Butchart Gardens - WOW!

 Friday we took the 2 hour drive to see Butchart Gardens.  55 Acres of floral delight.  I'm posting more pictures than usual cause I just couldn't decide which ones to cut.  If you like flowers you'll wish I posted more.  If you don't I've lost you already.  

A pretty amazing place.  If you're in Victoria this is definitely a place to put on your must visit list.  

Englishman River Falls

Not far from from our place in Nanoose Bay is Englishman River Falls Provincial Park.  We drove over on Wednesday for a little walk in the woods.

The falls are mesmerizing to watch.   

Once away from the falls the forest is eerily quiet with only a few bird calls coming from the canopy overhead.  

The rocks are polished smooth from centuries of rushing water.  

We felt so small next to the giant trees

Very few flowers but every once in a while......

Much of the forest floor is in dark shadows but every once in a while a stream of sunlight makes its way through. 

We left Englishman River Falls and headed over to take a walk through Parksville Qualicum Beach Heritage Park and then had lunch at the Qualicum Cafe.  It  provided us a nice view of the water and the mountains on the mainland in the distance. 

Thursday we went into Nanaimo for an oil change for the car and a little shopping.  Next up is a drive into Victoria and some flower pictures.  

Tofino

 Tuesday was Tofino day.  Its supposed to be about a 2 1/2 hour drive which ended up taking almost 4.  Winding mountain roads with rain and snow and then add in road construction and I was wondering if we should get a room and make it a 2 day trip.  The road construction has apparently been going on for a couple of years and has a few more years to go.  The problem is its the only road and much of the construction involves blasting.  Traffic is allowed one way for about 10 minutes and then the other way for 10 minutes and then all traffic stops while the construction crews work for 40 or so minutes and then it starts over again.  We sat waiting for our turn for about 45 minutes.  The road is closed completely at night when I think the blasting occurs.  

We finally got there and rushed around Ucluelet and Tofino trying to take in as many sights as possible before the long drive back and before the road closed for night.  Not the best way to take in all the sights but we made the best of the time we had.  Fortunately the weather was better during the drive back and we only had to wait at the construction zone for about 5 minutes.  I was also more comfortable driving the winding roads and did my best impersonation of a rally driver.  

While we weren't all that impressed with the Tofino townsite, perhaps our fault as we were pressed for time, the rain forests, mountains and ocean scenery made the trip worthwhile.  

We took a walk through a rainforest.  Everything was wet, droplets falling from the trees, the damp worked its way through our clothes and into our lungs.  And it wasn't even raining.  It was so dark with a few bright sunbeams streaming in through openings in the canopy above.  It was very eerie but neat at the same time.  

These lilies dotted the forest floor.

We walked along these wooden sidewalks.  The wood was saturated with water and very slippery.  Railings weren't present all the time and slipping off the walk onto the soggy forest floor would not have been pleasant.  

It was difficult getting a good shot of the moss on the trees given the challenging lighting conditions.  After some work this picture shows the beauty that we saw with the sun streaming from above and back lighting the trees.    

Walking down the street in Tofino we saw many shrubs covered in flowers.  

Found this clump of what I imagine is sea weed on one of the beaches.  They looked like huge worms and I kept expecting them to move.  

Prairie boy born and bred so rain forests and ocean vistas have me totally captivated. 

Dozens of little islands dotted the horizon.  

Miles and miles of beach.  Some were out in the surf trying to catch some waves.  Some were successful and some never made it out past the breaking waves with the surf continually pushing them back onto the beach.  

Closer to home, in Coombs, there was a farmers market where some of the buildings had grass roofs.  There were supposed to be goats on the roofs but none on this day.  We will probably drop in next week a little later in the day when more of the shops will be open and perhaps the goats will be out and about. 

While we were sitting and waiting to get through the construction zone this Stellar Jay kept us entertained. 

Long day.  Englishman River Falls on Wednesday and much less driving.