Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: harbor

(+8 insets!) Appreciating Nanaimo from our Ferry Ride Back Unlike our trip over to Newcastle Island, the ferry back to Nanaimo included enough people that every available seat was taken and there were several other bikes stowed away up top as well. Everyone was in a very bright mood, chattering happily about their visit to remarkable Saysuchun Island. As we neared the shores of Nanaimo, we saw a seaplane land nearby and we also got to watch a group of people exchange goodbyes to loved ones as they entered a seaplane standing by. Immediately after, the seaplane took off and I was able to get pictures of the whole proceeding while we were on the ferry! We pulled up to the dock after our short ride and were soon on our way, though we did stop for a few pictures first. Once we pushed our bikes up to the parking lot, we hopped aboard and buzzed over to our truck and loaded them in the back. There was plenty of time so another walk along the harbor was in order on this oft-changing day of sun and clouds. It was never cold though which was a nice treat. We enjoyed our walk, strolling along a section we missed the first time we went. It was a wonderful way to end the day’s adventures! Today’s Pictures The main picture today shows another picture of Nanaimo’s lovely wharf. Insets include a picture of Nanaimo from the ferry as we were approaching the dock, a series of seaplane pictures, and two art pieces that we saw along the harbor walking path. Also included was a cool restaurant on stilts out on the bay and finally, another picture from the ramp down to the ferry. I posted a different one the other day but this one turned out well to so I thought I’d share it too! Pam, have you ever been on a boat cruise? Being on that little ferry was such fun but it’s certainly not something you could sleep on. I’ve always been resistant to cruises but I can see their value in certain circumstances—most especially to cold climates where driving would be problematic or even downright impossible. Some day we’d like to go on a cruise up to Alaska or another northern place…what about you? I hope all is well with you—it hailed yesterday and today the low was a frigid 25 degrees, oh my!! There were snow flurries all morning, BRRRRR!!! Explored on 2/04/20; highest placement #2.

(+4 insets) (this picture is super at full-size!) Our visit to Newcastle Island-- Saysutshun --was really wonderful and I got lots of pictures which I've finally finished processing. I wanted to present them in a logical order so I'll be rolling them out in four more presentations including this one. :) I hope you enjoy the show! Setting Foot on Saysutshun The short ferry ride to Saysutshun was lovely and we enjoyed taking pictures as we approached the island's harbor. Many boats were moored outside the main cove and it was neat to see the variety of sizes and types. Steve helped get the bikes off the ferry and we made our way up to the visitor's booth, where we were greeted by a very gentle and knowledgeable man and his big smile. Speaking in his soft voice, we were given a map of the island and suggestions on where we should go to make the most of our visit. He told us about the spiritual power of this place and I did not doubt a word of what he was saying. I felt it vividly the moment we arrived. There was a very strong sense of spiritual energy that emanated from the island, something that was very surprising and wonderful to me. Although I'm not religious in the traditional sense, I consider myself to be very spiritual and in touch with the planet and its life forms. I could feel this energy strongly from the island itself but also from the man who was speaking to us. It was totally fascinating to me. Steve could feel that there was something a bit different going on but for me it was very strong. Cool. (If you'd like more information, this is a link to the island's culture and history page (click) . Today's Pictures My main picture shows the boats we saw moored outside and at the mouth of the island's harbor. Saysutshun offers moorage to visitors and residents and I can see why it's such a popular place for boaters to come and stay! Insets include more pictures of the boats as well as an extremely wide, 360 degree panorama of the view from the visitor's kiosk. You can see my bike on one side near the kiosk and on the left, one of their wonderful totems which is set up at a meeting area complete with a host of benches. Finally, there is a picture of the lovely tribal artwork adorning the visitor's kiosk. Rock Tumbling Update After reevaluating the rocks over a week ago, I pushed most back to the first step but allowed others to go on to the second step, and yesterday I washed them all off and put them in a pan of water to appreciate how they were coming along. WOWZERS!!! It was really wise to be more critical of every rock and its realistic progress because the difference in quality of tumbling was blatantly obvious! About 95% of the rocks in Step 2 looked AMAZING. Silky smooth and with very few divots or rough spots, I gave the green light to almost every one to head to Step 3--the Pre-polish stage! I'm so excited…they'll be heading to the final stage in another week, and just WAIT until you guys see these beauties, they are just GORGEOUS!! The Step 1 rocks were also in great shape and though I had to hold back a large handful, I've placed all of the ones that are ready go to go Step 2 into a jar where they will sit until I get enough rocks that will fill a tumbler. In the meantime, I filled the second tumbler with all of the rocks that I decided to re-run as Step 1's and added a few new rocks to fill the tumbler. There are some seriously gorgeous rocks in that batch…heh…every batch…:D…and it will be such fun to share pictures of the polished beauties! Pam, I hope all is well in your world! Feeling a bit better each day I hope! You've been on my mind as I gather rocks, I am sure you would love them all as much as I do! *BIG HUGS* from southern Oregon! Explored on 1/27/20; highest placement #1.

(+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.

(+ 11 insets) (this scene is really best at full size so you can see the whole show! :D) Trip Talk: Our Last Visit to Victoria Wasn't Long Enough! Some years ago, Steve and I went on a group motorcycle ride with a bunch of people including our good friend Andy. The plan would be to ride up into Canada, take a series of ferries to various islands and eventually end up in Victoria, Vancouver Island before heading back down to Washington and then home. The idea seemed reasonable until Steve started doing the math. There was no way we'd be able to make the ferry hops in time. But nobody wanted to think about details, so we went on the trip and lo' and behold, the ferries were missed and our adventures changed substantially. Steve and I didn't even make it onto the first ferry because of navigation issues with our phone. In the end, we decided to make our own adventure and took a ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. From there we took the day cruising slowly south to Victoria. It turned out to be the best day of the whole trip! After exploring several quaint towns on the way down we eventually wound up in Victoria, where we ended our evening at an amazing sushi restaurant, followed by a walk along the harbor and finally tucking ourselves into bed after a glorious day. The only thing we'd wished was to have more time in Victoria, which was so beautiful and full of things to see and do. Therefore, when we discussed going on a trip to Vancouver Island, spending at least a couple of days in Victoria was at the top of our short list. And so, the day after we went to Goldstream Provincial Park, we decided it was time go have a proper day at Victoria. What would we do? Why, walk everywhere, of course! We wanted to see it all…and you know, I think we did a pretty good job if my photos are any indication! In fact, there are so many pictures that I processed that I'm reminded of the day Steve and I spent in Nice, France a couple of years back. A different adventure for sure, but equally full of wonderful sights and lasting memories. That being said, I'll have to take several days post pictures from our day walking in Victoria…either that or force you all to endure 30 insets! :D I didn't think that would be reasonable either, heh! :D Today's Pictures My main picture today shows the beautiful and extremely active harbor of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. There was a constant show going on with dozens of boats and ships of all kinds going by. I'd read that you might get to see pontoon planes in the harbor, but I never imagined we'd get to see them constantly taking off and landing! Steve and I really enjoyed looking out on this harbor! The rest of my presentation today includes more harbor pictures and some of the popular sights and cool things I saw as we enjoyed this gorgeous day! Inset 1: See the plane coming in for a landing on the main image? Here it is coming around to land on the bay! How cool is that?! And we got to see lots and lots of planes landing and taking off here! In fact, I've never seen so many planes land and take off in such a short period of time...such great entertainment! Inset 2: This is the plane from the main image preparing to take off. It's amazing how quickly these planes get off the water and also, how fast they land. They don't need much space which I thought was really interesting. The fact that they don't waste their time also meant a challenge to get pictures! Inset 3: This was a typical docking of sea planes. They were constantly taxiing into dock and then a different one would pull out and was soon zooming up into the sky. Inset 4: Across the bay was the magnificent Delta Hotel, overlooking the busy harbor. That cute little boat is a water taxi and they were constantly buzzing customers to and from water-based destinations. I'll have more pictures in my next set of images! Inset 5: We walked past the circa 1908 Empress Hotel, famous destination for celebrities and royalty through the years. Also known for its very schmancy "High Tea" service offered only with weeks-in-advance reservations and prices high enough they aren't listed on the menu! Inset 6: Built in 1897, the Baroque-style Parliament Building shown here is a construction of four government offices. This place was absolutely crawling with tourists so we didn't bother trying to get closer. Inset 7: I thought this statue might be Vancouver but upon looking closer I discovered that it was Captain James Cook! WOW, has that man been around!!! Here is what the plaque read: Capt. James Cook, R. N. 1728-1779: After two historic voyages to the South Pacific, Cook was cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest on his third and final voyage. With his two ships Resolution and Discovery he was searching for the western exit to the legendary Northwest Passage. In March, 1778, they put into Nootka Sound for repairs and to trade with the native people. With him on the voyage were Mr. William Bligh as master of the Resolution and midshipman George Vancouver. Inset 8: As Steve and I approached the harbor I saw this sculpture and nearly dropped in my tracks! "The Homecoming" celebrates a father and daughter's joyful reunion as he returns home from sea. I was just stunned by the expressions, body language and perfection of anatomy and every single detail presented. An incredibly touching sculpture that really hit home with me. Inset 9: In daddy's bag we see that he's got a teddy bear for his daughter and a small wrapped box for his wife. Fantastic details! (I also adored the girl's frolicking dog, so darn cute!) Inset 10: I couldn't resist posting a picture of some of the ridiculously colorful planters that were absolutely everywhere around Victoria! Inset 11: Finally, this was a very interesting place to park your bike in inclement weather. :) Explored on 9/19/19; highest placement #5.