A beautiful sculpture in metal dedicated to running in downtown Spokane.
Monday, September 29, 2008
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON
A well-deserved treat during our bike ride with our friends from Spokane. Left to right: Mary, Colleen, Janice, Kevin, and Fred.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
GREY WHALE
One old grey admiring another. Location Botanical Beach with the Olympic Mountains of Washington State in the background.
Monday, September 22, 2008
GOODBYE TO VANCOUVER ISLAND AND HELLO TO SPOKANE
GOODBYE TO VANCOUVER ISLAND AND HELLO TO SPOKANE
What a very full time we had on Vancouver Island and I began to feel the ache of the goodbye as the days counted themselves down.
We spent a final (until next time) day walking and talking and picnicking in Goldstream Park with Bridget and Don, climbing up to a view point, and then even higher to look at the metal rail trestle over the very deep gorge. Up for adventure we daringly walked along the still active rail line to the middle in order to have a good look way down, down, down. The train wasn’t due till 5pm and it was only 4.30, but it did feel cavalier.
We had a couple of final goodbyes with Mike and Janet as we’d delayed our departure by one day. Our 2nd last night was spent with them having dinner at the Waddling Dog and then back to their home for tea.
During our last weekend we maximised our time with Al and Emi as much as we could. On Thursday evening we had a delicious Cajun dinner at the Blue’s Bayou, overlooking the water. They had just returned from 4 days of sea kayaking among the Broken Islands off of Ucluelet and we got to hear all about it and see the pictures. Friday afternoon we spent walking at Royal Roads, and then back to their place for risotto and sole, yummy, and to meet their friends Sandra and Nicole. On Saturday Al joined us for a final trip to one of our favorites, East Sooke. Here Al gave us our first sea-kayaking experience on a smooth and glassy bay, Eric and I in a double kayak and Al in a single one. From there we walked a section of the Galloping Goose Trail through old growth and around a lake. Sunday morning was breakfast at a very busy Lady Marmalade and then goodbye. Al was fitting in a last blast before school began again, and was heading off to do a couple of days climbing with his friend Mark in Strathcona Park.
We spent our very final evening with Emi and surprised Alan when he arrived home exhausted but satisfied. We’d originally planned to leave on Wednesday.
On the 4th of September, exactly 7 weeks after we’d arrived on Vancouver Island, we hitched up the trailer and turned our noses eastward. We took the 2½ hr. ferry trip from Sidney to Anacortes in Washington State. We were into a new state and beginning the 2nd half of our journey.
Our destination was Spokane, Washington to spend the weekend with our friends Colleen and Fred Brenize.
Our drive took us directly south along the highway #5, through the green forested mountainous area, with the Olympic National Park on the west and the Cascade Mountains on the east. We bypassed Seattle and then traveled south westerly through national forests stopping in Ellensburg for the night.
The road between Seattle and Spokane makes a wide bowl shape with Ellensburg more-or-less at the base. Next morning, moving away from the mountains and still traveling west, the road now went somewhat northwards. With that the landscape changed. It became gradually drier and more desert-like, rather like Kamloops, and the day grew hotter. Where the land was flat enough there were grassy fields complete with irrigation systems, otherwise the round pebbly hills were covered with sagebrush.
It was fun to find ourselves in Spokane, something we hadn’t anticipated or expected to do until a week or so before we left Vancouver Island. Colleen and Fred were so welcoming and once again I appreciated a break from trailer life.
Saturday was a beautiful day and Colleen and Fred had planned a day of bike riding for us with their friends Janice and Kevin. We all headed out to bike a section of the Trail of the Coeur d’Elene in northern Idaho. This trail goes along an old rail right-of-way and is a total of 72 miles in length. The section that we rode went across a cleverly constructed bridge that went up in wide steps, reaching a high point so that tall pleasure boats could pass under it, and then down again in wide steps. This makes the pedaling easier, if you’re skilled at changing gears. In this way we crossed a narrow piece of the lake, and then went west along the shore for about 10 miles. We lunched at a little lakeside pub and stopped for ice cream cones at a handy juncture on the return trip. By the time we reached the cars again I was feeling well exercised and a little less wobbly. I hadn’t ridden a bike for many years so it took some getting used to. However I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and am keen to do some more of it.
Kevin and Janice are very special people who went to Zimbabwe with Colleen, Fred and Bryan earlier this year, despite the political chaos and potential danger. They seemed open to the experience and were moved by the desperate situation and the plight of the people trying to cope, as well as appreciating its wonderful aspects.
Sunday included a “from scratch” pancake breakfast, a gentle hike along the river and a walk through a bit of the downtown. We finished off the day with a lively dinner at a restaurant called Twigs. Somehow, not-mentioning-any-names, our server had the impression that it was Eric’s birthday, so his meal included with a birthday treat, a chocolate brownie and cream, on the house, which we all shared, of course.
What a very full time we had on Vancouver Island and I began to feel the ache of the goodbye as the days counted themselves down.
We spent a final (until next time) day walking and talking and picnicking in Goldstream Park with Bridget and Don, climbing up to a view point, and then even higher to look at the metal rail trestle over the very deep gorge. Up for adventure we daringly walked along the still active rail line to the middle in order to have a good look way down, down, down. The train wasn’t due till 5pm and it was only 4.30, but it did feel cavalier.
We had a couple of final goodbyes with Mike and Janet as we’d delayed our departure by one day. Our 2nd last night was spent with them having dinner at the Waddling Dog and then back to their home for tea.
During our last weekend we maximised our time with Al and Emi as much as we could. On Thursday evening we had a delicious Cajun dinner at the Blue’s Bayou, overlooking the water. They had just returned from 4 days of sea kayaking among the Broken Islands off of Ucluelet and we got to hear all about it and see the pictures. Friday afternoon we spent walking at Royal Roads, and then back to their place for risotto and sole, yummy, and to meet their friends Sandra and Nicole. On Saturday Al joined us for a final trip to one of our favorites, East Sooke. Here Al gave us our first sea-kayaking experience on a smooth and glassy bay, Eric and I in a double kayak and Al in a single one. From there we walked a section of the Galloping Goose Trail through old growth and around a lake. Sunday morning was breakfast at a very busy Lady Marmalade and then goodbye. Al was fitting in a last blast before school began again, and was heading off to do a couple of days climbing with his friend Mark in Strathcona Park.
We spent our very final evening with Emi and surprised Alan when he arrived home exhausted but satisfied. We’d originally planned to leave on Wednesday.
On the 4th of September, exactly 7 weeks after we’d arrived on Vancouver Island, we hitched up the trailer and turned our noses eastward. We took the 2½ hr. ferry trip from Sidney to Anacortes in Washington State. We were into a new state and beginning the 2nd half of our journey.
Our destination was Spokane, Washington to spend the weekend with our friends Colleen and Fred Brenize.
Our drive took us directly south along the highway #5, through the green forested mountainous area, with the Olympic National Park on the west and the Cascade Mountains on the east. We bypassed Seattle and then traveled south westerly through national forests stopping in Ellensburg for the night.
The road between Seattle and Spokane makes a wide bowl shape with Ellensburg more-or-less at the base. Next morning, moving away from the mountains and still traveling west, the road now went somewhat northwards. With that the landscape changed. It became gradually drier and more desert-like, rather like Kamloops, and the day grew hotter. Where the land was flat enough there were grassy fields complete with irrigation systems, otherwise the round pebbly hills were covered with sagebrush.
It was fun to find ourselves in Spokane, something we hadn’t anticipated or expected to do until a week or so before we left Vancouver Island. Colleen and Fred were so welcoming and once again I appreciated a break from trailer life.
Saturday was a beautiful day and Colleen and Fred had planned a day of bike riding for us with their friends Janice and Kevin. We all headed out to bike a section of the Trail of the Coeur d’Elene in northern Idaho. This trail goes along an old rail right-of-way and is a total of 72 miles in length. The section that we rode went across a cleverly constructed bridge that went up in wide steps, reaching a high point so that tall pleasure boats could pass under it, and then down again in wide steps. This makes the pedaling easier, if you’re skilled at changing gears. In this way we crossed a narrow piece of the lake, and then went west along the shore for about 10 miles. We lunched at a little lakeside pub and stopped for ice cream cones at a handy juncture on the return trip. By the time we reached the cars again I was feeling well exercised and a little less wobbly. I hadn’t ridden a bike for many years so it took some getting used to. However I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and am keen to do some more of it.
Kevin and Janice are very special people who went to Zimbabwe with Colleen, Fred and Bryan earlier this year, despite the political chaos and potential danger. They seemed open to the experience and were moved by the desperate situation and the plight of the people trying to cope, as well as appreciating its wonderful aspects.
Sunday included a “from scratch” pancake breakfast, a gentle hike along the river and a walk through a bit of the downtown. We finished off the day with a lively dinner at a restaurant called Twigs. Somehow, not-mentioning-any-names, our server had the impression that it was Eric’s birthday, so his meal included with a birthday treat, a chocolate brownie and cream, on the house, which we all shared, of course.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
MARINE LIFE - THE VERY SMALL AND THE VERY LARGE
MARINE LIFE – THE VERY SMALL AND THE VERY LARGE
My yearning to see the huge mammals of the ocean led me to take a whale-watching excursion. Twelve of us left Sidney harbour with our guide, for a 3hr. outing, donned in heavy, bright red, oversize overalls called stay-warm Cruiser suits. Now I know what it feels like to be a teenage boy wearing shorts with a crotch that reaches the knees!
We traveled north up the Strait of Georgia for an hour in an open aluminum whale watching boat, toward a position roughly adjacent to Vancouver, where we were hoping to find two pods of Orcas. The noise of the engine and the wild wind made conversation difficult but I did manage to talk to the woman beside me. Her parents are now living on Vancouver Island after 20 years in California. She is working on her doctorate in Hawaii and studying Diplomacy and the Military. She was very articulate and interesting to talk too. One of the courses she has taken that perked my curiosity was the study of genocide.
We did indeed see the 2 orca pods from about 100 feet away. The boats are now mandated to keep a good respectful distance away so as not to disturb or distress the animals. One group of about 10 was apparently in their rest mode, which is how whales sleep. While in this resting mode, whales, which have 2 brains, with one asleep while the other stays awake (undoubtedly a gross simplification), keep close to each other and close to the surface of the water. They will periodically take breaths and spurt small fountains of water into the air, while their bodies rise and fall in a graceful wave-like motion, gently nudging against each other.
This was a particularly interesting sight as I was able to get a fairly good view of them, unfortunately not having adapted yet to seeing through water.
After an hour or so the engine came on again and we made our way back in and out of the islands, passing some seals sunning themselves on rocks along the way.
The next morning Eric and I set off early with a plan to visit Botanical Beach. Botanical Beach is a place that Alan had taken me to when I’d visited several years ago, and I wanted Eric to see it. It is not far from Port Renfrew on the west coast of the island and you get there by driving along the Sooke road. It is important to get there at low tide as the lure of the place are the many rock pools, home to all kinds of marine wonders. We weren’t sure how long it would take us to get there and in point of fact we had time for a hearty breakfast in the little town of Port Renfrew.
There is a short walk down to the rocky beach and once there you can meander along and explore, answering only to your own whim. One is encouraged to tread carefully mindful of all the fragile marine life forms.
At first it doesn’t look as though there is very much of interest, just a bunch of barnacles one might think. But barnacles too are an important park of this eco-system and don’t want to be trodden upon. If you stand still for a bit you may begin to notice movement and see the tiny hermit crabs busily bustling about, and lots of little fish just an inch or two in length, swimming in the shallow pools.
On the rocks, still dripping from the retreating water, well disguised but in abundance none-the-less, are countless small anemones. It is in the larger pools that you can see the larger anemones, luminous in their oranges and greens, alongside ochre and red sun stars (or starfish as I know them) of different sizes, and purple sea urchins.
Then there are all the things I didn’t recognize or didn’t even see.
At one point, as we made our way gradually along the beach, and the tide was beginning to come in, Eric called out “There’s a whale!” Sure enough, not very far from shore where the bull kelp was bobbing on the surface and between rocky outcrops, was a Grey Whale clearly visible and wonderful to watch with the help of binoculars. A little further out were several more. People were gathering to watch and so were small fishing boats. I gathered from conversations that it is not uncommon for Grey Whales to come close to shore at this time of year, to feed. I stood transfixed and we watched for 2 hours as this baleen whale rose up and then dove down, displaying its huge back and the long ridge of its spine. There were many comical moments when it came up adorned in great lengths of bull kelp. A couple of times it flipped its impressive tail for us to see.
I do not want to diminish the thrill of watching the orcas of the day before, but there was something truly special about the close up view of the grey whale.
I felt lucky and grateful for the powerful experience of the presence of this beautiful intelligent marine mammal. There is so much I don’t know about them.
Finally we dragged ourselves away and began to make our way back to the car. On the drive home we stopped off at China Beach, a pristine sandy beach, a perfect place to swim. Next time I’ll have to come better prepared for that. We sat on a log on the beach for a while watching the waves and the changing sky, and in the distance saw the telltale spurt of whales as they made their way south.
It had been another perfect day.
My yearning to see the huge mammals of the ocean led me to take a whale-watching excursion. Twelve of us left Sidney harbour with our guide, for a 3hr. outing, donned in heavy, bright red, oversize overalls called stay-warm Cruiser suits. Now I know what it feels like to be a teenage boy wearing shorts with a crotch that reaches the knees!
We traveled north up the Strait of Georgia for an hour in an open aluminum whale watching boat, toward a position roughly adjacent to Vancouver, where we were hoping to find two pods of Orcas. The noise of the engine and the wild wind made conversation difficult but I did manage to talk to the woman beside me. Her parents are now living on Vancouver Island after 20 years in California. She is working on her doctorate in Hawaii and studying Diplomacy and the Military. She was very articulate and interesting to talk too. One of the courses she has taken that perked my curiosity was the study of genocide.
We did indeed see the 2 orca pods from about 100 feet away. The boats are now mandated to keep a good respectful distance away so as not to disturb or distress the animals. One group of about 10 was apparently in their rest mode, which is how whales sleep. While in this resting mode, whales, which have 2 brains, with one asleep while the other stays awake (undoubtedly a gross simplification), keep close to each other and close to the surface of the water. They will periodically take breaths and spurt small fountains of water into the air, while their bodies rise and fall in a graceful wave-like motion, gently nudging against each other.
This was a particularly interesting sight as I was able to get a fairly good view of them, unfortunately not having adapted yet to seeing through water.
After an hour or so the engine came on again and we made our way back in and out of the islands, passing some seals sunning themselves on rocks along the way.
The next morning Eric and I set off early with a plan to visit Botanical Beach. Botanical Beach is a place that Alan had taken me to when I’d visited several years ago, and I wanted Eric to see it. It is not far from Port Renfrew on the west coast of the island and you get there by driving along the Sooke road. It is important to get there at low tide as the lure of the place are the many rock pools, home to all kinds of marine wonders. We weren’t sure how long it would take us to get there and in point of fact we had time for a hearty breakfast in the little town of Port Renfrew.
There is a short walk down to the rocky beach and once there you can meander along and explore, answering only to your own whim. One is encouraged to tread carefully mindful of all the fragile marine life forms.
At first it doesn’t look as though there is very much of interest, just a bunch of barnacles one might think. But barnacles too are an important park of this eco-system and don’t want to be trodden upon. If you stand still for a bit you may begin to notice movement and see the tiny hermit crabs busily bustling about, and lots of little fish just an inch or two in length, swimming in the shallow pools.
On the rocks, still dripping from the retreating water, well disguised but in abundance none-the-less, are countless small anemones. It is in the larger pools that you can see the larger anemones, luminous in their oranges and greens, alongside ochre and red sun stars (or starfish as I know them) of different sizes, and purple sea urchins.
Then there are all the things I didn’t recognize or didn’t even see.
At one point, as we made our way gradually along the beach, and the tide was beginning to come in, Eric called out “There’s a whale!” Sure enough, not very far from shore where the bull kelp was bobbing on the surface and between rocky outcrops, was a Grey Whale clearly visible and wonderful to watch with the help of binoculars. A little further out were several more. People were gathering to watch and so were small fishing boats. I gathered from conversations that it is not uncommon for Grey Whales to come close to shore at this time of year, to feed. I stood transfixed and we watched for 2 hours as this baleen whale rose up and then dove down, displaying its huge back and the long ridge of its spine. There were many comical moments when it came up adorned in great lengths of bull kelp. A couple of times it flipped its impressive tail for us to see.
I do not want to diminish the thrill of watching the orcas of the day before, but there was something truly special about the close up view of the grey whale.
I felt lucky and grateful for the powerful experience of the presence of this beautiful intelligent marine mammal. There is so much I don’t know about them.
Finally we dragged ourselves away and began to make our way back to the car. On the drive home we stopped off at China Beach, a pristine sandy beach, a perfect place to swim. Next time I’ll have to come better prepared for that. We sat on a log on the beach for a while watching the waves and the changing sky, and in the distance saw the telltale spurt of whales as they made their way south.
It had been another perfect day.
CASTLES AND GARDENS
CASTLES AND GARDENS
Apparently it is a powerful human impulse to want to be a king of a castle. Some castles are small like a trailer on the road, or a shack in the woods, some castles are bigger like a dream house with a view and some are full-scale castles with turrets and trophies.
We did hear about a castle-to-be, still being dreamed of, on Salt Spring Island, and we visited two others in the Victoria area, that had been around for a while.
Robert Dunsmuir was born in 1825 in Scotland. In 1850 he and his wife Joan immigrated to Vancouver Island taking a contract with the Hudson Bay Company. After struggling for many years Robert to make a living in mining, he discovered a rich seam of coal near Nanaimo in 1869, and ultimately made his fortune becoming a very wealthy coal baron.
Craigdarroch Castle was built for him between 1887-1890 on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria (and also overlooking Alan and Emi’s apartment). It “announced to the world that Robert Dunsmuir was the richest and most important man in Western Canada.” Craigdarroch means “rocky, oak place” in Gaelic, an apt name, as the rocky hill on which it is built is part of the Garry Oak ecosystem.
Robert died before it had been completed and his entire estate valued at $15-20 million US$ in 1888 was left to Joan in spite of the oral promises he’d made to his 2 sons. (They also had 8 daughters by the way) This caused great family strife as the sons had both worked in the family business for years. They oversaw the completion of the building of the castle while their mother was in Europe and she moved into Craigdarroch in 1890 living there until her death in 1908. This castle was an example of a “bonanza castle, massive homes built for men who became wealthy because of the industrial transformation of North America.”
When Joan died she left her estate to her 5 surviving daughters and 3 of her grandchildren. In order to divide up the proceeds all the contents of the castle were sold in a 3day auction. Most of the property was divided up into 144 lots and sold, leaving the castle with grounds of about 2-acres. The names of those who had purchased a parcel of the land were put into a draw and the winner, a Mr. Cameron, won the castle. He used the castle as collateral for loans to finance his business ventures. Ten years later he lost the property when he failed to pay his $300,000 bank debt and the Castle became a public building in 1919.
Massive renovations were made and it was converted to a military hospital for WW1 veterans.
In 1921 Victoria College, an affiliate of McGill University, became the new tenants and there were more renovations. By 1946 the school had grown too large to be accommodated in the castle and the Victoria School Board moved in and was there till 1968, when it became an Historic House Museum.
The castle was then gradually restored to the way it had been when Joan Dunsmuir lived there.
It is now owned by the so-called Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society and the Society has slowly managed to track down some of the pieces that were sold in the auction all those years ago, and return them to their original home.
I did find it fascinating to walk through this magnificent stone block building, which spoke of the extraordinary personal wealth and extravagance of a bygone time, and also of a life style that we can now only see in the movies.
The interior white oak paneling which had been pre-fabricated, as well as stairs, doors and window frames “were shipped from Chicago to Victoria in 5 railcars”, and that’s not to mention numerous other local and exotic woods used in the house. The Castle also has one of North America’s finest collections of Victorian stained and leaded glass windows.
Wealth and the thirst for stuff just take a different form today.
Hatley Park is “one of the finest examples of an Edwardian estate in Canada”. This magnificent 565-acre estate was designated a National Historic Site in 1995 and has old growth forests and Garry Oak meadows. It overlooks the Esquimalt Lagoon and the Juan de Fuca Strait and on a clear day the Olympic Mountains in Washington State can be on seen in the distance, a mystical sight. It is on traditional land of 1st Nations people who lived there for thousands of years.
James Dunsmuir, the oldest son of Robert and Joan, as a young man, was in charge of his father’s mining operations in Nanaimo. By about 1900 he had become the Premier of BC and a few years later became the lieutenant governor. In 1906 he retired from public office and was hoping for a quiet life far away from the public eye, after going through a nasty lawsuit over the Will of his father. However his wife Laura had very different ideas. She was an American woman accustomed to the social life of the wealthy. She apparently loved to hold large parties and needed grand spaces for entertaining. She persuaded James to purchase the Hatley estate and to build a castle. The formal gardens and Hatley castle were completed 3 years later and they moved into it in 1910 with their youngest daughter. Like Robert and Joan they had 8 daughters and 2 sons most of whom were grown up by this time.
James stocked the woods on his property with deer and the rivers with fish. He even built 3 fish ladders from the lagoon so that the salmon could come up to spawn. Wanting a life with more privacy he and his buddies would hunt and fish.
He had hoped his oldest son would eventually inherit and take over the running of Hatley estate, but he had wayward ways and was an alcoholic so that wouldn’t work for the old man. Could it have been his way of coping with family strife and escaping the stress of it all?
The younger son was very beloved and therefore being groomed for the role. Hopes were pinned on him to keep the property in the family. Tragically, as a very young man he signed up for the 1st World War and the Europe bound ship he was on was torpedoed. All on board were lost. Both parents were grief stricken but James, bitterly heartbroken, never fully recovered from this great loss. He died just a few years later.
Laura lived on in the castle for about another 15 years until she died.
By this time her daughters all had lives of their own and there was no one wanting to take over the running of this huge estate so once again all the contents were auctioned off.
Curious people came from far and wide to see what there was to be sold and valuable pieces went for very little.
In 1940, the estate was sold to the Federal Government, which established a naval base there. Later it became a military college and was renamed Royal Roads Military College. The college was closed in 1968 and the property leased for $1 a year to what is now the Royal Roads University, which “offers innovative applied and professional programs for people who wish to advance in the workplace.”
We spent a couple of enjoyable afternoons (one on our own and one with Al and Emi) wandering through the gardens and along the many trails that take one through the extensive wooded areas.
In the grand old days on James and Laura there were many Chinese people working in the gardens. Today the university is responsible for the expense of maintaining the property, hence only a dollar rental.
I preferred these gardens by far to the more famous Butchard Gardens, which are much more showy and varied and glorious in every season.
These gardens felt much more like real food for the soul gardens to me with, in some places, a sort of “Secret Garden” feel to them, a place where a child’s imagination could run free.
There are stone walkways and a covered pavilion draped with flowering wisteria in the Italian garden. In the 4 corners are the statues of four appropriately chosen Greek Goddesses.
The croquet lawn (Eric was especially taken by this – happy memories of Malham and Sunday afternoons in Pretoria) is surrounded by perennial gardens with Calla (or Arum, as I know them) lilies and Agapanthus. There are also Angels’ Trumpets (or Moonflowers, as I know them), white and yellow, and banana plants. Both of these must be taken into the greenhouse for the winter and all of the above made me think very fondly of my earliest home.
Many flowers and shrubs that grow happily here on the west coast would not survive the winters in Ontario, or grow much larger, such as the masses of huge rhododendrons.
There is a Japanese garden with soothing babbling brook, pagoda and water wheel, and a walled rose garden with its original sundial, dated 18 something.
I particularly appreciated a wild flower garden sporting an enormous 6ft. thistle (that had to go, I was told), a happy place for butterflies and other creatures.
Apparently it is a powerful human impulse to want to be a king of a castle. Some castles are small like a trailer on the road, or a shack in the woods, some castles are bigger like a dream house with a view and some are full-scale castles with turrets and trophies.
We did hear about a castle-to-be, still being dreamed of, on Salt Spring Island, and we visited two others in the Victoria area, that had been around for a while.
Robert Dunsmuir was born in 1825 in Scotland. In 1850 he and his wife Joan immigrated to Vancouver Island taking a contract with the Hudson Bay Company. After struggling for many years Robert to make a living in mining, he discovered a rich seam of coal near Nanaimo in 1869, and ultimately made his fortune becoming a very wealthy coal baron.
Craigdarroch Castle was built for him between 1887-1890 on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria (and also overlooking Alan and Emi’s apartment). It “announced to the world that Robert Dunsmuir was the richest and most important man in Western Canada.” Craigdarroch means “rocky, oak place” in Gaelic, an apt name, as the rocky hill on which it is built is part of the Garry Oak ecosystem.
Robert died before it had been completed and his entire estate valued at $15-20 million US$ in 1888 was left to Joan in spite of the oral promises he’d made to his 2 sons. (They also had 8 daughters by the way) This caused great family strife as the sons had both worked in the family business for years. They oversaw the completion of the building of the castle while their mother was in Europe and she moved into Craigdarroch in 1890 living there until her death in 1908. This castle was an example of a “bonanza castle, massive homes built for men who became wealthy because of the industrial transformation of North America.”
When Joan died she left her estate to her 5 surviving daughters and 3 of her grandchildren. In order to divide up the proceeds all the contents of the castle were sold in a 3day auction. Most of the property was divided up into 144 lots and sold, leaving the castle with grounds of about 2-acres. The names of those who had purchased a parcel of the land were put into a draw and the winner, a Mr. Cameron, won the castle. He used the castle as collateral for loans to finance his business ventures. Ten years later he lost the property when he failed to pay his $300,000 bank debt and the Castle became a public building in 1919.
Massive renovations were made and it was converted to a military hospital for WW1 veterans.
In 1921 Victoria College, an affiliate of McGill University, became the new tenants and there were more renovations. By 1946 the school had grown too large to be accommodated in the castle and the Victoria School Board moved in and was there till 1968, when it became an Historic House Museum.
The castle was then gradually restored to the way it had been when Joan Dunsmuir lived there.
It is now owned by the so-called Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society and the Society has slowly managed to track down some of the pieces that were sold in the auction all those years ago, and return them to their original home.
I did find it fascinating to walk through this magnificent stone block building, which spoke of the extraordinary personal wealth and extravagance of a bygone time, and also of a life style that we can now only see in the movies.
The interior white oak paneling which had been pre-fabricated, as well as stairs, doors and window frames “were shipped from Chicago to Victoria in 5 railcars”, and that’s not to mention numerous other local and exotic woods used in the house. The Castle also has one of North America’s finest collections of Victorian stained and leaded glass windows.
Wealth and the thirst for stuff just take a different form today.
Hatley Park is “one of the finest examples of an Edwardian estate in Canada”. This magnificent 565-acre estate was designated a National Historic Site in 1995 and has old growth forests and Garry Oak meadows. It overlooks the Esquimalt Lagoon and the Juan de Fuca Strait and on a clear day the Olympic Mountains in Washington State can be on seen in the distance, a mystical sight. It is on traditional land of 1st Nations people who lived there for thousands of years.
James Dunsmuir, the oldest son of Robert and Joan, as a young man, was in charge of his father’s mining operations in Nanaimo. By about 1900 he had become the Premier of BC and a few years later became the lieutenant governor. In 1906 he retired from public office and was hoping for a quiet life far away from the public eye, after going through a nasty lawsuit over the Will of his father. However his wife Laura had very different ideas. She was an American woman accustomed to the social life of the wealthy. She apparently loved to hold large parties and needed grand spaces for entertaining. She persuaded James to purchase the Hatley estate and to build a castle. The formal gardens and Hatley castle were completed 3 years later and they moved into it in 1910 with their youngest daughter. Like Robert and Joan they had 8 daughters and 2 sons most of whom were grown up by this time.
James stocked the woods on his property with deer and the rivers with fish. He even built 3 fish ladders from the lagoon so that the salmon could come up to spawn. Wanting a life with more privacy he and his buddies would hunt and fish.
He had hoped his oldest son would eventually inherit and take over the running of Hatley estate, but he had wayward ways and was an alcoholic so that wouldn’t work for the old man. Could it have been his way of coping with family strife and escaping the stress of it all?
The younger son was very beloved and therefore being groomed for the role. Hopes were pinned on him to keep the property in the family. Tragically, as a very young man he signed up for the 1st World War and the Europe bound ship he was on was torpedoed. All on board were lost. Both parents were grief stricken but James, bitterly heartbroken, never fully recovered from this great loss. He died just a few years later.
Laura lived on in the castle for about another 15 years until she died.
By this time her daughters all had lives of their own and there was no one wanting to take over the running of this huge estate so once again all the contents were auctioned off.
Curious people came from far and wide to see what there was to be sold and valuable pieces went for very little.
In 1940, the estate was sold to the Federal Government, which established a naval base there. Later it became a military college and was renamed Royal Roads Military College. The college was closed in 1968 and the property leased for $1 a year to what is now the Royal Roads University, which “offers innovative applied and professional programs for people who wish to advance in the workplace.”
We spent a couple of enjoyable afternoons (one on our own and one with Al and Emi) wandering through the gardens and along the many trails that take one through the extensive wooded areas.
In the grand old days on James and Laura there were many Chinese people working in the gardens. Today the university is responsible for the expense of maintaining the property, hence only a dollar rental.
I preferred these gardens by far to the more famous Butchard Gardens, which are much more showy and varied and glorious in every season.
These gardens felt much more like real food for the soul gardens to me with, in some places, a sort of “Secret Garden” feel to them, a place where a child’s imagination could run free.
There are stone walkways and a covered pavilion draped with flowering wisteria in the Italian garden. In the 4 corners are the statues of four appropriately chosen Greek Goddesses.
The croquet lawn (Eric was especially taken by this – happy memories of Malham and Sunday afternoons in Pretoria) is surrounded by perennial gardens with Calla (or Arum, as I know them) lilies and Agapanthus. There are also Angels’ Trumpets (or Moonflowers, as I know them), white and yellow, and banana plants. Both of these must be taken into the greenhouse for the winter and all of the above made me think very fondly of my earliest home.
Many flowers and shrubs that grow happily here on the west coast would not survive the winters in Ontario, or grow much larger, such as the masses of huge rhododendrons.
There is a Japanese garden with soothing babbling brook, pagoda and water wheel, and a walled rose garden with its original sundial, dated 18 something.
I particularly appreciated a wild flower garden sporting an enormous 6ft. thistle (that had to go, I was told), a happy place for butterflies and other creatures.
Friday, September 12, 2008
VISITING ISLANDS
VISITING ISLANDS
There are hundreds of islands in close proximity to Vancouver Island. During our time here we visited Salt Spring Island and the Sidney Spit National Park, which is on Sidney Island. These both belong to the group known as the Gulf Islands.
There are over 200 Gulf Islands, most of which are tiny. They lie in the Strait of Georgia, which is the body of water between Vancouver Island the BC mainland. The 6 larger ones are serviced by BC ferries. Salt Spring Island is one of these and I associate it with the 60’s and the days of flower power when it was a popular home for hippies. Today it is a magnet for artists and artisans, a large number of whom live and work there. It has beautiful fertile farming country and we brought back a jar of delicious organic blackberry jam. It is also known for its spas and alternative health practitioners and as a wonderful place to kayak or hike. There are stunning views of the sea and rocky cliffs as you drive around the island.
I believe it also has its share of eccentrics and we met a couple of them soon after we landed.
We had decided to head first for the highest point on the island and in our efforts to do this, a friendly couple in their little Smart car offered to guide us to a good lookout point. We needed their permission to take the steep winding road up as it did not comply with the provincial safety regulations, and so the people who owned property up there were responsible for it’s maintenance. It did feel like a precarious drive, I must say. The road had next to no shoulder and dropped away steeply to the ocean.
These two also invited us to visit their place and we accepted with curiosity. From what we could gather they owned a large acreage at the top of the mountain and had subdivided the property into lots that were for sale, known as a strata. Their own piece of land was up at the highest point and had a gravel pit on it. The only building on the place was a large double-double garage, which he used as his workshop. What did he do in his workshop? He built train tracks for his small sit-on size train engines, which he had had specially built and he had 4 sets of tracks running into the one end of the workshop. His plan was to make a 2km track around his property, and then he would be able to load up his train with rock from the quarry (or other things) and move it around I suppose. His wife told us that the bigger plan was to build a castle at the very top using the rock from the quarry, which they would live in during the summer. They had hired a stonemason from Scotland to build the castle, and the windows had been ordered from China. Completion would take several years. They were building their own kingdom at the top of the mountain. In the meanwhile they had another house in Vesuvius, a small town on the island.
We thought about June and Rod as we explored the island. Rod’s uncle has lived there for many years, and we wondered where.
We took a short trip on a privately operated ferry to the Sidney Spit from Sidney.
The long, low lying, narrow, gravelly spit runs north and we were able to walk the length of it in the morning, when the tide was low, noticing several large red, beached jellyfish along the way. Later in the day the spit gradually began to disappear as the tide came in, eventually leaving only a golden grassy patch exposed right at the end, like a small fuzzy mound. Roughly at the point where the spit connects to the thicker body of the island, a wiggly arm of land curves out and around north forming a lagoon. In this protected lagoon several hectare of eelgrass grow, which apparently makes it a critical habit for fish, invertebrates and seabirds.
This is a popular destination for bird watchers and we met a couple of keeners, carrying a telescope. I would have loved to spend time with them, they seemed very knowledgeable, but they weren’t looking for any hangers on.
The long sandy beaches here are “the legacy of the long-vanished glaciers.” We noticed several families with young children and I thought what a marvelous place to come for a day of sun and sandcastles and swimming, or to camp. The endless supply of bleached logs, that wash onto the beach are perfect for building shelters or forts.
The island is home to quite a large population of the introduced fallow deer, which have overtaken the native blacktail deer. We came across several groups as were walking along the various trails. There is a long spiritual history here on the island that still continues. The Coast Salish people have hunting rights and spend every winter here hunting deer and ducks and gathering berries and medicines.
Eric and I had fun sitting quietly on the beach watching the antics of an otter. It caught a fish then came running out of the water with it and dashed across the beach and into the bushes. Perhaps it had a family to feed. After a while it returned to the water to do some more fishing.
The time came when we had to leave the otter to its chores and catch the last ferry back to Sidney. It was an open boat and we were chilled through by the time we reached the other end, so stopped off for something warm to drink before returning to our camp.
There are hundreds of islands in close proximity to Vancouver Island. During our time here we visited Salt Spring Island and the Sidney Spit National Park, which is on Sidney Island. These both belong to the group known as the Gulf Islands.
There are over 200 Gulf Islands, most of which are tiny. They lie in the Strait of Georgia, which is the body of water between Vancouver Island the BC mainland. The 6 larger ones are serviced by BC ferries. Salt Spring Island is one of these and I associate it with the 60’s and the days of flower power when it was a popular home for hippies. Today it is a magnet for artists and artisans, a large number of whom live and work there. It has beautiful fertile farming country and we brought back a jar of delicious organic blackberry jam. It is also known for its spas and alternative health practitioners and as a wonderful place to kayak or hike. There are stunning views of the sea and rocky cliffs as you drive around the island.
I believe it also has its share of eccentrics and we met a couple of them soon after we landed.
We had decided to head first for the highest point on the island and in our efforts to do this, a friendly couple in their little Smart car offered to guide us to a good lookout point. We needed their permission to take the steep winding road up as it did not comply with the provincial safety regulations, and so the people who owned property up there were responsible for it’s maintenance. It did feel like a precarious drive, I must say. The road had next to no shoulder and dropped away steeply to the ocean.
These two also invited us to visit their place and we accepted with curiosity. From what we could gather they owned a large acreage at the top of the mountain and had subdivided the property into lots that were for sale, known as a strata. Their own piece of land was up at the highest point and had a gravel pit on it. The only building on the place was a large double-double garage, which he used as his workshop. What did he do in his workshop? He built train tracks for his small sit-on size train engines, which he had had specially built and he had 4 sets of tracks running into the one end of the workshop. His plan was to make a 2km track around his property, and then he would be able to load up his train with rock from the quarry (or other things) and move it around I suppose. His wife told us that the bigger plan was to build a castle at the very top using the rock from the quarry, which they would live in during the summer. They had hired a stonemason from Scotland to build the castle, and the windows had been ordered from China. Completion would take several years. They were building their own kingdom at the top of the mountain. In the meanwhile they had another house in Vesuvius, a small town on the island.
We thought about June and Rod as we explored the island. Rod’s uncle has lived there for many years, and we wondered where.
We took a short trip on a privately operated ferry to the Sidney Spit from Sidney.
The long, low lying, narrow, gravelly spit runs north and we were able to walk the length of it in the morning, when the tide was low, noticing several large red, beached jellyfish along the way. Later in the day the spit gradually began to disappear as the tide came in, eventually leaving only a golden grassy patch exposed right at the end, like a small fuzzy mound. Roughly at the point where the spit connects to the thicker body of the island, a wiggly arm of land curves out and around north forming a lagoon. In this protected lagoon several hectare of eelgrass grow, which apparently makes it a critical habit for fish, invertebrates and seabirds.
This is a popular destination for bird watchers and we met a couple of keeners, carrying a telescope. I would have loved to spend time with them, they seemed very knowledgeable, but they weren’t looking for any hangers on.
The long sandy beaches here are “the legacy of the long-vanished glaciers.” We noticed several families with young children and I thought what a marvelous place to come for a day of sun and sandcastles and swimming, or to camp. The endless supply of bleached logs, that wash onto the beach are perfect for building shelters or forts.
The island is home to quite a large population of the introduced fallow deer, which have overtaken the native blacktail deer. We came across several groups as were walking along the various trails. There is a long spiritual history here on the island that still continues. The Coast Salish people have hunting rights and spend every winter here hunting deer and ducks and gathering berries and medicines.
Eric and I had fun sitting quietly on the beach watching the antics of an otter. It caught a fish then came running out of the water with it and dashed across the beach and into the bushes. Perhaps it had a family to feed. After a while it returned to the water to do some more fishing.
The time came when we had to leave the otter to its chores and catch the last ferry back to Sidney. It was an open boat and we were chilled through by the time we reached the other end, so stopped off for something warm to drink before returning to our camp.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
THE REYNOLDS FROM ZIMBABWE AND SASKATCHEWAN
Now living in Vancouver. Chris (Mary's cousin) and Val Reynolds
THE HOWES FROM SOUTH AFRICA
Now living in Vancouver.On the sofa, (l to r) Struan, Lorna, and Geoff. On the floor, Richard, Lisa (Struan's wife) and Belinda.
THE BELLS FROM MISSISSAUGA
Now living in Deep Cove, BC.On Eric's left, Dave and Janet, and on Mary's left, Stef (Dave's new wife) and Mike.
THE WALLS FROM ZIMBABWE
Dinner on the floating deck of Bridget and Don's float home near Duncan, Vancouver Island.On Mary's right are Colleen and Fred (now living in Spokane, Washington), and on their right are Don and Bridget. Colleen and Fred's son, Bryan, is in the red shirt.
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