The stone village

On the corner of Quamichan St. and Foul Bay Rd., hidden under the branches of some mature fir trees, lies this little model of a sleepy village complete with castle, Grecian inspired temple and defensive tower.

The sign toppers of Clare Street

They do add a whimsical touch to this very neighbourly street.

A skater wedding on our street

They just liked our street.

Clearing the beach wood

Gonzales Bay is home to Victoria's only sandy beach and as result is a very popular destination for young folks on their summer holiday break. In order to discourage beach fires, which can be dangerous, city staff, for the first time, are clearing the beach of small branches and logs that could be used to build a bonfire.

The naming of houses

One delightful custom seen in some of the older and posher neighbourhoods is the tradition of naming the house. It seems that in the 1930s the most popular names were of Scottish origin and were proudly cut into the stonework at the entrance gate to the home - which in some cases is no longer there or replaced by a more humble dwelling."Locharkaig"
"Knockcool"
"Rappahannock"
"Ashton"
"Cavignol"
"Clenlyon"
"Gisburn"
"Illahie"
"Tancred"
"Gonzales"
"Tredinnock"
"Wilmar"

They're baaack!

"Scooter People" on rental mini-motorbikes herald the official start of the tourist season in Victoria.

The stone ship

In the northwest corner of the grounds of St. Ann's Academy rests a curious pile of stone and iron.
Click on images to enlarge.It takes a few minutes to realize that this is not a haphazard pile of rocks but is in fact a ship. A ship of stone.The ship (bark or barque, barchetta) has been a symbol of the Christian church since the first century. It represents the Church tossed on the sea of disbelief, worldliness, and persecution but finally reaching safe harbor with its cargo of human souls.Saint Anne, on whose Academy grounds this stone ship rests, is the patron Saint of among other places, Canada.

Traffic Watchers

When the city engineers need to find out details about how traffic intersections are working - or not - they will send out cadres of folks with diabolical appearing gadgets to monitor traffic patterns.
At the push of a button, these Jamar Technologies devices can collect information such as turning movement data while classifying up to 14 groups of vehicles. Measure delay and queues at stop sign controlled intersections and do speed studies to find running speeds on signalized intersections.

Apparently very exciting information for city engineers to ponder while considering changes in intersection design.

In Ross Bay Cemetery

Ross Bay Cemetery has become as much a garden park as a cemetery. It relies on the dedication of its caretakers and volunteers like The Old Cemeteries Society to conduct cleaning and restoration of graves on a regular basis.

Recently, The Old Cemeteries Society placed grave site markers in the extreme south east corner of the cemetery where there was an informal path cutting through an apparently unused portion of the cemetery. This was done as a reminder to people visiting the park that, although there may appear to be unused areas on the grounds, in fact the cemetery is quite full. So, where pathways have been created by the cemetery's many visitors, they often trace a course over unmarked grave sites.

According to the Society's President Wilf Bruch, it is hoped that eventually the grounds will be restored to that of a traditional gated cemetery rather than as it is now - an open park-like setting.

More information about Ross Bay Cemetery can be found by visiting its website: http://www.oldcem.bc.ca/

Google Street View Victoria now in 3D

The 3D craze has hit Google Street View in Victoria!

Get your 3D glasses out for Google Maps! Google Maps has released a new 3D version of Street View. Of course you will need to have a pair of 3D glasses handy to appreciate this new Google Maps feature

Once you are in street view mode a new icon appears under the navigation graphic of a chap with 3D glasses pushed back on his forehead.
Click on the fellow and presto - his glasses drop in front of his eyes and the view is now in 3D!

Gonzales Bay residents awake to low tide shocker

An exceptionally low tide early this morning revealed a city engineering secret - an experimental drain to flush sewage away from the city.
"It was the roar of water draining from our beloved bay that woke me this morning" said long time resident Miss. D. Ouse."I just don't know what to say. It was exciting. Would you like a cup of tea?" she offered.

On the other hand, Washington State visitor Mr. Mark Mighwurds noted: "Typical! Too much government interference in private affairs - and nothing is more private than a man's relationship with his bowel movements. Keep sewage in private hands I say."
By the time the news media arrived, the incoming tide had hidden the engineer's secret solution to Victoria's sewage problem.
"Well, I it took me a while to figure out what to wear to a draining" said local TV channel reporter Ms. T. Drinkaton."I wonder where it's draining to? Well, at least it's out of here."

Palm Sunday in Victoria

Yes we do have palm trees in Victoria. The city enjoys a somewhat Mediterranean climate which suits these hardy "Windmill" palm trees very well.

The city has planted palms (typically Trachycarpus Wagnerianus) in various locations in Victoria in the belief that it is nice for tourists that, when they are taking pictures of Victoria, there is 
some kind of exotic plant around. That way they could say: "I was in Victoria and look, it's so warm here 
that they have palm trees."

But no everyone is happy about promoting the city that way. Many residents feel that it would be better if people 
could appreciate and enjoy our own, wonderful, native species rather than try to bring other 
peoples' backyards to our region.

A house of colours

If you can't decide on what colour to paint your house...well, maybe it's best to just ask a young child how it should be painted!

In Uplands Park

A fire hydrant's sense of humour is not always subtle.

Blooming Victoria BC

Victoria has always been quite smug about having the best weather in Canada. However this year, Nature has outdone itself. Record-breaking weather conditions in early 2010 have produced a record for the 34th Annual Victoria Flower Count.
According to flower count spokesperson Graham Bell, there were 21,691,666,716 blooms counted in Greater Victoria between Feb. 25 and March 4. That number smashes the old record of 8.5 billion blooms set in 2002. It also means that there are enough flowers to give every man, woman, and child in Canada a bouquet of 650 flowers.
The annual flower count is seen as a fun way to promote tourism in this "City of Gardens."

The tipping point

No, this is not a special effects photo:
What's happened is that the ground gave way under a truck that was pumping concrete into the foundations of a new bay-side house.

The Cavalry is called in the form of two heavy-lift crane trucks from L.B.Crane Rentals.At about $250 an hour each this problem is going to be very expensive to fix. The crane cables are attachedand ever so gently the truck is brought back to an upright position.
Finally the truck folds up its extensions and prepares to leave the scene.