View Royal - Esquimalt Harbour

At another shoreline access in View Royal last week I was able to capture this photo of the Fisgard Lighthouse from a new angle. Here we are looking south, out through the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour. On the right is the Fisgard Lighthouse and on the left are some of the buildings of the Naval Base. The mountains in the background are on the Olympic Peninsula.

View Royal

Greater Victoria is a collection of independent cities and municipalities, one of which is View Royal, west of Esquimalt. I've not posted much about View Royal before because when I leave the city I am usually heading further away and drive right through View Royal without stopping. Last week I decided to remedy this and explore a bit. Much of View Royal lies just above the shoreline of Esquimalt Harbour. The harbour is heavily indented with many headlands and small bays such as pictured here. Just above this viewpoint is an information plaque that says this little bay was used by early mariners as a place to collect fresh water for use on their ships. The view is lovely but in reality it is enhanced by the sounds of the little creek nearby that still empties into the bay.

Highrock Park

Highrock Park is a small neighbourhood park in Esquimalt. It's close to where I live and I take frequent photo walks there in the spring. At that time of year it is a riot of spring flowers and migratory birds passing through on their way north. However, since it is basically a very large rock with shallow pockets of soil supporting its vegetation, it dries out very fast once summer begins. Then I usually ignore it until the next spring brings it back to life. Recently, however, I decided to check it out during this season and was pleasantly surprised. No flowers, of course, but it was generally fairly green and pleasant. This photo was taken looking westward towards Esquimalt Harbour and the Metchosin Hills. Those large cranes visible just to the right of the tree are at the Esquimalt Graving Dock, a facility capable of servicing very large ships such as cruise ships and naval vessels.