Walk #62 January 9th 2013 Oak Bay Trails and streets
Our first walk of the year! The weather was cold and breezy but somehow we avoided the rain again; Ya! This was a rather short walk, but with the cold weather conditions I don't think that anyone minded being out of doors a shorter time. As usual we had a pleasant lunch at the Penny Farthing Pub and then we continued on the walk along the Oak Bay Avenue to Yale street, through the St. Mary's church lot and down Elgin Street to a path around the tennis bubble that took us back to the Oak Bay Rec Centre where we had parked. I know that we all enjoyed getting together as much as the short walk. To see the photos that Terry took on the first half of the walk click on this link. https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5831588433140288881?authkey=CO_aioD-g6n66AE
Walk #63 January 16th 2013 Portage Park walk View Royal
On January 16th Phil Smith led the group on a walk in the Portage Park in View Royal. The trail to this park is right beside the 4 Mile Pub parking lot. As I wasn't able to go on this walk due to the flu I'll have to let the photos speak for themselves. They went to the 4 Mile Pub afterwards for a nice lunch afterwards. Phil said that the food was excellent. To view Phil's photos please click on the attached link. https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5834187361987567153?authkey=CLSXubD4-q3sigE
Thanks Phil for jumping in at the last minute and leading the group.
Thanks Phil for jumping in at the last minute and leading the group.
Walk #64 January 23 2013 Interurban Rail Trail walk
Although the weather was threatening rain, we decided to do this walk anyway. The scenery was not as spectacular in the winter as it is in the fall, but the length of the walk made for some good exercise anyway. We were a little rushed for time to get to our lunch reservation but everything worked out well anyway. We even avoided the worst of the rain. It started at the very end of the walk. The Crooked Goose Bistro and pub was very nice, although the parking was a problem at first. To see the photos that Terry took click on this link;
https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5836781546972647937?authkey=COvGn4nxzLTcAQ
https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5836781546972647937?authkey=COvGn4nxzLTcAQ
Walk # 65 January 30 2013 Exploring Oak Bay lanes
On January 30th a large turnout of walkers met at Willows Beach where we started out on our "Explore Oak Bay" walk. We walked along the beach side and headed up through the Willows park to Beach Drive. Across the street from the park there is a hidden lane that takes you up to Lincoln Rd. and then via Heron to Dunlevy Rd. We walked toward Estevan and back to Heron Street where we stopped at the historic John Tod House. This is the oldest residence in western Canada. From there we walked up Esteven to Cadboro Bay Road to stop and look at a home with a model railroad built into the garden. We followed some lanes to Nottingham Rd and then turned down the Camas lane that leads straight back to Willows Beach via a series of narrow paths. After the walk we went to the Smuggler's Cove Pub for a nice lunch.
Here are Terry's photos https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5839367485477384801?authkey=CLmGkZ33x8XwVQ
Here are Terry's photos https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5839367485477384801?authkey=CLmGkZ33x8XwVQ
Walk #66 February 6th 2013 A visit to the Historic Royal Theater
Thanks to Lois for arranging for our walking group an exclusive backstage tour of the Royal Theater. This Opera House/theater was opened in December 1913, so it will soon be celebrating it's 100th birthday. The stage was set for the Pacific Opera Society's presentation of Albert Herring, and it was opening the next evening. We learned about theater superstitions, ghosts, and saw the green room and dressings rooms downstairs. We learned where the scenery is loaded into the theater by way of the loading dock and found out that this was one of the last "hemp House" theaters left in North America. Hemp refers to the rope that was used to raise and lower the scenery into the "flys" the high area where the curtains and scenery are stored. It was a very nice visit and I'm sure that we all enjoyed the tour. We had a nice lunch at the Batholomews Pub after a five block walk from the theater to the pub. To view the photos that Terry took click on this link. https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5841972525210983569?authkey=CJaK68W4mMiL8gE
And here are the photos and two videos that Phil took ( Thanks Phil )
https://plus.google.com/photos/117826671765550615361/albums/5841994775752602689?authkey=CLPp6rqqxK3cBw
And here are the photos and two videos that Phil took ( Thanks Phil )
https://plus.google.com/photos/117826671765550615361/albums/5841994775752602689?authkey=CLPp6rqqxK3cBw
Walk #67 February 13th 2013 A visit to the Christ Church Cathedral
We met at the front door of the cathedral and our guide Mr. David Barlow met us there at 11 sharp. He was a fantastic guide and very knowledgeable about the history of the church and the artifacts inside it. We got to see lots of details both large and small. He told us about two earlier churches that were built in Victoria, the first one by the Hudson's Bay Company. The cathedral was never built to the architects specifications, due to funding but a large addition was added in the 1970's to 1980s and structural changes were added to strengthen the structure for earthquake purposes. We didn't get to see the belfry but we did learn a lot about this historic church. We had a nice walk down to Batholomew's Pub for lunch after the tour. To see the photos that Terry took please click on this link: https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5844578874829964385?authkey=CMm35Z-P_43JPQ
Walk #68 February 20 2013 A walk around Cadboro Bay Beach
The day started out quite cold. But the rain was going to hold off so we met down at the parking area of Gyro Park and headed over to take a look at the Mystic Springs ponds. I really hope that people will go back there in the summer when the trees are green and the blue sky reflects in the ponds. Things looked a little bleak today. We headed back to the beach and walked all the way down to the other end of the beach and up a path that took us to the Telegraph Bay Road. We walked back to the park and found ourselves too early to go for lunch so we jumped in our cars and headed out to Smuggler's Cove beach on Ten Mile Point. After spending a little while exploring the beach we went back to the pub for lunch. To view Terry's photos click on this link: https://plus.google.com/photos/108709526830847929475/albums/5847248536335329729?authkey=CNj7t_qcyOjV_wE
To view Phil's photos please click on this link: https://plus.google.com/photos/117826671765550615361/albums/5847165968665041009?authkey=CO-wzo2K38PNpAE
To view Phil's photos please click on this link: https://plus.google.com/photos/117826671765550615361/albums/5847165968665041009?authkey=CO-wzo2K38PNpAE