Road Trip 2025 - Victoria

Our visit to Vancouver Island was laid out in such a way that we would stay a couple nights in one place and be able to reach areas of interest before moving on. One of those times was when we reached Cowichan Bay which will be featured in a future post. Once we settled in for the night, we went over the plan for the next day which was to visit Victoria. Nelson, Crystal, and I, wanted to just sit back and relax in our unique Airbnb with a dockside view. The younger ones wanted to visit Victoria about an hour south of us. We stayed. They went. 

JJ, Nick, Jessie, Legislature Building, 2025, Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia and the kids made sure they stopped at the historic Legislature Building. I am so glad they took a selfie with the flag flying and the totem pole on the side. 

Legislature Building, 2025, Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC

Nelson, Crystal and I had visited Victoria back on our 1981 trip when our destination that day was the Fable Cottage Estate. 

Fable Cottage Estate, 1981, Victoria, BC

The Fable Cottage was a delightful, magical estate and although it's gone now, even Crystal remembers it. While preparing for our 2025 trip, I searched for info on the Fable Cottage and couldn't find anything that marks its historic presence. From what I remember, a father built the estate for his children. Stone walls and hand-hewed woodwork for the doors and frames right down to the carved built-in seats for his children to sit in. It was truly remarkable workmanship.

Fable Cottage Estate, 1981, Victoria, BC

The Fable Cottage grounds were manicured in a park-like setting. One building was a smaller version of the cottage itself and had a flurry of dwarfs working on it, such as fixing the roof, replacing a window, carrying a ladder, etc. They were the same height as Crystal and she was in awe of them. 

Surfacing, Seasonal Garden Display, 2025, Victoria, BC

Back to 2025, apparently the kids were in the neighbourhood of the Fairmont Empress Hotel, which is on my bucket list, because Jessie took the above photo of Surfacing. Unlike topiary which is just the clipping of trees and shrubs into shapes, this seasonal garden display of a 6 meter/20 foot mother and calf orca is made up of 10,000 living plants on a frame which is replanted each year at the Beacon Hill Park Nursery.

Wild Peacock, 2025, Victoria, BC

While the youngsters were in Victoria, Jessie took a photo of this peacock crossing the street. What was a peacock doing in the city? Had it escaped a zoo or aviary? A bit of research showed that yes, it did seem to be an escapee from Beacon Hill Park. In fact, there are about 40 members of the peacock family residing in the park and they regularly roam the city, especially in the spring during mating season. They stay around the south side of Victoria and seem to like the Hatley Castle area.

 

Wild Peacock, 2025, Victoria, BC

Apparently, peacock vocalizing was a problem during the filming of the X-Men franchise as well as the Deadpool movies, and probably the dozen or so other films and shows that have been filmed in the area. Peacocks are beautiful, but their voices don't sing nicely by any stretch of the imagination. Peacock cries would probably fit right in for a horror movie though.  

Victoria's Chinatown National Historic Site, 2025, Victoria, BC

Nick took the above photo when they explored Victoria's Chinatown. There are hundreds of Chinese communities across our country, and Victoria's Chinatown is the oldest in Canada, thus the distinction of being a National Historic Site of Canada.

Victoria's Chinatown National Historic Site, 2025, Victoria, BC

Victoria's Chinatown also holds the record for the narrowest street in Canada. Fan Tan Alley, as pictured above, was notorious for gambling which was illegal, and opium which was legal until 1908. In my years of research, I was confounded to find how different "vices" become legal/illegal depending on the culture and government of the day. No wonder time travelers get confused. 

Bubble Tea, Victoria's Chinatown National Historic Site, 2025, Victoria, BC

Bubble Tea anyone? Although we can get Bubble Tea at home in Regina, there's nothing better to quench your thirst on a hot day when you're playing tourist, than Bubble Tea. And the cup is a nice souvenir of Victoria's Chinatown as  well. 

Midafternoon found the kids at Fisherman's Wharf near Victoria's Inner Harbour. It looks like a wonderful place to visit. The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority's website says, "This unique marine destination offers food kiosks, unique shops and eco-tour adventures amongst fishing vessels, pleasure boats with live-aboard residents, float homes and commercial businesses."

Jessie's photo above shows float homes, businesses, and tourists. My eye was particularly drawn to the small group of youngsters under the neon green sign. They're all engrossed in something in the water and I'd like to know what caught their attention. 

 Fisherman's Wharf Houseboats, 2025, Victoria, BC

Jessie also took this photo of float homes while at Fisherman's Wharf. I remember calling them houseboats back in the day. Definitely a different kind of living.

Actually, our Cowichan Bay Airbnb was over the water and while the kids were in Victoria, Nelson, Crystal and I spent hours looking over the deck railing at crabs and things and seeing how they handled the incoming and outgoing tide. We loved it! 

Our Cowichan Bay visit will be posted here on June 1st.

This post on Victoria corresponds to the May calendar page. We thought it would be a fitting tribute to Victoria Day when it rolls around on May 18th this year. 

Road Trip 2025 - Forests of Vancouver Island

We arrived at Port Renfrew after a cloudy, yet exciting morning exploring Botanical Beach on the Pacific Marine Circle Route on the western side of Vancouver Island. As we sat outside at a picnic table eating a scrumptious lunch of fish and chips, rays of sunshine fell upon us. I heard a familiar hum and flutter. 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Crocosmias, 2025, Port Renfrew, BC

Sure enough, a ruby-throated hummingbird searched and slurped sugary goodness from the bright red crocosmias just a few feet from where I was sitting. I had hoped to see one of the hummingbirds that we don't see east of the Rockies, but any hummer is food for my soul.

We weren't back on the road very long before I started seeing tsunami signs.

Tsunami Evacuation Route Sign, 2025, Pacific Marine Circle Route, BC

I'm not talking about signs that a tsunami was about to hit. These were actual signs of how to evacuate the coast if there was a tsunami warning. We thought it was cute...until 2 days later when we were on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island and there was an actual tsunami warning after a major earthquake off the Russian coast. The warning was cancelled the next day and we were more appreciative of the little tsunami signs we'd passed along the way.

Further up the road we were on the lookout for the Harris Creek Sitka spruce. It doesn't have significant signage, nor a parking lot. You park on the side of the road, walk in to admire the famous giant, take your photos, and head back out. A quick and fun side trip to get you out of your vehicle for some fresh air and exercise. 

Harris Creek Sitka Spruce, 2025, Pacific Marine Circle Route, Vancouver Island, BC

The Harris Creek Sitka spruce is 4 m/13 ft in diameter, approximately 80 m/260 ft tall, and hundreds of years old. No one knows its true age, except that the old-growth forest was first logged, or harvested, in 1893 and this tree was saved. Sitka spruce are known to live 800 years and only grow within 80 km/50 mi from the Pacific Ocean. Although the Harris Creek area is part of the second-grown forest, this Sitka spruce stands much taller than the surrounding trees. 

A few days later we were on another inland road on our way to Cathedral Grove, an ancient forest in MacMillan Provincial Park. Back in 1981 we had passed through here on the way to Tofino and now we wanted to see how the old growth forest was doing and to revisit some spots for updated family photos.

Anita and Crystal, 1981, Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, Vancouver Island, BC

The trees in Cathedral Grove are some of the oldest and tallest in Canada, and we almost didn't recognize the place. We were looking for the tree in the above 1981 photo of me and Crystal, but now there are boardwalks directing you where to walk. Which path had we taken over 40 years ago? 

Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

And then I recognized this tree...except we couldn't recreate our photo because we had no access to the tree unless we jumped the fence and left the path.

Of course, we could have asked for permission like George Lucas did to shoot scenes in his Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. Or like they did for Jurassic World: Dominion, which was released in 2022. Both movies show great examples of prehistoric and futuristic worlds and the fact that they were partly filmed in Cathedral Grove means they'll always be available to view on the big screen. 

Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

Actually, there are Canadian TV series and movies currently available where I recognize parts that were filmed on Vancouver Island due to the look of the trees, ferns, and moss. It's a fantastic feeling of being there. 

Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

The 1981 photo below is one we tried to recreate where Nelson pretended he was pushing over this huge tree. 

Nelson, Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 1981, Vancouver Island, BC

You'd think it would be easy to recreate, but in 44 years things do change. Although we had to stay on marked paths, we feel the 2025 photo below seems a reasonable recreation.  

Nelson, Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

Once we had the shot of Nelson pushing down a tree, we went looking to recreate the one below where he stands beside a toppled tree as if he had actually pushed it over. 

Nelson, Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 1981, Vancouver Island, BC

The tree in the recreated photo below may or may not be the actual toppled tree in the above photo, but it appears to be about the same height so we took the best angle we could considering where we could walk. 

Nelson, Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

Now, if you're wondering why Nelson's jacket is a few sizes too large for him, it's because we really were trying to recreate the 1981 photos and thus, tried to find similar clothing that matched the old photos. 

Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

If you're wondering why Nick and JJ aren't in these photos, it's because they took one token photo and then headed off to a place that made their eyes shine. 

Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park, 2025, Vancouver Island, BC

After a brief tour of Cathedral Grove, Nick and JJ skedaddled to Horne Lake Caves which will be the topic of our next post. 

A sad side note to our morning visit to Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park was that later that day, we heard there was a wildfire on the north side of Cameron Lake which adjoins MacMillan Park. In fact, we had travelled alongside Cameron Lake on Hwy 4 to and from Cathedral Grove which encompasses both sides of the highway. As the day wore on, news about the out-of-control fire dampened our spirits with worry for the ancient forest as well as the hundreds of people who needed to be evacuated from their properties. 

This post on Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park and the Harris Creek Sitka Spruce corresponds to the April calendar page. 

Road Trip 2025 - Ferry to Vancouver Island

After a couple of days in Surrey as Crystal and Jessie finished their work schedules, we drove out to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to cross the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island. We had prepaid for our tickets for a scheduled time and if we didn't make it, the spot would be filled and we would catch the next ferry. That's exactly what happened as we hit the Surrey traffic and then drove through the farmlands of Delta. 

Ferry Route Tsawwassen, mainland BC to Swartz Bay, Vancouver Island, BC

BC Ferries runs an efficient service and as Nelson drove, I kept an eye on the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal webcam. We were about 15 mins out when the webcam showed our ferry leaving on schedule. Many vehicles were already lining up according to size by the time we were directed to our line. We had to wait an hour or so, but we were ready to make the approximately 90 min sailing to Vancouver Island.

Looking out the Spirit of British Columbia as it passes a sister ship, 2025

The Spirit of British Columbia can carry 2100 passengers and crew, and 358 cars. It was huge and comfortable compared to the ferries we crossed over back in 1981. Because we had missed our initial ferry, it was now past noon and we were hungry. The cafeteria was large with good seating and offered a nice choice of menu for a price higher than you would pay on land, as one might expect. It was delicious and just what we needed. 

JJ, Nelson, Nick, Crystal on the Spirit of British Columbia, Strait of Georgia, BC, 2025

After departing the ferry, we headed past the Butchart Gardens sign where we would visit the next day. Bypassing the heavy traffic heading in and out of Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, we headed toward Sooke. To say the Victoria area is unlike anywhere else in Canada was proven during that first hour on the island as we ogled the waving fronds of palm trees. 

Windmill Palms, Victoria area, BC, 2025

The palm trees are probably a variety of the Windmill Palms, one of the most cold-hardy palms. When mature, they can withstand the occasional frost, temperatures as low as -15C to -20C, and reach several stories high. They weren't crowding the streets, but there were enough grown as ornamental greenery to make us feel like we had entered a secret garden. 

Jessie eyeing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 2025, Sooke, Vancouver Island, BC 

Our Airbnb was near Sooke, on a hill overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We saw many cruise ships, container ships, and barges move through the strait which covered the distance from our Vancouver Island shore across to the coast of Washington state. Sometimes the ships seemed to wait in the strait overnight before heading northwest-ward toward the Pacific Ocean. It is likely they were bound for Alaska.

The Royal Princess, 3600-Passenger Capacity, Strait of Juan de Fuca, 2025

We'd seen blows from passing whales as we'd crossed the Strait of Georgia, but they kept their distance from the ferry and we couldn't identify them. We had hoped we'd seen them at Sooke and we weren't disappointed. Over the two days, we saw a blow here and there, and then on the morning of our departure, we spotted them. We were trying to eat breakfast and pack up, yet someone would yell, "I see one!" and we'd all scramble out onto the high deck to watch, cameras in hand. We were so busy whale spotting that I didn't get a photo of everyone lined up the railing, straining their prairie eyes to catch a rare glimpse of ocean life.

Passing Whales, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Sooke, Vancouver Island, 2025

These images are not very good, but they show what we managed to capture in a split second. We suspect some were orcas, but it's only a guess. Spotting a tail rise out of the water was a definite thrill. 

Black-tailed Deer, 2025, Sooke, Vancouver Island, BC

It wasn't just the ocean view that caught our attention. Our sloping yard offered sights of rabbits, deer, and quail. We were used to White-tailed deer, but west of the Rockies they have Black-tailed deer.

California Quail, male, 2025, Sooke, Vancouver Island, BC

Our second morning in Sooke, we were surprised to find a male California Quail meandering along the hedge, scratching out a seed here and there. He looked so elegant with his curled crest, striking facial markings, and overall plumage. He seemed aware of my presence, high above him, but otherwise ignored me. And then I noticed the female, similar colouring but without the fancy details, watching her chicks closely as they scratched about. I counted three chicks before they disappeared beneath the hedge. 

California Quail, female and chick, 2025, Sooke, Vancouver Island, BC

We enjoyed our short stay in Sooke, wildlife watching in the daylight, family table games in the evenings. The next post in our BC Road Trip series will showcase the famous Butchart Gardens which we visited during our stay in this area. We hope you'll join us for that one. 

Brown Thrasher

We spotted a strange sight this June when Nelson pointed out what looked like a Brown Thrasher without a tail. I reached for my camera and zoomed in to confirm the yellow eye and slightly curved bill. It even acted like a Brown Thrasher. (Video at bottom of post.)

Brown Thrasher with Missing Tail, June 2020, RM Montmartre, Saskatchewan

For further confirmation on the identity of this bird, I posted an image on the Facebook group, Sask Birders. Soon enough, another member said she had seen a Brown Thrasher in the mouth of a fox going one way, and minutes later, a Brown Thrasher without a tail running the other way. She added that the tail feathers grew back over time. I wonder if this is a defense mechanism.

Brown Thrashers are rusty or reddish-brown on the topside with a beautiful long tail which is sometimes pointed high. It's very noticeable, especially when they fly up and away from you.

Brown Thrasher, June 2019, Regina, Saskatchewan.

However, the wing bars on my image of the Brown Thrasher without a tail seem almost nonexistant, and it's hard to tell if the wings are the correct length for an adult thrasher, such as the one shown in the above photo which I took a year ago, in June 2019.

A check through my photo files brought up two interesting photos of Brown Thrashers. The first is a photo of a juvenile taken in June 2012 where I spotted one camouflaged under the evergreens in our shelterbelt while an adult kept watch nearby.

Brown Thrasher Juvenile, June 2012, RM Montmartre, Saskatchewan

The wing bars on the Brown Thrasher in this next photo made me think of a juvenile, but it has the long tail of an adult. Because this photo was taken in September of last year, I now believe it's a Brown Thrasher in molt. Mid-July to September is prime season for birds to shed their old feathers and grow new strong ones for the long trip to their wintering grounds, so if you see a bird who appears to have lost its dignity along with its beauty, and it's too old to be a juvenile, it's probably molting.

Brown Thrasher in Molt, September 2019, RM Montmartre, Saskatchewan

Here's the video I took of the Brown Thrasher without a tail, which is also available on my YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/YKRICrGNpXo

Our photos can also be found on our Bird and Wildlife Pinterest boards, as well as on Instagram.

Tale of the Bluebird Tree

Mountain Bluebird, male, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

One day, a man and woman were driving along and saw a flash of blue in a field of stubble. Oh, how pretty to see a bluebird. Another bird flew past with only a touch of blue on the wings and landed on a nearby tree branch.

Mountain Bluebird, female, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The man and woman didn't think the tree looked pretty at all. It had no green leaves like all the other trees were getting, and the branches were wiggly and sharp. 

The Bluebird tree, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The man and woman drove away, but later at home, they looked in their bird book and saw that the bright blue bird was a Mountain Bluebird male, and the one with only a bit of blue was the female.

A week later, the man and woman went back to see the pretty bluebirds. They were surprised to find the male poking his head in a big hole in the dead tree.

Mountain Bluebird, male, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

As the people stopped to look, the male pulled his head out and flew away. The people were sad they had scared him away, but happy when the female came out of the hole to take a look.

Mountain Bluebird, female, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

And the people knew that the bluebirds had built a nest in a hole of the dead tree. Soon, baby bluebirds would hatch from eggs laid by the female. 

The woman took a picture of all the trees near the bluebird tree so they would remember where it was, and then they drove quietly away.
 

Before the storm, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

One week later, a terrible wind blew across the prairie and many trees were damaged near the man and woman's home. They drove out to check the dead tree that held the bluebird nest. 

But where was it? The people knew they were at the same place because they had a picture of it. But where was the bluebird tree?

After the Storm, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The bluebird tree was gone! Everything in the picture was the same, but the tree wasn't there.

The man walked over to take a look.

Looking for fallen Bluebird Tree, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

He pointed to something that the woman couldn't see, and then he took a picture of something laying on the ground. 

Taking photo of fallen tree, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The man showed the woman a picture of a tree on the ground with a big hole in it, and they knew the mighty prairie wind had pushed over the bluebird tree.

Hole in Fallen Bluebird Tree, Jun 2019. Source: Nelson Draper

Then the man showed a picture of inside the hole. It was empty. Only bits of old grass and small twigs lay at the bottom. The nest was gone. 

Empty hole in fallen tree, Jun 2019. Source: Nelson Draper

The man and woman were heartbroken. The pretty bluebirds were gone and they didn't know if they had even survived the storm. For several days, the man and woman stayed away. It was too sad to drive by the fallen tree. They prayed that God had taken care of the birds that He had created. 

One day when they couldn't wait any longer, the man and woman drove to the fallen tree. From a distance, they saw that nothing had changed.

But then they saw a flash of bright blue zip past their car. Right behind it flew a bird with a bit of blue on its wings. The bluebirds! Yes! As the man and woman watched, the bluebirds flew past the fallen tree and deeper back into the trees behind it. Somewhere in that bush, they had built another nest, sheltered from the prairie wind. So deep, that the man and woman couldn't see it from the road.

Mountain Bluebird, male, on stubble, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

It was the last time the man and woman drove that way, but one day, they'll be back looking for new bluebirds. Meanwhile, they look at the pictures and imagine the male bluebird out on the stubble and new crop, watching out for insects to bring back to his family.

Tale of the Bluebird Tree video shows the bluebird pair at the tree.

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This is a true story, but if you like fiction, you can check out my other stories at www.anitamaedraper.com