Notes from the Nanaimo Office

Still computing here in the lovely outdoors at The Living Forest Campground in Nanaimo....


The local island weather has been variable (some drizzling rain and little pockets of fleeting sunshine) --- but decent enough to allow us to bike and hike lots during the day and keep the "roadrunner adventures" a-happenin' !











We finally joined the 'responsible adult' world and.... bought bike helmuts.

Tim is definitely not handling this decision well and everyday (!) starts out with his asking whether we really need to wear our helmuts.

I've tried explaining to him that I like my head intact and without any large, gaping holes in it.

At least we didn't buy matching helmuts (like our matching bikes and raingear!!).....

As promised, there will be MANY birdwatching stories by the end of this trip (what luck for those who will hear them!) This little beauty above is a male Rufous Hummingbird who visits daily at a feeder that Tim hung just off the back of the motorhome. Tim caught a bunch of photos of the male and his (less colourful) mate this morning as we sipped our coffee in the back bedroom.

Yesterday we took a short ferry ride across Nanaimo Harbour and over to Protection Island.

It's a little one-horse town of about 250 houses and one great PUB! ---- The Dinghy Dock Pub and Restaurant.

After having walked the whole island and gone beachcombing and sight-seeing, we planted ourselves outside on the docks and drank fresh draft and ate deep-fried seafood!

The Dinghy Dock pub claims to be the west's ONLY "floating pub" and, believe me, I felt it. By the end of the afternoon, it felt like I'd been sitting on a small boat all day.... (oy)...

The island itself was interesting to see --- many crazy, artistic houses that (I hope) inspired my husband to do yet more back at Allison Place!

We also saw some of the largest (and most twisted) Arbutus trees that we've yet seen in our travels PLUS some beautiful fan palms (see photos below). I've put more of our pictures on our photo website for anyone who wants a fuller dose of our island adventures. Ciao!

Loving the Living Forest

Our new home here in Nanaimo is at... The (lovely!) Living Forest Campground. In a word: Heaven. Truly the most spectacular campground we've ever stayed at (in our short career as campers). Spacious, natural sites, surrounded by old-growth cedars and arbutus and towering firs and native ferns and wildflowers and SO many birds that my heart is singing constantly! We've got a site right on a bluff that overlooks the Nanaimo Estuary that flows out to the ocean. We look out at islands in the near view and the massive Olympia Mountains far beyond. We're sitting at a million dollar view for about $360 per month. Not bad....

We spent the first few days here just hiking the 60 acres (and more) of campground that surround us. Nanaimo has a park system unlike most towns its size. What it lacks in nightlife and restaurants (!), it more than makes up for in biking and hiking trails.

Anyway, we don't need fancy restaurants because Tim has us set up with an outdoor BBQ and stove already, so we can do some great cooking in this gorgeous setting. We do, however, always need a good pub AND we found one! The Lighthouse pub is right on the downtown harbour and is actually built on a pier that sits out in the water. Killer pub food and good local beer on tap = happiness for us.

PLUS there's a brewery nearby so Tim is slap-happy. It's a very small-scale, craft brewery called Fat Cat Brewery AND the assistant brewmaster is a woman named Bunny (!) -- who gave us a great tour of the place, along with very ample samples of their yummy beer. Tim fell in love (with the beer), so we're set. We've become pretty spoiled back home living within walking distance of first rate wineries and always seek out something similar when we're camped for awhile.
There's also a small group of stores about a half kilometre away, so we've got easy access to supplies to help keep ourselves occupied. First set-up job was to make birdfeeders out of our empty milk cartons (!) --- and we've got them hanging all around. Expect many bird photos as the Nanaimo part of the blog continues.... (joy!)...
Also have collected some fun beach jewels in our travels and am finally in one place long enough to start to play with them (see silly art above, for example....). Also expect many "campsite art" pix over the next little while. All in all, we've only been here about four days (and are here until the end of the month) and we've already got Shaggy all set up & homey-like!

I've even got a new office! Well... it's really just a gazebo down by the main office but --- nobody's ever in there so, every second day or so, I cart my computer down to the gazebo, plug it in and cruise onto the internet (we don't have wifi at our site but it's available within an area around the main office).

I'm also reading Emily Carr's "Klee Wyck" (thanks, Carol!) while on the island. A lot of her stories have Emily venturing into coastal communities near to Victoria so... near where we are now! It's amazing to look at a 150 foot tree perched on the edge of a bluff and wonder whether Ms.Carr walked past this tree in her travels.... Also, am doing some sketching (of birds and flowers). There is a calmness to this seaside haven that makes one breathe a bit deeper. Of course, the thick Porter beer helps liven the soul, as well.....

Traveling Without a Net

Bye bye Victoria & beautiful West Bay Marina....

At left is the final view of downtown Victoria, lit up by a bright sunset -- and, also, the comfy bench that we strolled to visit everyday from our RV site in Westbay...







Off to Sooke now.....























Above was our site at "Sunny Shores" campground, right on the bay at Sooke. Sooke is famous for its hiking and biking trails, most noteworthy - the Galloping Goose trail, which we biked until our legs turned to rubber. That patch of heavenly stream (also above) is just one of the many rivers and streams and bays and inlets that the "Goose" rides over & thru.




Most of the Sooke pictures are of us hiking and biking and picnicking, so not a lot of "links" to offer. Also, Sooke is definitely not a very wired village anyway, which is why we've been offline for almost a week now. Can't believe we survived...

At left is a baby raccoon who decided to spend a whole day in the tree outside our RV. Baileys and Kiya were so very happy that he did this that they spent the better part of that whole day staring right up at him.

Next stop.... Nanaimo!