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  • Day 4

    After a good night's sleep

    August 26, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Doesn't it make a difference when you finally awake refreshed. We both admitted to waking up several times through the night but, a good comfortable bed and no deadline allowed us both to sleep again and be up at a reasonable time for a cooked breakfast. I generally only eat these when I am on a trip and I will probably revert to a more regular breakfast tomorrow. I noticed two different kinds of porridge in the buffet and I will be delighted to taste both. One is a traditional oatmeal and the other is an ancient grains porridge that I intend to taste.

    After breakfast we went out for a walk to locate the hop on hop off bus. It didn't take us long but we did find ourselves stopping every now and then to admire some of the thousands of hanging baskets that line all the streets in Victoria. They put on a spectacular show of colour and are remarkably cheerful and bright. These complement the many gardens that dot the city. No small patch of dirt is left uncultivated for flowers. As we drove around the island we noticed that there were very few lawns, a few small patches of grass of course, but only to highlight the herbaceous borders. The whole city looked like a children's fantasy story book. There were castles and cottages and very pretty houses of all shapes and sizes, all looking beautifully kept and presentable. No grafitti anywhere and as we drove by, sitting on the open top level of a double decker bus, the locals waved and smiled at us. They must have been briefed on their roles in a romantic fantasy island. We did notice that there seemed to be large number of older persons and it seems to have a reputation as a place to retire, but the driver was quick to point out that this was changing as hi tech IT companies had made big inroads into the community and it was now one if the largest industries in Vancouver. IT, logging, tourism and goverment employ the largest portions of the working population.

    I couldn't help noticing that the village atmosphere pervaded every suburb. Even the dentist and the accountant had pictureque cottages with blousy flowers and nodding floral baskets on their porches. The butcher had cute murals on the walls and shops were highly decorated. It was beginning to feel a little like Pleasantville.

    Ross tells me that he wishes to contribute to this blog by adding that one of his favourites today was a petting zoo in one of the major parks. We stopped just outside and saw many people with their children wandering around patting goats. I saw a miniature donkey who was very cute and two peacocks were annoying each other of either side of the fence because nearby was a peahen who must have been quite bodalicious. It was a sweet little place and entirely befitting an atmosphere of "pretty". There are also some potbelly pigs there but we did not see them. They would have been a hoot to see.

    Craigdarroch Castle was a grand affair that we decided not to visit. It takes about an hour to see it all and we wanted to get an overall picture of the city before we made our choices.

    It was quite cold sitting on the top of the bus with the wind blowing off the water and I was glad I had taken my puffy jacket. The seas around the island rarely get above 10 degrees, but its climate is regarded as the most moderate in the morass of islands that make up this part of British Columbia.

    We learned that it was our old friend, Captain James Cook, who discovered(!!!) this part of the world but that he was unaware that it was a series of islands. He named it after a crewman, a Mr Vancouver, on board his ship. That same crewman came back some years later to map the region and it was he who identified the nature of the place.

    I found myself asking about the first nations people. While some did not seem to know, our bus driver this morning was able to explain that this area housed the largest number of first nations people of anywhere in Canada. It was rich in natural resources and there was plenty to go around. The arrival of the white peoples saw the destruction of many of these peoples. I sometimes fear that we whities are an infestation that spreads our toxins everywhere and destroy the place wherever we go.

    Fortunately, the desire to celebrate indigenous cultures has come about and there is increasing promotion of their stories and artefacts. We drove by several totem poles created by modern indigenous people to replace the old weatherworn ones. They were quite striking.

    After our trip around we went back to our hotel to prepare for our afternoons. I was off to do whale watching and Ross wanted to visit the museum. I took off, booked my excursion, had a lunch of clam chowder and icecream by the harbour then went to join my group prior to embarking. Just as I did so I saw Ross walking towards me. He had had a nap and had just woken up but was on his way to organise his lunch and do his tour. He has some photos he wishes to share but he has fallen asleep again and so I will not post this blog till tomorrow morning.

    My trip around the waterways was a vigorous experience. The seas were quite choppy but I happily kept my clam chowder down. After about half an hour of crashing through waves and heaving around in the chop we saw our first whales. They were two humpbacks. We saw quite a few blows as they began to surface and then some emergence and disappearances, each time too fast for the camera to catch clear shots. There was a lovely moment when I watched the tail flukes rise in the air then follow the rest of the behemoth to the bottom of the ocean. The rocking of the boat meant that just as I thought I had a chance of catching the image on camera the waves lifted us up and dropped us down and all I could get was a fuzzy grey something in a grey ocean under grey skies. Oh well, next stop were the orcas. Another fifteen minutes away and we came across a family group of orca. Because they are dolphins and like to eat water mammals they lived closer to the surface. They swam around for quite some time showing us their dorsal fins. It was explained to us that the male was some distance from his family because he was driving food towards them. As the food got closer the matriarch of the pod would go in for the kill then leave the disabled and dying sea lion for the young orca to finish off. It was part of their oceanic curriculum. The young orca learned how to kill but the prey was not a danger to it. As it grew older it would learn more of the techniques and become a very experienced hunter. They are, of course, at the top of the food chain of the ocean. The father was very recognisable because of his very large dorsal fin. It is about three metres long.

    We then stopped off to meet some of the prey. Sea lions and seals were very amusing inhabitants of an island that held a lighthouse. They were more obliging for the camera but I doubt that this skill would help them fight off any orca.

    We made our way back into the harbour and I managed to snap a picture of a seaplane just about to take off and a close up of a small harbour ferry. We had seen them earlier this morning doing close order drills in the harbour in preparation for a water ballet routine, so I took a photo of that too.

    I got back to the hotel. Ross had beaten me back by only a few minutes and we swapped photos and stories. Ross had been to the Royal British Columbia Museum. He quickly moved through the visiting Egyptian exhibition and spent his time going through four of the permanent exhibitions which were the natural history gallery which showed the history of the area from prehuman, through mammoths and ice ages to the potential for what may happen to the west coast of the Americas if we do not address climate change. He found this very challenging. The second gallery was on the First Nations peoples and the Living Languages exhibition where desperate attempts are being made to capture and protect First Nations languages from extinction. Like many similar stories, the spiritual life, culture and languages of First Nation peoples suffered from legislated denial. Some may have been saved from eradication, but much has been lost. The final gallery was on nationhood for British Columbia.

    After this Ross had another nap until dinner time. We met the rest of our travel group at dinner and had a short briefing from our tour director, Bill Spiller, who was once a mountain climber. I hope he has no such intention for us.

    After a lively dinner we went back upstairs. I had a shower, sorted out some correspondence and did some washing. I was unable to publish this entry last night because Ross fell asleep without telling me his bit. It is now lunchtime and I have just finished off yesterday's entry. Ross is currently awake so I need to catch these moments.

    I will begin planning for today's entry soon.
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