We are now just over halfway through our trip to Canada and our first house sitting assignment has turned out better than we had hoped for. We are just minutes away from Chris's sister Marian in the seaside town of Sidney. The two dogs we are looking after are gorgeous and so well behaved. Sidney seems to have it all, a lovely waterfront walkway and pier, numerous restaurants and lovely little shops. We are keeping fit walking the dogs along the beach and waterfront every day. This is our regular stop for a take out coffee halfway round.
One of the many statues throughout the town. The blue and white building is the fresh fish market.
Sidney is being used as the location for the US version of Broadchurch, called Gracepoint. Apparently it is cheaper to film here than in California. Out for an evening walk we came across filming on the pier. We sat on a bench next to the crew and watched two scenes being filmed with David Tennant . Here he is in action.
Indoor filming is still going on in this building on the waterfront.
Vancouver Island is a beautiful place and there is so much to do and see. We are very fortunate that Marian's Canadian partner Richard loves to show us around the Island and they have given up their days off to take us out on Richard's private tours! He is doing an excellent job.
Here we all are at dusk at the top of Mount Douglas with panoramic views over downtown Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.
The scenery around the Island is just stunning. This was taken from the Malahat Lookout Viewpoint.
Qualicum Little Falls, a spectacular forest trail, thanks to Richard for taking us there or we would never have known about them.
This has to be the most spectacular view so far. We took ourselves off on a ferry for the day to one of the Gulf Islands , Salt Spring Island. This was taken from the viewpoint at the top of Mount Maxwell. The drive up to the top was tough but so worth it. The camera cannot do the 270 degree view justice though, breathtaking!
The town of Chemainus is famous for its wall murals, 33 larger than life paintings. To wander through this old frontier town is like wandering through an open air art gallery. This mural is of the Salish Native people who first lived here thousands of years ago. They are still recognised by the Canadian government today and have their own reservations all over the Island.
Like the scenery the wildlife is pretty amazing too. We were so lucky to spot orcas (killer whales) swimming around the coastline on our first day out with Marian and Richard. We've also seen seals, sea otters, bald eagles, hummingbirds, kingfishers. There are lots of pretty little coves all around. The best time to go is when the sun is starting to go down. This is our favourite, Deep Cove, so calm and serene, we just sit on the rocks and watch for the heads of seals and sea otters to pop up.
And there are some funky purple starfish too.
We are using the excellent bus service to go to downtown Victoria when we want to up the pace the bit. The Inner Harbour is a hive of activity, float planes and ferries going to the US and Vancouver, cruise ships stopping off and tiny water taxis bobbing about like corks amongst the bigger boats.
Had the best ever halibut and chips in the very popular outdoor fish and chip shop on the dock, Red Fish Blue Fish.
Fifteen minutes from Victoria are the world famous Butchart Gardens. They were created more than 100 years ago by Jennie Buchart to beautify the worked-out limestone quarry which supplied her husband's nearby cement plant. They are now visited by close to a million visitors annually.
This is a picture of the old quarry now transformed into the Sunken Garden, the centrepiece of Butchart.
And this is it today, beautiful, although being early spring nowhere near as colourful as it will be later in the year.
We have lots more to do and see before the end of our trip. We shall be returning to the Joli Roger in mid May, a little later than planned but this trip was an opportunity not to be missed. We are very much looking forward to our second season cruising the French waterways and are planning on heading up to Paris for mid July.
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