast, it has some of the most consistent winds available for wind sports, these winds often reach 50 kph and stay that way for hours on end. That's why it is rated one of the 10 best places in the world for wind sports. With this consistent wind Nitinat challenges even the best surfers. Nitinat Lake, BC _ Nitinat Lake is connected to the Pacific Ocean by a 3km tidal salt water fjord, the lake itself is 23 km long and 1.2 km wide. Consistent winds make this a great lake for wind sports. For info www.bigwavedave.ca is one of many good web sites to follow wind conditions and surf news. _"Nitinat" is in the traditional territory of the Ditidaht First Nation. From their web site - " Nitinat is the Westcoastized pronunciation of the First Nations word Ditidaht". (www.ditidaht.ca). Getting to Nitinat Lake can also be an adventure since 2/3 of the time is spent driving on active logging roads. From Victoria you can expect a 3 hour trip. Its an hour to Cowichan Lake, once you pass Youbou it's two hours on dirt roads. Be prepared for flat tires if yours are not in good condition. (www.nitinaht.ca/southern_route.htm) You can also drive from Port Alberni on the northern route, it is about same driving time on logging roads. (www.nitinaht.ca/northern_route.htm) _The consistency of the wind is the wonderful thing about Nitinat Lake, it starts to blow in the morning between 10 - 11am and continues into the early evening. The wind blows when its sunny on the inland portion and blows harder when it's foggy closer to the coast. _Surf season is May thru September. July and August being best months for good wind. Nitinat campsite _ Near the head of the lake is a rustic campsite situated in a grove of large spruce trees. In the summer time the campsite fills up because there are numerous other attractions and parks in the area. On the beach a home made driftwood sauna is there to help soothe those tired muscles from a long day of surfing, or sleeping on the ground. There are limited services in the small First Nations community of Ditidaht or Nitinat Village, one small Motel a Visitors Center, Cafe, Convenience Store (with surf supplies) and one Gas Station._ In the Nitinat Lake area you access the West Coast Trail (www.vancouverisland.com/Parks/?id=559) Pacific Rim Provincial Park (www.vancouverisland.com/Parks/?id=404) and the Carmanah Valley. Hiking, biking, boating and fishing are other activities available almost year round in the area. _ I don't know about you but when I see a big wooden Chef next to a giant hamburger on the side of the highway I'll pull over. Just outside Port Townsend by Discovery Bay in Washington State sits FAT SMITTY'S RESTAURANT. What this place lacks in size it more than makes up for in personality. The place is decorated with dollar bills on the walls and ceiling, plastic rats and stuffed animals, vinyl 45 rpm records and the most M&M's collectables I have ever seen. On the menu Burgers & Chips, Seafood and Sandwiches. The burgers are hand formed and a bit on the red side unless you order well done. But that's alright, just above the plastic rat laying on his back is the legal disclaimer about undercooked meat and a joke about sewage filling your house. The cheese burger was great and I loved the 50's style in the place. The owner of the restaurant was more than happy to show off her collectables that were stashed everywhere. The washrooms were clean and the costumers eclectic. They loved their troops to. This is the type of place one kinda wanted to leave behind a bit of your self just to say you were there. Look for my Dollar when you stop in. Map: Google Earth Fat Smitty's near Discovery Bay outside of Port Townsend WA. Just off highway 101 on the way to Tacoma/Seattle WA or Port Angels WA. Good burgers, interesting decor. With 80 Totems Duncan BC really is the "City of Totems" with local and international artists poles situated all over the downtown and surrounding area. This totem is the worlds widest totem pole carved by Richard Hunt in 1988. It is in front of the "Round Building" at the end of Station Street. Cedar Man Holding Talking Stick is the name of this one. At the other end of Station Street on the south side of the Cowichan Museum/Train Station sit these totems. On the North side of the station you will find these . . . . Down Station street . . . and this totem is in front of the Cowichan pool and arena, along with the worlds biggest Hockey stick from Canada's Expo 86'. Another sight worth seeing in Duncan, BC. These are but a few of the 80 poles in the "City of Totems", you can also see poles along the highway going through Duncan and maybe watch one being carved at the First Nations Heritage Center - Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre as you enter Duncan. There are self guided walking tours and guided tours in the summer months. _ Visit Duncan City Hall right downtown for more information about the guided tours or info about the poles, or check their website Duncan - City of Totems.
California Route 1 or the Pacific Coast Highway, PCH, is probably the most popular Road trip in America, second only to Route 66 crossing the country. The 150km section from Monterey Bay to San Simeon, known as the the Big Sur drive, has the most rugged coastline, the most vistas and is by far the slowest section of Highway to travel. With good reason. _Our trip took us over 6 hours to drive with all the stops we made. The PHC was declared the first Scenic State Highway in America in 1965. We start our road trip in Monterey with it's white sandy beaches and world class aquarium . We will head south through Carmel which is well known for holding on to it's 1960's look and attitude. Peace movements Artists and Hippies. Carmel By The Sea with it's big houses built on the cliffs of the Carmel Highlands passing here takes us to the start of the Big Sur drive. The road takes us along the edge of the Santa Lucia Mountain range where it meets the pacific ocean. Rugged cliffs, crashing waves and expansive views wow us as we head to the Redwood groves of Big Sur and the Los Padres National forest. There are plenty of pull outs to stop and admire the coastline and add more time to your trip. If you drive south to north exiting and entering the highway is easier, you will be doing that lots. _At the best of times this is a beautiful scenic drive, you will have to take it slow it is a winding road with plenty of cars, buses, RV's and bikes pulling on and off. At it's worst a stormy foggy narrow road. Fortunately our mid-October trip was the best of times. The Bixby Bridge is one of thirty three bridges built to complete the Pacific Coast Highway. Of them it is the largest, a single span concrete arch more than 80 meters (260 feet) high and 200 meters (700 feet) long crossing Bixby Creek. The Bridge design was chosen because it was more aesthetic and environmentally friendly than other options such as a tunnel. After crossing the Bixby Bridge the terrain will place us closer to the ocean where we see hills covered with Pampas grasses blowing in the wind. The road then heads away from the cliffs through the Redwood forests , Inns and Campsites dot the area. Time is of the essence for us, we have spent a lot more time than we thought traveling the first section of the coast so we motor through this beautiful area only stopping for gas. Strangely gas stations become less frequent and gas becomes more expensive through this area so plan ahead unless you don't mind cleaning your wallet out. Shortly after stopping for gas we hit the coast again. _Passing through Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park takes us closer to Hearst Castle and San Simeon only 150km (93 miles) from Monterey. Here at San Simeon we find a beach full of barking seals and a beautiful sunset to bring to a close our 6 hour trip through the Big Sur. _A few kilometers down the Cabrillo highway is Moonstone Beach Drive, it is packed with motels and is our stopping point for the evening.
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