St-Jean-Baptiste Day in Willows Beach Oak Bay

Something we had not realized until we moved to Victoria was how strong the French Canadian presence is despite making up just 2% of BC's population. Today was St-Jean-Baptiste Day in Willows Beach Oak Bay. Every year, on the 24th of June, all Québécois get together with friends and family to celebrate their National Holiday; la Saint-Jean-Baptiste. It is a privileged moment to celebrate their identity, pride of what they were, are, and dream of becoming.

Beachcombing in Ross Bay

Ross Bay Cemetery's south side faces Ross Bay on the Pacific Ocean. When the tide is high, winter winds would blow waves into the cemetery causing severe erosion. In order to absorb the energy of the waves and reduce the damage they cause, the city dumped tones of pebbles on the beach just a few years ago. However, the relentless waves now push the pebbles ever higher on the beach towards Dallas Road posing a danger to passing traffic. As a result the city engineers have decided to comb the beach with an excavator to smooth out the pebbles and push them back towards the water line.The excavator is also used to move wayward logs to help form a barrier along the shingle beach.

Cause to pause - The Gulf oil disaster brought home

The continually updated website at http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/ enables you to center the impact of the current BP oil disaster anywhere on the globe. Particularly frightening when centered on your home town.

Goofy cars

Victoria is the only city where we've seen these vehicles en masse. In fact, I don't think we've seen them in any other part of the country. The micro trucks are known as "Kei Trucks" and are imported from Japan. Some brands include Daihatsu Hi-jet, Honda Acty, Mazda Scrum, Mitsubishi Minicab, and Subaru Sambar.
Developed in the 1960s, they are all right-hand drive and feature 660cc water-cooled gasoline engines. Owners will very often go to great lengths to personalize their trucks with elaborate paint schemes.