Whit's Travels: SUN... at last

Hello folks. Today was our first taste of the Canadian summer. It was a cloudless, sunny, 23 degrees and absolutely beautiful. We even managed to dry our washing on the line! (apparently this is unheard of apart from in the heat of summer) As it was such a nice day, and it was also our last day on Vancouver Island, we decided to relax on the deck and soak up the rays for the morning.

We sat on the balcony watching the Tsawwassen Bay and Saltspring ferries drift by, hummingbirds darted about the feeder that Roberta hangs out and we could even hear the distant sound of a woodpecker. It was a pretty relaxing morning, Satellite Channel was flat as a tack and Fred and Roberta's Canadian flag hung limp without a breath of wind to fly it. We read the paper, played a bit of guitar. A fine morning all up.

About 1pm we decided to head out with Roberta to the 'Future Shop' so Alex could look at some netbook computers. We met a nice sales guy called Ron. He had been to Australia and even made the trip to Perth (not many people we meet have done this) about 15 years ago. We told him how Alex was going to Calgary, he had lived there too and said it was really awesome, with giant mountains and loads of fun stuff to do. He had also lived in Vancouver but finally settled on Vancouver Island. It seems to be the place where people come to escape the fast paced frenetics of city life but retain the convenience of a major city within minutes drive. Ron was pretty cool, he asked Alex to say Calgary again because apparently it sounded cute. We are finally getting our payback for making fun of Katie's accent when she first moved to Perth.

So after the shops Roberta took us on a scenic drive past the Butchart Gardens (we considered going in until we found out about the $30 entrance price... we wouldn't even take a bus that we needed to take for that price!) and then to Sidney, the small town about 6km from Fred and Roberta's. It is a small seaside village that has a really beautiful waterfront, especially on a day like today. We wandered down by the ocean and then walked back up the main street, perusing a few shops as we went.

Then we helped Roberta do the shopping. This proved rather exciting, seeing all the weird ways Canadians package their food. They have pink Powerade and M&Ms can come in those bulk scooping containers instead of packets. We also had to search high and low for Salt and Vinegar chips and, much to Alex's disgust, we were unable to find any that were crinkle cut.

All in all a not too eventful but relaxing day. Tomorrow we are headed back to the mainland on a 3pm ferry for an adventurous 3 transfer bus trip into town to track down Alex's sister Amelia's house and stay for a couple of days before we part ways on the 25th.

Here are the (few) photos from today: