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Powell River, June 2009

 

Friday, June 26
Unlike our usual half-hour plane ride, we opted to drive this time. It takes much longer (almost 3 hours on 2 different ferries, as well as a couple of hours driving) but we were able to move a few of the boxes that we had packed. We were "home" before the ferry had finished unloading. Just moments after leaving Horseshoe Bay we spotted a pair of eagles sitting atop a tree. It was nice to see home from the water - normally we are looking out at the ferry coming in. That's our house just at the top of the hill - the white one with the wall of windows.

Home

Saturday, June 27

A cloudy day but we were out and about relatively early. After breakfast we did a round of shopping. We were looking for gardening tools so we could do a bit of yard work. Fortunately (?) by the time we arrived home it was raining enough that we were able to convince ourselves not to start the work. We did go through a couple of lovely garden centers - we are slowly getting to know the community. We spent the afternoon waiting for the rain to clear - a little stitching, a little reading and contemplating whether a nap from the heat of the day is better than a nap on a rainy and dull day (the jury is still out). We took a walk to find a place for supper - not exactly sunny but no rain and not cold. Not much sunset to see as it was pretty cloudy, but even a cloudy day on the ocean is a good day.

Cloudy Day

Sunday, June 28
We were up early for the first ferry to Texada Island. The island was having their annual Garden Tour and since our Sail Pass gave us the ride for free we figured why not? When we were first looking for a retirement home we were looking at Texada, and it was lovely to see it again. The gardens were lovely and we saw several deer, humming birds and eagles. Once we were back home we set off to the Shinglemill for a bowl of Clam Chowder. We sat outside to watch the sunset in spite of a cool breeze off the ocean. While enjoying the view through the binoculars I spotted a cruise ship making its way through the Strait of Georgia, probably on its way to Alaska.

 

Shelter Point

Shelter Point Regional Park, Texada Island

Below is the first garden we visited. This rock garden was beautiful, but so were the fig orchard and the vegetable garden.

Rock Garden

 

You really had to look closely to find this nest among the leaves.

Nest

Look out Pat - there's a heron lurking in the palms.

Heron

 

 

Look at the size of that lizard on the rock.

Lizard

We didn't stop for tea at the Tea House but spent a lot of time watching the humming birds. They moved too quickly to get a photo though.

Tea House

 

Can you see the butterfly that Pat is pointing at?

Butterfly

It is the orange spot about an inch in front of his finger.

Monday, June 29
We spent the morning working in the yard - the garden tours must have inspired us. We had reservations for lunch at The Laughing Oyster overlooking Okeover Inlet. It was too windy for the deck but the view from inside was just fine. After lunch (and dessert) it was time to hit the hiking trail to Hurtado Point and a view of Savory island. Just before sundown we grabbed a hot chocolate and made our way down to the viewpoint. As usual, the sunset didn't disappoint.

Sundown

Tuesday, June 30
Another morning spent working in the yard. Weeding doesn't seem so bad when you can look up and see the ocean. We spent the afternoon looking around some of the shops and then sitting and enjoying the day at Willingdon Beach. After dinner we headed home to pack up and clean up so we could get an early start in the morning. We managed to still have time to walk the SeaWalk (well I walked and Pat sat and enjoyed the view) and enjoy another beautiful sunset. And yes, the yard work was worth it.

Daisies

Rock Wall

Wednesday, July 1
All good things must end and we are off to our "other" home on the first ferry out. No big rush for the Nanaimo ferry so we took the scenic OceanView drive from Comox to Parksville. We would have gone all the way to Nanaimo on the scenic route but were stopped by a Canada Day parade so had to detour. We had lots of time at the ferry terminal in Nanaimo to look at the shops before we boarded for the hour and a half ride home (and the additional half-hour drive from the ferry terminal home).

Ferry