To the Bug Zoo and Fisherman's Wharf

July 29, 2016

Karyn and Erhard are great gardeners, so early morning at their place has a special quality. Here are Amelia and Karyn out in the garden.

Some flowers got "inadvertently" picked, but no matter, they were enshrined in water.

From Karyn's we headed over the Galloping Goose trail into downtown Victoria. it is a real pleasure when things are designed specifically for cyclists. Here the Goose crosses the otherwise unpleasant Trans Canada Highway.

And here it uses an old railway trestle across the Inner Harbour.

Industrial activity in the harbour interested the kids a lot.

The Galloping Goose is a very successful bike way. Here a counter shows 1824 users today, and it is just about 9:30 a.m.!

We love to see businesses that cater to cyclists, and in turn business that can attribute their success to cycle traffic. The "Fol Epi" bakery is one such business. How totally pleasant to have a top quality bakery sitting right off the bike path. What a wonderful quality of life when you can silently and safely head over to a place, and sit in the sun (or shade) with a quality coffee and/or pastry!

(p.s. The owner says Fol Epi is French for "Wild Bread". That is totally news to us. French friends - does that make any sense to you?)

This Poodle/Golden Retriever cross was a big hit at the bakery

The Fol Epi is one of the few real bakeries in Victoria.

These guys provided the girls with lots of entertainment.

I collected one more interesting manhole cover for my photo collection

At Victoria, the Coho ferry leaves for Port Angeles, in the U.S.

Aside from the Fol Epi, the big attraction for us in Victoria was the Bug Zoo. This small but interesting place features mostly stick insects, leaf insects, tarantulas, roaches, and beetles. A good feature is that they will take them out, demonstrate that they are not harmful (in the cases when that is true), and sometimes let you hold them. With spiders, particularly, I am not on board. But Evee, too young to hold a Tarantula was fine with patting a discarded skin. By the way, the reason kids can not hold them is that they are delicate and could get seriously hurt if dropped.

Photography adds enjoyment for young as well as old

This is the cast off skin of a tarantula

Uggh, Either you can do this or you can't!

If you look closely you see she is carrying a baby. These are not actually good mothers, that kid is just hanging on there.

Our final stop was at Fisherman's Wharf, where we went specifically to see if any seals were about. The place has grown hugely popular with tourists, and seals come around for handouts. Also, some of the best ice cream in town is to be found here. Actually, it is the milkshakes I like best. I watched closely and noted that nine, yes nine, scoops of ice cream went into my milkshake, plus a full cup of milk and lots of chocolate syrup. Dodie was not too impressed by my nine scoop figure. She seemed to think it was excessive. How silly. Anyway, back to the seals:

My camera is capable of making something like a drawing out of a photo. It seems a good fit for this view of the touristy Fisherman's Wharf.

Ice cream at the Wharf is serious stuff.

Ah, the seal has put in an appearance. An otter came by as well.

I am afraid that was pretty much it for this cycle adventure. We are already thinking about where to go next year. Maybe somewhere in Quebec?

The Weehoo was all new to Evee on this trip, and she handled it wonderfully, showing how much difference a year makes. Both kids also picked up real cameras for the first time. Shortly I will check out their shots, and make two more pages for the best ones from each photographer.

But for now it's jusqu'à la prochaine fois...

This seal's satisfied expression seems to sum up how we feel about this bike trip.

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