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| Butchart Gardens |
We quickly settled back into the 27th floor apartment with the very generous Jan and Blair. Some washing needed to be done and a general sort out of odds and sods and Blair had to show up for work or chance being listed as lost in action......or taken by a bear! We had planned dinner dates with friends and family for Monday and Tuesday which both went well. First to Joel and Elaine and Bryn and her brother Keelan. Bryn had visited us in Blenheim over a year ago when she toured NZ with Brandon. We were very comfortable there grazing on smoked steak and supping red wine. The wine cellar was a few spaces short when we left so I'm sure it was a good night. Thanks to Blair who remained the sober driver. The next night we dined on fresh caught salmon with the appropriately named Fisher family (but I think they purchased the salmon off a First Nation fisherman...presumably had customary rights). The Fishers are relatives from Diana's maternal side of the family and they had made a big effort to gather and meet us.....much appreciated. Unfortunately I had undertaken the driving duties for a bit of practice but while waiting in a line to turn off the freeway we were rear-ended by a nitwit! Not too much damage done to the car....nothing money won't fix and no harm done to any of the people involved but still a nuisance to get fixed. We took car details, name and phone number but later found out that the name was fictitious, the phone number didn't work, the car plates didn't belong to the vehicle that hit us and the driver probably has no insurance. The whole incident all got messier but as we all know......shit happens.
Not to be deterred we headed off to Vancouver Island on Wednesday driving Blair's car with the damaged rear corner. That went well; we visited Butchart Gardens on the way down and while I am not any great admirer of gardens, or flowers, or places where somewhere has smuggled trees from all over the World and transpalnted them...this garden was fantastic. We enjoyed a couple of hours wandering in the evening then headed for Victoria looking for accommodation which we had as yet not booked. It isn't that easy finding a spot to lay your head in a foreign town at 9.00pm. But we got the last room at a reasonable hotel and were most happy.
Victoria is an interesting, clean and tidy, picturesque little city (size of Christchurch) near the water on south end of the Island. It is also the capital of British Columbia. We checked out the museum and spent quite a bit of time in the First Nation section...that means the Indian section but they don't like to be called that as it confuses people that they think that they have come from India. Must be a lapse in the education system somewhere here as I learned very young that they were Red Indians, quite different to Hindu's, and used to live in tepees and get shot up by cowboys on regular occasion. First Nation peoples doesn't seem to have quite the right ring to it but then I don't expect anyone to take any notice of me!
Back from the Island we made a quick stop to pick up Blair as he had finished work for the week, and we headed east to Abbotsford. This is where lovely cousin Pam lives with her two boys, Mitchell and Lucas, and partner Terry. Pam is a relative on the paternal side of Diana's family tree and she visited us 25 years ago in New Zealand. We were put on a wonderful fuss and surely added a kilo or two to our playing weights. We all drove to Hope and walked along an old railroad track through some tunnels and wandered around a local lake looking for geocaches. Sure is a big country and some very impressive mountains, forests and rivers. We spent an hour watching Mitchell, who is 16, doing his grading for the upcoming winters ice hockey team. The enthusiasm and set-up and management of the game here is much like rugby back home. The ice skating ability of all the young guys involved is impressive...they seem to do it as easy as they can walk. We had a go at skating 30 years ago when we were here in BC and I still have the bruises! No way was I going on the ice again.....only good for putting in drinks I think.
Back to Vancouver in mid afternoon we took a quick trip up Cypress Mountain, just to the northwest of Vancouver. This is where Blair can go skiing after work in the evening. The slopes are lit up and chairs running for those who can't wait until the weekend. The day was stunning and we could see all the way to Mount Baker in the United States. That's where we plan to head for tomorrow...Seattle.
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