Day 2 Victoria

The next day we met with another former Williams Lake couple.  John and Janice were down from Courtenay to housesit their granddog.

We hiked together up Scafe Hill and Stewart Mountain in the Millstream area.

More camas up here and lots of seablush

And death camus

And honeysuckle.

We finished off with coffee and a goodie at the Nest,

a popular spot located right next to the Galloping Goose bicycle trail.

In the afternoon, Dorothea had an outrigger canoe practice.   The Victoria Canoe and Kayak Club leases their clubhouse on the Gorge from the City of Saanich.

As a member, Dorothea gets to store her canoe here and use the club boats.  Also note the balcony with its excellent view of the Gorge.

 While she practiced with her crew

 we checked out the parks along the gorge,

Including Craigflower School.

Craigflower School is the oldest existing schoolhouse in Western Canada.

We got back in time to see the outrigger shooting the rapids under the bridge (caused by the incoming tide).

Paddlers have to time their outings with the tides.  If the current is too strong they can't paddle out to the Inner Harbour and have to stay above the rapids.  If the conditions are right, like today, they can paddle through at slack tide and get a rush coming back up the gorge with the tide.

 After the practice we made it a two goodie day at the Gorge-ous Cafe, just up the road from the clubhouse.