Gray Victoria

Off to Victoria today..... It was warm (+8 C) but gray and a cool wind off the sea.

Fisgard Street is decorated for the Chinese New Year.

The harbour is very quiet.

The Empress looks bare with all the leaves of the Virginia Creeper on the front gone.

It is quite windy out on Dallas Rd. There are lots of broom and gorse growing wild along the shore. These were brought here from England in the mid-1800s, and now have spread all over the southern end of the Island. The broom is on the right - it blooms in May. The gorse is beginning to bloom now. It is rather a nasty plant, with long sharp spikes.

A wind surfer was out. It must have been very cold.

A closer view of the gorse.

There are lots of snowdrops out now.

And the best of all! The first (and only) daffodils to be seen - these were in a garden along Dallas Rd.

Nanoose Bay

Kelly and I went for a drive late in the afternoon today - around the Nanoose loop. We stopped at the pond on the golf course to see what sort of critters we might find.


There were ducks, and some geese and one very sleepy swan with his head resting over his wing.

He woke up long enough to get his picture taken and then went back to sleep.

Farther around the loop is Schooner Bay Marina.

From the hill above I zoomed in on the mountains on the mainland.

Then down to the marina and a walk along the docks.

It was quite cold out - just above freezing, I would think.

But even if it is cold, the flowers are coming out more and more..... the rhodo bushes on Hammond Bay Rd. are looking more colourful.