Nanaimo Harbor, Vancouver Island

(+12 insets!) (view large to see the cool views of this pano!) (Please scroll down to "Black Frank" and Today's Pictures" for information about the insets) I'm finally ready to continue with my trip reports from our 5-week adventure up to Vancouver Island and back! Again, I'd like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, to all of you, for your visits, favorites, comments, and support. There really is nothing that feels so good as being part of a community like the one here on ipernity. You are my internet family and I love you all! *BIG HUGS* A Short Stay in the Nanaimo "Hub" of our Vancouver Island Trip Our campground at "Living Forest RV Park" was located just a few minute's drive from the lovely and popular oceanside town of Nanaimo, centrally located between the north and south of Vancouver Island. Unfortunately, we weren't able to book a 5-day stay there and with just three days, our visit would have only one full, "relaxed" day. The day we arrive at a campsite is usually eaten up, unless it only takes a very short time and we are able to get situated quickly without stress. Setting up the RV, winding down from the drive, getting meals together, figuring out the lay of the land and getting comfortable with the new "digs" really sucks up the hours and before we realize it, the whole day is gone! That's how we figured out that staying for five days at each location is a minimum for a satisfying visit. We came to realize that even five days isn't enough. When you take away the first and last days, three days are left and though that is sometimes long enough to exhaust the local sights, it doesn't leave enough time to truly kick back and relax. We need more time to allow ourselves the freedom to do things like wander around a town or natural area just looking for artistic photography—not travel highlights—or sit and read a book, play a video game, take a nap, or do nothing at all. With "just enough time," we were constantly reminded that we need to use our time wisely and make sure not to miss an important local sight. This was maddening to both of us. Steve wanted to just chill out but he couldn't. I wanted to creep around with my macro lens but I couldn't. Not without feeling terribly guilty that we should be making the most of the short time we had available to us. Knowing that we may never visit this area again was not something either of us took lightly. This caused considerable stress and unhappiness and changed the whole way we'll be traveling in the future. Our next trip will be open-ended with long stays at each place. We may not see as many places but each destination will be wonderful and satisfying! Happily it didn't take very long to get to our campsite from Malahat. We were able to get ourselves set up and relaxed enough that we decided to drive into town and take a walk along its lovely harbor, taking in the sights along the way. The cloud-filled but comfortable day was perfect and we were delighted by the incredible views as we walked along. A popular paved path stretched from their harbor, along the shore to the heart of the town and we enjoyed the views and the salty breeze that accented our stroll. Black Frank, Admiral of the Fleet At one point along our walk, I noticed a very festive-looking sculpture of what looked to be a very happy pirate, titled "Admiral of the Fleet." I took pictures of the plaque along with the beautifully detailed bronze sculpture and looked forward to learning more about this "Black Frank" pirate person once I got home. When I processed the pictures for our Nanaimo stroll, I arrived at the pirate pictures and eagerly dove into the internet to learn more. What I discovered warmed my heart, brought a tear to my eye, and made me wish dearly that I could have met the man so affectionately known as "Black Frank." You'll see several insets for Frank Ney—two of his memorial sculpture and one of the plaques. The plaques had the following text on them: (This placard was small and set at the foot of the sculpture) Dedicated by the citizens of Nanaimo in memory of Frank James Ney (1918 - 1992) Affectionately known as "Black Frank" "8 Bells and All is Well in Davey Jone's Locker" (This plaque was larger and set off to the side; you'll see this one as an inset) Admiral of the Fleet (Frank Ney - May 12, 1918 - November 24, 1992) In 1967, Black Frank" helped launch the now famous Loyal Nanaimo Bath Tub Race. The colorful pirate costume was worn to promote Nanaimo as the Sunporch of Canada, Jewel of the West, and Bathtub Capital of the World! A Lifetime of Service Mayor of Nanaimo 1967-1984 and 1986-1990 Member of Legislative Assembly 1969-1972 "Freeman of the City of Nanaimo" B.C.'s Tourism Ambassador Honorary Chief First Nations of Nanaimo Killer Whale Q'Un Lhanumutsun Active Member of many organizations Notary Public and President of Nanaimo Realty I was able to locate videos of Frank Ney, as "Black Frank" , which show what an incredibly silly and fun-loving character he was. It is obvious why he was so beloved by his city. You will laugh when you see him being a pirate and paddling one of his bathtub boats! What a loon! And in regards to being the "Bathtub Capital of the World" and home of the Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Race, here's a video which celebrates the 25th anniversary of their races . Interestingly, they allow the bathtubs to be set inside another boat so they are less tippy and able to gain more speed. Today's Pictures My main picture today is a panorama of the harbor and view towards the main part of town. There are lots of insets too, including those of "Black Frank". You'll see the harbor, panoramas of our walk along the water, tagged geese, a lovely wood rose I couldn’t resist taking a picture of, and an image of a seagull who sadly has a starfish stuck in in its mouth. We really hoped that it would be able to prize the starfish out of its beak before it starved, the poor thing. Pam, I remember thinking about you as we walked along and we were sure that you would have really enjoyed this pretty stroll. Everyone that we passed by was happy too—it was a wonderful place to be and obviously very popular for folks who work and live in the area. I've always wished we could be next to a path like this for bike riding but the closest one is about 15 minute's drive away. Since that means loading up the bikes in the truck we don't go often, though the Bear Creek Greenway ride is incredible. It takes us about 17.5 miles from Central Point on a picturesque trip down to the town of Ashland where we always stop at our favorite coffee shop and also grab a bite to eat at one of the many wonderful restaurants there. Another 17.5 beautiful miles back to our truck to complete a most satisfying bike ride. What fun! Paved pathways are a natural favorite for us! Hope all is well with you my dear! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 1/16/20; highest placement #8.

(+4 insets!) (Please view large for more details!) Vancouver Island's bustling city of Nanaimo is perfectly located between the rugged, sparsely populated northern town of Port Hardy and the metropolitan city of Victoria in the south. I mentioned in my last report how unfortunate it was that we weren't able to book a 5-day stay at our campground. We had to make due with three days and because we wanted to be in the area for a total of at least five days, we found another campsite just a bit north which we booked for four days. However, as I've mentioned on other posts, any "travel" day, no matter how short, is a complete disruption and we hate it. Usually we cannot do anything at all on those days other than get from Point A to Point B, set up, eat dinner, and then wind down before bed. In this case, we had exactly ONE full day to be in this area and throwing out all the other excursions around, we decided to go to Newcastle Island for the day. Located just off the coast of Nanaimo, it's just a short 10-minute ferry ride over to this sizable and culturally significant island. Owned and managed by the Snuneymuxw First Nation people, the proper name for Newcastle Island is Saysutshun, which means ' training for running.' This island has always been hugely important to the Snuneymuxw as a place of physical and spiritual healing and to prepare mentally for races or battles. There are no cars or motor vehicles allowed (except for First People's maintenance-related) and there is something really wonderful about being required to walk or ride a bike to get anywhere. This being said, we decided to take our bikes with us on our adventure, as it is a fantastic way to see the island and travel on its 22 km of well-maintained trails. Saysutshun's little ferry runs to and fro every 30 minutes with a modest fee of $9 for a roundtrip ticket which includes a bike and we were so excited as we parked and made our way over to the pier. Today's Pictures My main picture today also works for Happy Fence Friday! It shows the walkway down to the docking area for the ferry and temporary docking. Our ferry, the Grey Selkie , is docked in place on the left side with another boat docked on the right. This picture was taken after we returned from Saysutshun but I wanted to use it so you could see the ferry. I was so excited when it arrived that I totally forgot to take one! :D We only waited for about five minutes before the boat pulled up and while we waited I got a picture of the cute little blue boat docked there. We initially thought it was the ferry but realized that it probably wasn't, especially when the actual one pulled up! Once it was tied to the pier, Steve helped the captain and assistant to lift our bikes up to the cargo area on top of the boat. After we were seated I took a picture of the inside which I thought was really interesting. I'd never been in such a small ferry before and was overwhelmed by the "cute" factor of this little work boat! I have also included a panorama that I took as we motored from Nanaimo to Saysutshun. You can see just how close the island is to the mainland on the left side of the picture. You can see the Nanaimo harbor and also, near the right side of the panorama, Saysutshun's harbor! Pretty cool! :) (The land mass on the right side is Protection Island, a First People's private land, not normally visited by non-indigenous people and a home to many of these folk.) Pam, I hope that you are comfortable and resting a lot. You've been in my thoughts so often and I am very relieved that all went well. This hurdle out of the way, now you can focus on being as well as possible. I hope that you get a little better quality of life with this stress out of the way. Maybe there is a possibility that your Left Side Neglect will fade some as time passes from your procedure. You mentioned that what's done is done but I can't help hoping for some improvements for you. *BIG HUGS* from southern Oregon. Explored on 1/24/20; highest placement #4.