Now we are back staying at proper B&Bs the breakfast delights have resurfaced. Muesli and yogurt to begin, then a fresh fruit smoothie to be followed by the hot course of buckwheat waffles with freshly made blueberry compote and a bratwurst sausage (or cheese if you're not a carnivore). Plus, wonder of wonders, a spiffing cup of tea. So good we had to have several.
More brilliant sunshine, so it's off to the coast which was about a two hundred yard stroll from the house.
Here's the picture of the house we are staying in, as promised in the last blog.
Ambling along the beach path we spotted a girl staring intently at the rock wall beside the path. Was she doing some strange sort of contemplation, or yoga, or just plain strange. On closer approach we saw she was looking at a snake partially hidden in some flowers at the base of the wall. We made the mistake of informing another passer-by of its existence, he was unable to see it so almost trampled the flowers in his enthusiasm to get a better look, driving the snake out of sight down a crack.
We continued walking to be rewarded with some good views of Harlequin duck.
Returning along the path the snake had re-appeared and was scaling/crawling/slithering (delete as appropriate) up the wall. We had a quick photo of the animal and then remarked on how amazing it was for it to be able to ascend a vertical wall only for it to fall off at that very moment. But this provided an ideal photo op.
Can you spot the snake?
Ascending the wall
Gravity takes over. Apparently it was Garter Snake; not venomous.
The cliff top path was a dog walkers paradise but not a cocker spaniel anywhere so we thought this very serious looking Wheaton Terrier would suffice.
This one was called Howie and seemed every bit as quizzical as Barny of the same breed we had met earlier in Mount Robson, but had not photographed. Although we had spelt the name of the dog breed wrong before.
On the promenade we gazed across the water at an area of Victoria which supposedly had the highest price real-estate in Canada. A house sold for CAD$22 million last month.
Views of more Harlequin Duck and there were also some Turnstone on the rocks, plus some familiar seaside plants.
Walk through Beacon Hill Garden.
Next up was a walk across to Fisherman's Wharf to catch the whale watching boat. Lots of float planes take off in the harbour - would be great to go on one of these.
I digress - Back to whale watching, first we had to get kitted out in all the necessary gear that made us look like polar explorers. It seemed a bit OTT with the temperature in the mid twenties on the quay, but very necessary once you were out on the water. They provided you with everything including hats, sunglasses, gloves and sun cream.
The boat was essentially a large speedboat, with twin diesel turbo engines, but supposedly very quiet. Very environmentally friendly, using 230L to do 52 miles! The Company is carbon neutral so I guess they must do some off-setting somewhere.
First we visited some rocky outcrops in a protected marine area. One had a lighthouse on but also lots of very large Sea Lions - there were two different species - a Stellar Sea Lion and a Californian Sea Lion.
A Stellar Sea Lion.
Californian Sea Lion in front.
They were all males and doing some mock fighting, nothing too serious though. The marine biologist on board told us that these were the unsuccessful ones, as the others were still in California looking after their harems. They were leaping out of the water as well.
Next rocky outcrop had some gulls, Harbour Seals and Elephant Seals, the former of which looked tiny in comparison with the latter. The Captain moved the boat around gently so that everyone on board had a chance to see.
Harbour Seals.
Next we went about 9 miles away, where some humpback whales had been spotted. They are normally fairly solitary, but two had teamed up here. Sightings proved elusive, or should I say non-existent. So off we went to look for some Orca, otherwise known as Killer Whale. The ones we hope to see today are resident Orca, and eat only fish, not mammals. There are two main pods that feed locally, and we managed to see a large proportion of one of them. About 50 killer whales in total.
Orca! Breaching!
A bit too close?
Just about right.
The boats are not allowed to drive up to them but have to stay at least 200m away if the engine is running. The challenge for the driver is to pass the whales at a suitable distance, then cut the engine and wait for the whales to come to you. Our captain did a fairly good job of this. Vancouver Island is very close to the United States, you can see Washington State from the shore. While we were out on the boat we actually were 1km inside US territorial waters! And we didn't have any visas.
You may have noticed a lack of photos of Eric today. He hadn't come out with us as he was feeling a bit under the weather and the bed was so comfortable he didn't want to leave. He greeted us on our return, sitting on the front step of the house.
Stroll along the other part of the prom, plus the breakwater, which was 765m long. The sun was just setting, providing another picture.
Although it wasn't a spectacular sunset as not too many clouds about. Dinner in a local restaurant provided an excellent salad with toasted seeds, avocado and egg plus the now obligatory ranch burger.
A handful of other birds were also seen throughout the day - a bird only entry to follow...
Possibly a Rhinocerous Auklet?