Bamfield slideshow

In October of 2014, we spotted an advertisement in the local newspaper for reduced-fare trips to Bamfield (from Port Alberni) on the packet freighter, MV Frances Barkley. At about $35 per person, how could we resist? Quite simply, we couldn't!

So, on the last day of the offer, (2014-10-30), we took the day trip. What started as a slight drizzle earlier in the day, turned itself into a full fledged monsoon by noon as a docked in Bamfield. Suffice to say, I lost a camera to that downpour.

Without my Sony cellphone (advertised as waterproof), there'd be no pictures for this slideshow.

To see the captions, move the mouse over the slideshow.

Long Beach - A trip in February

It's February. Not a good time of year to travel to the west coast of Vancouver Island, you'd think. WRONG! In our mind, ANYTIME is a good time for a visit to Ucluelet, Tofino and Long Beach.

Follow the rest of our trip report on the captions to the pictures...

• 2014-02-01 
48.923, -125.537

Compulsory stop at the water rushing past islands of rocks near Wally Creek.
Parking and access has been made easy.
However, DON'T attempt to walk about the rocks if they're wet!

Once we arrived in Ucluelet, we had enough time for a short walk
along the Wild Pacific Trail to the lighthouse at Amphitrite Point.

A good view of what is known as the "Graveyard of the Pacific"

Amphitrite Lighthouse on the Wild Pacific Trail

Path through Hemer Park

This Vancouver Island post takes us to Hemer Provincial Park in October.  On the day these photos were taken (2012-10-22) the leaves had started turning colours and some blackberries were making a valiant effort to ripen.

Viewing platform at the edge of the Hemer Park marsh

Hemer Provincial Park, an easy drive south of Nanaimo is located on Holden Lake.

Holden Lake

A set of trails, about 11 kilometres in total, takes walkers (and the occasional jogger, some horse-back riders, and plenty of pooches) along the shore of Holden Lake and through some marsh areas. The marsh areas are particularly interesting in the late spring as there's an abundance of flowers in bloom. The wild roses fill the air with a wonderful fragrance and the water Irises but on a great yellow show as visitors watch the numerous Trumpeter Swans on the marsh.  

There's a viewing platform at the edge of the marsh, approximately 1 km from the parking lot. Stop here for the roses and watch ducks, Trumpeter Swans, Bald eagles and Turkey Vultures.

Path through Hemer Park

Vancouver Island in Pictures, Post #01

Let's start this blog off with a few recent pictures of Vancouver Island.

You can't go too far wrong by starting off with images from the Long Beach area; in this case, three pictures from Florencia Bay.

The quintessential West Coast beach scene; drift logs and fine sand

Beautiful sandy beaches, so typical of Long Beach

Strolling along the beach, I'm accompanied by the persistent "peeeep", peeeeep" of a pair of Oyster Catchers

*  ===

Introduction: a Picture Representative of Vancouver Island

I'll start off with a picture that says Vancouver Island to me. Below, the beach at Florencia Bay.

The beach at Florencia Bay 2013-07-12