Ruthie On The Road

I can’t believe that I have been here over a week and all that has happened in that time.  The journey is all but forgotten now but at the time, was a bit trying.  The first flight went without a hitch other than the guy next to me constantly tring to stroke my leg and despite me elbowing him several times and telling him to stop he persisted throughout the whole 9 hr flight.  I was very glad to be off the plane but then came the 2 1/2 hr customs queue at Washington which subsequently caused me to miss the connecting flight to Seattle. So instead of the stop over I had planned in Seattle,  I spent the night in Washington and got the first flight to Seattle the following  morning.  Plan B was then set in motion and another flight there to Victoria got me safely through Canadian immigration (all of 30 seconds) and into the waiting arms of my parents.  Like I said that is all forgotten now and I can try and sort it out with insurance when I get back. 

The first couple of days I settled into holiday mode and only had minor problems wanting to go to sleep at 9pm on the second day here, but I blame that on altitude aclimatization here on the mountain side, rather than jetlag!  Snow followed for the next few days and I quite enjoyed being stranded at the house with mum and dad not able to make it down to work. We set to making bread, marmalade and muffins and watched a number of DVD’s but I was relieved to see the snow retreating the following day before cabin fever really set in.

At the weekend we headed over to Vancouver Island on the early ferry and stopped for quintessential canadian breakfast of pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. We ventured round the shops in Victoria and I bought a few absolute essentials! The really started to make its presents felt so we got in the car and drove up the Malahat to Nanaimo.  Originally heading to Tofino we realised that the weather was going to put a real downer on the trip and fact that we had to be back on Salt spring for Monday morning meant that most of the weekend would be spent driving in awful weather so time for plan b again and Nanaimo was our destination.  Called the ‘Harbour city’ Nanaimo is Vancouver Islands second largest city after Victoria and renowned for its outdoor culture.  It has fantastic scenery, parklands and would be a great place to explore on a dry day.  It was dark when we arrived so we settled into the hotel and walked down to a great little Greek restaurant just down from the hotel.  I know they say you should never judge a place from the outside and that is certain true in this case. From the outside it looked really dark and there was the obligatory blue and white flag restaurant board.  We walked in the door and I was amazed it was like a mini greek palace in a conservatory.  The food was amazing an we were all stuffed when we left.  I also got to sample a Greek red and I definitely approve.

On Sunday we started the day with wafel making at the hotel and then went out round Nanaimo.  After a brief drive round the city, which was really more a town, we went to Chemanius.  Chemanius is the town that is home to the world famous wall painting.  I was here 20 years ago and when we arrived memories of certain areas came flooding back.  We walked round the wall paintings, which are far more extensive then they were all those years ago.  The skies had cleared and the sun was out and it felt lovely walking around taking photographs. 

After Chemanuis we went to Duncan and we went for coffee at an organic cafe and then took the Totem tour.  Basically, the Totem tour is a series of yellow footsteps painted on the pavements that guided you a round the40 plus Totem poles around the town, each one unique on its colours and carvings. A quick visit to Maple bay for a walk on the beach and more photo opportunities, although I didn’t manage to get one of the man falling out of his canoe, before returning to Salt spring on the ferry from Crofton.