Monday morning, another gray and cloudy (and slightly cool) day, no different from home — except we were the guests of gracious hosts… stidkid#1 and I at Hetty and Alan’s house, stidkid#2 at Jillbus’. Like so many times when I am away from home (or just on vacation at home as this week) I woke fairly early and wandered downstairs to enjoy the quiet.
I had an early breakfast of tea and toast, then wandered upstairs to finish packing. When I came back down, stidkid was sitting at the table, happily chowing down and chatting with Hetty. Here is a pic I snapped quickly while their backs were turned. You can see that, from the main floor of Hetty’s home it feels like one is standing in the treetops.
Hetty is perhaps the best conversationalist I have met. She doesn’t just like to talk, she has things to say — and is at least as good a listener as she is a talker. Like many Babblers, she has a multitude of interests, and can hold her own I suspect on nearly any topic. I had a couple very nice conversations with Alan also over the course of the visit. I am so happy that Hetty married a kind and gentle man. He reminds me in many ways of my own Tom. Just a bit older… I suppose by the time we are their ages we will also have some wonderful life stories to tell!
Hetty treats every person as important and worthy of attention, she doesn’t talk down to kids, but I noticed she carefully modifies her words to match the understanding of the person with whom she speaks. Jill does the same, but in a different way. It is interesting to me how people can accomplish the same things in such different ways. Hetty is sweet, like cotton candy — Jill is tangy like lemon meringue pie. Both are the icing on the cake.
Speaking of Jill, it was time to bid Alan and Perky adieu and head down the hill to Jill’s house. The younger boy’s belongings were already in the foyer… and away we flew to Vesuvius… in time to watch the ferry pull away from the dock. Even the bald eagle on the tree seemed surprised that we missed the boat!
While we waited (and hour until the next sailing time) we walked to the little store just up the hill and the boys got ice creams (after all, it had been at least an hour since breakfast), then down to the beach.
Here is Hetty, waiting for everyone to catch up (as usual):
The beach at Vesuvius is an interesting little shallow harbor, looks like it was carved out by an ice cream scoop, so perfectly round! The rocks are a mix of upturned sedimentary and boulders (granite perhaps?) deposited during the last ice age.
Here is are two views from above, you can see the lines in the rocks:
Part of the curve of the beach, you can see that here wave action has left the beach covered with small boulders and pebbles — most between one and three inches diameter.
A stidkid looks for aquatic life from a precarious perch…
On the way to and from the beach, we stopped to admire the blooms in a couple gardens. The monarda (bee balm) caught our attention in this one:
And the combination of penstemon and osteospermum (I think) were striking in this garden. I think the purple foliage behind it was a type of coleus.
The ferry ride was lovely — a quick, calm crossing and this time we were the first on and the first off! At Crofton, we turned left/south and headed for The Malahat which I had envisioned as a sort of deer trail. Surprise, it’s Canada Highway 1, a multi-lane freeway that takes you straight into the heart of Victoria! The views, had it been fairer weather, would have been spectacular. As it was, it was merely pretty (ho-hum, yet again another pristine view). [please note: the last sentence was sarcasm]
In no time, Hetty was pulling into a parking space just around the corner from one of our favorite shops, Murchie’s. This tea shop is over a hundred years old and sells some of the nicest teas I have tasted. And spices, and coffees. They have a nice little deli as well, and it was here that we had arranged to meet the final babbler of our trip, raelite.
Sure enough, we had barely sat down with our salads and sandwiches, than Raelite showed up! Of course, we babbled on about Babble and Babblers, houses, places one can see on on budget in Victoria (always a consideration for us), and Life in General. But in no time, the parking meters were about to expire and we had to leave. Time for a couple more pictures, here is stidkid#1 again, with Raelite:
And the six babblers all together, this one taken by a kind parking enforcement officer who was checking to be sure Hetty was about to move her car! Behind us is the Thai restaurant, Siam where the children and I later ate supper. If you are in Victoria, this is a good place to eat!
And then, they were off and we were standing there, suitcases in hand, expectant looks on our faces. Where to first? Was there time to catch an earlier ferry?
We arrived at the dock in time to wave goodbye… So back we went to Government Street. First stop Munro’s bookstore, then Murchie’s again to pick up souvenir teas for the family. Then the Irish Linen Shop across the street and down a little to find some nice handkerchiefs for me and a pretty table runner for my mother-in-law who actually has space to put such things.
And then… The Maritime Museum, a very interesting place for two boys and their mother! Again, wonderful, nice people. I think we had the whole museum to ourselves, being Monday afternoon only an hour and a bit before closing… they kindly kept our suitcases behind the counter so we could explore freely. And I asked before taking pictures — they are a little dark and blurry because I had to take them without a flash.
The museum starts out with an historical perspective on water activities, which the children and I found most interesting! Here is something that puts modern day punishments into perspective…
And one that shows just how much bigger people today are. stidkid#2 is standing next to a soldier’s breastplate and helmet. Considering he hasn’t even begun to stop growing…
A unique item in the museum is the Tilikum, a dugout boat found on Vancouver Island and converted into an ocean-going sailboat in the early 1900s. Here are the boys at the stern. the original canoe stopped at the lower blue stripe:
And stidkid#2 at the bow.
Opposite the bow of the Tilikum was a figurehead. I regret that I did not write down the name of her ship:
This was the permanent exhibit. Upstairs were more, we were able to view the one on the second floor before closing time, titled “P.O.S.H., for Port Outbound; Starboard Home.” It is a look back at the heyday of ships as the major mode of distance transport. The museum curator said they were able to interview a number of people who had either traveled on the boats or worked on them. What a terrific experience that must have been! If you can get to this museum, I do recommend it. It fronts on a pedestrian street, but is easily reached from either Government Street or Wharf Street.
After a very satisfying supper (complete with a delicious black-rice in coconut milk pudding), the children and I made our way along the wharf toward the ferry terminal. Here are my most precious traveling companions with a beautifully decorated orca:
A reasonably smooth and quick crossing and a short drive home, and we slept in our own beds that night…
What a treat it had been to spend time with Hetty and Jill: from the walks in downtown Ganges to the evenings spent discussing any topic that came to mind, to the narrated tours of the areas around Salt Spring Island. What a joy to finally meet Raelite and learn more about her life in person. What a grand adventure the boys and I had, wandering the streets of Victoria with all the time we needed to explore! I enjoyed every minute. This is what makes British Columbia so beautiful to me — the slower pace of vacation time and the scenery are nice to be sure, but mostly the beauty is in the people.
One last pic from the journey, the one that makes me smile the most, Hetty and Jill by my favorite mural in Ganges. I think they look like the fairy godmothers they surely are to me! [bippity-boppity-boo?]
