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Finally got to see some wild owls!

A family of Great Horned Owls to be exact.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Storm Season is Here!

Yes, the time of year when strong winds and crashing waves make living on the west coast all the more interesting. 

With the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority's announcement that the Ogden Point breakwater will soon be wussified with handrails along its entire 700-metre stretch, today's autumn storm provided an excellent opportunity to photograph this classic structure as it stands up to those powerful, stormy waves maybe one last time before it succumbs to the wrath of modern society.

Since my camera wasn't salty enough, here are a couple of photos with the Olympic Mountains in the distance...

And what would stormwatching in Victoria be without a visit to Gonzales Beach?

Now time to dry everything out!
And celebrate Christmas' impending arrival!

Bird's Eyeview of the Saanich Peninsula

I captured the following video while flying back from Vancouver in the Harbour Air sea plane.

The video starts just south of the Victoria International Airport and continues on to the plane's landing in the Victoria Harbour.

Victoria International Chalk Art Festival

Street art is an interesting art form. After all, who would possibly want to put in so much effort creating such beautiful pieces of art, just to see them fade away within a day or so, if not sooner. Luckily for onlookers, there are quite a number of phenomenon artists who do this every day and allow us to have a peek as to how they go about creating their masterpieces.

The 2012 edition of the Victoria International Chalk Art Festival brought together artists such as Tracy Lee Stum, Jeanie Burns, Cathy Gallatin, Lori Escalera, Gabrielle Abbot, Michael Las Casas, and Victoria's own Ian Morris to showcase their talents in creating 2D and 3D chalk art.

In case you missed it, here are some of the masterpieces on display...

Although the festival ends today, the following massive 3D chalk masterpiece will apparently be displayed to the end of the month at the Bay Centre.

Luckily, Victorians don't have to wait another year to get another dose of chalk art as you can find Ian Morris putting his talents frequently to good use on Government Street all year round. Be sure to check him out the next time you visit Victoria.

Supermoon

Hey dude, why's the moon so bright tonight?

Well dude, a supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, and there just happens to be a supermoon tonight.

Vancouver - Victoria Ferry

Before I could start my train trip through the Canadian Rockies, I had to get to the mainland.

Other than grabbing a hold of some driftwood or swimming across the strait, the most economical way to get between Vancouver and Victoria is by ferry.

But the ferry doesn't really take you from Vancouver to Victoria since the ferry terminal on the mainland (Vancouver) side is located in Tsawwassen while the Vancouver Island terminal is at Swartz Bay. This isn't a major inconvenience if you're travelling by car but if you're on foot or bicycle, you'll have to account for the travel time from downtown to the ferry terminal. While not ideal, public transit is available on both sides to assist you with your travels. 

The poster below summarizes the available ground transportation options from the Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay terminals:

From the above options, BC Transit is the cheapest route but it's also the slowest, especially to get to Victoria, unless you're lucky enough to get on an express bus, but even then, there's still the time it takes for everyone to board the bus. Ideally, BC Ferries would offer passengers the option to pre-pay public transit fares which would help speed up the bus-boarding process. 

The ultimate solution would be a downtown to downtown ferry service but until that happens, these options are available to make your trip a bit more bearable if air transportation isn't in your budget.  

Enjoy your mini-cruise!

Victoria - Vancouver by Air

Sure, you can use a major commercial airliner to fly you between Vancouver and Victoria, but first you have to get yourself out to the airport, wait in line-ups at the ticket counter and security checkpoints, fly, wait for your luggage, and then finally drive into downtown. Not very convenient if you ask me!

Luckily, there are other ways to get to Victoria from Vancouver and vice-versa and I was lucky enough to try two of them this week.

First off, there's the seaplane (also known as a floatplane) where you take off from one city harbour and land in the other. Downtown to downtown in about 30 minutes. There's nothing like taking off and landing in the water....
Pretty sweet all in all...
Though leg room can be lacking for taller folks (at least on the Harbour Air seaplane I took).

Then, there's the helicopter. How often can you say that you flew in a helicopter?!?  Oh yes, this is very cool and yes, it provides a different flight experience. The sound of the rotor becomes very repetitive after a while so be sure to take advantage of the complementary ear plugs after you take off and experience the sound firsthand. Some people may be lulled to sleep by the helicopter's motion and sounds but maybe that's just the result of capping off a hard day's work. There's a bit more legroom than on the seaplane but the HeliJet takes an extra 5 minutes or so and lands in the James Bay area so it's a bit further of a walk to the downtown core.

In either case, the views are spectacular as you fly above the two cities and islands.

Nevertheless, both modes of transportation are very viable options to go between Vancouver and Victoria, and depending on your time and budget, it would be silly not to consider them as very convenient means to travel between the two cities in a novel way.

Poseidon's Playground

I kept the best for last. While other gingerbread creations like the Monastery Brewery intrigued me, there was little doubt in my mind that Poseidon's Playground is worthy of the top prize at the 2011 Gingerbread Showcase at the Inn at Laurel Point in Victoria for its exquisite detail and impressive display.

  

 

Did I ever mention that I like turtles?

 Spectacular work Melanie Lonsdale!
Well done.

Monastery Brewery

At the very end of the Gingerbread Showcase, at the darker end of the hallway, you'll fittingly find the Monastery Brewery...

I really liked this masterpiece for so many reasons so it was a toss up between this one and the creation I'll be presenting tomorrow.