Walk # 376 April 3rd 2019 A short walking tour to Three Craft Breweries
This time we parked near the Moon Under Water Brewpub on Bay Street near the Point Ellis Bridge and walked a few blocks to the Hoyne Brewery, the Driftwood Brewery and back to the Moon Under Water for a lunch. At Hoyne we tasted a flight of four beers of our choice ($5) and enjoyed the flavours of these local craft beers. Then we walked a few steps up the street to the Driftwood Brewery and tasted five more of their award winning beers ($5) and I saw one of the brewers who I know. Julie gave us a short peek into the brewery where she demonstrated the keg washing machine and the huge tanks where they make all the delicious beers that have won so many awards. After a pleasent time at Driftwood we walked back to the Moon Under Water for lunch. After lunch we looked into the new tasting room for the brewery and the distillery. A couple of people tasted the gin and vodka that they make there. Those who enjoyed the beers and spirits enjoyed themselves. This walk was very short; the emphasis was on the beer tasting not the walking.
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
Terry's photos
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
Terry's photos
Walk # 377 April 10th 2019 Mary Lake Nature Sanctuary -- Spring 2019
The last time we visited this beautiful place it was November 2019. A lot of the walking group expressed a desire to see what this property will look like in every season. This spring we visited the property on a showery Spring day during a light rain. The creeks were running fast and the moss was green and very lush. We saw a Canada Goose near one of the bridges and lots of swallows were darting over the lake. As I remembered this walk from our last visit we did this one without a guide and had a very pleasent walk through the main trails that we were shown to us by Mr. Bob McMinn on our first visit. I think that all 17 of us enjoyed the visit today. Most of the group went to the Log House Pub for a nice lunch afterwards.
Claudia's photos
Terry's photos
Colin's photos
Claudia's photos
Terry's photos
Colin's photos
Walk # 378 April 17th 2019 Two New paths to explore in View Royal
This time we parked at the back of the Six Mile Pub where we were going to go for lunch later. The first trail begins right across the street at the end of the parson's Bridge. Stairs go down to a path that leads around the point where the condos are. You go all the way until you find a large set of stairs that lead up to the street that takes you back to the Old Island Highway. The second trails is farther away, and you have to walk all the way up Six Mile Road to Atkins Road and turn left and follow that road until you come to Anya Lane. Although it is a private no through road there is a waterfront trail that leads off of a small cul-de-sac near the bottom of the lane. A long set of stairs leads down to the tidal flats of the Millstream River estuary. We saw a heron, some ducks and a Canada Goose.
The group met up again and went to the Six Mile for lunch.
Terry's photos
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
The group met up again and went to the Six Mile for lunch.
Terry's photos
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
Walk # 379 April 24th 2019 Two smaller trails near the Victoria International Airport YYJ
The first trail is in a stand of tall timber near the south side of the airport property. This property is owned by the airport, as you can see from the No Trespassing sign; We went in the area anyway. It is off of Willingdon Ave. The entrance to the trail is hard to spot, and there are no signs or marking to indicate it's presence. Look for the trail near the driveway of the house closest to the forest. See the map with Terry's photos.
The second trail is in Reay Park that is off of Northbrook Rd. and Westbrook Drive. This trail is marked and goes beside a small creek that originates in the airport property. Several bridges cross the creek. It is a gentle slope down towards the highway and it's an out and back walk. Mary's Bleue Moon Restaurant is a good place to go for lunch of dinner.
Dave's photos
Terry's photos
Colin's photos
The second trail is in Reay Park that is off of Northbrook Rd. and Westbrook Drive. This trail is marked and goes beside a small creek that originates in the airport property. Several bridges cross the creek. It is a gentle slope down towards the highway and it's an out and back walk. Mary's Bleue Moon Restaurant is a good place to go for lunch of dinner.
Dave's photos
Terry's photos
Colin's photos
Walk # 380 May 1st 2019 A stroll through Finnerty Gardens is good to do in Spring
The CanRamblers walked through the Finnerty Gardens this time to view the blossoms of the Rhodos and the flowering trees. We parked on Cedar Hill Cross Road near the Henderson Rec. centre. The trail across the road leads to the entrance road to the University of Victoria and across the road one of the gates into the gardens. We spent as long as we needed to explore all the trails and ponds in the Finnerty Gardens before heading back out and to our cars. We went to the Maude Hunters Pub for lunch this time.
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
Terry's photos
Phil's photos
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
Terry's photos
Phil's photos
Walk # 381 May 8th 2019 Two small parks out near Brentwood; Gore Park and Gowland Tod Park
This time we drove out Benvenito Drive almost as far as Wallace Drive and turned right into the nice subdivision on the right. We turned right again at the second cul de sac and parked. The path into Gore park starts between two tall hedges. The trail through this park is rough in places, some rocky climbs, and lots of roots and stones to avoid on the trail. The Garry Oak meadows however are full of wildflowers in the spring in this small park. You can see from the photos how beautiful this park is. It doesn't take very long to see all of this park, and we needed a bit more walking, so we drove down to Wallace Drive and turned left and stopped at the Tod Inlet Park for a short walk down the road to see if the Trilliams were still in bloom. They were mostly finished, but we enjoyed another twenty minutes or so of walking in this park before we headed out to the Prairie Inn for a wonderful lunch.
Colin's photos
Terry's photos
Phil's photos
Claudia's photos
Colin's photos
Terry's photos
Phil's photos
Claudia's photos
Walk # 382 May 15th 2019 A walk through Uplands Park and Uplands area.
This time we started at Cattle point and walked through Uplands Park to Midlands Road. Half of the group started down Lansdowne towards Beach Drive and half the group got invited into the yard of a home along Lansdowne to see a beautiful garden while the rest of us continued along to complete a large loop by walking to Beach Drive and back to Cattle point.
We eventually met the rest of the group back at the cars and went for lunch at the Smuggler's Cove Pub. Lovely wooded scenery in the park and lots of Camus Lilies, and beautiful gardens in the Uplands.
Terry's Photos
Colin's photos
Phil's photos
Claudia's photos
We eventually met the rest of the group back at the cars and went for lunch at the Smuggler's Cove Pub. Lovely wooded scenery in the park and lots of Camus Lilies, and beautiful gardens in the Uplands.
Terry's Photos
Colin's photos
Phil's photos
Claudia's photos
Walk # 383 May 22nd 2019 The CanRamblers clean up the beach at Esquimalt lagoon
Another very good turnout from the group to do a clean-up of the beach at Esquimalt lagoon. The beach wasn't very littered, which is a good thing but we managed to find some litter along the beach and roadway anyway. The weather was very good, and we had a good walk regardless. We went to the Six Mile Pub for lunch and because we were such a large group the wait was pretty long again.
Colin's photos
Claudia's photos
Terry's photos
Colin's photos
Claudia's photos
Terry's photos
Walk #384 May 29th 2019 A return to Durrance Lake Regional Park and the trail around the lake
The group met at the parking lot for Durrance lake a few minutes before 11:am and started our walk by going down the side of the lake on the old Durrance Lake road that is now decommissioned. It used to go all the way to Willis point. Before the late 1970's the road used to go through the DND property that is known as Heal's Range. Sometimes the traffic was stopped when shooting was going on. Now the Willis Point road takes you all the way out to the Mount Work / Durrance Lake turnoff and beyond.
At the far end of the lake we crossed the dam and headed into the trees and the trail that follows the other side of the lake. There are lots of roots and rocks to watch out for and the trail goes up and down quite a bit, otherwise it's a nice leisurely 55 minute walk back to the parking lot. We took a picnic lunch and our group filled up both of the picnic tables near the fishing float. It was a very nice way to spend part of a Wednesday.
Colin's photos
Claudia's photos
Terry's photos
At the far end of the lake we crossed the dam and headed into the trees and the trail that follows the other side of the lake. There are lots of roots and rocks to watch out for and the trail goes up and down quite a bit, otherwise it's a nice leisurely 55 minute walk back to the parking lot. We took a picnic lunch and our group filled up both of the picnic tables near the fishing float. It was a very nice way to spend part of a Wednesday.
Colin's photos
Claudia's photos
Terry's photos