Beautiful East Sooke

Vinnies's swimming beach at the cottage.

Picking sea asparagus at the beach.

 We found this baby monk fish floundering in the shallows. I couldn't get it redirected out to sea.

Looking west  on the coast trail in east Sooke regional park.

Looking west.

 A huge tree root washed up in a tiny cove in east Sooke park.

 The trail is always dramatic and lush with moss and ferns.

 The trail often runs over exposed cliff tops.

These arbutus trees seem to be dancing or maybe freaking out.

Oct 1st:Day 40

Our last day as travelers! We packed up and drove downtown to shop for groceries before driving to Sooke, our final destination. It's about a 40 minute drive. Our first stop was our beautiful house, still under construction.

This will eventually be our new address.

The house was designed by Vancouver architects Battersby Howatt and built by a local company Anderson Cove construction.

This little beach is just below the house and the view is across the Juan De Fuca straights to the often cloud-shrouded Olyimpic mountains in Washington.

This is the cottage we're renting until the house is finished.

Well, that's the whole trip. Overall, it was awesome although there was a tad more rain than expected. The most memorable moments include our first night on Carlyle lake in Killarney, nice car camping in Pukaskwa, the surprise of Rose Valley lodge in Thunder Bay, hiking Edith Cavel glacier and meadows near Jasper, the path of six glaciers hike in Lake Louise, soggy wine touring in the Okanagan and reaching the coast at White Rock.

We're planning to continue posting photos and thoughts as we start our new life here on beautiful Vancouver Island.

Sept 30th:Day 40

Pretty much the same as the day before.

No pictures.

Sept 29th:Day 39

Started the day again with take out lattes and a walk to the beautiful beaches with Vinnie. We walked all the way to Clover point and back through Beacon Hill park.

Noticed this house near Clover point that seems to be having a plant problem.

Walked downtown again.

We really enjoyed staying put for a few days.

Sept 28th:Day 38

We started the day at a great local coffee shop then walked  the 2 or 3 blocks to the beach where there is a huge off-leash area that includes several beaches.

Nice dog park!

Some happy, hippy west coast graffiti.

It says "I live in a painting"

Spent the afternoon downtown getting a new phone and doing some banking.

Sept 27th:Day 37

The thought of finding and reserving more accommodations in or around some of the small towns on the way south to Victoria was just, finally, too much for us. We decided to bee line for Victoria and just hang there for 4 days.

We rented a suite in this house in the James Bay neighbourhood. Shout out to the folks at Ocean Island Hostel who run the place because could not have been happier with it.

Nice backyard.

We probably roasted a chicken for dinner.  

Sept 26th:Day 36

If you like seeing people (mainly women) walking around the grounds in white terry cloth robes then the Kingfisher is the place for you. We skipped the water/spa/steam grotto thingy and drove up to Mount Washington and hiked in Strathcona (regional? provincial?) park.

It's a beautiful park that includes several small lakes and many streams that meander through mossy/boggy meadows. Can't wait to ski these trails. 

We stopped in Courtenay at a place called Atlas for an early dinner. I had a big tasty bowl of BC mussels.