Butchart gardens and Chemainus

After dropping off our overnight gear and a small mountain of food onto Martin and Inge's boat, we went for a walk along the Nanaimo waterfront. Sometimes, in a foreign country, you think that you've entered a parallel universe. We felt that driving through the Rockies but it became even more obvious passing the local yacht club:

Somehow the space - time continuum seems to have been distorted there, allowing the club to boast that it has survived right up to 2031. We didn't feel any disturbances walking past and our watches / phones stayed on the current date so perhaps it was a temporary aberration. Once the club had the banner printed, maybe they thought they should use it?

A little overhead walkway to some buildings told you what you were heading for:

Seaplanes would not be a  typical mix in the UK of course. Restaurant, bar and probably tattoo parlour being more normal. Or Turkish barber shop with dubious ownership and merchandise. Still, they were right, the seaplane terminal amused us (well, the captain) a lot. This little video shows one of them taxiing around:

The video footage of take off and landings was not good enough to share - they carelessly did that beyond a sensible range for the phone camera's capabilities. Great to watch live though.

Back on board, we admired the Selene mugs that Martin and Inge had inherited with the boat:

bemoaning the lack of Nordhavn equivalents on our craft. We were then treated to dinner afloat and yet more of that excellent home made carrot cake. Being spoiled was getting to be the norm and, worryingly, we were getting too used to it.

The following day, we went by car and ferry to Butchart gardens. Martin had said "it sounds a bit lame but it isn't". Other friends had told us it was a must see. Bernie (remember him, the man with the Dunkirk little ship Mimosa?) even commented that we had to go. Wow. They were all totally right. Converting the old quarry into a riot of colour, ground levels and trees / shrubs / plants must have taken some vision:

and the instigators never got to see it as it matured either. Quite stunning in detail, size and scope:

with the flower beds being changed out for each season to give different colours and experiences. Amazing. We could post so many images but just go and look at their website for yourself. See, not everything is spoon fed these days.

The big fountain was a relatively recent (1964) addition but well worth it. Watch this video to see why:

Since Halloween was approaching (remember the Home Depot scary display?) there were plenty of pumpkins around, adding to the floral display adorning the old tractor:

The link to the indigenous people was displayed:

with impressive poles:

Being boating types, we had to walk down to the waterfront area and got this peek through the hedges to the small inlet and moorings:

It looked even more tempting as a spot to bring your boat to when we got down to the waterside itself:

An amazing place and we're so glad that our hosts made the big journey to take us there. It was a bigger one on the way back as the ferry that cuts out a big looped drive around Vancouver Island was going to be full. The wait time would have been excessive, so the big (but scenic) looped drive was the way home. We stopped in Chemainus for dinner and a look around. The town kind of reinvented itself after a huge sawmill closed by having artists produce lots of murals on the sides of local buildings. Look at this link - Wikipedia for more info.

the murals represent the history of the place and really are quite something to see in the flesh. You will just have to make do with images on a screen though:

This big panorama showed the logging and sawmill history very graphically: 

all the way through to shipping the lumber out by sea:

Before that, the indigenous people:

and grim reminders / commemoration of the local folks who fought in World Wars:

There were some old pictures of particular UK interest. This massive tree , requiring two trucks to transport it:

became a huge flagpole in Kew Gardens, London. After walking around the town admiring the many murals open mouthed, we visited a great Vietnamese restaurant that kept our mouths busy once more and rounded off the day rather nicely. 

Trees, wildlife and boat time

We had the fun - yes it really was fun - of a trip to Canadian Tire. They do sell tires / tyres but loads and loads of other stuff too. Proper place for sad folks like the captain to wander around and spot useful things. We went to get some oil and a couple of filters for the Dodge RAM truck which had been whimpering gently and then less gently for an oil change on the last couple of days of our Airstream trip.

As the weather was not being kind, we took the truck to the Cessna's hanger and nosed it in, under the wing of the plane. Good spot to do the oil change. Only the height of the running boards prevented anyone bar an anorexic gibbon from reaching the oil drain plug.  So, back to Canadian Tire, a couple of ramps were purchased and we were then tooled up for the job. Oil and filter changed, air filter changed, we felt that we'd earned lunch. Men of a certain age can easily convince themselves black is white if they try of course.

Our morning and evening routine at the house was very wildlife focussed. These guys regularly roamed through the garden, keeping the grass tidy: 

and well fertilised too. The highlight was watching the hummingbirds at the special feeder, stocking up on the sugar and water combination ready for the winter. This video was typical of their antics:

They amused us for ages. 

We had a trip to the shops for critical supplies and saw another example of the anti-Trump feelings being put into action:

Returning to the house we stopped in a local pub place for lunch - which was good. The crew needed a pit stop and found the strangest ever solution to having a small space, a normal sized toilet and a large door:

When it closed, not everything was on show but....

A visit to a very special forest area let us see some very elderly trees:

that varied between huge and enormous:

The crew, of course, is sylph like. Where they have fallen in storms, you get some terrific patterns and shapes:

It was a most atmospheric walk, sights, sounds and smells. Very special. As was dinner that evening (another Martin masterpiece) topped by the carrot cake that he produced in parallel. Our assistance was limited to ingredient prep stuff, he had rightly assessed our skill set. The end result was pretty wonderful:

That evening, Inge returned from work and although she was tired from a long day of flying and being flown, she managed to stay awake for long enough to catch up which was most kind of her. We put most people to sleep way quicker. 

The next morning we were off on further travels. A stop at the Airstream dealership to check on some warranty work that was planned resulted in looking at a different trailer with a nicer layout. The salesman called it "3 foot-itis" - the benefit of the extra space a slightly longer trailer gives and the flexibility in layout that offers. Not to mention an extra axle. Temptation indeed. Martin and Inge left the place with lots to think about. We, on the other hand, were sold on the idea of a swap - spending other folks cash is so easy it seems.

We then headed to see their new boat. Having sold Malaspina, their Nordhavn 47 that was UK based, they found a well maintained Selene that lived in a boathouse which was also available. Yes, a private boathouse in a marina that was just big enough and we do mean just:

Perfect for winter weather protection. Here are the happy Selene owners:

with a little bit of the rail mounted BBQ intruding into the picture. Apologies, we were all in a bit of a hurry to get to the next part of the adventure.....