Mini Vacay in Sidney By The Sea

Andrew and I always love aquariums and we keep talking about wanting to get back to the one in Sidney, also known as the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea. It's only a 30 minute drive away but as we settle into day-to-day life in Victoria, we just never made time for it until Andrew suggested a mini vacation. 

Heading out in the morning, we arrived just in time for opening (to hopefully avoid any crowds), bought an annual membership and spent a good hour+ at this small, interesting place. The employee manning the touch pool made it really fascinating. His enthusiastic, "There's so much activity!" was refreshing. At a glance, there's absolutely nothing moving but since he'd been there that morning, a few of the creatures had moved a whole inch! We watched close and could see grains of sand being shifted by the movement.  

We also did several walks along the waterfront park. Lots of birds, beautiful flowers, and interesting artwork. 

We had a delicious wine flight tasting and cheese plate (and tiramisu) at The Farmer's Daughter for supper. 

We stayed overnight at the small but very nice Sidney Waterfront Inn, had another nice walk after breakfast and then Andrew headed off for his run back home (~30 km) along the Lochside Trail. I did the first 1.5 km with him along the waterfront and made it back to Victoria in time for my gym workout.  

East Sooke Coast Trail

How long is the East Sooke Coast Trail?  It seems to depend on what you read, which app you use, which trails you actually take, and so on, and so on. Anywhere between 10 - 17 km but, according to all our devices, for us it was about 14 km of lots of up and down, in and out from the coast, casual hiking to hands on scrambling. But always beautiful! Taking our time and enjoying the views along the way, it took us about 7 hours to complete. 

Andrew and I met Rebecca, Ian and John at Aylard Farms at the east end of Sooke Regional Park. We then carpooled to Pike Road trailhead at the west end of the trail where we started. 

Map courtesy of Capital Regional District

We found slugs, spiders, birds and many plants; what we think was a seal popping it's head out of the water a few times; we kept a close watch for whales but all we saw were the whale watching boats along with various other water craft from canoes to barges, a cruise ship and a sail boat. 

The weather was perfect! Sun and cloud, a few minor spits of rain which thankfully wasn't enough to make the rocks slippery. This would not be a fun trail with slippery rocks! 

All in all, a fabulous day with good friends! 

Mount Finlayson Loop Trail

A couple weekends ago, Andrew and I headed out to Elk Lake which has a very easy (i.e. level) 10 km loop hike. I ran the loop once while Andrew ran it twice. This worked well so we decided to do another similar outing. 

This time, I didn't do any running as the route up and around Mount Finlayson is fairly steep and involves a bit of scrambling near the top. The route is part of the Finlayson Arm ultra race and, while Andrew has no interest in running the actual race, he's interested in the race course. Today, he ran/scrambled to the summit, down the other side, almost to Holmes Peak, and then back along the lower Mount Finlayson loop. 

Andrew ready to start running. Mt. Finlayson in the background.

Meanwhile, I started out on the "stair master" and hopped over a couple small creeks before getting to the scrambling. 

45 minutes later, I stopped on the summit for a while and basked in the sunshine and enjoyed the gorgeous views! Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains in one direction; the Salish Sea and Olympic Mountains in another. 

On the way down the other side and around the loop, I was very happy that I'd downloaded a map from  TrailForks! There were many little unmarked side trails and the "loop" trail was not always the most obvious one. Both Andrew and I checked our gadgets several times to make sure were were on the right path. 

All in all, a great outing on a beautiful day! 

Foggy Sunday Morning

I headed over to Port Moody for the weekend to visit Julie and Kurt and meet the newest member of our family, Lily Anne Grace Malm. Nicole was there as well, so had a good visit with her. 

On Sunday morning, I went for a hike along the Shoreline Trail. It was very foggy and made for some interesting photos. 

If it weren't for the ducks, it almost looks like snow. 

The water was so calm for reflections.

It was still quite overcast as I headed back to the Island in the afternoon.

New Years Day at Butchart Gardens

On New Years Day, Andrew and his sister, Clare, and I went out to Butchart Gardens to see the 12 Days of Christmas display. We went through once while it was still light out, stopped at the coffee shop, and then went through again to better see the light display at night. 

Some of the displays definitely had a note of humour to them. 

Three French hens complete with coffee and croissants, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. 

Four calling birds with cell phones. 

Five golden rings (not humorous but very beautiful). 

Eight maids a milking . . . with a cow with moving head and swishing tail. 

Ten lords a leaping (watch video).

At the end, you're left wondering where the 12 drummers drumming are. Clare already knew as she'd been there in the past but I asked about three times and we could hear other people wondering as well. It's not until you drive out the exit where there are 12 arches to go through and a drummer at the top of each.  

There were also many other beautiful light displays .... the photos don't do them justice! 

This ball reminded me of the Chicago bean. Can you see the family photo?  

Christmas Day Along the Songhees Walkway

Andrew and I went for a Christmas Day walk along the Songhees walkway. It's amazing how much you see when you meander and have camera in hand. 

From a very cooperative hummingbird to a hidden heron, to roses and seaweed. We also saw a harbour seal and an otter but they were too quick for us today!  :-)