Another BC Safari

Our last BC Safari was already two years ago in the Kootenays. We've been other places since but we sure enjoy wandering around BC.

It’s great to have visitors because it shakes us out of our usual complacent rut. Pat and Ed drop in every second year or so and we sometimes use them as an excuse to explore. They were supposed to join us in Arizona in February and when that didn’t work out they came here. In lieu of the Grand Canyon we did gardens, art, and the wild coast. I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did. Pat gets the trouper award (do I mean trooper? I’m never sure of the nuance) for allowing us to drag her out whale watching. She’s not that keen on water and we were out for 3 hours in a zodiac, literally sitting on the water going really fast. 

Sumo Suits

Humpback whale

Thank goodness we saw whales or she might not have forgiven us and even so I don’t think it was a highlight for her. Interesting to us was that we saw Minke, Humpback, and Gray whales, but no orca which is what we expect. Our guide (Prince of Whales) was feeling a bit desperate so we went way down Puget Sound to Whidby Island which meant getting back in one very long and very fast run; forty knots an hour which is about 80kph. It was a stunning day, 19C and very calm, but at 40 knots it was bitterly cold. We warmed up at the Bard and Banker Pub!

Port Alberni

A couple of days later we headed out to the west coast. Yes, we are on the west coast, but not really really really.  For us the west coast is Pacific Rim National Park, where there is nothing between us and Japan. 

Wickaninnish Beach

We stopped at Cathedral Grove and somewhere west of Port Alberni 

just browsing

saw a good sized bear browsing along the road side. Jim & Ed had the windows down to get a photo and I kept telling them to keep a finger on the power button, ‘cuz those suckers can be very fast. You know how you know your partner? At one point there was a slight shift in the force and I said, “Jim, don’t even think about opening that door”. And sure enough he was thinking how much better he would be able to see with the door open! 

In between times we went to an open house at Maarten Schaddelee’s studio, some gorgeous gardens, and ate and drank too much as usual. It was great.

Maarten Schaddelee's house/studio

UVic's Finnerty Gardens

rhodo in our courtyard

Ode to Trees

We ‘do’ trees here on the west coast and generally they grow much bigger and faster than gardening books predict. If you read that a corkscrew willow should be 20 feet tall in 10 years, we assume it will be that height in 4 to 5 years. We planted one, in innocence, to fill a small space near a fence and cut it down after two years; one of the growth rings was almost 2 inches wide. Eucalyptus the same, although they take a couple of years to develop their root system. Once the roots are established you need to get out of the way or get run over. Trees are a constant source of discussion, amazement and sometimes friction. We show off our flowering ornamentals in January when the rest of Canada is shivering. We scoff at scrubby little survivor spruce trees on the east coast. We sometimes chain ourselves to trees that are being cut down for bad reasons. We fight with neighbours who have planted trees that impede the view. We complain about drifts of pine pollen and brag about drifts of cherry blossoms. It’s complicated.

What isn’t complicated is the grandeur of Cathedral Grove on highway 4 just east of Port Alberni. It is a gift to have trees like this anywhere, but it is a miracle that they are so accessible to any of us who want to see them.

Jim, hardly visible in ratio

How anyone could even think about cutting or vandalizing one of these ancients is absolutely beyond my understanding. Just last week someone removed an 800 year old tree http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/05/18/bc-800-year-tree.html and speculation is that it will be turned into cedar shakes. Really?