Today is Monday and what a lovely morning it is.
Petra invited for breakfast but we'd already had ours so we offered to make coffee.
We joined J&P at the picnic table. When we saw what Petra had made for breakfast, we happily changed our minds and joined in the break-
fast feast. It was a Dutch Baby Pancake. It was delicious.
J&P left just before noon, heading for BC Ferries.
Sunday Jul 12 - Sunday Jul 19 Metchosin, BC
Sunday morning and we are in no hurry to leave. We have only 5 miles to drive today; we are returning to our friends, Jarda & Petra's place. They've asked us to house-sit while they enjoy a well-deserved break.
After a leisurely morning coffee, we left Pedder Bay RV Resort just before 11 a.m. When we arrived, Jarda was busy working on the bed platform for his Ford Explorer. He'd already taken out the back seats. I asked if I could help and was immediately put to work. Boy, it sure felt great to be working with tools again!
The bed platform lifts up at the front and back with about 3' (1m) fixed in
place in the middle. Working out what supports were needed and where
was a bit of a challenge, but between the two of us, we made it work.
There are two long pull-out drawers underneath for storage.
Jarda is very creative. What you don't see in this picture is the small table
which clips onto the back end of the platform when it is in position (as in
this pic). With a simple dowel for support, there is a place to cook under
cover. Pretty ingenious!
Here's where we are.
Other than the chickens and a couple of roosters who have to make themselves sound bigger than what they really are, it is nice and quiet here. We are just chilliin' for the next few days.
Wednesday morning and it's another beautiful morning. We drove into Sooke for coffee and a walk in the sunshine.
On our last visit to Whiffen Spit park, we noticed what looked like a boardwalk on the Sooke side of Sooke Harbour. We thought we'd check it out.
We stopped for coffee at Serious Coffee, drove to MacGregor Park to nosh on our pastries and coffee. (Good pastries, but the coffee SERIOUSLY sucked.)
We tried the west end of the boardwalk thru MacGregor Park but the access was downhill with way too many stairs. We drove to the other end. This end still had some stairs but Jen was able to navigate them successfully. Stairs are not good for her so she's pretty much used up her energy tokens for today and tomorrow as well.
On the walk down the road to the stairs that led to the boardwalk, we noticed this sign.
And the dreaded stairs...
After a short walk through the trees along the shoreline, we walked out onto the boardwalk.
After a climb back up the stairs, Jen was ready to sit. We stopped in the local market for some groceries, then headed back to Metchosin.
This afternoon the temperature soared into the high 20s. Certainly nice to have the warmer temps after what has been a long cool spring/early summer.
Not sure what's happening tomorrow. You'll just have to come
back, eh?!
Thursday morning and the wind is blowing ferociously. Well, it may not be a Force 10 gale but with the large conifers scattered around the neighbourhood, it sure sounds like it!
Look at the fog earlier this morning. I did not speed up the video for effect; that's how much it was blowing.
Jen suggested we head to Albert Head Regional Park this morning to have a look-see. We have not visited this park before.
You can walk the trail along the lagoon behind the beach – that's about it. Here's a few pictures.
We sat on a log and looked out at the marine traffic. You can the ships on the horizon. I displayed the Marine Traffic app on my phone. There was one ship at anchor, one stopped, one on its way to Singapore, and one heading to Vancouver from Osaka. It left Osaka on Jul 1. Pretty amazing technology.
I wouldn't mind being on this one, on its way to Sitka, AK.
We should have brought our tablets with us this morning. We had a front row seat looking at the water. It would have been a nice place to read our books for a while. Oh well, lesson learned.
That's about it for today. We did find another park we had no idea existed as we drove a circuitous route to Albert Head. We might try that tomorrow. See you then.
Friday morning: The sun is shining brightly and the wind continues to blow. We're quickly closing in on the end of our stay here in Metchosin, so we thought we'd drive into downtown Victoria and go for a walk.
On the way into town, I was really looking forward to seeing the completed McKenzie Street interchange.
Fat chance, buddy! It is STILL under construction! How many years has it been?
This link contains quite a few pictures of the work at the interchange (with no dates, hmm…). There are a couple, further down, of "Spring 2016 Engagement" pictures, so that's over 4 years! The "Partial Cloverleaf" option was selected. I just wonder if they'll meet the "summer 2020" revised deadline. Sure glad we don't have to drive this route every day!
Our stroll around downtown Victoria was pleasant – not a lot of touristas about. We walked by the yachts/boats in the inner harbour in front of the Empress Hotel, then into downtown and back to our favourite (free) parking area just past the Black Ball Ferry compound on Belleville Street.
The old Customs House building today and April 2019.
Leaving the plaza, we walked through this opening. This is one of the conifer species that grows very twisted, for want of a better explanation. The tree itself is on the right side of the opening; the trunk and foliage "drapes" over to the left.
This plaque is mounted at the left-hand side of the wall.
Back in Metchosin, it was time to do a little harvesting.
The weekend starts tomorrow. Saturday – a great time to stay around "home" while the rest of civilization goes shopping at WalMart, Costco, et al.
See you later.
As I mentioned, Saturday and we're not going anywhere. Well, driving that is. We did get out to the Sea Bluff trail in the morning. The sun is shining, it is not too hot yet. Let's go!
Here's the view looking south-west to the Olympic Mountains in Washington state.
We awoke to another fine, sunny morning today. Sunday's main attraction in these parts is the Metchosin Farmers Market. It runs from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. We're going there later this morning. But it's too far (1.4km round-trip and too steep for Jen's travel wheelchair) to walk, so we'll have to drive.
But before the market, my first chore is to run into Langford and do some grocery shopping for the coming week. It's a lovely morning for a drive especially as it's still reasonably early so the traffic won't be bad. I left Jen luxuriating in bed.
After we'd done the other chore - laundry - we drove to the Farmers Market. Okay, we went straight on by, turned around and came "home". We're not keen on standing in line just to get into the market. They did this same thing in Courtenay months ago, finally deciding to let people stand in line at the individual vendors rather than create a long line (off-putting) just to get into the market.
On the way back, here is a buck lying down in the shade of a house. He seemed quite content.
And looking south-east towards Victoria.
Just for my records, I repainted Alfie's grille. I know this is of no interest to you, dear reader. It's just a way for me to document the activity for later reference.
Well, that is it for our week in Metchosin. Tomorrow we head to Lake Cowichan, west of Duncan, for a few days.
See you there.
