Saturday 24 July 2010

Beautiful British Columbia


I'd heard so much about Victoria, BC , what a lovely city it is and what a lovely province British Columbia is and they are so right! Victoria is a gorgeous city! For those of you who are not Canadian and are not familiar with it, Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia. It's located on the southern most tip of Vancouver Island which is about 100 km or 60 miles away from the city of Vancouver on the mainland. It's only 25 miles from Port Angeles, WA by ferry or 60 miles from Seattle. And most important of all, it has a needlework shop! More on that later in the post.
This was a working holiday for my DH so I spent a lot of the time exploring the city on my own. Most of the venues were withing walking distance. Our first evening there we took in a ferry tour of the harbour which gave us an idea of the layout of the city and a much better view from the water. That's yours truly in the pic, waiting for the next tour. What I didn't realize about the harbour is that there is an international airport there for the seaplanes and it's the only international airport where landings were suspended because of a whale on the runway!

Speaking of whales, DH decided to play hooky on the Monday afternoon so that we could take in a whale watching excursion. We'd taken one of these excursions in the past when we were visiting the east coast. Although we did see some whales at that time, we didn't get in very many good pictures. This time we had somewhat better luck. I say somewhat because we were not successful in sighting any orca whales however we did see a gray whale and a humpback whale.

This is the humpback, which performed very nicely for us, diving in and out of the water.











Next we ventured a little further up the coast where we spotted the gray whale. It really does look like he's covered in barnacles. This one performed by blowing for us although it might be difficult to see in the picture.












After the whale sightings, they took us around a group of islands where seals go to rest and nurse their young. I couldn't believe the number of seals hiding out there. Several of them looked like they'd had more than their share of food lately! We were also fortunate enough to spot an eagle taking a rest on one of the markers in the water.













It was a great day even if we didn't see the orcas which showed up in a large pod the next day of course!
Every one of our days on this trip was packed full of events and concerts and didn't generally end until about 11:00 pm each evening. Day 2 and I'm whipped already!

The morning following the whale tour I had a couple of hours to myself so I set out to explore the shops downtown by the harbour. I managed to get all of my gifts for family in an hour or so and then set out in search of a needlework shop called The Button & Needlework Boutique. It didn't take me long to find and I happily spent the next hour or so browsing the shop and its charts.
I bought a few things including Hedgehog which is a Countryside Miniature kit, LHN Simple Joys and the necessary floss, BTBN Summer Hill as well as a Canadian flag button. For a reminder of my visit to Victoria I bought a lovely needleminder handcrafted in Victoria from Rosewood.

I've been searching for something that I could stitch for Bob and I found the perfect chart, Eye of the Eagle by The Stitching Studio and based on the artwork of Sue Coleman who is a BC native. Bob is really interested in eagles and was thrilled when we saw one on the whale tour. I just can't guarantee how long it will be before I get started on this one!
I'd say it was a successful visit though wouldn't you?
I have a few more pics of my trip that I'd like to share with you but I'll leave them for the next post. By that time I should also have my latest piece back from the framer's and I'll have an update on what little stitching I accomplished on my holiday.
I'm happy to be home but I must say I sure miss the beautiful, comfortable weather we had out west. They have no humidity!!!

7 comments:

  1. Hi Lynn,
    Glad you are enjoying your holiday. I have never been to the west coast, I am hoping when we retire that DH and I will be able to make the trip. I have relatives that live in Vamcover and in Edmonton. I would so love to visit them. Looks like you enjoyed the stitching shop, did you find lots of nice things? I really liked the eagle. Have fun, be safe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad to hear you had a great time! My heart belongs on the West Coast of Canada and every Summer I threaten that I am moving because they have no humidity! LOL. One year I may talk everyone into it! Whale watching is right at the top of my things to do before I die list to see the Orcas in their natural habitat and like you I'd probably not see any :) Nice pictures of the Humpback whale though! It's a beautiful place to visit :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What lovely pictures of the west, I am glad you had a nice time away.
    Be always in stitches.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like you had an amazing time!
    I've never made it to the west coast even though one of girlfriends has been inviting me for ages.
    Great pictures of whales. They sure were visible!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What fun! It looks like a lovely holiday. I am always in a bad mood after going away...I'd like vacation to last forever, lol!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks like you had a great vacation. My DH wants me to start coming with him when the kids are getting older. How do you feel about spending the days on your own? Do you have any advice.

    To funny about the Sue Coleman chart, I have started the other eagle one from her for my husband. Haven't gotten very far, it's been 6 years, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful sea photos! And congratulations with the kits and charts!

    Best wishes,
    Tatyana

    ReplyDelete

Labels