Victoria, Tuesday June 24 to Friday June 27

Ray and I went to Victoria this past week. We left on the 5:00 ferry Tuesday afternoon and came back on the 5:00 Friday. Each time we got a super ferry. On the trip going to Victoria I saw 2 killer whales briefly as they were swimming in the opposite direction of the ferry. The captain announced the sighting. Ray took a nap on the ferry so was in the car. We made it in time for him to play badminton with his high school buddy in Victoria.

After we ate brekkie on Wednesday we went downtown to the Tourism Victoria's Visitor Info Centre to pick up our wristbands for the Tall Ship festival boarding and admission for Friday.

Then we went to Hatley Park National Historic Site to go on a 1 hour guided tour of Hatley Castle . It was interesting to learn about the history of the castle and the gardens. It was built in 1908 for James Dunsmuir, a coal and rail baron who also served as Premier and Lieutenant Governor of BC. Hatley Park is on the Royal Roads University grounds. The castle is where X2 and XMen 3 were filmed. Ray recognized some parts of it from the movies. In the distance we could see a few of the tall ships anchored. The castle was quite interesting to see especially alll the different coloured fireplaces.


The castle tour included admission to the adjacent gardens. There was an Italian garden, rose garden, Japanese garden, green house etc that we also wandered around in. Very impressive. There were a few peacocks in the gardens and for the first time I saw peacock babies, not sure what to call them- peacocklings??? They were so cute. There were 4 of them with one being yellow and more fluffier than the others.

After Hatley Park we went to nearby Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse. There was a military band playing there as well as some guys dressed in period costumes to shoot off some guns towards the tall ships that were anchored there. I think there were 9 ships anchored there. It was really windy there.

On Thursday we went to Breakwater at Ogden Point to see the Tall Ships before they went into the Inner Harbour to dock. It was soooo cool seeing them sailing around, quite something to see especially with their sails up. It was really cold on Thursday, not just by the water but inland too. It was sooooo windy walking out on the Breakwater and standing around out there. We went back to the hotel and took a nap afterwards.

We went over to Ray's friend's place and then went out for dinner with S, his wife and 2 kids. After dinner my high school friend picked me up at the house. I hadn't seen her since I was in Vic for the half marathon in Oct. 2006. Ray and S went to play badminton and my friend and I went to The Centre of the Universe which has an observatory, telescope and planetarium. We enjoyed the view of Victoria and could see Mount Baker too. Thanks S! Just above our heads there were swarms of mosquitoes. S said that the mosquitoes go up to the higher elevation to mate and weren't interested in us at all. Quite a switch since I usually get eaten alive but walked out of there without a single bite! I had a nice visit.

On Friday Ray and I checked out of the hotel and then after going for brekkie we went to the Tall Ship Festival downtown. We found a parking spot at a meter but it was only for 90 minutes. All the parkades were full as they had been even in the days before the festival as the festival grounds were on parking lots at the inner harbour. There were long line-ups to go onto the tall ships so we asked for the shortest one (15 to 20 minutes) and only saw 2 of the over 20 ships there. I think the Bounty had quite a few hours to wait. We went aboard the Lady Washington and the Lynx and took a look around. The Lady Washington was in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie but it was apparently called the Interceptor on the show. It was quite a change in weather from Thursday and was hot Friday. Ray made it back home in time to play hockey Friday night.

Ray and I have seen a few movies in the past few weeks: Indiana Jones, The Incredible Hulk and the latest one we saw was tonight - Kung Fu Panda. All were action packed although Grandpa Jones and the Panda were hoaky being quite far-fetched. I liked all 3 of these movies as they kept my attention all the way through. But I enjoyed the Hulk the most.

C and I went to Nanaimo for Father's Day a few weeks ago. The 12:30 boat was supposed to be the new Coastal Renaissance ferry. We had taken that on Mother's Day and I was looking forward to going on it again. But it ended up being one of the old ones as the new one was getting fixed at Departure Bay. Oh well.

I picked up my glasses yesterday from Granville Eyeland. After a few years of having to wipe my glasses almost every day as they got so smudged, it's nice to not have to do that anymore. I got nosepads added. I think the glasses look better esthetically without the nosepads but this is more functional.

I finally sorted Nic and April's Vegas photos. So perhaps I will pick some to post.

Well, I obviously jinxed myself and spoke too soon. No sooner did I say the crappy arthritic-causing weather was over then it reared it's ugly head again on Monday, Tuesday and today! Crap! Ahhh, I will reminisce about the long weekend when we went to Kelowna for a friend's wedding which was outdoors at Summerhill Pyramid Winery overlooking the lake. Ahhhh, the weather was so nice and warm, I thought summer had arrived. It was soooo nice here too. Was it a figment of my imagination? While we were in Kelowna we went to The Jammery where they made jam and we had lunch there which was really good, we went on a winery tour at the wedding and the following day went ATV'ing in the rain on rough, steep trails with huge puddles. I was too chicken to drive so just stayed on the back seat. Boy oh boy, my arms got a good workout...my biceps and triceps were bulging the following few days.

I dropped off my glasses to get nosepads added on. So I've been wearing my old glasses since Friday night. It's been nice not to have huge smudge marks on my glasses every day with my old ones. Hopefully my glasses will be ready any time now.

I went to a New Balance sample sale a few weeks ago. Thanks A for having it posted at her office which I happened to go visit her at. I got 3 New Balance Lightning Dry moisture-wicking tops and 1 Lightning Dry pants. Can't wait to see what the pants feel like when it warms up. The tops were only $15 each and the pants $25...what a deal!!! There were only size mediums there which happened to be my size and I looooove New Balance tops - tees and sleeveless.

Ray and I saw Ironman a few weeks ago. I have never been a Robert Downey Jr. fan especially about all his negative publicity with his addictions. I had low expectations for the movie but was pleasantly surprised as I really enjoyed it. This past weekend we saw the Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian. I didn't see the first one. I didn't think this one was that great, good special effects though. Ray said the first one was better. Speaking of movies The Love Guru previews look hilarious with Mike Meyers and Mini-Me pairing up again. I saw the clip where Mini-Me is getting a heart defribilator of some sort at a hockey rink and then gets shot into the goalie net with the impact of the device! Cracked me up.

What's up with Will Smith's tour?!? How come he hasn't announced it yet? His latest movie, Hancock is due to open July 2 and I thought his tour was going to commence at the same time!!! When he was on Ellen he didn't mention a peep about touring, not a word, just talked about his movie. He was wearing white pants and pastel clothes. Interesting...c'mon announce your tour already so I can see if I can go!!! Hopefully it will be in Vancouver so we don't have to travel. Prince, Madonna and Big Willie were the last concerts I wanted to see and since I've seen both Prince and Madonna already Big Willie is the last one!!!

I'm glad that the crappy weather is finally gone. Hence my joints and arthritis haven't been bothering me as much - Yay! I've gone out for dinners with various friends to catch up as I haven't seen them for a whie.

Went to Nanaimo for Mother's Day with C. I wanted to check out the new Coastal Renaissance ferry so made sure we were on that one. We had lunch first and enjoyed the view through the sloped windows giving panaramic views. We didn't even sit down after we ate as we spent the rest of the trip exploring the boat and it's various amenities and levels. There are now 2 passenger decks. The snack bar wasn't opened on the bottom passenger level but some seating was. There sure are a lot of washrooms on the boat and judging from the map there are a lot more stalls in the women's ones!