Camping on Hornby over Labour Day Weekend

Yet another great camping session over the long weekend! After a Thursday night sleep in Parksville, and a great supper at Cedar's Restaurant, we had a flawless journey by two small ferries to Hornby. It might have been because we took them in the morning, but over this trip we did notice less folks visiting this island than normal. With a visit to the Co-Op mercantile area, and a tasty Greek pizza lunch at Hornby Island Bakery and Pizza, we made one more stop at a roadside stand that makes great pastries (peach almond scone was chosen) before checking into our outdoor accommodations.

    Once set up at our camp site, and putting up our new tent, we relaxed and walked around. This place is always comfortable zen for us.

    A change to our tradition of first night camping meal was steak and vegetables! Eating it on the shore, with accompanying slowly setting sun, was a perfect first day.

    A nicely lazy start to our Saturday was followed by a visit to the free store, where I got some books and a Great Courses set on writing, then the Farmer's Market, and a noodle and salad bowl lunch at Forage Farm and Kitchen. Also visited the new-to-me Beltane Books caravan. They had a storefront until 2019, then sold at the Co-Op corners on tables, and now have this charming structure.

    Wanting to stretch our legs we drove to Halliwell park and walked the circuit. The wind helped cool our skin and, as always, the scenery cooled our minds into a relaxing state. 

After leaving, and encountering a Campbells soup can left by a giant, we stopped at the Sea Breeze for a drink and appy, picked up a lemon square from the roadside stand and enjoyed our normally traditional supper of Annies cheesy pasta and sparkling wine. After the dessert, we observed the spectacle of a heron hunting for its meal by the seaside. 

    Sunday morning mimicked our Saturday until we took a two hour hike through Mount Geoffrey park. It had been several years since we visited and the trail systems have been improved and expanded. We encountered more bicyclists than hikers and combined there were fewer than expected. It made the walk through nature a zen-like experience. 

    Since our Friday pizza was so good, we had reserved a larger pizza yesterday for today's supper! For dessert we had a chocolate zucchini cake and a sunset by the shore. 

Shortly before bed, lightning flashes and distant thunder were heard and just when my wife got into the tent for the night a rain of heavy raindrops started. It wasn't a deluge and ended after a bit, but I awoke at 3am from another burst. My wakefulness did not last long and I descended into slumber again.

    Monday we had our regular oatmeal, read for a bit, and back up our stuff. Since our tarp and tent were still a little wet we roughly packed them so we could dry them out once home. With a quick visit to Coombs - for the book, comic, and Dutch stores - we set off for Victoria, with one stop for a late lunch burger, at McDonalds.

    Another enjoyable weekend with beneficial rest and a healthy filling of our nature batteries. 

Walk From My Wife's Work

Since I've retired I have taken up walking with my wife to her work, most days. It makes for extra exercise and a good break in the morning. On this particularly nice day I thought I would take some pictures of the Victoria harbour and Gorge inlet.

Passing by the Railyards development.

More of the Railyards.

A view of the Selkirk Trestle.

Still more Railyards.

Another little pier.

Heading into Banfield Park.

Gorge Inlet

A view across the Gorge to the Sannich side.

Heading down to the Banfield Park dock.

The dock.

Selkirk Ave.

How does My Garden Grow?

As with last year, we have been getting good potential result in growing things. Below is our potato grow bags that have side velcro access points so we can pick and eat without disturbing the rest of the potatoes.

Pole beans are growing tall, but only tiny beans can be seen. Time will tell. Just off to the left side is one of our tomato plants.

Two tomato plants with green ones awaiting their reddening. 

Garlic is doing well from above the ground. The garlic scapes have been tasty and we await the time when we dig them up to see how large the bulbs have gotten.

Bush beans in one of our vegepods. We picked six beans on the weekend.

Our chives survived from last year as well as our mint. The parsley is getting bitter and was also planted last year, so we will likely rip it up and plant basil. Some new gai lan and a basil plant are in here.

Last year's oregano is doing well. Mustard greens are betting pickable and kale are slowly growing.

Finally, more gai lan and something else we planted are slowly getting there.

My wife and I are looking forward to a hot August so that the little plant grow big. Good fortune in your gardening.

Canada Day on Gorge Road

On Canada Day, one of the things my wife and I like to do is visit the Gorge Road Canada Day Picnic. They close off the street from Tillicum to Admiral's. One thing we hadn't done in previous years was attend the charity pancake breakfast. There was a line, but it was not extreme.

    For $5 you get three pancakes and your choice of a variety of toppings. We brought our own maple syrup, from the Wabanaki Maple company. You certainly couldn't complain about the view.

    Shortly after we started eating, the Esquimalt First Nation performed traditional songs accompanied by young dancers. I liked the performance and appreciated them sharing their culture with us.

    We then walked along Gorge road heading East. 

    There were many merchants along the waterfrount walkway, food trucks and stands along Gorge Rd, two more music venues, and several yard sales.

    There were also children's activities at various points along the road, but the two most popular were the bouncy castle and the musical instrument petting zoo.

    As always, there were classic cars along the road for the owners to show off and for people to oogle.

    We only spent three and a half hours here. The weather was prefect, but we stopped just after noon and walked back home to beat the heat of the afternoon.

For lunch we treated ourselves with butter chicken curry poutine, from Poutine 66. Delicious!