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“Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt”.
William Allingham
Autumn (Fall) is a time to walk and to talk and to think – and to start to make plans.
It is also a time to take photos of nature’s bounty:
(See what I did there?….)
Having a vista from one’s windows is a huge bonus and a blessing. Some folk prefer to live in the valleys (for protection one assumes) – other folk like to live on the hill (and thus be able to identify approaching threats). Of course, the latter option does also provide the dreamers amongst us with plenty of food for thought!
‘Anywho’ – (defined by the Urban Dictionary as: “An extremely annoying misuse of the word ‘anyhow’. Generally used by people who think they’re being clever“. Naturally, that just makes me want to use it!!) – this is simply a preamble to sharing some recent vistas as viewed from our casements.
You might want to double-click on these to get the full effect…
Enjoy:
Tags: British Columbia, Moon, Photo, rainbow, The sea, Vista
For the second day’s excursion on our recent trip to Nanaimo and its environs, The Girl, her mother and I paid a visit to an attraction to which I had not previously been – Little Qualicum Falls.
Our various previous journeys up island – to Tofino, Courtney and other points north and west – have taken us to within a short distance of Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park, but there are just so many places worth a visit on the island that it comes as no surprise that the ‘still to do’ list is as long as it is. Grateful thanks to The Girl for suggesting on this occasion that we tick this one off the list.
No need of a lengthy screed on my part in this instance. I will let the camera do the work instead:
Tags: Family, Holiday, Little Qualicum Falls, Photo, Travel, Vancouver Island
“A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving”.
Lao Tzu
Earlier this summer – some short while after The Girl and I returned from our momentous trip to Scotland – we were sitting in the sun outside the Stone House pub in Canoe Cove, chewing the fat and contemplating the remainder of the season.
We were minded to seek out some culture – in the form of theatre, music… maybe even fireworks… or indeed any combination of the above. We toyed with a visit to Vancouver for ‘Bard on the Beach‘ – particularly for it’s coincidence with the ‘Celebration of Light‘ – though that looked like turning into a somewhat expensive trip…
We also looked at the offerings here in Victoria – but nothing really caught the eye…
Finally The Girl came up with a smart notion. Come mid-August we could head up the island to Nanaimo, just in time for the Nanaimo Fringe Festival – the which fortuitously happened to coincide with the Nanaimo Blues Festival. We could make it a long weekend and avail ourselves of some theatre and some music – as well as paying a visit to The Girl’s mother in the process.
So – we had a fixed plan… the possession of which – according to Lao Tzu – is a ‘no-no’!
…as indeed it turned out to be!
This has been a busy old year – particularly for The Girl. When it came down to it we didn’t spot anything in the Nanaimo Fringe programme that looked unmissable – and she really didn’t fancy getting caught up in the the sort of crowds that the Blues Festival would attract.
We decided that we would make the trip anyway – but that we would modify the itinerary.
For the first of our days around Nanaimo we settled on an excursion to Gabriola island, where once The Girl’s parents had lived (well before I knew her) and the which we had visited with them on an early trip from the UK.
It was good to explore the island again. Here are some photos:
These last images are of the Malaspina Galleries on Gabriola. When I was first taken to this extraordinary geological feature – back in 2006 – The Girl’s mother took a photograph of the two of us which is still pretty much my favourite image of us together. It was lovely to be able to go back and stand in the same spot getting on for two decades later.
Tags: British Columbia, Gabriola Island, Holiday, Photo, Travel
Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A week or so back we had house guests – in the shape of one of The Girl’s cousins and a friend who had come to Victoria to walk the challenging West Coast Trail. We (The Girl!) picked them up from the airport on the first Saturday and dropped them at an ungodly hour on the Sunday morning (me!) at the Victoria Central Bus Station. The following weekend we met them from the bus on the Friday and spent the weekend with them before their return to Toronto.
Amongst other delights we enjoyed a splendid lunch at the Church and State vineyard, as a reward for the morning’s sun-drenched exploration of Butchart Gardens. Whereas I have certainly posted images from Butchart’s on a number of occasions it is my opinion that one can never have too many photos of natural beauty.
Enjoy!
Tags: Butcharts, food and drink, Friends, Photo, Visitors
This post offers to the gentle reader (or viewer, for that matter) the final batch of images from our recent ‘progress’ around Scotland. Whilst staying for a few days in Connel – not far outside Oban on the west coast – we paid a visit (or re-visit in The Girl’s case) to the extraordinary historical site that is Kilmartin Glen. Rather than duplicate what others have written (doubtless in considerably more detail and certainly more stylishly than could I) I will simply pass on this link, the which will furnish all that need be known:
Here are some photographs:
As you will see (should you enlarge this image sufficiently that you can decipher the text) the Iron Age fort of Dunadd at the foot of the glen was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Dalriada. The stone of destiny – which can be found therein – was used in the ceremonies inaugurating the monarchs of Dalriada; the new king being ‘crowned’ by placing his foot into the imprint.
“The murmur of thy streams, O Lora! brings back the memory of the past.”
Carthon, from ‘The Poems of Ossian’, trans. James Macpherson, 1773
The final sojourn of our expedition to the land of my fathers (before turning tail and scurrying back across the pond to the land of The Girl’s fathers – now also my home!) was to spend a few days in Oban; on a different west coast… the west coast of Scotland.
We had taken the sensible precaution of booking massages and other treats at the small spa at the Oban Bay Hotel for our arrival and there were further sights that we wanted to see within the vicinity of the town and the wider area of Argyll and Bute.
We were not actually staying in Oban itself, but a few miles away at Connel. The Girl had once again surpassed herself by picking out a beautifully designed and equipped AirBnB, situated on the banks of Loch Etive at the point where it meets the sea. The lovely first floor apartment over-looks the tidal race known as the Falls of Lora. This fascinating online magazine – The Hazel Tree by Jo Woolf – tells more eloquently than I possibly could the story of this magical spot.
I will simply add some of my own images:
The bridge at Connel is of considerable interest in itself. Built in 1903 for the now long-defunct single-track Callander and Oban railway this unique bridge was the longest cantilever span in Great Britain at the time of its construction – aside from the monumental Forth Bridge. As early as 1914 the bridge had been reconfigured with a narrow roadway on one side and the single railway track on the other. Automobiles and trains could not cross the bridge at the same time, so road traffic had to stop when trains were due.
The Callander and Oban was closed in 1966 and the bridge took on its current form – as a single carriageway road bridge, with traffic signals controlling the flow.
Connel is a very pretty little village in a beautiful spot. A good choice for our penultimate touring base.
One man’s ‘magic’ is another man’s engineering. ‘Supernatural’ is a null word.
Robert A. Heinlein
One of my favourite railway routes has always been the West Highland line in Scotland, from Fort William up to the small fishing port of Mallaig. Before the construction of the Skye bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh, the ferry from Mallaig to Skye was the main route to the isles from the south.
Even for a railway in such a strikingly beautiful part of the world as this, the line has many pleasures; Leaving Fort William under the lowering gaze of the mighty Ben Nevis; navigating a way round the head of Loch Linnie and passing ‘Neptune’s Staircase’ – the flight of locks at Banavie that heralds the start of the Caledonian canal; Glenfinnan, with its iconic curved viaduct and monument to the ’45; the picturesque Loch Eilt; the unexpected white sands at Morar and the largely untouched fishing port of Mallaig.
It must be some five and a half decades now since I first traveled this route and was appropriately thrilled and captivated by the aforementioned sights. It surprises me not at all that the cinematic nature of the area has attracted film-makers over the years and the use of various locations along the line in one of my favourite films – ‘Local Hero‘ – only adds to its enjoyment.
I am somewhat more ambivalent concerning the use of the Glenfinnan viaduct in the Harry Potter movies. The area has such a rich (and tragic) history that it feels somewhat reductive for it now to be so strongly linked to this recent movie franchise. The upside is that it makes possible a daily preserved steam train service along the route; the downside is that some of those of those who pay the relatively high price to travel thereon subsequently grumble at the shortage of further Potter-esque attractions and cavil that there is nothing much to do once one gets to Mallaig. Mallaig is a working fishing port and the fact that it is so – and has remained relatively unchanged throughout the years – is a big part of its charm.
Following our restorative sojourn on the island of Skye The Girl and I progressed slowly down the west coast of Scotland to Fort William. One of the three forts built along the Great Glen (the others being Fort Augustus and Fort George) between 1690 and 1750 to facilitate the suppression of rebellious Jacobites throughout the highlands, Fort William has evolved into a major tourist centre whose inhabitants and visitors share with Canadians a love of the great outdoors.
Though not the most attractive of towns Fort William is set in the dramatically beautiful landscape of Lochaber. It is also one of the railway-connected centres that my (non car-owning) family made use of some fifty years and more ago as a base for visiting the surrounding attractions.
Such delights include – Ben Nevis, the Great Glen (complete with Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart and so forth), the Caledonian Canal, Glencoe and the West Coast railway to Mallaig.
Here are some photographic images:
This is Ben Nevis – the highest peak in the British Isles.
This is the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, the which was a literal stones-throw from our Airbnb…
…as was this pretty garden. We estimated that the season in Scotland was running approximately 3 – 4 weeks behind that of British Columbia – which meant that we got to see some new blooms for the second time this year.
These photos were taken at both the pass and the village of Glencoe. Difficult to avoid the sensation of the weight of history here.
“When you buy from a small business, an actual person does a little happy dance.”
Anonymous
Whilst on the island of Skye we stayed in an excellent Airbnb near the remote hamlet of Glendale. This diminutive gathering of (primarily) old crofter’s cottages at the north-west tip of the island also includes (naturally) a small church, a rather stylish cafe… and the Glendale General Stores and Post Office.
Knowing that our residence was well equipped in the kitchen department we had shopped on our way to Skye and thus arrived bearing venison steaks and all the appropriate accoutrements to provide ourselves with a splendid dinner…
…with one exception. Being out of the habit these days we had omitted the purchase of a suitable bottle of wine.
Coming upon the Glendale General Stores and Post Office we pondered the odds of taking an extremely long shot and seeing if they might have a bottle wine of any variety. This seemed extremely unlikely, given that the store is – as you will see from the photo above – tiny!
Tiny – but mighty! Not only is the shop a great deal larger than it looks (Tardis-like it goes on and on) but it also incorporates such unlikely features as this compact bulk foods section:
Not only did they have a bottle of wine, they had a floor to ceiling unit of bottles. There – at the front of the red wine shelves – was a very passable Chateauneuf du Pape! The proprietor apologised that this was his last bottle thereof, but we happily grabbed it, eulogised the man’s forethought and planning and scampered off to cook up a feast.
Well! Books… covers… impetuosity of judgement…
Life is – as always – full of surprises.
Tags: food and drink, Holiday, Photo, Scotland, Skye, Travel
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