Wordless Wednesday: Mainland Trip – to Grand Forks and Back

Waiting to board, at Duke Point. No time to take any more pictures on this leg of the journey, as I was racing to get as far as I could before nightfall.
I woke up to snow falling. Just about to brush off my car for the 3rd time this morning.
The moon throws a lot of light in the mountains
Beautiful views surrounding Grand Forks
Outside my sister’s place
Grand Forks snowy sunrise
Goodbye, Johnny’s Motel! Time to head home.
Reduce speed, indeed! Descending the Anarchist.
Looking down into the Okanagan Valley and Osoyoos
Another view of Osoyoos
Climbing up the other side of the Okanagan – at the scenic overlook
Continuing the drive home…
Too much gorgeousness
Trees with fall colours along the riverside
Waiting for the ferry to depart, Tsawwassen
Sun setting over the Salish Sea
Traffic on the Salish Sea
Vancouver Island mountains casting shadows on the sea

Rock on,

The WB

(Almost) Wordless But Not Whale-less Wednesday

If you’ve been reading Ye Olde Blogge for a while, you may remember that I have been on a fruitless search for whale-sightings ever since Newfoundland. Either I was on the ocean and not seeing them, or I had tours booked that were cancelled at the last minute. It was kinda frustrating then, when the Thanksgiving Monday tour that had been booked with a company out of Duncan, B.C. was also cancelled at the last moment, due to not enough customers to warrant the excursion. Thanks to some quick-thinking by Donna of Retirement Reflections within moments she had us booked with Aboriginal Journeys, out of Campbell River. And thus the day was saved, in the most spectacular way, and the whale-sighting drought was over!

Let the pictures (and the videos) do the talkin’!

Captain Gary, of Aboriginal Journeys – our most affable and knowledgeable guide.
The hopeful whale watchers – Donna, her husband Richard, and I
It was a beautiful afternoon to be out on the water
Common muirs in the sunlight
Harbour seals basking on the rocks
Cormorants
Captain Gary took us to a sea lion colony
Yukon and his master helping Captain Gary scout us some whales!
Two Humpback whales sighted! I was thrilled to hear “Thar she blows!” come over the marine radio. Yukon’s master had sighted some whales and we headed to where they were.
Pardon the unsteady camera but we WERE on a boat…the whales and sea lions were playing and feeding on herring together, Gary told us.
We were lucky enough to witness a breaching whale
Humpback Whale waving goodbye, until next time!

And you KNOW there is going to be a next time!

Rock on,

The Whale-Watchin’ WB

Hiking Jack Point – In Search of the Salmon Petroglyph

Yesterday morning I went out early to discover for myself a hike I had heard/read good things about from others, like my friend and fellow blogger: Donna. This hike is also listed in a recent book purchase – Seaside Walks on Vancouver Island by Theo Dombrowski. I’ll let the pictures and the captions do the talking, from here:

A great place to dive in and start exploring the seaside walks. The author says there is a petroglyph of salmon to be seen on the walk! You know I am not leaving until I find it.
View of the harbour city of Nanaimo, from the start of the seaside walk.
It’s starting to get spectacular out here!
Sandstone “carvings” all along the shore. Caused by salt crystals “growing” in the rock, according to a sign posted along the trail.
On the hunt for the petroglyph, checking out some carved out sandstone. Wait, what’s that in the distance?!?!
Could this rock be it?
Success! Thank you, Theo Dombrowski. 🙂
More weird and wonderful sandstone.
Yet another beautiful view from this trail.
At the very point of it all.
Watching the Tsawwassen ferry load, from my driftwood seat.
Last look back as I round the point.
And there she goes! Heading for the mainland.
There is plenty to eat on this trail should you forget to pack a snack. Sometimes I feel like Nanaimo-area is just one big blackberry bramble… 😉
Looks like it was a good hike. Someone’s feet had a lot of fun 😉
Back home, watching Jack Point leave my feet (and sandals!)
Very happy with this purchase so far! Hmmm…which walk should I do next? 🙂

And how was your (Canadian) long weekend? Do tell!

Rock on,

The WB

A Move During a Pandemic, Part 2 of 2

Capturing how I feel about my move in one photo…@ Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island

Hoo boy! It’s hard to sit down to ye olde blogge when there is so much to do and see but here I am, finally. I could write at least 5 separate posts on what’s been going on but dammit, the weather is too beautiful! I am understanding how a lot of bloggers take July and August “off” from their regular posting and resume blogging once again in September. If I was back in Ontario I’d be hunkered down in my air-conditioned place and only venturing out in the wee hours of the morning or after dark due to the extreme heat, giving me plenty of time to blog. But here on Vancouver Island, the more temperate climate begs one to spend as much time outdoors as possible!

Anyhoo, here’s an update on what’s been going on:

It took me a few weeks, but I was able to unpack all my stuff and make some sense of my new space. I am LOVING it here. Sure there are minor inconveniences to apartment living, like the heavy-footed upstairs neighbours, but overall I am very happy with, and comfortable in, my new home.

Balcony facing east
Balcony facing west. One of my favourite places to read a book, relax, enjoy a glass of wine…
Coming in off the balcony, into the living/dining area
Kitchen, as seen from the dining area
My bedroom
Spare/guest/art room – I’ve cleaned it up a bit since this picture was taken, at the final stages of getting unpacked/organized.
The bath

As of now, my hands are almost completely healed (from the bashing they took in assembling all the furniture I purchased to replace the stuff I left behind in Ontario), I have recovered somewhat from the exhaustion induced by the whole moving ordeal, and I am starting to really settle into AND enjoy my new life and all its perks.

Some of which, can be seen below!

Ann (The Unretired Life) at Helliwell Provincial Park, Hornby

I got to meet Ann, a fellow blogger, in real life (finally) at her beloved island of Hornby. Which is amazingly beautiful, by the way (as is Ann!).

And I was able to have another IRL meeting (again, finally) with yet another beautiful Vancouver Island blogger just yesterday – Jude – (Dr. Sock Writes Here) for a delightful walk around the lake at Westwood Lake Park.

Meeting people during these pandemic times can be a little unsettling, but we are all respectful of the need to maintain social distancing. Which means hugs are off the table, for now! Feels weird not to hug these ladies who I’ve known (virtually) for a few years now, but we do as we must.

Jude and I, thankful for the shady path around the lake

Of course, I am able to hang out (and hug) with members of my little “bubble”, my daughter and her family.

Saturday’s crabbing (and kayaking) adventures off the Nanaimo pier, at Maffeo Sutton Park

Life is definitely good. And I get to wake up every morning to this:

Sun rising over the mainland mountains

Yes, life is definitely good. And summer life on Vancouver Island is absolutely the best.

Rock on,

The WB

DO Go Chasing Waterfalls

I am fed up to the gills with all things moving. Packing for a move, unpacking from a move, organizing new space, buying things for the new place, building furniture and storage solutions for the new place etc., etc. I still have a lot to do, but they are mostly little jobs (curtains, art etc.). All the big stuff is done and I am down to the little tweaks that will make my place more liveable. Hoorah!

And coincidental to my fed-up mood, the weather is fabulous. So you know what that means, right?

Time to explore my new neighbourhood!!! Specifically, the out of doors.

Yesterday I took the afternoon off to stroll down to the Departure Bay Beach area (check out my Instagram for those photos), and today was spent in search of a trail I could walk to.

One of the residents in my apartment complex tantalized me last week with a tale of going for a walk through the neighbourhood and ending up on a trail which included a waterfall! And today, I made it my mission to find out what she was talking about.

I had looked up local trails on my AllTrails app, and the Beach Estates Trail seemed to fit the description she had given me. It said I could access it from Departure Bay Road but I wanted to walk through my neighbourhood, like my neighbour did.

A short walk later, passing by many lovely homes, and I was on a public access trail that took me down to the shore of Departure Bay.

Emerging onto the shore, close to the ferry docks.
One of the large weathered logs often found on the shorelines of BC

I walked along the rocky shore for a bit, looking for access to the trail. Which was easily found. Or so I thought. Immediately I entered a lush paradise.

Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!

Well-maintained cliffside steps and stairs
Cool tree trunk

It was a beautiful walk, but where was the waterfall? I decided to check AllTrails to see where I was on the trail.

I’m the blue dot. Not even on the trail yet!!! Could this be right?

I persevered. Onwards!

Continuing my climb up the cliffside. Not a difficult trail at all. Good thing ‘cos I only had Birkenstocks on my feet.

And then suddenly….

There it was! THE WATERFALL.

I had to be on the trail now, right?

Yup, on the trail now!
Not too shabby, for being right in town.

I continued on the trail and within moments I was out on the street, and at the beginning of it all.

Trail Head

And an hour and twenty minutes later, I was back home. I’m so thrilled to have such easy access to all this gorgeous nature, without even having to get in my car. Walking to a local trail on the regular was a big part of my former life in Ontario and I am so happy and grateful to have a similar experience here, at my new Vancouver Island home.

Do you have a local trail you can access easily for a quick dose of Vitamin Nature?

Rock on,

The WB

Barbados 2020 Recap

The snorkelling Widow Badass. Taken with my GoPro Hero 5 camera.

I’ve been back home now for 3 days and am totally undone by a horrific cold I picked up in Barbados, thanks to my room-mate, who got it thanks to her grand-niece (who is awfully cute but still deserves the nick-name of Plague Child, IMHO). Feel free to indulge any feelings of schadenfreude here, if you so desire. I’ll wait. 😉

Since I am too ill to mix and mingle with anyone now that I am back home, I am putting together this contagion-free blog post instead.

Seriously, this is one hell of a virus. I was kinda worried they were going to quarantine me at the airport, with suspected coronavirus!

This trip marks 4 years now, of coming to Barbados with my friend CJ, and staying at the same hotel (Coconut Court Beach Hotel), and we are still discovering new things to see and do every trip. One of our discoveries this trip included a wonderful dinner at the hospitality and culinary school in the Pommarine Hotel just 15 minutes walk from our place. We would definitely go back, having enjoyed a delightful 3 course meal for only 38 Barbadian dollars (~19 USD).

Another discovery was the half-day Garrison tour we took with this guy:

Peter, tour guide extraordinaire! He makes history not only come alive, but hella fun too.

We visited two forts, an armoury, re-visited George Washington House (and still learned stuff), and saw the changing of the guard in front of the Barbados Legion.

Changing of the Guard
Cannon overlooking beautiful Carlisle Bay
New this year: We had a lovely friend join us every time we partook of the poolside BBQ dinner (yum!) at the hotel.

But for me, the absolute highlight was coming across some newly-hatched sea turtles making their way to the ocean, on one of my morning walks.

Squee!!! I’ve walked the beach every morning of my annual vacation for 4 years, hoping to see just this very thing.
I stayed to watch every last one of these babies get swept away in the surf.

Most days were spent doing a whole lot of glorious nothing. If you call walking the board walk and the beach, relaxing in the shade, swimming and snorkelling in the warm sea, and reading e-books doing nothing. Ahhh…the life.

Does this woman look stressed to you?
Short video of the amazing fish I see everyday. Taken with my GoPro Hero 5.
Loving my water socks (new to this trip). No more rock-shredded feet! Photo taken with GoPro hero 5 set to wide -angle.

Of course it was of the utmost importance to catch as many sunrises and sunsets as possible.

Sunrise
Sunset
Sunset and sangria (a perfect combo, no?) at Champers Restaurant
Colourful sea and sunset, taken at Champers
Dramatic Sunrise
Picture perfect sunset. Low tide.
And let’s not forget switching out sunrise boardwalk forays with observing the race horses getting their morning sea bath. At Pebble Beach.

There’s always something to learn while in Barbados. Here are some tidbits:

Island wisdom
More island wisdom
The last of my footsteps in Barbadian sand for this year.
Cheers to another successful visit to Barbados! Photo taken by CJ

Rock on,

The WB

The View From My Window…

…is pretty bleak, or should I say pretty YET bleak today.

Pardon the weirdness caused by my window screen but the journal prompt did say view from the window, which I didn’t feel like opening and removing said screen. Anywho, you get the general idea…

If I was still working, I’d be very unhappy with January in Southern Ontario, thus far in 2020. For the past 3 weekends, every Saturday has been some kind of weather event – ice storm, snow storm, rain/freezing rain, more snow – it’s like someone has a hate on for Saturdays!

However, I am not working (and still giddy about this!) – which means every day is Saturday and I can get out for a walk or hike just about any time I want. Except for actual Saturday, according to the January weather gods.

My blogging and IRL friend Joanne and I have come up with a schedule of Wednesday hikes and so far the weather has cooperated. Two hump day hikes under our belts so far, and hopefully 2 more before we fly off to our separate adventures in February. Here’s some views I wish I had from my window, taken from this past Hump Day Hike:

Winter sun peeking through the bare trees at Limehouse Conservation Area.
Stream at Limehouse Conservation Area

See more pretty views at Joanne’s blog – Following a Bold Plan.

When not gazing out my window or getting outside for a walk or hike, I find myself doing a lot of puttering around the house. Which is lovely. I am a huge fan of puttering. However it can seem like I am not getting much done because I flit from task to task, leaving most things in a state of progress rather than working any particular task to completion (like I was more inclined to do when I was still working). I think this is because I am revelling in all of my newfound time. And truth be told, it’s kinda bugging me. So I came up with a game plan for today, to see if I can account for my time a bit better. Behold the task list:

To Do list in my journal for today: to keep me on track: focused on certain tasks, and with less flitting about. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but you know…in moderation!

So far I have shredded some papers in what used to be my office, worked on ye olde blogge, yoga-ed, and did 3 loads of laundry. My slow-cooked chicken carcass broth will be done soon and it will become the base for both a soup and a curry later on today. I also flitted departed from my task list to make my own less toxic household cleaner and used it to clean up my toilet and sink (more about this on another post!).

What’s left? I plan on playing with my GoPro, to relearn how to use it before I leave for Barbados in a couple of weeks. And since the January weather gods have relented and it seems not too terrible today, I am going to venture out for a walk to stretch my legs.

Bleak or not, the view from my window is calling to me.

Hope your Saturday is going well! How productive are you inclined to be today?

Rock on,

The WB

The Place I Call Home

The 2nd of the journal prompts I am trying to follow this year is to “write about the place you call home”. Rather than write about a particular city or area or even a dwelling, I am choosing to write about the place I always feel at home…out in nature. Since I have retired at the beginning of this year, I have been making it a priority to get out in nature just about every day because my body and soul needs it – to feel complete, to connect and to recharge.

Only animals have been on this gorgeous winter footpath, before I arrived. This photo and the following three were taken 2 days ago across the river from my abode.
This path is well-used.
My kind of heaven.
Red berries at the edge of the pond.

Today I met with my partner-in-crime for a lot of adventures, Joanne of My Life Lived Full and Following a Bold Plan. I think it’s safe to say that we both feel the same way about feeling at home in nature and today we made Hilton Falls Conservation Area our home.

Just 2 retired gals hanging out in the woods and up to no good, as usual.
Toasting our good fortune to be out in nature on such a glorious winter day. Joanne always brings the best hiking…er…snacks. Pretty sure it is illegal to drink in conservation areas. See “up to no good”, above. Hehehehe!
Gorgeous bark and mosses
Log with fungus
Joanne snapping a pic of the pot hole.
Hilton Falls – in fine winter form due to the heavy rains we experienced lately.
Later on another part of the trail: Joanne spotting another waterfall at the end of the reservoir.
Snack break, again. So important, on the trail. 😉

I hope you enjoyed the place I call home. I know I did.

Rock on,

The WB